PebbleCreek’s Big Dogs will be making another appearance in the Tuscany Falls Ballroom on Friday, June 28. The ’Dogs are a seven piece horn band made up of mostly PebbleCreek resi- dents that formed about eight months ago and officially launched in November. They specialize in dance-oriented, toe tappin’, head boppin’ songs that PebbleCreekers grew up with.
The band’s song list consists of a little funk, some R&B, some disco, Motown, and pop—familiar songs that everybody sang with and definitely danced to. “Featuring our horn section, we present a little different style than most of the other great bands that play in PebbleCreek,” says Bob Wikstrom, co-founder of the band. He and partner Brian Wentz found like–minded musicians in the community, and they’ve become regulars in the Ballroom.
Their repertoire contains many tunes from groups like Chicago; Earth, Wind & Fire; Average White Band; Tower of Power; Wilson Pickett; Boz Scaggs; Kool & The Gang; and Van Morrison, plus the groups that came out of Motown such as Four Tops, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye. They throw in some ’50s songs and even some swing music along with “snuggle-up” ballads. One of the crowd favorites is the song “Land Of 1,000 Dances” where the dancers are challenged to come up with dances that were done in the ’60s and ’70s—the Twist, the Pony, the Swim, the Jerk, and others. “Our goal is to present an evening of fun,” says Wikstrom. “Listening to these songs and doing those dances in our youth were a big part of our lives.”
The band is made up of Bob Wikstrom—Hammond organ, keyboards, and vocals; Brian Wentz—lead guitar and vocals; Doug Harris—drums/cowbell; Jeff Buda—tenor sax; Jim Ledford—bass guitar; Teddi English—trumpet and flugelhorn; and Mike Perkins—tenor sax, baritone sax, and vocals.
The June 28 show and dance begins at 6 p.m. in the Tuscany Falls Ballroom. The doors and Bar open at 5:30 p.m. So get your groove on, and plan for an evening of dancing and fun. There’s a $5 cover charge at the door. Learn more at bigdogsband.com.