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July/August 2006 Features

Plugged In

by Todd Rossnagel

They are called “Four Unplugged,” which would lead you to believe they are four members of a band that specializes in acoustic music. However, as many on the northshore know, there are seven members of this intoxicating band and they are anything but “unplugged.” And despite the riddle of their name, there is nothing puzzling about their music. To simply describe them as a “cover band” would be doing them a great disservice. They are more like a cover band on five cups of stiff coffee.

In fact, coffee is a fitting analogy for Four Unplugged. Just as it can be prepared ten ways to Sunday, Four Unplugged can prepare a show equally as diverse. They’ll play hit songs from Black Sabbath to Cream and even Sugar Ray. They’ll rock a Seafood Fest or sweep Aunt Shirley off her feet at a wedding.

Four Unplugged is quite simply a fun band, content and thrilled to play music that makes your foot bounce or, in some cases, makes every nerve in your body bounce. However, while they describe themselves as a “rock/funk/acoustic party machine,” it’s fairly obvious that you can omit the word “modern” from the description.

That’s just fine with lead vocalist and founder of Four Unplugged, Rick Windhorst. “Today’s music stinks,” he snaps. “That’s not just my opinion, though. We hear from younger people all the time, and they’re downloading oldies and listening to the classics more and more. Yeah, we’ll play a few modern hits, but nothing gets a party started like a song everyone in the room can sing along to.”

Like any good cover-band singer, however, Windhorst knows his limitations. “I can’t sing like Steve Perry of Journey, so I don’t try to sing Journey. Of course, there are times when we can change the key of a song, and if by doing that we can make the song our own, well, it goes on the list to be played. But in the same way, if we learn a song and it just isn’t right, then we let it go and move on.”

Despite their simple, straightforward approach, you are still left with that nagging little question—What is it with the name? “Don’t worry. It’s probably our single-most-asked question,” Rick says. The answer takes you back to 1996, when Rick and his wife, Jan, who plays keyboard for the band, were completely exhausted.

“At the time, Jan and I had just gotten out of the J. J. Muggler Band. We had been traveling all over the South, promoting our original music and playing concerts, bars and anywhere else that there was someone to listen to us. After a few years, we were totally spent. The weekly grind of being in an original band and working 9 to 5 during the week had just about beaten us to death.”

Rick and Jan decided to hit the beach. While on the coast, they went to one of their favorite watering holes, the Flora-Bama. Turns out, that watering hole sprouted an idea ten years in the making. “It was there that Jan and I got to listen to and enjoy the acoustic acts,” says Rick. “On the way home, we discussed that when we were ready to form a new band it should be more of an acoustic-rock format.”

Many ideas are hatched inside the infamous Flora-Bama, only to live a very short lifespan. This idea, however, has stood the test of time. As they celebrate their tenth anniversary this summer, the couple looks back on the band’s beginnings. Even at the start, the group had a rather intense following. Devout fans were calling themselves “Four Heads,” and they were also calling for Rick and Jan to crank up the music. Four Unplugged listened and gave the crowd exactly what they wanted—plugged-in music. Their volume increased, as did their size. They went from four to six before topping out at their current roster of seven members. Through all the changes, including three different guitar players and two drummers, the name has been the one constant.

The band has not only seen immense change in their makeup since their beginnings in 1996. They have also evidenced, first hand, major changes on the northshore over the past ten years. And while it may seem odd to consider a rock-n-roll band an authority on the character of the region, consider this: Four Unplugged has played nearly every festival on the northshore over the past decade.

“If I had to describe the area,” says Windhorst, “I would say northshore residents live for the weekend. They aren’t afraid to work hard, and they aren’t afraid to play hard.”

Guitarist Rick Samson adds, “The northshore is also very diverse. You have a little of everything here. For us, that’s perfect, because we play a little of everything.”

Scan any Four Unplugged audience and you will see exactly what the two men are talking about. From CEOs to bikers, students to retirees, the crowd is mixed like a South Louisiana gumbo. Hidden amongst the crowd, the rice to the Four Unplugged gumbo, if you will, are the loyal followers who never miss a gig: the Four Heads. Stephanie Irwin, a self-proclaimed Four Head, says the band is passionate on stage and off. “It’s just such a kick to see them perform. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen them, and every time is more exciting than the last one,” she says.

Hanging out with the band, you truly get the feeling that you are part of a much larger event, such as a family gathering or a reunion. Hugs and kisses flow like the beats of Randy Bidleman’s drums. Strangers become friends as quickly as a Kenny Schneider guitar rift. Windhorst says, “Everybody is a Four Head or about to be a Four Head!” There’s a concerted effort on the part of everyone in the band to connect emotionally with the audience. “We rarely go into a show with a set order to our songs,” says Windhorst. “We just gear up and go. We depend on audience feedback for everything we do.”

In today’s “all about me” generation, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear and see a band focused on satisfying the audience, first and foremost. “When I see them perform, I feel like Rick is singing directly to me,” says Irwin, who is so dedicated she also attends the band’s practice sessions. “When we come to their show, whether it’s me and my girlfriends who have seen them a million times, or it’s someone who has never seen them, everybody feels like they’ve known these guys their whole life.”

For all their notoriety, Four Unplugged is not above performing at wedding receptions, as is the case for many small-town bands that go on to make it big. In fact, their attitude about weddings actually defines the very nature of their success and their ardent support.
“We know that weddings are more than just a gig. It’s the most important day in a young couple’s life,” Windhorst says. “We feel it’s our responsibility to do everything in our power to make the day perfect. Then, the next week, wherever we may be, that will be the most important show to us. Never look past the next gig; live for the moment and live it to the fullest.”

You have to love a band that uses the word “responsibility.” For the past ten years, Four Unplugged’s responsibility has been to be as plugged in to the northshore scene and the audience as much as possible. In the end, they are a better band for it. In turn, the northshore is a better place.

While their name may be odd, the truth is: If you aren’t having a colossal good time listening to them, you’re the odd one out.