NIAGARA FALLS — Before his second audition for the Charlie Daniels Band, Niagara Falls native and drummer Jack Gavin received an unreleased version of the band’s 1985 album “Me and the Boys”
The band’s management encouraged Gavin to learn two or three songs to prepare for the audition, which he was told would involve country and rock legend Charlie Daniels himself.
While working at night on tour as the drummer for country artist Mel McDaniel, Gavin went well beyond the basic assignment.
Instead of practicing two or three songs, he practiced them all.
“When they asked me what I learned, I said, ‘I got the whole record,” Gavin said. “We literally played the whole record. I had a migraine after, but when I got back to my apartment that little Code-A-Phone light was flashing and it was the tour manager saying, ‘Come in and cut your deal.’ So the stars lined up.”
During an interview with the Niagara Gazette in advance of this Thursday’s Jack Gavin Band concert at Castellani Columbus Square Park in Niagara Falls, Gavin recalled the musical journey that took him from his family home on Walnut Avenue to the big time.
Gavin started playing because his brothers needed a drummer for their band. He got good enough to start playing gigs with other local bands. He decided to pursue a music career as a teenager. After graduating from Niagara Falls High School, he studied at Niagara County Community College before obtaining his bachelor’s degree in music performance from Kent State University in 1983.
He credits a lot of talented and generous local musicians with helping him along the way, including Kenny Wagner from D’Amico Music in Niagara Falls and Louis “Louie” Marino, a drummer who is considered a legend in the Buffalo music scene and who played with the likes of Jimmy Dorsey, Billie Holiday and Chuck Mangione.
Gavin said his long-time mentor, former Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Paul Ferington, helped convince him that he should channel his raw talent and enthusiasm into the pursuit of a career as a professional drummer.
“Paul really changed my life around,” Gavin said.
While he could find steady work playing gigs locally, after graduating from college, Gavin realized he needed to move to a bigger musical market. He chose Nashville, where he admits the adjustment wasn’t easy.
“It was definitely difficult because you are in the big pond,” he said. “You are not in the little pond being a big fish; you are trying to make it as a minnow.”
Gavin said working with McDaniel gave him the national credentials he needed to land two auditions for Charlie Daniels. He learned about the auditions through a Niagara Falls connection — June Prozeralik, the niece of long-time John’s Flaming Hearth owner John Prozeralik.
He spent 14 years touring and recording with The Charlie Daniels Band. He described Daniels as not only an exceptional performer but also an exceptional person.
“He was the greatest man I have ever known, the greatest human being,” he said. “He took me in like a child. He and his wife, Hazel, took me in like their kid. They were wonderful.”
After touring and recording with The Charlie Daniels Band, Gavin became band leader and drummer for Tracy Lawrence in 1999. He worked with Lawrence for four years before starting a 10-year stint as country singer Tanya Tucker’s drummer, musical director and tour and production manager.
During his career, Gavin has performed with many other notable artists, including Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Travis Tritt, John Kay of Steppenwolf, Colin Raye, Jamie O’Neal, Ronnie Milsap, Pam Tillis and Dolly Parton.
He later brought his road experience into the classroom, teaching at Lipscomb University’s School of Music in Nashville.
These days, the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Famer is playing drums in his own group called The Jack Gavin Band, which includes Frank Grizanti on guitar and vocals, Frank Catanese on bass and vocals, keyboardists Marc “Maestro” Perricelli and Steve Dillon, guitarist Charlie LaTempio and vocalist Dave Mitro.
The Gavin band will play a show as part of the Pine Avenue Redevelopment Project’s summer concert series from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Castellani Columbus Square Park, located at the corner of 15th Street and Pine Avenue in the Falls. There will be raffles and a food truck on site. The after-show party will take place at the Judas Tree, located at 1507 Pine Ave., across the street from the park.
“I want to give back to the community,” Gavin said. “My goal is to bring something back, give back to the community here, to hopefully use my name and my career to give a shot in the arm to this area right here, this park and this concert series.”