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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2012)
parking lot. But Drury could not stand the thought of remaining a passive audience member while watching the Wayne Drury Project perform his music and thus, he too practiced for the preceding months despite many obstacles like lack of privacy (he shares a room at the center) and learning to sing again. He also often sat in on the practices held by the Project, offering feedback about the cadence or speed of songs that were only hand-written remnants. GREGG VOLLSTEDT, STEVE HOLST New York Phoenix BILLY STORMS SARA SCOFIELD “I used to listen to Wayne. I got involved because it’s important for musicians to be able to recognize how important it is that all the music they listened to influenced them. We all give tribute to people like Louis Armstrong. So why aren’t we giving tribute to the local scene? Where does it come into play?” asks Billy Storms, a Project member who plays lap steel guitar for “Gas Station Girl,” “Anna Lee,” “Cimarron Rose” and several others. The Project is taking a break from practice on a sunny October afternoon. Like Vollstedt, Storms remembers the songs that he first heard as a teenager, and what struck him about them. “The words, the lyrics, the melody — It’s all of what encompasses a song. He’s telling a story, like ‘Gas Station Girl,’ it doesn’t take long to figure out he’s hot on this girl and god- damnit she pumps gasoline,” he says, laughing. “It’s exciting.” Local physician and musician Bill Moshofsky, who does harmony vocals and keyboard on “Separate Ways” and “Coyote,” agrees. (His daughter Laura Moshofsky, also involved in the Project, sings heartbreaking lead vocals on “Cimarron Rose.”) “It’s the way it’s put together, the chord progressions … the newness of the music,” Moshofsky says. “Even if it wasn’t in the project itself, it’s music I found myself singing throughout the day because the tunes just have a quality to them. It could be a resurgence because of the music. I was, in fact, daydreaming. I was thinking, you know, someone would pick it up. They would go ‘Wow, this is really good. This is something interesting.’” For Whopner County Country All-Stars lead vocalist Sara Scofield, who does a powerhouse performance of the melan- choly “Anna Lee,” the experience goes even further than the music, it’s about the people. “It feels better than playing for people who are dead. Honestly, I appreciate that I can sing this and see Wayne there and see his reaction,” Scofield says, laughing. “To take it one step furthur than that, we were able to sing with Wayne. It’s amazing to sing with someone who wrote the song … to say I honor you as a person.” Scofield, the Project and audiences will have one more chance to do that at the upcoming Nov. 10 WOW Hall show. And if the Axe and Fiddle show is any indicator, it will be a full house. But perhaps, this won’t be the last of the Wayne Drury Project. Gung-Ho Studios are recording the live shows and Vollstedt and Co. are adamant to keep the music alive, perhaps even making it an annual event in Eugene, London and anywhere else there are Wayne Drury fans. “This has been the best thing I’ve done or as Randy Crawford puts it, ‘This will be one of the great events of this life,’” Vollstedt says. ■ The Wayne Drury Project play 8 pm Saturday, Nov. 10, at WOW Hall; $7 adv, $10 door. D ONALD D EXTER J R DMD LLC DENTISTRY "The first wealth is health." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Invest in your health, the returns are abundant. 2233 W ILLAMETTE S T , B LDG B • 541-485-6644 w w w. d r d e x t e r. c o m eugeneweekly.com • October 25, 2012 15
