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Pyramid Band: Local band celebrates tenth annual free concert in the park By Susan DeRosia Revels Editor Ever since the Beatles, many musicians and audiences have insisted that only original songs can cut it in the music world. But, for Steve and Ellie Read of Ashland's Pyramid Band, the joy of playing music comes in covering their favorite tunes and they're proud to be able to reproduce pretty consistently some of their favorite tunes, from Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon" to Eric Clapton's "Bell Bottom Blues." The couple who have "day jobs" - his, at Musician's Friend in Medford and hers at a home-based business - perform two to three weekends a month, several times a year at Lake of the Woods, and on one summer Sunday a year they put on a free concert at the Butler Bandshell in Lithia Park. Their concert at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, August 17 will be their tenth annual free concert in the park. "Our history here is that we started playing acoustic folk music in 78. The first place we played was in Lithia Grocery. Now it's the Plaza Cafe, but then it was a co-op grocery store-restaurant." The two have played music since then and, in 1986, founded the Pyramid Band. While the music that they love hasn't changed music, the development of midi sequencing has allowed the Reads to add many more layers to the sound they can produce together. The two are vocalists and play guitars, but, over the years, Steve has added hundreds of backing tracks to his musical library. "I've got sequences from fifteen years ago that people have shared over the Internet.," he explains. "You download twenty and maybe one or two are good. We have tracks from one guy who played keyboards with Boz Scaggs. Another guy who played on one of Eric Clapton's ablums." For Read, the fact that tracks provide a consistent rhythm section, rather than stifling their interpretation of a classic, allow them more freedom to stretch out. "With the tracks, the rhythm section is like the hub of a wheel, the foundation for the music. You can change the feel of the music by how you respond to it, whether you anticipate the beat a little or lay back." While Pyramid Band's music primarily covers the 60s and 70s, they offer listeners a nostalgic musical journey from Brenda Lee to Stevie Ray Vaughn, with stops in between to hear music by Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Eric Clapton. LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -