Entertainment
Van Gogh - It's All About the Music
By Kimberley Barreda
Jun 12, 2002, 07:06

DAY ONE

The first thing you notice when you come in is the activity level.

The mixing board

People are everywhere moving around with a sense of purpose.

Equipment is being hooked up, connections checked and doublechecked. From somewhere else, I can hear guitars, keyboards and the faint sound of a vocalist running scales. A high pitched burst of electronic feedback rings through the air as the sound engineer sets the mic levels on the massive mixing board.

Robby Heisner

Amid the organized mayhem, lead singer and band leader Robby Heisner fields calls from reporters, bookers and the various people who are all part of the Heisner Creative Machine which is the marketing arm of Van Gogh Music.

I’m in the studio (read: nerve center) of Van Gogh the day before they leave for a whirlwind tour that will cram 3 perform- ances into less than 12 hours and add another 600 miles to the 47,000 miles they’ve already logged. This will be the last chance for a rehearsal before they split into 3 groups to make the trip to the first show location. The rehearsal lasts until well after midnight.

DAY TWO

Setting up the stage

After five hours on the road, we pull in to the auditorium parking lot where we all turn into roadies. There’s equipment to be unloaded, lights hung and cables run. It takes another five hours to set the stage and complete the sound check. We finally get to our motel around 3 am only to be confronted with a colorful problem (but that’s another story...)

DAY THREE 10:00 AM

As the house lights dim, the crowd gets louder.. their expectant buzz turns into an excited cheer as swirling, multihued lights sweep over them reflecting off the stage smoke in three dimensional patterns. A deep disembodied voice reads a poetic introduction. Perfectly on cue, the stage lights up illuminating each band member and the Van Gogh performance begins.

The show is just beginning.

The tracks are all from their 5th full length release, Gravity which is another example of the ongoing evolution of the Van Gogh sound - a blend of 60’s harmonies, 70’s Pink Floyd depth and 90’s rocking guitar reminiscent of Tom Petty.

The performance is everything you would expect from a touring rock band with over 20 years in the music business, traveling with a full complement of intelligent lighting, sound system, custom flooring and the technical expertise to put it all together.

After the show, most of the 2500 people leave the auditorium but some gather at the front of the stage to speak to Robby and Ricky who welcome them and their questions with good-natured ribbing and an easy style.

“How did you get into this business?” “Do you have a website?” “Will you sign my poster?” “When are you coming back?” And of course the ever popular “Man, those are cool!”

“Those” are not the funky hats the Heisner brothers wear on stage, but rather the super-fast, eye-popping, yellow and black, racing striped powered wheelchairs that both Robby and Ricky use full time due to Becker muscular dystrophy.

Ricky Heisner

We eat pizza in the wings of the auditorium, where guitarist Ed McLennan and drummer Brett Nadel (Robby refers to them as the “energy” of the band) are seated on crates talking with the stage manager and the other musicians. Every few seconds, they break into laughter – usually over something Brett has done. Over our meal, I’m able to get bits and pieces of the Heisner brothers’ story.

Diagnosed with Becker muscular dystrophy at ages eight and ten respectively, Robby and Ricky were originally told they wouldn’t live past 18, but resolved to beat the odds with the same determination that has brought them to this point.

Robby began his career as a magician in grade school entertaining classmates and learning to play rhythm guitar while Ricky honed his skills as a bass guitarist. “I made a lot of money as a magician,’ Robby says, “they paid me to get off the stage”. Blessed with great voices as well, it was only a matter of time until they made their way into the music business with the wildly successful rock band The Kopps that played to sellout crowds in their home town of Panama City Florida. Their careers continued to progress -but at the same time so did the muscular dystrophy, which was slowly stealing their ability to play the music they so loved.

As his mobility decreased, Ricky gave up performing but never stopped writing lyrics for Robby who had moved The Kopps to Atlanta and changed the name to Blitz. That same love of music and Robby’s new venture - Van Gogh (which originally was planned as a solo venture) eventually enticed him back into the studio and onto the stage.

Between jokes and bites they talk candidly about the realities of the music business and how their disabilities have affected their success. They recount some of the “horror stories” they’ve lived through and the many near brushes with the big break that all musicians hope for. The most recent being the manager of a well known Country singer who heard the CD and had great plans for it until he rounded the corner and saw the wheelchairs. His enthusiasm turned into perplexity as he wondered out loud “who would we market you to?” He apologized and walked away. As Robby puts it, “It’s a ladder to success, but we need a ramp”.

Ricky and Robby singing at an ADA rally.

“It’s a lot of fun,” says Ricky, “but it’s also very frustrating. It’s difficult enough to get a break in this industry without all the stereotypes that we have to overcome especially when the people who make the decisions have preconceived notions about ‘how’ a disabled person is supposed to act. They’re surprised that our music’s not all about disabilities”. “Yeah”, adds Robby, “they expect that since we’re disabled, our music is all ‘it’s hip to be crip’ or some other ‘suitable’ topic. We just play music about normal things because we’re normal people.”

After lunch the band heads back on stage to warm up for the second show.

Ed (acoustic guitar, sitar and flute) rolls up and hides t-shirts that he plans to throw into the audience during the performance while Brett, ever the perfectionist - rechecks the tuning on his drum kit.

As with the earlier performance the seats fill up quickly and the audience begins to cheer the second the lights go out. When the band starts to play, young girls stand up and dance in groups and the screams drown out the sound of the music. The next hour is spent listening and watching and soaking up the atmosphere of a capacity crowd being entertained.

LATER THAT DAY

The curtain goes down after the final track and we race to a special appearance four hours away to fulfill a promise to an elementary school made earlier in the year. We arrive to a very relieved welcoming committee and set up for the final show of the day.

Patti Heisner, Ed McLennan and Robby Heisner sign posters after the show

Two hours later, the now familiar scene of Robby and Ricky being mobbed by fans asking for autographs begins again. You can tell that talking to the fans is something they really enjoy and they talk with everyone who’s waited in line. One says she has all their CDs, and asks Robby which is his favorite. His reply is that “they’re like my children, they each have a different personality but they’re all from the same family.”

The majority of the comments are on how much people enjoyed the show, which is exactly how they would have it because in the end, it’s all about the music.

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