After a very successful 6-year run as one of the Music Club’s premier entertainment groups, band leader Doug Bennett has announced that Sonoran Skies has retired.
The band originally came together, as so many things do here in Sun City Grand, when a couple of friends getting together realized they shared a common love of music, with each reaching out to others to join them for jam sessions in Doug’s living room. They brought in Terry Pierce on bass guitar and vocals; BJ Davis for picking & rhythms and vocals; Gary Lees on drums and vocals; Marv Myhre vocalist (and a master on the kazoo); and Sherry Bennett on keyboard and vocals. Sherry was the accompanist for the Grand Singers for the last 8 years, and their assistant director for six of them. Asked to perform with a group who defined themselves as a “grand eclectic rock ‘n roll folk show” was a step out of her comfort zone, but with great results.
All the members had been performing since high school and right from the beginning, they wanted to play familiar songs that would resonate with their audience and invoke feelings of “I remember what I was doing when that song hit the charts.” Doug was from Detroit; Sherry from Appleton WI; BJ from McAllister OK; Gary from Chicago; Marv from York ND; and Terry, born in the UK with family still there, grew up near Seattle. Their debut performance came in January 2016, when David Durham tapped them to perform at a Music Club Showcase called “Panning for Gold.” And gold he did find with this group.
Sonoran Skies was asked to produce and direct the Music Club’s popular annual Celebration of Music in 2018 and 2019, featuring a range of talented singers and musicians from our community. Their last performance was to a packed audience at Grace Community Church last November. When everything shut down because of COVID, the church opened its doors to Sonoran Skies to both practice and perform.
Sherry will continue to perform with the Grand Singers and both she and Doug will continue playing in church. Terry, Marv, and BJ perform with the popular Juke Box Junkies, and Terry continues to sing, act and dance in some of our big stage musical shows. Gary, who still performs with the same drum he used back in high school, wants to start up his own band and is currently looking for a keyboardist, lead guitar and horn player to join him (call him at 623-670-6450 if you’re interested).
Each member of Sonoran Skies is grateful to the Music Club for sponsoring them, and for the support that the Grand community has shown them over the years. While they will continue performing in other venues, they retire Sonoran Skies with wonderful memories. They encourage new residents of Sun City Grand who have sung or played an instrument at some point in their life – or would like to start doing that now – to check out the Music Club’s website at scgrandmusicclub.com to see the many groups who are currently performing. If you share the members’ love of music in all its variations, this is the club for you!