Andy Cross, Wes Allen, Tom McBride, Bill Citerone, Norm Dorrell and Steve Gladden all have a lot in common, but if there’s one thing that stands above the rest, it’s their love for classic rock.
“We’ve developed an eclectic taste in music, and we’ve risen to the occasion because at first, we thought, ‘Well, we should stay within our lane,’ and the lane kept getting broader and broader,” McBride recalled. “We were taking on different songs, different genres and have just been having a great time, probably the most fun we could ever have is being together.”
Cross, Allen, McBride, Citerone, Dorrell and Gladden are all members of The Trophy Husbands, a classic rock band based in Moorestown that’s been playing together for more than five years. Cross plays bass and guitar; Allen is on lead vocals, guitar and harmonica; McBride plays the drums and percussion; Citerone plays the lead guitar; Dorrell plays the drums, percussion and vibraphone; and Gladden plays the keyboards and Hammond B3 organ.
Their repertoire includes selections from The Beatles; Pink Floyd; Led Zeppelin; Jeff Beck; the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Pearl Jam; and The Who, among others.
“I just think that this band kind of brings us back to the beginning, where we were allowed to let loose on solos,” Citerone noted. “To be able to solo like we did when we were kids, we would just say, ‘Steve, just go. And then when you’re done just give us a look.’ And that’s how it was done.”
McBride, Allen and Cross have been playing for more than a decade and met as the Praise team at First Presbyterian Church in Moorestown. Cross met Dorrell while playing at the First Methodist Church in Moorestown, where Dorrell was the music director. McBride brought Citerone into the band when he learned his neighbor (Citeron) was a guitarist with a studio in his basement. Citerone introduced the rest of the band to Gladden. Citerone and Gladden have been playing together since they were in high school.
“I would say the thing that pulls us all together is we all love classic rock and we found playing live, it’s something that cuts across generations,” Cross explained. “We were playing at the (Moorestown) Porchfest on May 18 and there’s about five five-year-old kids running around jamming to The Allman Brothers, dancing to Led Zeppelin, and it’s funny because you think, ‘Well (that) was 1960.’ But even my daughters, they all love Jimi Hendrix.
“We feel like that’s our core,” he added. “That’s our center, and we like to be a band that’s not just trying to recreate a record from 1969, we want to be faithful to the musicianship of those musicians, but we want it to be fresh, so there’s a lot of improvisation.”
The Trophy Husbands may love to play well-known songs that appeal to a wide spectrum of listeners and ages, but they also like to tackle musical challenges. They never play a song the same way twice, and their rehearsals take place in an old stone Victorian rental property, built in 1874, that Cross and his wife Louise refurbished into a residence.
“The rehearsal space was originally a rental apartment that’s now equipped with a full sound system, pianos, organs, drums, amps and guitars,” Cross said. “The band was inspired by the online music series ‘Live from Daryl’s House’ and begins every rehearsal with a sit-down dinner.
“When you’re with a band that’s good,” Gladden offered, “you can kind of communicate on a different level. That’s (when) I say, ‘Let’s look around boys, let’s see what everybody is doing, because you might start playing a beat and I’ll start picking it up on my keyboard.”
“I’ll get lost in a song or something and I’ll just keep my eye focused,” Allen said. ” … We do ‘Green-Eyed Lady’ (by) Sugarloaf, and it’s got a lot of organ solos in it, and you can get lost, like where are we in the organ solo? … I’m just watching Steve and he’s playing and then it’s almost like he passes it off.”
“One thing that I’ve appreciated musically with these guys is the diversity of music that comes out, and that it’s like, we can all suggest something, and we’ll throw it out there and we’ll try it and if it sticks, it sticks, and if it doesn’t, then it’s like no hard feelings,” Allen added.
“We just move on.”
The band’s upcoming events include the Strawberry Festival at Presbyterian Church in Moorestown on Friday, and the Moorestown Community House concert series on Monday, Aug. 5. The band starts at 6 p.m. for both shows and the community house concert series is free.
