SYN-R-G: Still Funky and Super Bad
Chris Manson July 1, 2004 Issue

I recently met a young lady who described herself as a “business consultant.” What is that, I asked, you look at businesses and tell them what they need to do to increase profits? Pretty much, she said. And even if your advice doesn’t work, you still get paid? She nodded yes. What a great racket, I thought as I made the journey to John Wehner’s Famous Door at Baytowne Wharf. I was forced to ride the shuttle bus since the parking lot was full. This band sure can draw a crowd, I said to an uninterested fellow sitting across from me.

SYN-R-G’s current gig—they began playing here in late January—has found the multitalented trio “learning the new system of resort life,” according to lead singer and keyboard player Mike Bethea. But they are still doing what made them one of the most sought after acts on the Gulf Coast—“making a place successful. We did it for the Sky Bar and Harry T’s and now the Famous Door.”

After the Famous Door’s Dream Band left for Shreveport and Harry T’s had its extreme makeover, SYN-R-G got the offer to play at Wehner’s club. Now the countless Baytowne Wharf visitors will get a good blast of dance music, as well as the longtime fans coming from as far away as Hurlburt Field and Wetumpka, Ala. The latter is the hometown of SYN-R-G fan Phil Tankersley.

“He tracked us down!” saxophonist/vocalist Ike Bartley said when Tankersley came over to our table.

“I’ve been following these guys around wherever they’ve been,” Tankersley told me. “We used to go out to Crab Island when they played there.”

The guys are still playing the retro funk songs they love, but have worked up some new numbers by everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to Outkast. They also have mastered some female vocal tunes, since the Dream Band’s Tanya Roberts sings with them on the weekends.

“We’re constantly growing and sounding better,” Bartley said.

As I spoke to Bethea, Bartley, and guitarist Shannon Wallace outside the club, a couple more longtime admirers stopped by to wish the band well. “A positive thing about this, is being on a stage in a place with more theatrical lighting,” Wallace said. “We’re able to ‘perform’ more, as opposed to playing on a glorified Ramada Inn stage.”

SYN-R-G has cornered the market on the 30-and-up demographic. They are proud to call themselves an “adult entertainment” band.

“We enjoy seeing the same faces over and over again,” Bartley said. “It takes real effort to play the same songs to the same people every week, but that’s what being professional is all about.”

Bethea agreed. “A lot of people forget about the bands and people who have been around for 14 years. That’s what the visitors come back for—longevity. We’re on our third generation of entertaining audiences.”

Wallace added that SYN-R-G has plenty of private functions booked in the upcoming months. “We played for their dads, and now we’re playing at their kids’ weddings,” he said.

Bethea is back 100 percent after months of rehabilitation following his life-threatening bout with pneumonia. “He’s singing better than ever,” Wallace said.

In addition to entertaining growing audiences five nights a week, the men of SYN-R-G find time for individual projects. Wallace is currently converting his recording studio to all digital with an eye on the jingle market. In addition, he has done mixes recently for many local artists—he noted that he had a hand in mixing or recording most of the CDs in the Music 4 Less store’s regional section.

Bartley has been writing material for his much-anticipated solo album. “I’ve always done CDs with bands, but this one is all written, arranged, and played by me.” He will also start teaching saxophone. “People have asked me over the years. I’m looking forward to finally doing it,” Bartley said.

Bethea’s current activities include working with the Worldwide Catholic Network. A version of an 80-year-old prayer song he recorded with two female singers was a best seller worldwide. “It’s an 18-minute song. The words are the same, but the music is more up to date. The old version was classical. This has more soul to it. I went to Massachusetts on the first Sunday after Easter and introduced the song to 20,000 people from all over the world.”

As the trio made its way to the stage for a soundcheck, lots of people began filing into the Famous Door. SYN-R-G’s performance got off to a fine start with Bethea singing Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground. The huge subwoofers under the stage threatened to overshadow the fine work of Bartley and Wallace, but Bethea’s voice broke through the thunderous bass.

Although the opening sets at the Famous Door are decidedly less jazzy than what SYN-R-G did previously, Bartley was able to demonstrate his saxophone prowess on David Sanborn’s Chicago Song. Bartley walked off the stage and onto the dance floor without missing a note. How Sweet It Is—the Marvin Gaye classic by way of James Taylor—featured some fine harmony singing by Wallace and Bartley on the pre-chorus and innovative phrasing from Bethea.

Several Kool & the Gang songs got the SYN-R-G treatment—Too Hot, Get Down on It, and Ladies Night. A funky highlight was their rendition of Average White Band’s instrumental Pick Up the Pieces—even the bartenders were shaking their booties. On stage, the guys displayed genuine affection for each other. It wasn’t necessary to ask the guys what’s kept them intact for over a decade, but I did anyway.

“The reason other bands don’t stay together is personality conflicts,” Bartley said. “We have the same goals. We want to sound good. We can take criticism from each other. We’re easy to get along with, and we can count on each other to show up. We know that if someone doesn’t show up, they’re dead or something is really wrong!”

“We try to live stress-free,” Wallace added. “No egos.”

“I know I’m critical of myself,” Bartley continued. “Attempting to play and do everything perfect from top to bottom—that’s what keeps us humble. All of us are perfectionists.”

SYN-R-G’s proven track record got me thinking about that business consultant again. I wish to offer free of charge my advice to any club owner whose business may be falling off. Give Bartley, Bethea, and Wallace a call.

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