www.evanjonesmusic.com
Guilty Pleasures (commonly known as "GPO"), is the brain-child of Dick Bartling (drummer for Aaron Baron, and more recently numerous other local Sioux Falls bands), and Craig Olson (nicknamed "Gumby" and bassist/vocalist for Ramrod Hamster). The story goes that they were sitting around talking about music that they grew up listening to and loved, and although there is an age difference between the two, found out that they were talking about the same bands and songs. Although Dick is older, Craig said that his older siblings were about the same age as Dick, and were listening to the same music. Craig, being just a little tyke, was basically inundated with those songs which were repeated so often, that they became part of his very nature.
So this is how it would start, GPO now had a bassist and a drummer, but needed a few other accomplished musicians that had the same love for the music they grew up listening to. They figured the need was for two guitarists, and one keyboardist in order to reproduce the music they wanted to play.
Dick called his friend and former Aaron Baron band mate Brian Detmers (nicknamed "Beno") as the first guitarist chosen to participate. This was a logical choice as Dick and Brian continued to play in various projects together since the Aaron Baron days in the 1980's. Brian said he thought it sounded like great fun, and was eager to join. This was great news for Dick and Gumby as Brian was not only a superb guitarist, but an excellent vocalist as well. They now had an excellent core group and two vocalists.
Dick had approached Wakefield keyboardist Evan Jones, to see if he would be interested. Evan seemed like an excellent fit as he was approximately the same age as Dick and Beno, which meant he too had certainly grown up listening to similar bands and songs, he played multiple keyboards, which would be needed to reproduce the music they were considering, and also was an accomplished vocalist. Having thought through it, Evan seemed like another perfect fit and agreed to join the group.
The last piece to the GPO puzzle was the second guitarist. Steve Grimes (of Sugar Daddy) was asked to participate as he also was a superb guitarist that was also a competent vocalist. Dick and the others believed Steve would be another perfect fit, and was asked to join the group. Steve remained a member for a couple years, but due to booking conflicts with his other band, decided to drop out of Guilty Pleasures.
Mike Dresch was another accomplished guitarist/vocalist who had played in numerous other Sioux Falls bands throughout the years. He was also a superb recording engineer and still is the owner of Cathouse Studios in Sioux Falls. Being friends with Brian, he was also a natural fit to replace Steve at the beginning of 2016.
The membership was now finalized....drums, bass, two guitars, keyboards, and four vocalists.
If you get the opportunity, enjoy the music of your youth as GPO will bring your favorite music of the 1970's and 1980's back to life at a level of quality seldom heard.
