Name - Old Man Band

Lee— ”In 2015 Tony, Doug, and I were helping out with the student pep band at IMS one evening and when the principal saw Tony carrying in his guitar he said ‘Oh good, the old man band’ is playing tonight.” And it just kinda stuck 😊

Venues

In the past few years we played 10-12 times per year, but had a busier 2024 with 15 gigs. We’ve played public events including Kalona Fall Festival, Wellman 4th of July, Iowa City venues, and Riverside casino as well as many private parties as far away as Sutliff, Iowa. For two years we’ve been an item in the Habitat for Humanity auction.

Trent—“We’ve played in beautiful performance centers as well as cool old barns, metal buildings, on hay racks, and once on a stage I built out of old doors.”

Music Style

We are mostly a cover band and love it when crowds recognize the songs and can’t help singing along and tapping their toes.

Trent—“People always ask me what type of music do you play?  And I answer, Yes. Because we play so many genres: classic rock, country, pop, oldies, 80’s, Do-Wop. We try to cater to the event such as when we played the Kalona Car Cruise, we played tunes about cars and we even added a couple, Pink Cadillac and One Piece At a Time. We had a private party that requested a song, Keeper of the Stars, that was played at a wedding years ago and we learned it for them. We like to create a fun environment that encourages the crowd to have energy.  We feed off that.”

We do have a few songs that we’ve written, including Old Man Banned, Backyard Muse, and Yoder Miller Swartzendruber in which Yoder names the 27 most popular last names from the Kalona-Wellman area.  

Trent—“It’s pretty well received at our area events. We’re working on a music video for that one and that’s almost done. That will be fun to see on YouTube."

Practice

OMB practices on average once a week in their drummer’s house on Highway One.

Gil—“I enjoy the camaraderie and the fun we have, the banter we have back and forth and how we all just enjoy playing music together.”

Guilty Pleasure - Every practice we wrap up by eating Little Debbie snack cakes together.

Strengths and Improvements

Lee—“One of our strengths would be our vocals, our ability to harmonize together, our ability to blend our voices, and doing songs that are crowd favorites and familiar.”

A big jump forward is when we got Nate involved a few years ago to assist with upgrading our system to include in-ear monitors and new mics. Soon after, Nate started coming regularly to provide tech support and mixing sound for our performances. Crowds notice the difference when Nate isn’t able to help.

Steve Groenewold—“The new system allows us to really dial in on how we sound. It raised our level quite a bit and Nate’s got incredible technical expertise.”

Last Gig of 2024

Our last gig will be at the historic What Cheer Opera House on Saturday, Nov 16 at 7:00.  Over the years performers at the opera house have included Glenn Miller, Hank Williams Jr., Kitty Wells, and John Phillip Sousa. 

Tony—“I’m just excited to be playing in a historic building where a lot of different types of entertainers have played.  It’s nice to see something with that history that’s not torn down.”

Going into 2025

“Trent—We’ve been so encouraged by our following this year.  We already have a lot of inquiries and gigs lined up for 2025, but I haven’t started posting a schedule yet.  I usually start doing that in January and it will be on our website.”

“I’ve seen Old Man Band play many times. Those guys are amazing. Every time I see them they just keep getting better and better. You guys are always so much fun!  We definitely want you back next year!  Put it on your calendar!”

Jackie Bailey, Kalona resident and retired Mid-Prairie teacher

“Old Man Band has quite the following, but not just locally. They draw attendees from cities like Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and beyond. They play classic hits that everyone loves, but folks also stick around to hear their originals that Kalona locals can particularly relate to. The band members are always upbeat with great communication, flexible with playlists, location or schedules. They simply want everyone to have a good time, and you can’t go wrong with that. We would definitely recommend them to others for both private events and public.”

Tonia Poole, Kalona Chamber of Commerce

“I love Old Man Band because of all the great “older generation” songs that they play. They have a way to get the crowd involved and everyone enjoys hearing them. I have brought them in for Fall Festival the last three years because they bring a good crowd in on Friday night. I recently was at a tourism show and our table at lunch was talking about different performers and I recommended them to everyone.”

Nancy Roth, Kalona Historical Village

“They are very easy to work with. They are all local, so a lot of folks know them on a personal level. They interact with the crowd during the entire show. They interject a lot of fun in their shows, and they always attract large crowds. They have even written a song about the people who live in Kalona using their last names.”

Mark Robe, Mayor of Kalona