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Dr. Bob Band returns to Park City stage

MATT JAMES, Of the Record staff

Jeffrey Howrey has some history in Park City. His group, the Dr. Bob Band, which will perform this Friday at The Sidecar, started playing gigs in Park City when Deer Valley Resort was just a set of plans, and the town was, primarily, a waypoint for bohemians and ski bums.

"We started playing shows in Park City in the late ’70s, and we moved up here in the ’80s," said Howrey.

From their beginnings in at the University of Utah in the ’70s to 2006, the group has maintained a presence in Park City for two decatees.

"We have a history that goes back," said Howrey.

A hard-rock band with influences like The Sex Pistols, Jim Morrison, The Who and ACDC, the Dr. Bob Band brings a throwback style, catchy guitar hooks and soulful vocals from lead singer Bets Pott, while still retaining a definite edge.

"It’s loud," said Howrey, "but melodic."

"We always emphasized trying to write our own songs and trying to be original," he added.

There was also, he added, an emphasis on rebellion, which seemed to fit in well in Park City at the time. Gradually growing in popularity after their arrival in Park City in 1981, the band became a standard-bearer in the town’s music scene in the mid ’80s and early ’90s, performing regularly.

The group hit a speed bump, though, when Pott moved to Portland, Ore., several years ago. Since then, Howrey has performed occasionally, sometimes solo and sometimes with a backing group, but only in a limited capacity.

This weekend, however, Pott will return to town for a show, joining Howrey to reunite the band’s founding members and the original core.

The show, at The Sidecar on Friday, April 14, will bring one of Park City’s oldest bands to one of Main Street’s newest bars. Three local musicians percussionist Greg Friedman, bass-player Dave Knose and guitarist Carl Roehmann will join Howrey and Pott, to bring the band to full speed.

"We’re going to be playing almost all originals," said Howrey.

The evening, he added will provide a preview of some things to come.

"One reason Bets is coming down from Portland is we’re finishing up on a new CD right now in Heber," Howrey noted.

While Pott is fronting another band now, in Portland, Howrey said she retains her ties to the Dr. Bob Band, and as a group, they remain musically active.

"We’re still writing songs, still rocking, still making trouble," he said. "We’re kind of old rebels now."

The CD, "Beware of Bob," will be the eighth effort from the Dr. Bob Band and will recall the group’s earlier albums, according to Howrey.

The group has some bigger items on its plate too. In the coming months, the band will travel to New York City to shoot a music video, and in June, Pott will be back in town to perform at one of the Heber Valley summer concert series shows on June 22.

So this summer will see a resurgence for the Dr. Bob Band. Howrey promised quality for the Friday-night Sidecar show.

"We’ve rehearsed a lot," he said. "It’s going to be rocking."

"The music itself is probably better than ever, because we’re sober," he added.

So while Pott will bring back a bit of Park City’s musical past, Howrey hopes Friday will also offer a view of the future.

"It’s kind of just the tip of the iceberg," he said.


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