It's a typical weekend scenario across the United States. Parents hopping into their minivans and SUVS and traveling to watch their children participate in various sporting events. For three families from Woodstock, Ill., the routine is pretty much the same, but they are heading out to watch their sons play gigs, not sports.
 95.7
WRIT Beatle Bash |
| If You Go |
 Stockwood
will play at 5 p.m. Saturday as part of the 95.7 WRIT Beatle
Bash at Richfield Chalet, 1271 Highway 175, in Hubertus. Doors open
at 4 p.m. and tickets are $12. For more information, call (262)
628-4080. |
J.D. Fuller, 14, John Morefield, 11, Collin Berg, 13, and his brother Evan, 10, are members of the band Stockwood, billed as the world's youngest Beatles tribute band. The boys and their families spend many weekends throughout the year traveling to Beatles festivals and other performance venues.
Today, the band will play the 95.7 WRIT Beatle Bash, which starts at 4 p.m. Last year, the band was the winner of the "Battle of the Beatle Bands" at the Chicago's Fest for Beatle Fans last year.
Stockwood started informally three years ago at a school talent show. "J.D. had just taken up the bass, Evan had just taken up the drums, and since Collin had been playing his instrument longer than any of them, he suggested they play a Beatles song because that's what he knew," said Rob Murphy, J.D.'s uncle and manager of the band.
Someone at that show was impressed enough to ask them to play for a benefit event, and that was the beginning of their musical careers.
"Originally when it started, it wasn't intended to be a Beatles thing, it just kind of grew into that naturally," said Murphy. Evan plays Ringo Starr and Collin is John Lennon.
"Over the last two and a half years, J.D., he's right-handed, he changed to a lefty because he saw that Paul (McCartney) actually played left-handed. Originally there were five guys in the band, just like the Beatles had when they first started," Murphy said. "About six months after they were into this, the other guy decided he didn't want to do it anymore. John, who originally was playing keyboards for the band, took up the role of lead guitar. He taught himself. After a month of having his first guitar, he played the first event that we ever did down in Louisville, Kentucky, which was a crowd of about 30,000 people."
John Morefield, who plays George Harrison in the band, said he has loved the Beatles his whole life. "I don't really listen to anything modern. The Beatles and '60s, '70s and '80s is like the only thing I ever listen to."
The band focuses on the Beatles' first six albums. "They try to emulate the real show," Murphy said.
Like most middle-school kids, the boys are into sports as well. "They all play baseball. . . . It's sometimes difficult coordinating around Little League schedules, but the one thing that they've committed to me and each other is, if a gig comes up, they will miss a baseball game."