Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991 TAG: 9103190200
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JENNY BOOTHE/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
In the early years, looking for work as musicians was not always a profitable endeavor. Like a lot of struggling bands, they needed something else to supplement their income. So the five of them became house painters.
However, the band's playing schedule sometimes conflicted with their painting schedule. It became a problem when they forgot to tell a woman whose house they were to paint that they would be out of town that week on a gig.
They were fired when they returned.
The Connells are playing at Sacketts on Norwood Street tonight. Doors open at 6 and admission is $16. Opening for the Connells are the groups BS&M, and D.U.
The Connells are better known these days for climbing charts, not a painter's ladder.
Mike Connell, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, began the group in 1984 with his younger brother, bass player David. By Christmas of that year, the band was formed, with Doug MacMillan as lead vocalist, Pete Wimberly as drummer, and George Huntley playing keyboards and guitar, writing songs and helping with vocals.
They could have been the typical college band - playing local clubs to pay for books, then breaking up on graduation day.
But there's nothing typical about this group. After all, how many other groups can claim their guitarist is a graduate of law school?
Although Mike Connell has not had experience as a practicing lawyer, he did pass the bar exam.
The Connells' fourth LP, "One Simple Word," showcases their raw energy and talent. Not relying on gimmicks and flash, it gives the listener a refreshing sound: honest modern rock.
Through songs like "Stone Cold Yesterday," "Get A Gun" and "Another Souvenir," the Connells prove that even in the Electronic Age - where how a group looks on MTV is often as important as how they sound on the radio - there is still talent to be found.
They are not a group depending on video persona to take them to the top.
"Videos are awful to make," MacMillan said. "There's a little too much emphasis on them."
He admits they did have fun making the new video for "Get A Gun."
"We try to do it the way we want to," he said.
Doing things they way they want means doing them the time-tested way: going on the road.
"We just want to tour and play," MacMillan said.
And that's just what they're doing.
Since September, they have given approximately 95 shows, even with "a long Christmas break," MacMillan said.
They recently finished a tour as the opening act for the Replacements. They are getting ready to tour on their own through the South, heading toward the Midwest for their final shows.
Even though the group usually travels in just a truck and a van, they have decided this time to use a bus. MacMillan found this funny, saying "It's very `Spinal Tap,'" referring to the fictitious rock group of Rob Reiner's movie, "This Is Spinal Tap."
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 20, 1991 in Current\ Correction
Because of a writer's error, the wrong first name was given for drummer Peele Wimberly in a New River Current story Tuesday about The Connells, a band that played in Radford Tuesday night.
Memo: correction