Pabstolutely 5 music fills downtown venue

September 9, 2012 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Bob Cerny fondly remembers when he pushed a pool table out of the way at Cedar’s Lounge in downtown Youngstown more than 30 years ago and started playing music.

The move didn’t exactly place him behind the eight ball, but if you didn’t know better, you could be forgiven for thinking so — especially if you’re privy to the name of the band he started then.

“We play straight, simple rock ’n’ roll,” said Cerny, referring to the main musical ingredient of his band, The 8-Balls. “We play our own material.”

Cerny’s group got a good opportunity to play its music because his was one of 14 local, regional and out-of-state bands that each played 40-minute sets and rocked the Royal Oaks Bar & Grill, host of Saturday’s Pabstolutely 5 music festival.

Sponsoring the event, in its fifth year, was Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Proceeds from the outdoor festival at the Royal Oaks, 924 Oak St. on the East Side, were to benefit the fest’s out-of-town acts and the longtime restaurant, as well as the Golden String, an agency that works with adults who have special needs.

Cerny recalled having been part of the local music scene in the early 1980s, when The 8-Balls played at Cedar’s and at many private parties in the city’s Brier Hill section. They also had played together in high school and college before branching out and making their musical presence felt in Cleveland, Canton, Akron, Kent and Pittsburgh, said Cerny, who plays bass guitar.

“I used to joke that we’re famous in the southeast corner of Northeast Ohio,” he said with laughter.

Also making up The 8-Balls is Sandy Naples, drums; and Tim Gilliland and Dave Terazewski, guitar and vocals.

Not one to restrict himself to one musical style, Gregg Wormley brought a cross-section of music to the fest when his three-member band, Punk Willie, took the stage.

“We play all the stuff we grew up on,” which includes dipping into a little country, punk rock, new wave and R&B. “People seem to like it; they recognize a song and it makes them move,” he explained.

Wormley, along with band mates Neal McCallum, bass, and Erik Linsay, guitar, didn’t disappoint listeners with an ear for diversity. Songs they played Saturday included “And She Was” by the Talking Heads; “Beth” by Kiss; and “Man of Constant Sorrow” by the Soggy Bottom Boys, a country-music band featured in the 2000 comedy “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney.

Wormley also proudly displayed his fancy hat that was a combination of yarn and an assembled pattern of parts from three Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans.

Wormley found the pattern online, then gave it to his mother-in-law, who handled the crocheting, he said.

Also pleased with the musical effort was Jimmy Sutman, the Golden String’s chairman.

Sutman said he appreciates his friendship with the Royal Oaks’ owners, John and Louie Kennedy, who have donated food to his organization’s yearly golf outing.

In December 2010, Golden String Radio debuted online and allows those with autism spectrum disorders, traumatic-brain injuries and other challenges who have a vast knowledge of music to run their own shows on the station. They play everything from polka to heavy metal to obscure 45-rpm records, he said.

Sutman hosts a program on the station from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays in honor of the late Joe Gallagher, who died in November 2011 at age 69 and who had Down syndrome. Gallagher also had a huge record collection and was Sutman’s first client.

The Pabstolutely festival continues to grow and includes new musical acts each year, noted Joe Stilson, who, along with Mark Calvaruso, organized the event.

“We’ll just keep doing it until we’re not able to,” Stilson said, adding, “But luckily, we’re able to.”