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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 9, 2021
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G O I N G
WITH THE FLOW Photos by Harry Sayer
Kenny Goldstone leads on vocals.
The Grouper Cheeks band has been making music through the pandemic — most recently with a tribute song to Sarasota. HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER
K
enny Goldstone had plans for his new band. He and his many friends had come together as The Grouper Cheeks in late 2019 to rock out and play cover songs for people in the Sarasota County and Central Florida areas. After months of rehearsing, they booked their first live gig. It was all set for March 2020. It’s safe to say that things didn’t go the way Goldstone had hoped. But good artists improvise, and Goldstone and the rest of his new bandmates decided to go with the flow. If they couldn’t play live, they’d make their music remotely. The Grouper Cheeks ended up recording month in and out from their homes during the pandemic. “The pandemic sort of created a very strange and wonderful opening to pursue music in a way that (we) never had a chance to do before,” Goldstone says. “I woke up the morning (we canceled the gig) and wrote the first original song for the band. That cascaded into multiple
months of us recording from eight different locations.” Skip ahead to 2021, and the band has been performing live at venues since July, most notably at Pop’s Sunset Grill in Nokomis. Goldstone leads with vocals while Jason Capobianco and Craig Daly play guitar, Dave Franko handles sax and percussion, Matthew Pengra works the keyboard, Shawn Rinehart rocks the drums, and a few others handle editing and background vocals. It’s a busy operation, but it’s also a labor of love. All of The Grouper Cheeks players have involving day jobs — Goldstone has an executive position at Full Sail University in Central Florida — and view their time with the band as a passion project. “Some of the pressure is off, and it gives us a little bit more latitude,” Goldstone says. “When we think about recording music, we don’t have to say we have to fit one certain genre. It gives us a little more flexibility in our creativity.” The Grouper Cheeks had humble beginnings. Goldstone, who was already part of a Sarasota County cover band, started playing acoustic guitar on his own from time to time. When some of his friends and coworkers at Full Sail heard the news he was performing, they wanted in. One bandmate became three, which eventually became a grand total of 10 musicians playing togethSEE BAND, PAGE 2
“The pandemic sort of created a very strange and wonderful opening to pursue music in a way that (we) never had a chance to do before.” — Kenny Goldstone
Top: Craig Daily, Kenny Goldstone, Shawn Rinehart, Brad Thompson, Jason Capobianco and others make up The Grouper Cheeks. Above: Shawn Rinehart brings it together on drums. Left: Craig Daily and Kenny Goldstone perform on stage.