Along for the Ride performed on the outdoor stage at Oak Lake Beach, July 15, and even though the night was a bit cooler and breezy, the band says they had a lot of fun and hoped everyone enjoyed themselves.
Along for the Ride started playing classic oldies as a family band about ten years, but the new and improved gang of five have only been together for about a year. “The old Oak Lake Band Blast was one of the first gigs for a couple of us in the late 80’s,” says Tyler Porter, guitar player of the band.
As the band fast forwards 35 years, they still have lots of fun playing at Oak Lake every year. The old classic songs of Ben E. King, Everly Brothers, and of course “The King” Elvis, are the group’s favorite rock classics along with CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and the Eagles.
“We have been trending towards doing more stuff from the 80s and 90s lately,” adds Porter. “Basically, from Patsy Cline to Joan Jett, and Miranda Lambert, as well as Elvis to Tom Petty and Weezer is what we play.”
The band consists of all adults that have families and jobs, but the group has been fortunate enough to be able to play with lots of very talented and different musicians from around southwest Manitoba.
Porter along with Coco Mojito and Carey Gould started the band along with Carey’s aunt and father. Mojito is the singer in the band and she is married to Carey, who is the drummer. Mike Noch is the bass player and Coco’s brother.
We recruited Keenan Ekstein, who is also a guitar player,” says Porter. “He keeps the rest of us young.”
Porter adds that music has been good to them, as they started out as a high school garage band. “We were lucky to be able to play for a wedding in Nunavut last year,” says Porter. They are happy to play at any type of venue - bars, socials, fairs and weddings.
They love live performances and say there is never enough of it. “It can be raw at times, but nothing beats seeing a good crowd of people having fun,” says Porter. “Whether they are sitting in the lawn chairs chillin’ out or shredding the dance floor, it’s always a great time!”
Singing, dancing and partying are all part of the job and keeps them from acting their age.
“We had a very good night but were a bit nervous about rain, but it stayed away and the weather was good to us,” adds Porter. He says there was a good crowd and they are looking forward to being back next year.
