By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

These days, most bands reunite after a bitter breakup for the sole purpose of cashing in on nostalgia. But that's not the case with The Gear Daddies, the Minneapolis country-rock band that scored a handful of hits like "Stupid Boy," "Don't Look at Me" and "Color of Her Eyes" during the '80s and '90s before an amicable split in 1992 to pursue solo careers and parenthood. They're back together because, get this, they miss each other.

"First and foremost, we've been friends from the start," says 41-year-old-singer Martin Zellar. Bassist Nick Ciola, guitarist Randy Broughten, drummer Billy Dankert and Zellar formed The Gear Daddies in 1982 during their senior year in high school in Austin, Minn. "We've discovered over the years that friendship is irreplaceable."

So, too, one might argue, is their music, which precipitated the alt-country movement. Two years ago, thousands of fans flocked to a Gear Daddies reunion show in St. Paul, Minn. Over the years, Zellar adds, concert promoters and club owners have wanted to hire the band, citing lasting fan popularity. Finally, after agreeing to fill in for a headliner at a recent Twin Cities festival, the band decided to shift The Gear Daddies into the new millennium.

"If we were going to practice we decided we might as well do a few shows," Zellar says. "We never took ourselves too seriously anyway."

The Gear Daddies' reunion is far from a full-scale comeback. It consists of a handful of shows in Midwest markets where their fan base remains loyal, playing at their favorite clubs. "They're places we have fond, but vague memories of," Zellar says. "In the early years we weren't always lucid."

One of those stops includes a performance Friday at the Simon Estes Amphitheater for Tom Zmolek's Alive Concert Series. Zmolek used to book The Gear Daddies in his Ames club, People's Bar and Grill.

"When we started playing there he was just opening up the club and I remember the beer was in a tub with ice," Zellar says. "It was far from being finished and we wondered what we had walked into, but we made a lot of friends there."

Though Zellar says he will maintain his solo career, which includes Neil Diamond tribute shows, he isn't ruling out a longstanding reunion with his old friends.

"I'll never say never," he says. "If it feels right and we're having a blast, I don't see why we shouldn't do it. It would be one more to thing to keep me busy, though I wouldn't do it to the exclusion of anything else.

"The best part is playing and hanging out with my friends again, to fall back into that old feeling. It's family."

Free Music Fest set

If ticket prices to summer rock concerts have dented your wallet, you might want to head to Newton for some free tunes. That's where you'll find 11 area rock bands donating their time and talents to Free Music Fest, a one-day event to be held June 25 at the Maytag Bowl in Maytag Park from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, food and drink.

Headliners Totally Wrecked, as well as The Cassandra Disease, Sincerely Me, Common Diseases of Swine, Sublevel, Final Escape, Here Among the Others, Well Dressed Man, One Lost Moment, Avista and Deepshit Arkansas will perform.

Jason Couples, drummer for Newton's Totally Wrecked, is organizing the festival of bands that play original material. "It's about supporting local music," he says. "We want people to recognize the level of talent here."

A day of music at The Playground

The Playground, an East Side venue, will host a day-long series of shows by local musicians on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. Scheduled acts include Royal Garuda, First Punic War, Martyrs of Maudlin, Like Knives, Horseshoe Spatulas, Stuck With Arthur, House of Commons, Keepers of the Carpet, 7 Inch Wave, Mike P, Ian and Mike Martinez, Mondo Cane, Poison Control Center and Troubled Hubble. The event will also include a puppet show and a movie. For more information, including admission and bands yet to be announced, visit www.playgroundmusic.com.

Johnston to host bluegrass fest

The high-lonesome sound of bluegrass may have been founded in the Appalachian Mountains, but you can hear it later this summer on the prairie. That's because The Johnston Bluegrass Festival, featuring performances by eight bands, an instrumental workshop and children's activities, will be held Aug. 6 from noon to 7 p.m. at Johnston Commons.

National headliners Special Consensus, as well as regional acts Mr. Baber's Neighbors, Bob Black & Banjoy, The Waring Family, Blue Grit, The Bluegrass Pals, The Barn Owl Band and Grassy Knoll, are slated to play.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and teens ages 12-18, and children under 12 will be admitted free of charge. Proceeds from the festival benefit the Johnston Public Library.

For more information, visit www.johnstonbluegrassfestival.com or call 270-1512.

Scene notes

Last week, the Des Moines City Council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance for the creation of a live music commission, 7-0. If approved, a seven-person commission would advise the council to help develop and expand the city's live music scene. The effort is being spearheaded by Des Moines Music Coalition founder Fritz Junker and councilman Michael Kiernan. Two additional readings by the council of the ordinance will be held in the coming weeks, concluding July 18... Jazzy Willy's, an R&B, hip-hop and jazz nightclub, closed its doors last week following a final jam session on Sunday... Metal bands that virtually ignored us during their '80s heyday continue to make their way to Des Moines this month as they mount comebacks. On Saturday, Bret Michaels (formerly of Poison), Slaughter, Foreigner, Skid Row and others will play the Waterstock Rock Festival at Waterworks Park in Des Moines. The event starts at 11 a.m. and tickets are $20. And on Friday, Vixen, the popular all-chick group that sold millions of copies of their first two albums, "Vixen" and "Rev it Up," before disbanding in 1991, plays The House of Bricks at 9 p.m. Guitarist Jan Kuehnemund reformed Vixen in 2001 and remains the group's sole original member. Tickets are $15 in advance through IowaTix... Those who prefer modern metal, however, might want to check out Sweden's Backyard Babies, who play Hairy Mary's on Saturday as part of their summer-long tour of the U.S. in support of their latest album, "Tinnitus." Canadian rockers Crash Kelly will open at 9 p.m... Minneapolis roots rockers Roger Clyne and Peacemakers play Keysters on Monday. They're on tour to support their new DVD/CD, "Americano," which includes new songs and a 50-minute documentary on the making of the record. The band's road manager, by the way, is Des Moines native Jamie Lee... Shooter Jennings, the rebel son of country music legend Waylon Jennings who is blazing a path with his own brand of outlaw country, plays The Mill in Iowa City Monday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door... New Orleans bluesman Mem Shannon and the Membership will play an all-ages show Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at O'Kelly's Steakhouse, 108 N. Main St., in Baxter. Admission is free, but donations to benefit the South Skunk Blues Society will be accepted. Call (641) 227-3013... The Des Moines Art Center will host "Everything Fell Together," an exhibition of videos and films by Christian Jankowski June 23 through Aug. 28. Guided tours are available. Call 271-0328... Particle, a progressive-rock-jam-band, and the "Chicks Who Rock Show," featuring Jill Sobule and Anna Nalick and Antigone Rising, have been added to the Alive Concert Series and will play the Simon Estes Amphitheater July 1 and July 8, respectively... The first annual Iowa Metalfest, featuring 14 bands, will be held July 4 at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park in Des Moines. Tickets, which sell for $20 in advance, are available now through IowaTix, Sleepy Hollow, The Lumberyard, Keepers Music and CD Warehouse. National headliners God Forbid, Full Blown Chaos and Nobis, as well as local acts Facecage and Reality's Flaw are slated to perform. For more information, visit www.iowametalfest.com... Local rockers Rosefield Rivals have called it quits. The group performed its final show June 5 at The House of Bricks. The band posted a message on its Web site citing the reason for its demise as "Bradford [David Johnson] and Aaron [Buzbee] decided they don't want to play music for the rest of their lives and it wasn't fair to make everyone think they did." The group's other members, Jeff Krantz and Elliott Tommingo, plan to pursue new musical ventures. CV

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