
1. What does the name "Eight to the Bar" mean?
The term "Eight to the Bar", contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do
with 8 people
or a bar where you drink. Instead, it's a musical term which refers to a
style of boogie
woogie piano popular in the forties where the piano player would play 8
beats per musical
bar in his or her left hand. There was a hit song during that time (covered
by the Andrews
Sisters, among others) about such a piano player and it was called "Beat Me
Daddy, Eight
to the Bar." It's from this song that we got our name.
2. Who's the original member/s?
Cynthia Lyon started the band in 1975. The original lineup has long since
grown up and
moved on, but Cynthia, by her own admission, is a "lifer".
3. Do you perform at weddings?
Yes, we do lots of weddings. If you look at our calendar, you'll notice the
word "private"
at least once a week. Most of the time when it says "private", it's a wedding.
4. Is the drummer old enough to get into this bar?
Again, contrary to appearances, David Keith is 27 years old but many think
he's 14.
5. What is swing?
In layman's terms, swing is a style of music characterized by a specific
rhythm pattern. It's
not a tempo- a song can be slow or fast and still be swing, but it must
have a certain
rhythm pattern. The easiest way to describe this pattern is to say that the
bass player
typically plays quarter notes that are not syncopated and the drummer must
be able to play
a "ding ding a ding" pattern on the cymbals.