May is a great time to come see us at the Electric Palm in Woodbridge. On the river it is a perfect venue for a Spring night on the water. We play Friday Night May 8, from 8-12. On Saturday we go back down to Waynesboro Virginia and play outdoors at the fabulous Plaza Antigua from 6-9pm. To facilitate all the places we are playing we have 5 male singers, 2 female singers, 3 bass players, 2 keyboardists, and 2 guitarists. Differing personnel gives us the luxury of not burning anybody out. We have aged well but it is still a ton of work to drive, set up, play, tear down, and then drive home. We have expanded our set list and are adding new songs weekly. Thanks to all for their support over the years, it has been especially difficult since Jay Powell passed away. The Ducks, always will endeavor to perceiver.    Our schedule is listed on the shows page and updated weekly on Facebook and other Social Media platforms.  We will be playing a regional performance schedule this year with multiple new venues.  If you have suggestions for places for us to play, my email address is jaynedry11@gmail.com or for more personal discourse, recriminations, insults, or business my cell is 703-795-5299  Many thanks to all of you who continue to support the band and help spread the word.  

2026 Newsletter

Fifty years ago I had just finished two years of college at JMU. Raising hell
and carousing, I had more fun during two years in the Shenandoah Valley than I
had in 4 years at academically oriented William and Mary. Madison was easy for
me and I was quite bored and listless. I came back to West Springfield not sure
what I was gonna do with myself moving forward. My closest friend was Brent
Barnwell. Brent managed a restaurant called the Cellar Club in Springfield. I went
in for dinner just prior to Christmas and ran into Bill Schmidle, a close friend of
ours who had gone to West Springfield HS and had played in a band called
Renaissance.

The singer was the fabulous, iconic, unforgettable character named Craig
Poulson. Craig and I were close friends and hung out whenever I came home from
Military School (65-69). I would go see the band play every gig and he and I would
stay out all night afterwards drinking beer, getting stoned and listening to music. I
go off to W&M in the fall of 69 and then to JMU in the fall of 73. Craig continued
in bands while I was off trying to be a student. I had always wanted to play in his
band but I was in pursuit of a degree and missed out. Running in to Bill Schmidle
changed all that.

Bill was a fabulous, very talented guitar player, who had attended VCU and
then moved out west to Santa Monica, California. Trying his luck far from home
playing on Sunset Strip, he moved back to Virginia fall of 1975. That’s when we
reconnected (Brent had introduced us in 1968). We decided over many beers to
start a band. We needed a singer. I had met Bob ‘Bopper' Gaynor my first day at
William and Mary. We had both just attended Woodstock and liked the same
bands, music in general (He was a trained Coronet player, long time vocalist in the
Catholic Church, and one hell of a powerful singer). We loved Led Zeppelin and
Hashish. We stayed in touch when I went off to JMU and often visited each other.
Bill and I drove to Williamsburg, found Bopper and literally went on a bender of epic proportions. We
put a passed out Gaynor in the back of Bill’s car and drove him up to NOVA. 
When he came to he was informed he was our new, unnamed bands singer. 

We three started with a crappy drum set, Bills Les Paul and Amp, and Bobs Martin Acoustic.
We then set out to recruit some other crazy stoners to play in the group.
The details of all those tribulations and false starts are a detailed story for another
day. My next door neighbor from West Springfield was a genius named Dave
Thorne. He ran sound, played bass, and was a computer prodigy and became our 4th member. Bill Culver, my
buddy from Gaithersburg was inveigled to come aboard  in December of 1976,
playing guitar, percussion, and singing lead with Bob. It was the five of us from
those humble beginnings that morphed into 50 years, multiple players and 6000
shows. It was the five of us who moved to New Haven Connecticut in the fall of
1977. Living by our wits and the fact Bobs family were multiple generation Irish
(his family names were Reardon, Gaynor, O’Hickey, and Slattery ) with a large
extended family. My Moms family was from Boston and Easthampton
Massachusetts. Between the two our families we had a built in fan base who
brought all their friends and classmates to see us.

We played over 650 shows between 1977 and 1979 woodshedding, totally consumed in                                                                        our pursuit of forging a cohesive unit.Playing practically
every night so we could eat and afford cheap motel rooms, we got really tight and
learned to love life on the road. As I look back after all these years, New Haven
was foundational to our sound and subsequent success. We played Long Island
and New York ski resorts with occasional winter forays to Georgia and Florida. We
moved to Virginia Beach in late 1979, playing the Carolinas and Southern Virginia.
We made friends everywhere, many of whom still come see us today.
We played our first gigs in the Harrisonburg area (where we just played this
past New Years Eve at Cave Hill Farm Brewery). Many in attendance go back to
those early Valley days. Amazing to me the loyal support of folks from the Valley,
Southern Maryland, and all over Virginia that are still on board. From 1982 to
1992 we were the house band at the legendary Purple Moose Saloon on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, MD.People
from Philly, Delaware, the Eastern Shore and New Jersey saw us during those
crazy summers, providing a regional fan base and more places to play.
There have been many fabulous musicians who have played with us and
even more guys on our crew. It seemed as though we had become a 
mobile party conglomerate, moving from town to town.  Managing to always stay one step
ahead of the local authorities, we excelled at hell raising and carousing. My father
was a big-time DC Lawyer who was adept at ‘fixing’ things when we stepped in it.
LOL. We were on our way to Connecticut from Florida to play the 4 th of July 1979.
We got stopped in New Jersey and were busted with 5$ worth of Inch long fire
crackers we had purchased at Smiths in Santee SC for our 4 th of July show.
Charged with ‘Interstate Transport of Class ‘C’ Fireworks Without a Permit ‘all
seven of us were jailed in Netcong New Jersey. The cops told us the Judge was in
Atlantic City for two weeks and no bond would be set until he returned. With my
one phone call I called my Dad. The next morning there was 2 Lawyers and a
Bondsman who sprang us much to the amazement of the local police.The charges
were later dropped and forgotten. Ya just can’t make up shit like that, but it is a
part and parcel of our history and enduring legacy.
The band lost Bopper to Pancreatic Cancer in 2014. Schmidle moved to
Florida and our fabulous front man, Phil McCormack (1982 to 1997) left to join old
friends and touring buddies Molly Hatchet when Danny Joe Brown passed away.
Hatchets drummer Bruce Crump and I were class mates at Staunton Military
Academy. Through that connection we toured with Marshall Tucker, Gregg
Allman, The Outlaws, Blackfoot, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many others. When I
bought Jaxx in 1993 it was those old connections that made my club famous.
Funny how things have turned out after all these years, so success was a product
of good fortune, hard work, fights and all the things that make a band. Let alone
one that has lasted 50 years and done 6003 (yep 6003) shows. Thanks to all who
helped in this protracted circus. We ARE the Roadducks from Mt. Vernon Virginia.
Much love, affection and heartfelt thanks from all of us, especially Jay Nedry, one
very grateful and lucky SOB!! Still time to Get Ducked!!!

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