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Highlands Today

For The Love Of Music

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Erin McCarta, 31, right, a baritone saxophone player with the Golden Era Big Band plays for the Highland Social Dance Club recently at the Sebring Lions Club.

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By BILL ROGERS

Highlands Today

Published: October 12, 2008

SEBRING - Joe Stadlin, 92, climbs into his car every Saturday and makes the 45-mile trip from his Okeechobee home to Sebring for band rehearsal.

Jack and Pat Yorton travel a bit further than Stadlin, making about a 50-mile, one-way trek from Winter Haven to rehearse.

Stadlin and the Yortons are members of the Golden Era Big Band. They and members of other local dance bands, some of whom have been musicians for decades, are passionate about their art. The reason is simple.

"We love the music," said Chuck White, the musical director for The Golden Era Big Band.

The Golden Era Big Band, which was known as the GI Joe Dance Band until it recently changed names, was formed in 2003 by Billy Warren and George Corwin. The original name was based on the fact that several members were in service bands and played music primarily from the World War II era. The reason for the change, White said, is to avoid any confusion as to the music they play.

White, 48, said he began playing when he was 12.

"I had about an 8- to 10-year break, and I'm back to music again and glad I am," he said.

"It's an outlet, and I really enjoy the expression of music; I enjoy the audience feedback."

White said he loves jazz, rock and the blues.

"But I have always loved the big band music because most rock 'n roll and everything now is based on big band music," White said. "If you really listened to the licks of the big band you still hear that music today. It is very complicated, very rich chord wise.

"People have been swinging and dancing to music since the '20s." he added. "If you go back and look at the '20s the big band music originally was a young folks' music and old folks didn't like it. It was the young kids' music and they were out there doing the Jitterbug and the Twist.

"It was the original, first rock 'n roll; it was a rebellious music," he said. "Now everybody is like that's an old folk music. It wasn't. It was a young folks' music. It was very upbeat and up tempo. It was the music the country listened to during World War II. There are a lot of memories with folks, and a lot of powerful memories with folks that we stir sometimes when we play music."

White added people appreciate the music because it is live and in person and is "not perfected studio music like you hear today."

Jack Yorton, 76, picked up a trumpet when he was about 5 years old and has been playing ever since. He is also a member of the Bartow Concert Band.

"It keeps our fingers in the pie," he said. "It's not much money; we do it for old time's sake."

Pat Yorton, 77, sang on a radio show in Chicago in the 1950s. She also sang on a TV show called "In Town Tonight" in Chicago. It aired for 15 minutes five nights a week and had guests including Sammy Davis Jr., Gene Autry and Duke Ellington.

Pat is now a piano tuner. She plays the keyboard and occasionally sings with the Golden Era Big Band.

Stadlin, who plays the tenor sax, got to know Warren, the band's co-founder, when they played in combos in Sebring.

"I love to play big band stuff," Stadlin said. "I love to go to rehearsal and play and will do so as long as I can drive."

While Stadlin is the oldest member of the band, Erin McCarta is the youngest at 31.

McCarta, who plays the baritone sax, is in her second year in the band. She said White asked her to join after they played in an ensemble at First United Methodist Church of Sebring.

McCarta said she comes from a musical family. Her brother and two cousins play, and her grandfather, Chubby Fulton, was the band director at Sebring Middle School for a number of years.

She played in the middle and high school bands as well as the concert and marching bands at Florida State University.

While growing up, McCarta said she listened to the music of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Pete Fountain.

"I love to play the music and listen to the music," she said.

McCarta also enjoys the camaraderie of the band, especially with Ken Eberle, who "keeps me in stitches; he's just a joy to be around."

White declined to say how much the band gets paid, but it is not a lot.

"The money basically just pays for our gas and our time, so we don't feel like we're actually spending money to go out and perform," White said.

"It's hard work to be a musician," said White. "You spend your whole life learning to play the instrument before you even get out in front of people and play."

The Skylarks is a 10-piece band that was started in 2002 by Gene Wort, according to

Bill Varner is the band leader. Varner said the nucleus was a group of retired men who knew each other from the Highlands County Concert Band.

A principal in a Cadillac/Pontiac dealership, Varner, who is retired, said he played in a dance band for 20 years.

"It's fun; it's relaxing," he said. "It keeps you sharp."

Varner said the band plays 25 to 30 gigs between November and April.

"It's a hobby; they just enjoy it," Varner said.

A person has to in order to be able to "blow a horn for three hours and collect $30," Varner added.

Drummer Larry "Gator" Pate, 73, of Avon Park plays with the Golden Era Big Band and the Skylarks. A retired letter carrier, Pate says he has been playing for 61 years.

Born in Frostproof, Pate has lived in Avon Park since he was 3. He played in the high school band and Marine Corps bands. He has been a member of the Highlands County Concert Band since 1978.

Pate said he plays "every kind of music there is." He noted that he enjoys the big band music because he grew up with it and likes military-type music because "it's structural and magnificent."

He doesn't care much for the 1970s rock 'n roll.

"It's just noise," Pate said.

White, who is the owner of Cue Time Billiards and Games in Sebring, also has a five-piece band called GrooVus.

The Golden Era Big Band and GrooVus will be playing in the Sebring Jazz Festival in November at Henscratch Farms near Lake Placid.

Bill Rogers may be reached at 386-5825 or e-mail wrogers@highlandstoday.com

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