September 24, 1997

Saturday night at Scruffy Murphy's with VonRa held up to be everything I expected. I arrived on the scene about 8:00 to get a few words in with Vaughan Rhea himself, and a few words is all he could spare, with all the commotion going on.

Family including Vaughan's wife, Emma, his mother, Barbara, and brother-in-law, Steve, helped with the door and the sale of t-shirts and CDs, which completely sold out. Friends and anyone else who had the sense to be there filed in the door to pack the house. Groove Bone showed a nice performance with some jammin' tunes, warming up the crowd with a one-hour set. By 10:30, VonRa got ready to play, and tables were being moved out of the way to make more room. Everyone was on their feet and cheering in anticipation of the band breaking loose.

The dream all started back in 1990, when Vaughan moved here from Pulaski, Tennessee, and started as a solo act in the UCF area. His brother, Dave "Boo" Rhea, joined him in 1992, and they played as a duo at Devany's. Later, Boo went on to play with Blue Meridian; he eventually went back to school at UF. About a year ago Dave Smith (lead guitar) and Vaughan (acoustic guitar and vocals) started their own duo, playing at such places as Chiller's (downtown) and The Loaded Hog (adjoining One-Eyed Jacks). Only a month ago Dave "Tin Man" Tinny (drums) started playing with them, along with the return of brother Boo to put it all together.

Put it all together is exactly what they did for the release of their first album, Panes. Songs included are Ignorant Hearts, originally written in poem form, by grandfather, David Rhea; Drinker's Hour, written by father, David Rhea; Shine, about bad relationships, by brother Dave Rhea; and Vaughan's favorite, Drifted Away, about leaving school behind.

When the show finally got started, everyone kicked into their own groove, leaving all worries behind. VonRa molded together like a veteran band only to be out "shined" by the vocals of Vaughan himself. My many thanks go out to the band for the wonderful performance and great time. I know everyone there would agree with me on that point.

If you missed out, you can catch them at Chillers (downtown) almost every Sunday, the Loaded Hog on Wednesdays. Also, they're playing another night at Scruffy Murphy's on September 26, and I'll do everything in my power to make it. After that show you can catch VonRa as "featured artist," on WSHE 100.3 at 2 a.m. on your way home.

Tyler Moreton one of my favorite so called ways of life, "Draw unto others as they have drawn unto you" (C. Brown,1991). At least that's the way I remember it. This one may be a little misleading. It's treat people how you would like to be treated, not treat people like you've been mistreated. It took me a little while to get that one, but it finally sunk in. Other Articles I've Written