In high school in the early seventies, my buddies and I would groove to the tunes of a band from the Black Country of England, Trapeze. They were comprised of three lads, Mel Galley (guitars), Glenn Hughes (bass), and Dave Holland (drums). They played with a lot of funk and had a huge international following. Later, Glenn left the band after their monumental album Meduza and joined Deep Purple.
So fast forward to early this year, when my wife pulled into an ExxonMobil station on our way to the Kerrville Music Festival. I opened my door to pump gas when I heard in the distance at another pump, Black Cloud (one of my favorite Trapeze songs), blaring from a Hummer. I stepped out and did my best Chuck Berry interpretation of Mel's guitar lines of the song, and watched a lady from the Hummer point at me laughing hysterically. So I started pumping the gas when all of a sudden the Hummer pulled up to us. The lady told me that she really appreciated running into a Trapeze fan in the middle of nowhere, Texas. I told her that I grew up listening to that song. Then in the moment’s excitement, she asked if I would I like to meet one of the band members. Out of the darkness of the front passenger seat, I see Dave Holland!!! He said to me in a cockney accent, "What's up mate?" My wife and I were shocked! Eileen asked if he would mind taking a picture with me. So here is a picture of us at 1:00 in the morning!
We spoke about Glenn playing with Joe Bonnamassa, and I asked about Mel. Dave said that Mel died a couple of years ago, but Trapeze has recently been resurrected and will be on tour soon. I gave him my business card, and he invited us to attend a show when they come to our town. I sure wanted to pick his brain on all kinds of mic techniques and such but time was short. This was very meaningful since I am a huge Trapeze fan.
Lately, I have been listening closer to Dave’s drumming on the old Trapeze songs. I did not realize what a drumming virtuoso he really is! Ain’t that cool?
Keep the faith!
Calvin Luna Balli