Clarksville, TN – The Journey Tribute band Chain Reaction opened up the first Jammin’ in the Alley concert of the year on Friday night. The free concerts are held by the City of Clarksville’s Department of Parks and Recreation every third Friday from May to October at Strawberry Alley located in Historic Downtown Clarksville.
The weather for the concert was to put it mildly, absolutely perfect. I love early summer weather when it’s not too hot, or too cold. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that this Jammin’ in the Alley concert had the biggest attendance I have seen. It was wall to wall people with many dancing in front of the stage. The classic Journey songs were well known and people in the audience would sing right along with the band.
Five concerts remain in the 2011 season, they are:
- June 17 – Chris Robertson
- July 15 – McAllisters Crossroads
- August 19 – The Next Level
- September 16 – Chris Cheatham
- October 21 – Tina Brown
Ryan Christopher the band’s lead singer was honored that his band was selected for the lead off concert of the season.
This is the forth season of free public concerts and it wouldn’t be possible without the sponsors, U.S. Bank, WJZM 1400 AM, The Leaf Chronicle, Lamar Advertising, and Saga Communications.
“All of the US Bank Clarksville team is proud to again partner with the City of Clarksville in support of the great variety of events that help bring us together in fun, fellowship and celebration of the wonderful community that we all love,” said US Bank Community President and District Manager Steve Kemmer and Joyce Norris, the bank’s Senior Community Banking Officer and Vice President.
Photo Gallery
About Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction – A Tribute to Journey began with a simple dare. Yes, you heard right! A dare! While at Karaoke several years back, Ryan Christopher’s wife dared him to sing a Journey song to win a contest that fateful night. The song was Don’t Stop Believin’. After much apprehension, Ryan took the dare and was shocked when performing, the song felt natural to him. He had been in bands before, specializing in mostly Top 40 rock covers, but nothing like Journey! “Steve Perry is the man!”, he’d always say. But from that moment, he began his quest.
He partnered with a local legend, Earl Arnold, to create a demo so he could begin shopping his skills in a quest to become a professional singer, which he still holds onto today. When the demo was created, Earl gave the demo to Mark Hawkins (Chain Reaction – A Tribute to Journey’s ex-guitarist), who introduced Ryan to the rest of the band. Mark, along with Gene Powers (Keys), and Mike Seay (Drummer) were in an Allman Brothers Tribute at the time but were open to forming another project on the side. They came together with Ryan Christopher and picked up Tommy Hall (Bass) who had worked with Mark in other bands in the past. They started practicing together deciding on a direction for the band, when everyone unanimously agreed that a Journey Tribute would be the best choice.
At that point, they worked for local charities and did some shows for clubs in the Clarksville area. It wasn’t until the band found new lead guitarist, Greg Vass, that the project took shape. They worked with a manager for several months that introduced them to the college and fair and festival markets when they decided that they enjoyed playing so much that they could turn this into a national act. Still working their full time jobs during the week (for now) they are wowing fans of Journey, both young and old, across the southern portion of the Midwest.
Their dream, as is the dream of any group of musicians, is to travel the country (and possibly the world) paying tribute to one of the GREATEST ROCK BANDS OF ALL TIME… JOURNEY!
Band
- Ryan Christopher – Lead Singer
- Michael (Mike) Seay – Drummer
- Tommy Hall – Bass and Backing Vocals
- Bonnie Lavender – Keys and Backing Vocals
- Greg Vass – Guitar and Backing Vocals
For More Information
Website: http://www.bestjourneytribute.com/main.php
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chainreactionjourneytribute
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chainreactionjourneytribute
