Stone Faces
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History
Stone Faces
1966 – 1981
Fall, 1966: Gary Narducci, former band member with The Count Downs and The Chymes, from St. Paul, enters Anoka Ramsey Junior College in Circle Pines. Gary spots two students who appear to be musicians (based on their clothes and length of their hair): Bob Ebbert and Ron Farrell. Gary’s hunch is correct, they are members of a basement band called The Blueberry Patch. Gary joins the four members of the band and convinces them to change the band name to Stone Faces, to reflect the more progressive music of the times. The original lineup is: Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Peter Graham on rhythm guitar; Don Colberg on bass guitar; Bob Ebbert on organ and lead and background vocals; and Ron Farrell on drums and lead vocals.
Fall, 1966 – 1969: The band features three-part harmonies and plays cover songs by The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix., among others.
Gary Narducci makes frequent phone calls to Dick Shapiro at Central Booking Agency, looking for band jobs. Through the booking agency, the band plays out state Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Western Wisconsin. Some of the venues include: the University of Minnesota Duluth; the Eveleth Armory; the Virginia Civic Arena; the Mayo Civic Auditorium and The Playmor Ballroom in Rochester; The Fargo/Moorhead Auditorium; Proach’s Popular Ballroom in Ellsworth, Wisconsin; The Turf Club in Holten, Wisconsin and various schools in Iowa. In town, the band performs at The Bel-Rae Ballroom in Mounds View; More Downstairs in downtown Minneapolis, the Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota and the New City Opera House, a teen club on Lake Street in Minneapolis (formerly Mister Lucky’s).
The band vehicle, a “Billy Boy Juice” truck, gets replaced with a Dodge Tradesmen Van.
The band goes into Universal Audio and record a number of original songs, including: “Singing was Easy” and “Tomorrow is another day”. In addition, the band records a version of “What’s Going On?” by Roy Gallagher. No records are released from this recording session.
1969 – 1970: Don Colberg leaves the band. The new lineup is: Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Bob Ebbert on keyboards, lead and background, Ron Farrell on drums, lead and background vocals; Jeff Techler on bass guitar, lead and background vocals, Peter Graham on rhythm guitar.
1970 – 1975: Jeff Techler and Peter Grahan leave the band. The new lineup is: Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Bob Ebbert on lead and background; Ron Farrell on drums, lead and background vocals; David Hix on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Joseph Aguirre on bass guitar, lead and background vocals.
1977 – 1978: Ron Farrell, Dave Hix and Joe Aguirre leave the band. Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Bob Ebbert on lead and background; Steve Winge on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Dan Dropik on bass guitar, background vocals; Peter Larson on drums, later replaced by Mark Pearson on drums.
1978-1979: Steve Inge, Dan Dropik and Mark Pearson leave the band. The new lineup is: Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Bob Ebbert on lead and background vocals; Gary Hovey on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; David Olinger/Mark Anderson (Andy) on drums, later replaced by Mike (“Taco”) Velasquez on drums.
1979 -1981: Bob Ebbert, Gary Hovey and Mike Velasquez leave the band. The new lineup is: Gary Narducci on lead guitar, lead and background vocals; Dan Lipka on rhythm guitar, lead and background vocals; Rob Campbell on lead and background vocals, Mark Zmuda on bass guitar and background vocals; Mark Pearson on drums, marimba, background vocals.
1981: Clocking in with a run of 15 years, Stone Faces come to an end.
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CDs
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Bandtree
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Where are they now?
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Interview
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