Close Call

Band: Close Call

Members: Bob Lutz, vocals; Jeff Michenfelder, drums; Jeff Wisotzkey, bass; John Kricki, guitar

Who we talked to: Wisotzkey

Where did the name come from? You know, it's tough finding a good name for a band because so many of them are already in existence or existed as names. We had a name . . . and figured that no one else would have that band name. It was just sort of one that we knew would be available

How did you guys get together? (The four of us had been together) since late winter last year. We sort of had different versions of the band . . . prior to that. We were trying to find folks (who) had the same level of commitment for what we wanted to do. It's hard to find people who want to practice twice a week and (who) are interested in the same music. (We wanted to find people who would) go home and do their homework and come back ready to rehearse and have the songs ready to go. We all agreed that we wanted to work hard at it and have a lot of fun.

When did you become interested in music? I started playing (the bass) back when I was a teenager. I played the piano a little bit. I was in a band back . . . in my college days. I always had an interest in playing as I got older. I'm in my 40s now and about four or five years ago, I decided I wanted to pursue playing again

Describe your sound or style: We're a classic rock and blues band. We play mostly classic rock right now primarily because that's the type of music that people like to hear. It's the songs they recognize and certainly the songs they like to dance to. A lot of the classic rock songs we play are actually based in the blues (style). We add sort of an electric blues touch to some of what we do, and we also incorporate just some straight-up blues in our set list. We would like to play some of the older style Mississippi-type blues, but I don't think anyone would want to hear a whole lot of that. It's all cover songs. We play a lot of the songs that everyone knows, but . . . are a little bit off the mainstream.

How do you guys feel about the York music scene? We draw a lot of our influences from Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton. We do Cream and Derek and the Dominos, as well as some of the blues masters like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. We do the classic rockers as well, like Lynyrd Skynyrd. You always get someone singing to "Mustang Sally." There's nothing more fun than playing when people are having a good time.

Do guys have a favorite local place to play? I think we get the most enthusiastic crowds at The Red Lion Tavern and Zingers. We're interested and we have been exploring expanding the range. We're certainly interested in playing in Harrisburg and Lancaster County. I think the music scene in York is pretty good, and I was surprised at how many bands are playing in so many bars on any given weekend.

Do you guys have a best memory? The best memories are some of the people (who) come to the shows and come to the bars. It's so much fun to watch people having a good time. We do smile at each other a lot, but it's a good thing. We really enjoy the people having a good time.

What are your goals for the future? Our goals are to keep doing what we're doing. We don't have ambitions of being the next great band in the country. We want to be a good band that people are excited to see. We'd be happy playing locally or regionally.

- ERIN McCRACKEN, FLIPSIDE STAFF