Catching up with Helena’s Ten Years Gone
We had the chance to catch up with Ten Years Gone, Helena’s favorite cover band. These guys put on a crazy show and worth checking out. See our full interview below.
Who is in the band?
- Current members include Ben Fandry- Lead Singer
- Robert Doughty- Lead Guitar
- Mark Walker- Keys and vocals
- Jeremy Slead- Drums and Vocals
- Dennis Ferriter- Bass
Tell us what we need to know about Ten Years Gone.
With our current members, we’ve been playing for about four years. We are a cover band that plays live shows about 2-3 times a month, playing mostly funk, classic rock, pop hits, 90s rock, and county. We have always discussed writing originals, but we enjoy playing covers and it seems to be what the crowd enjoys. The Ten Years Gone name came from a Led Zepplin song.
In your opinion, what is the best venue in Montana?
Best venue for us is the Lewis and Clark Brewery in Helena. It always seems to have an engaged and packed crowd that loves to dance and jump around. And the owners are great to work with. They always support great local and national musicians.
What is your favorite show in Montana that you’ve played?
It’s a tie between (1) the 2017 Brewfest in Helena (we played in the band shell at Memorial Park and had one of the biggest crowds we have ever had…almost 2,000 people drinking microbrews and dancing into the night), and (2) the Fort Benton summer celebration, big crowd and lots of great people.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened at one of your shows?
We once played a rodeo in Belt, MT and set up all of our gear in a moving stage/trailer with generators for the speakers and they towed us into the spot while we played. It was very difficult with all of the gear swaying and keyboards, mic stands, and people bouncing around. There were no injuries, so we got a good laugh at the end of it.
What is the drunkest thing that’s ever happened at one of your shows?
Probably the best overall stories are how many drunk people come up and say very strange, random. and sometimes rude things to our drummer…only him for some reason. A lady at one of our recent shows wanted to play his tambourine and he explained to her that it is attached to his drum kit so it’s difficult to hand her. She yelled at the top of her lungs “you suck at the tambourine.” He took the high road and over the microphone told her “if you want to play my tambourine that’s not the best way to go about it.”
Where can people check out your music and next shows?
We play mostly around the Helena area but sometimes travel to Big Sky, the Missoula area, and Chico Hot Springs. Look us up at Ten Years Gone Helena on our Facebook page, https://m.facebook.com/TheTenYearsGoneBand/. We typically play between two and three times a month at different venues. Including Miller’s Crossing in Helena, The Grubstake, Silver City Saloon, Lewis and Clark Brewery, 10 Mile Creek Brewery, and the East Helena VFW. We have lots of great shows coming up for Summer 2018. A big act is coming through in August that we will have the opportunity to play before.
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