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| The Pawnee Band phenomenon took the Merrimack Valley School District by storm in March of 1997, when then eighth graders Nate Brigham, Mike Weinstein, and Justin Fanjoy were assigned a school project on the Pawnee indians of Nebraska. For their project the students decided to write a song. That song then became what is now known as "The Pawnee Song". The students received a 96 on their project from the infamous Mr. D and decided to perform the song at the MVMS talent show that spring. Fanjoy left the trio, and two new members Tim Gatherum a drummer, and then keyboardist Marc Hall were added to the group. They called themselves "Rage Against the Pawnee", and performed the song in front of the MVMS community, finishing out of the top three in the show's scoring. Following the performance at the talent show the group appeared only two more times that year. A sixth grade dance appearance and end of the year assembly would be the last live performances of the Pawnee song. In the summer of 1997, keyboardist and co-founder of Pawnee, Mike Weinstein left the group to pursue other interests. At the same time however, member Marc Hall purchased and learned how to play a guitar. His epiphone strat look-a-like would be the new focal point of a band searching for a new identity. During the winter of the band's freshman year of high school singer Nate Brigham learned how to play guitar, and the band began to practice in his basement. The trio went through two years of goofing around in Nate's basement with small time guitar player Jason Capps and bassist Brian Young before settling on bassist Tyler Wlodyka. The band convinced him to purchase new equipment and suddenly the band was complete. They began practicing in Ed's garage in Loudon and in November of 1999 the bad recorded their first tape entitled "The Tape". It featured a copy of their new original song "Pats a Dink" as well as a cover of Kenny Wayne Shepard's "Blue on Black". In the spring of 2000 the band debuted this website and began work on the MVHS talent show, which was to be their first show since 1997 For the show the band recruited the services of guitarist Matt Randazzo and singer Chris Fowler. The band decided to play "The Pat Song", a.k.a. Pats a Dink, and "Gel"a tune by Collective Soul. The group planned to use a Stevie Ray Vaughn song "Wham" to connect the two pieces. The show had its fair share of problems, but did produce a return of the Pawnee Band following. Following the show Pawnee participated in a battle of the bands at MVMS. The group performed "kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down, "The Pat Song", and "AC/DC Medley" a compilation of AC/DC songs. Once again the band looked ridiculous. After that the band sort of faded out, depsite a brief comeback during the middle of their senior year, which featured bassist Brian Young, there have been no recent shows or practices. Spin-off bands such as Sloncha and Descend were created and Pawnee was slowly forgotten by its following. The band promises to one day rejoin for a reunion concert someday, so keep watch.............. |