THE GAEL FORCE BAND
A History
A few years ago, several Oxonians discovered they shared a hobby...a love of Celtic music. Dave Willhoite founded a solo act on which to base a future band. For three years he played throughout the local area and made contacts for the band. In 1995, Dave and Adrian Baron-Robbins created Oxford's first Celtic folk band and began fleshing out their act. The sound of a flute added a lot to their dynamic acoustical sound, but after several tries with local flutists the instrument was dropped from the band. Someone to carry the perscussion was next in line. The original bass player - Carl Raffa - left the band to travel the world and Jim Sherrer was discovered. With the addition of Jim, the core of the band that would play Celtic music throughout the mid-South was formed. Dave Willhoite and the Gael Force Band performed in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and they grew in popularity. Then at Christmas 1998, Dave Willhoite relocated to temporary duty station in Germany.
Dave continued to play in the town of Kaiserslautern, Germany as a solo act. He even sat in with local star Louis Fitzmahoney. Meanwhile, the Gale Force changed its name and moved on. The band could not replace Dave's back-up guitar but they did add Lindsey Coley as lead singer. In the Spring of 1999, Jim suffered a hear attack which forced him to withdraw from the band. In an effort to keep the band going, Adrian welcomed the band's "number one fan" and sometimes accompanist, John Schuster, into the group. The band continued to play until classes ended for Lindsey. When she left for the summer, the two remaining band members continued playing local shows.
In late May 1999, Dave Willhoite returned from adventures abroad and rejoined the group. The Gale Force has been performing at the Coffee Bistro (Oxford, MS) every Monday night since then. Just last week Oxford native and bass player, David Pannell, was tempted into joining the weekly jam! Then on Tuesday, July 27, the unthinkable happened...Dave was once again called to duty station in Germany and this time the assignment
was permanent. Needless to say the position was accepted and the band began making plans for their final show. No one is certain what direction the Gale Force will take now but time will tell.
| |
