No one seems to know how to spell “rhythm” these days. Certainly not
club and bar owners who have been known to muddle it up so badly that
it ends up being “rhythumb” on billboards and signs.
Even reporters who have degrees in English misspell the word.
But misspelling the word is okay – even when it is part of a band’s
name. Well, sort of, says The Fabulous Rhythm Kids drummer Scott
Page.
“If I had a dollar for every time someone misspelled our name, I’d
be rich,” he says.
Page has gotten onto the topic after catching me misspell rhythm in
my notebook. I’d gotten as far as rhythy- before he laughs and tells
me I’ve made a mistake. I quickly apologize, scratch out what I’ve
written and try again – this time getting as far as ry- before he
corrects me.
I’ve met the Fort Wayne-based band, which includes Zych, guitarist
and vocals, Money on lead vocals and guitar, Page and bassist Mark
Stein, at a local coffee shop to talk music.
By the time they’ve corrected my spelling, they’ve told me the story
of The Fabulous Rhythm Kids.
It’s a story that begins with the popular, but now defunct rock
band, Not My Kids.
Zych, guitarist for Not My Kids, and drummer Page dissolved the band
after 16 years.
“I got tired of coming home from shows with my ears bleeding,” Zych
says of Not My kids.
Zych’s friend and bassist Mark Stein, however, convinced him to form
a new band.
“Stein convinced me there was a market for R&B and soul,” he says.
Stein and Zych recruited Page and, after a series of tryouts with
prospective singers, found G Money.
‘The very first rehearsal was like magic – it all just fit,” Zych
recalls.
“We became instant friends,” Money adds. “A lot of bands, once you
get them away from the stage, they can’t stand each other. We aren’t
that way.”
“We each understand our roles in the band,” Zych says. “Each of us
has a chance to show off our skills.”
Take Page, he says.
“He understands his role and makes us feel comfortable with what
we’re doing,” Zych says.
“He doesn’t walk all over us like a lot of drummers,” adds Money.
After that first magical rehearsal, the band members decided they
would start playing gigs together. Needing a name, they landed on a
resurrection of sorts.
Money explains the name is “a combination of the Not My Kids name
rising from the ashes.”
He adds that the band, since two members played in Not My Kids, is
using the name to pay a tribute to the rock outfit.
He notes, however, that “The Fabulous Rhythm Kids does its own thing.”
For starters, the Kids play their own brand of blues, soul, classic
rock, 70s dance and funk music.
“We mix it all up,” says Money. “We shake it up and throw it out there.”
“We play everything from Stevie Wonder to Stevie Ray Vaughn,” adds Zych.
Although they play only cover tunes, the band likes to put its own
spin on songs like Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed and Delivered.”
Money explains the band rearranged the song and added its own flavor
to it.
“We always stay true to the original artist’s intent,” he adds.
“A lot of bands make instruments the priority,” says Zych. “We try
to make vocals a priority, too.”
My conversation with the band leaves me with a feeling they are both
serious and dedicated to their music and fans.
“We all have a genuine love of music,” Page says. “Each one of us
has such an immense love of music that the joy we have in it comes
across to our fans.”
“There’s no Milli Vanilli going on,” Money says. “What you hear
comes from our hearts and souls.”
“We work really hard to constantly improve our music and raise the
bar,” Zych says. “To stay in a mediocre vein would be a sin.”
Perhaps that dedication and love of music keep fans staying, for the
most part, for the band’s entire set.
“People come out and usually stay at our shows,” Money says.
The Kids play a regular gig at the Gin Mill in Fort Wayne. They also
play at the Side Pocket, The Latch String, several Eagles and
American Legion posts in the area and Auburn’s Meteor.
Aside from entertaining fans through its gigs, the band believes its
shows promote live music in the area.
“Part of bringing the community alive is to share your music,” Zych
says. “We are all practicing musicians and the only way to practice
our craft is to play in front of people. We play songs that we enjoy
and that our fans enjoy. (When the band does this) we are sharing our
love of what we do.”