43
Rock legends from region team up for unique show
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
SEBRING
Four rock ’n’ roll veterans from Northeast Ohio are teaming up for one legendary show.
Ohio Rock Legends, an act featuring Joe Vitale, Gary Markasky, Marty Lee Hoenes and Chris Wintrip, will perform at McKinley High School auditorium at 7 p.m. April 13.
Vitale is best known as the drummer and co-songwriter with Joe Walsh, but he also has played and recorded with the Eagles, Neil Young, Peter Frampton, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Dan Fogelberg.
Markasky is the former lead guitarist and a songwriter for Michael Stanley Band. Hoenes is the lead guitarist and songwriter with Donnie Iris and the Cruisers. Wintrip was the guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for Brimstone, a regional band that was in its heyday in the ’70s.
With the exception of Youngstown-area resident Markasky, all of the men now live in the Canton area.
Wintrip recently put Ohio Rock Legends together, and the act already has done shows at Akron Civic Theater and the Lorain Palace Theater. He also fronts an Eric Clapton tribute band, which will open the show.
After the opening set, Markasky comes on stage, backed by Wintrip and his band, and plays four MSB songs. Then Hoenes joins him to lead the band in a handful of Iris tunes. Vitale is next, and his six-song segment includes some of Walsh’s biggest hits, including “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Walk Away.”
Wintrip said the act had its origins in an exhibit titled “My Town” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Each of the four men were part of that exhibit, and the Ohio Rock Legends show stems from it.
Wintrip, who operates a music store in Canton, pointed out that Brimstone recorded an album at Peppermint Studios in Youngstown and opened for many major bands, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Raspberries and Peter Frampton.
Chris Corbi, principal of Sebring High, said the show is a fundraiser for the school’s Positive Behavior Incentive Supports fund, which rewards student successes.
Tickets are $20 ($30 for first two rows; includes meet and greet). Call 330-938-2963.
An Italian food concession area will be set up in the school cafeteria before the show.