ABOUT THE BAND – New Earth Band members, musical bios.

 

               Rick Guinan         Mark Miller       Lee Schappell        Joel Zarska

The NEW EARTH BAND is comprised of active, committed Christians from the Reading, Pennsylvania area.  We genuinely enjoy sharing in song and testimony the Good News of the Gospel and the soon return of Jesus.  Our good-time music is a loose and easy, down-home blend of Country Gospel and a hint of early Rockabilly, with an occasional smattering of Traditional Country and a pinch of Southern Gospel.

Each musical selection is carefully chosen for the purpose of communicating a positive, uplifting message that’s firmly rooted and grounded in the Scriptures.  The NEW EARTH BAND is a ministry, delivering the undiluted Word of God  in easy-to-assimilate 5-minute segments!

With much sadness, we announce the passing of  the Grand Master, Warren ”Mose” Boyer, after two incredibly fun-filled years with The NEW EARTH BAND and a grand total of  77 years of making music of every genre – from rock’n'roll and pop, to classical and country, to his seven years as organist at St. John’s UCC, also known as Hain’s Church, in Wernersville, PA. 

Warren, by far, is best known for his 18 great years as the head-man of the Top-40 icon band “The Cat-a-lacs”.  Warren primarily played fiddle with The NEW EARTH BAND, and later did a fantastic job filling in on bass during Harry Wilkinson’s illness.

You don’t replace a Mose Boyer, because that can’t be done!  You simply continue in a  forward direction, and miss him continuously.  And we most certainly will!  Mose played fiddle on 7 tracks of the “Gospel Truth” CD, which we guarantee you’ll really like – particularly “Rock of Ages” and “Tell Me the Story of Jesus” – so rural, so earthy, so gooood!!  You can pick one up right here – click the “Gospel Truth” icon, just a few paragraphs below !

At the beginning of 2011, we introduced a new bassist, Stan Watinski, who brought with him a well-seasoned resume.  Following quite a lengthy absence in 2010, bassist Harry Wilkinson did not return to The NEW EARTH BAND.  Our prayers remain with Harry for a complete recovery.  It was in January of 2010 that Harry had come on board to fill the void created by bassist Joel Zarska‘s departure to pursue new and different directions.  We continue to wish Joel the best, as well, as he applies his God-given talents to the advancement of the Gospel.

 Current members of The  NEW EARTH BAND  are: Lee “Little Buford” Schappell, guitar and vocals; Marvelous Markie Miller, guitar, Dobro and vocals, Rick “Slim” Guinan, harmonica, and bassist Stan Watinski.

The individual band members come from extensive, varied musical backgrounds.   Rick’s past experiennce was playing in blues bands, while Mark has been comfortably grounded in bluegrass and traditional country since time immemorial.  Stan has played with numerous bands over the past 55 years, and still currently plays with the inimitable Bobby Newton.  Stan’s resume also includes a stint on bass with the great Chuck Berry!  Lee is an old, reformed rock’n'roller with a feel  for the raw, rock-a-billy and country roots of the ’50′s.  He slurped a brief  “cup of coffee” (it was decaffeinated!) with Cameo Records  (C-194) as the inimitable LeRoy & His Rockin’ Fellers in  1961.   Check out the following link to the Cameo-Parkway discology  >>>

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Cameo-Parkway-Fan-Page/106406212753244 - yup!

And when you’re done there, please check out the LeRoy & His Rockin’ Fellers  page link, which you’ll find at the upper right of this screen, under the heading “Pages”. 

Now, when all of these diversified influences are carefully blended together and brought to a low simmer, they form the nucleus and foundation for the unique sound that defines The NEW EARTH BAND.

Click on the CD Baby icons below to hear sample audio clips of the tracks on each album, and to purchase our music!

To hear audio clips or to purchase  Little Buford’s brand-spankin’-new solo CD, “The Last Kamikaze”, click on this CD Baby link  >>>

http://cdbaby.com/cd/newearthband3

or on the icon below …

To hear sound clips or to purchase The NEW EARTH BAND’s most recent full-band CD, “Gospel Truth,” click on this CD Baby link   >>>http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/newearthband2 or on the icon below:

 

To hear audio clips or to purchase The NEW EARTH BAND’s  first CD, “The New Earth Band”, click on this CD Baby link >>> http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/newearthband

The NEW EARTH BAND performs for church functions, from a full concert to a music night, a youth gathering, a seniors group, to special music for the worship hour.  We also play at residential facilities, in coffee house settings, community centers and outdoor events, and  three concerts in prison to date.  Yes, wonder of wonders, they let us out again!

We sincerely hope you enjoy our music and are lifted up by the messages God entrusts to us.  If you would like The NEW EARTH BAND to bring its bouncy, happy, raw-boned Gospel music to your group or occasion, you may use the “CONTACT US”  box, also found at the upper-right of the screen, or you may contact us by email at schappell@1usa.com.

Hey!!  Hey!!  You wanna see something you’ve absolutely never seen before?  Or for a precious few of you, wanna see something you haven’t seen in a long while?  Click on “The Time Machine” link, at the upper right of the screen, under “Pages”.