THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504260148
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
If you want to hear 32 South, steer clear of 32 South.
Saturday, the band is off the road and into the Franklin Moose Lodge for some country kickin'.
The Suffolk-based musicians will help raise money for the family of an old friend, the late Jimmy Glover, who was a member of the Lodge. The money will help pay medical expenses.
32 South, which formed in January, plays country plus some oldies rock 'n roll, top-40 and Motown.
``People are knocked over by our vocals,'' said Gary Baines, who wears the hats of lead singer, drummer, booker and business manager.
He has performed with such well-known Hampton Roads bands as Wooden Nickel, Liberation, Undercover and The Heartland Band.
Baines spent 7 1/2 years with Southern Blend, as did Johnnie Rawls. Charlie King was a Blends-man for four years.
Here is a closer look at those folks and other members of 32 South:
Craig Robertson of Chesapeake, keyboardist. He received a B.S. in music from Old Dominion University in 1987. He is choral music teacher at Churchland High School in Portsmouth.
John Olson has been in Hampton Roads since his discharge from the Navy in the 1970s. While he was in the service, he performed in Spain, France, Greece, Australia, Italy and Kenya. In Hampton Roads, he worked with country and blues-rock groups. An electrical engineer, he works for a defense contractor. He lives in Chesapeake.
Johnnie Rawls plays rhythm guitar. He lives and works in Franklin as a construction superintendent for the city.
Charlie King, bassist and keyboardist, has a business called Video Scrapbook that films weddings and transfers movies onto video. He is also a builder for JCS Contracting in Suffolk. He was with a band called Head Over Hells.
Gary Baines , in addition to his duties with 32 South, is a tractor-trailer driver for Dixie Guano.
The group gets together for rehearsals in a barn on White Marsh Road, not far from 32 South. Baines' father, Tommy, came up with the band's name after a Sunday drive.
What they do covers a lot of musical ground. Here's a sampling:
Country offerings include ``Baby Likes to Rock'' ``Kick a Little'' ``What Might Have Been'' and ``The Thought of You Catches Up With Me.''
Oldies rock 'n' roll songs are ``Unchained Melody'' ``You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''' and ``16 Candles.''
Motown items include ``When a Man Loves a Woman'' and ``My Girl.''
32 South's accent is on new country, Baines said. ``We have five lead vocalists and lots of three and four-part harmony. It's unusual. Most bands have, at the most, two or three vocalists.'' MEMO: The benefit will be from 9 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the Franklin
Moose Lodge. Admission is $20 per couple. Call W.J. Bishop at 657-6857.
ILLUSTRATION: 32 South will play a benefit Saturday for the late Jimmy
Glover.
by CNB