A local band with history that reaches back to the late ’70s is poised to deliver its final show in front of loyal fans in a familiar place.
Tyme Band performs from 8 to 11 p.m. Dec. 17 at King’s Restaurant in Mountain Top, and the show is being billed as the band’s last show under its decades-old name with current lineup J.D. Verazin, of Nanticoke, Rick Wells, of Mountain Top, Tom Cipriani, of Ashley, and Steve Cipriani, of Plymouth.
Formed in 1979, the band came together when drummer Pete Wanchisen of the Ravens invited vocalist Verazin to join the four-piece that included Wells on guitar and Tom Cipriani on bass.
“I was in the fire department back in ‘79, and a guy who was in the fire department, Pete Wanchisen, asked me to join his band,” Verazin said. “I went and that’s how it all started.”
The bands new name, Tyme Band, was the result of all members putting suggestions in a hat and pulling a submission, Verazin said.
Tyme Band became one of the popular cover bands in the area, playing Top 40 hits by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles and Talking Heads and gathering a healthy following by performing three to four nights every week at venues and festivals all over the region, Verazin said.
“It was us, Tumbling Dice, The Great Rock Scare and Stonebridge at all the bazaars,” Verazin said of Tyme Band and other popular local acts. “Around then, all the clubs were going strong.”
Then, in 1988, Verazin stepped away from the project.
“I ran a store in Nanticoke,” Verazin said. “We didn’t have any arguments or anything in 1988. I felt I had to drop out because of the things I had going.”
After Verazin’s departure, Tom Cipriani carried on under the same name.
“He calls this Tyme Band IV,” Verazin said with a laugh. “In 1988, we didn’t talk to each other, not because we didn’t like each other, but because everybody went on their separate paths and did their own thing.”
The original Tyme Band went on a 21 year hiatus from 1988 to 2009. According to Verazin, the original members barely saw each other until 2008 when they gathered at a pig roast in Mountain Top, reminisced and played a few songs.
One year later, during another reunion, the band decided to give playing together another shot, Verazin said. When original drummer Wanchisen couldn’t join the reunited Tyme Band, Tom Cipriani’s son, Steve, stepped in on drums.
The band has gigged regularly since 2009, playing around 150 shows, including many performances at King’s Restaurant and Three Guys Pizzeria in Mountain Top.
“When we got back together, we wanted to do the songs that people liked when we started,” Verazin said. “If you look at the song list, it’s the same stuff, Beatles, Rolling Stones; we have some country in there. The neat thing is we have so many songs from over the years, we switch the set lists around so you’ll never hear the same show two nights in a row.”
The Dec. 17 show promises to draw a crowd, Verazin said. Nearly a month ago 75 reservations had already been made at King’s Restaurant.
“Our people are like family,” Verazin said. “We have people coming to our shows who were coming back in 1979.”
The band wants to appreciate that loyalty by letting fans know the continuous gigging has come to an end.
“We want our people to know this is it,” Verazin said.
