Improbable as it may sound, Connecticut rock band Tirebiter has been performing for 43 years, continuously, with most of its original lineup intact.
“There are certain bands that have taken a long hiatus,” says bassist Jeff Ladd. “We’ve never even taken a vacation, basically because we couldn’t afford to.”
On Saturday, Feb. 27, Tirebiter hosts a benefit show for one of its own: longtime guitarist Gary Gidman, who was found to have a cancerous tumor wrapped around his spinal cord in 2014.
The concert takes place at the Parrott Delaney Tavern in New Hartford, the site of the former Ovation Guitar factory, beginning at 7 p.m.; tickets are $15. The Sounds of Frank Trio, the Fountainhead Band, Eight to the Bar, Beatles Forever, the Creedence Fogerty Tribute Band and Steppin’ Out will all donate performances, with singer-guitarist “Ozone” Pete Willett performing during the changeovers.
Since his diagnosis, Gidman, who moved into an assisted living facility in 2002 after a stroke, has endured numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is now a paraplegic.
“It’s a wonderful testament to Gary to have all these bands, our musical brothers and sisters, coming together to perform,” Ladd says. “We’re really thrilled.”
In its heyday, Tirebiter was known for its enormous repertoire of songs, ranging from Top 40 hits, harder prog-rock workouts by Kansas and Boston, and old-time rock and roll and doo-wop numbers.
“There were bands that had a certain style,” Ladd says. “We really were all over the place.”
The original lineup — Ladd, Gidman, drummer Tom Moran, keyboard player Tom Haynes and vocalist John Cooper — first got together in 1973, when Moran and Ladd were still music education students at the Hartt School.
Before long, Tirebiter was gigging seven nights a week, at the Dial Tone in Torrington, the Rocking Horse Saloon in the South End of Hartford, the Shaboo Inn in Willimantic, and other storied Connecticut venues. Band members earned a living wage.
“I was trying to decide: Should I teach or should I play in a band?” Moran, who now teaches music in the Canton public schools, says. “I didn’t take my first job as a teacher until I was in my 50s.”
In Cooper, Gidman and Haynes, Tirebiter had three strong lead vocalists, and all five members sang harmony parts, with both Gidman and Cooper able to sing at extreme ends of the spectrum. The group frequently mixed a half dozen or more a cappella arrangements into its sets.
“When we did the Beach Boys, we had all the parts covered,” Moran says. “Other groups didn’t do that.”
Gidman, Ladd says, was largely responsible for Tirebiter’s signature vocal sound.
“Gary had this ability to pick out harmony parts and dish them out to all of us,” Ladd says. “He was like the Brian Wilson of the group.”
In the late 1970s, one-act tribute bands emerged — Doors tribute Crystal Ship, for example, or the venerable Steely Dan tribute Beau Bolero — along with the rise of punk and New Wave, and Tirebiter’s popularity took a hit.
“Our career was such a roller coaster ride,” Ladd says. “We went from people saying, ‘You know what’s great about Tirebiter? They do so many styles of music,’ to ‘You know what’s wrong with Tirebiter? They do too many styles of music.'”
“We were playing Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, the Four Seasons, a lot of vocal-oriented stuff,” Moran says, “but the clubs we were playing in were all rock and roll clubs. We weren’t fitting the bill. … We didn’t make lots of money, but we played a lot.”
The band responded with a 1960s tribute — a British Invasion set, a Woodstock set, a one-hit wonder set, and so on. “We’d still be able to be eclectic, but we’d still retain our identity,” Ladd says. “It wasn’t a smashing success, but it got us through that period. With the personalities of the band, it would have been tough for us, night after night, to do a tribute to one particular band.”
In 1979, Tirebiter released an album of original material called “Moonlight,” distributed regionally by Rounder Records, but record labels resisted (listen to the album here). Cooper left in 1999, after 25 years in the band.
“When John decided to leave,” Ladd says, “the running joke was: ‘Geez, John, if you knew you were going to leave, why’d you join the band in the first place?'”
These days, Tirebiter performs as a quartet, with guitarist Doug Riley. The band sticks to its old repertoire, and its fans like it that way. “Clubs are not as plentiful and live music has taken somewhat of a hit,” Ladd says, “but we’re still out there playing.”
“The scene is definitely different,” Moran says. “The drinking age went up, insurance for clubs went out of sight, the economy changed. … The whole thing just squashed it.”
Before he fell ill, Gidman was in Tirebiter for 29 years, and was also a charismatic solo artist, drawing crowds every Wednesday night at the Hungry Tiger in Manchester.
“A lot of people don’t realize what a brilliant musician and composer [Gidman] was,” Ladd says. “People would say that he sings really nice, or that he’s great guitar player, but so many people called on him to help with or play on their projects.”
“Gary’s life was music,” Moran says. “That’s what he did all the time. What happened to him could have happened to any of us. I’m happy people are doing this [benefit] for him, so that he can see and know that people are still thinking about him.”
TIREBITER performs at the Parrott Delaney Tavern, 37 Greenwoods Road in New Hartford on Saturday, Feb. 27, along with the Sounds of Frank Trio, the Fountainhead Band, Eight To The Bar, Beatles Forever, the Creedence-Fogerty Tribute Band, Steppin’ Out and “Ozone” Pete Willett. Showtime is 7 p.m.; tickets are $15. Information: parrottdelaneytavern.com.
