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.
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