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The Year--2021
The Origin Story of The Fezziwig Express:
When Tom Kusek, Paul Nunez, and Keith Heffner got together to play the annual Heffmeister Christmas Spectaculars they didn’t know what their future beheld. Tom on guitar, Paul on sax, and Keith (the Heff) on piano would start playing their sonorous Christmastime music for the masses in their usual inebriated fashion. The more everyone drank, the better they sounded.
In the good old days (2017-2019, pre-covid) they would whip the crowd into a frenzy with their versions of Jingle Bell Rock, Do You Hear What I Hear, The Christmas Song and much more. Guests clamored to grab the microphone or join in with their instruments and have them be their back up band for the songs they sang. (Usually when the limoncello and sambuca were freely flowing after dinner).
Alas, the band got tired of their own “sound” as everything somehow was stuck in a shuffle “old school” beat due to the fact that they had no rhythm section. They tried karaoke type backing tracks but that was only good if everyone was toasted. Uh, not everyone got toasted so the band was outed (a la Milly Vanilli in the 80s) as they were harassed for using backing tracks and not “live” musicians (the boys were very crushed after that-took them a whole day to get over it). Honestly, they didn’t have the budget for any extra musicians—hell, they worked for drinks!
This year, they vowed to do something different, as they feared the very existence of the band was at stake. Hence the new name (they didn’t have one until now) and the fresh arrangements were just what they needed to bring their talents together for your Holiday entertainment. Why “The Fezziwig Express” you may have been thinking? Well, Fezziwig is the name of a character from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” When Scrooge is transported to his past via the Ghost of Christmas Past, he remarks on the joy and happiness he recalls in his apprenticeship days at Old Fezziwig’s when the Fezz-ster would make time for a party on Christmas Eve for family and the staff in his employ. Since this is Heff’s favorite character in the story, and since the band used his computer and equipment well…the name was approved forthwith.
" The Boys” hope you enjoy the music - w
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