Photos courtesy of Flashback
Prescott Now: How long have you guys been playing together?
Flashback: Just over a year. John plays guitar and sings lead, Jack is the bassist, and Jeff is the drummer. We’ve had 50+ years of experience with many bands.
We’ve opened for touring acts, played large festivals and created some great original music in past lives.
Prescott Now: What genre or genres of music do you play?
Flashback: We love a wide variety of music, but our favorite is classic rock, with a lil’ R&B and country. Everything from Elvis and the Beatles to the Eagles, Stones, Zeppelin, Petty, SRV, Skynyrd, Chicago and just about everything in between!
Prescott Now: What about them inspires you?
Flashback: We are most inspired about music that takes us and others back in time, moves people to dance and really inspires them to reminisce about times when they were first hearing these songs. We love to recreate music that makes you feel young again.
Prescott Now: What is the key to being a successful musical act in Prescott and Northern Arizona?
Flashback: Practice, patience, persistence and performing. The more you practice, the better you get as a player and a group. The more patient but persistent you are, the more opportunities you’ll get to perform. The more you perform, the more people will hear you, the more followers you’ll attract and the more the venues will want to hire you. It definitely takes a lot of time and effort though.
You have to practice to become quality musicians to produce quality music. Then over time, you build a loyal following of supporters, in both fans and venues. We’re dedicated to working hard to produce a quality entertainment product that appeals to a wide audience, gaining the trust of our venues and having fun playing together.
Prescott Now: What’s the smallest audience you’ve played for; the biggest?
Flashback: The smallest we’ve played for is none, just playing for ourselves for enjoyment and to improve. Guess most musicians have played that small event though, where only a few people show up for whatever reason, and they still deserve to hear a good performance. While it’s much harder to have the same energy, you still have to put on a performance to the best of your ability, because you never know what single person you could affect or event could lead you to the next opportunity.
The largest audiences have been concerts, festivals and benefits, up to as many as several thousand. The energy is much higher, the lights much brighter, the stage much larger, but you still have to focus and perform as individuals and a group, whether it’s five people or 5,000.
Prescott Now: Where do you find the inspiration for your songwriting or performances?
Flashback: Most musicians will tell you, making music and performing’s a labor of love. The love of the songs and the music IS the inspiration. How it makes you feel good, happy, excited and energized, and how that infects a crowd and gives them the same feelings is why we love doing it.
Prescott Now: What brought you to Prescott?
Flashback: All three of us are fairly recent transplants. John’s from the L.A. area, Jack’s from the California central coast, and Jeff’s from Colorado. We were all drawn by the smaller city feel, friends and family that have relocated, great weather and close proximity to so many cities and outdoor vacation and adventure opportunities.
Everyone just loves Prescott, and we’re no exception. We feel truly blessed to have found such a wonderful place to call our forever homes.
