By: Diana Rowe Martinez

On a friend's advice, I ventured out to listen to the 11th Hour Band.   They were playing at Sweetwater that Saturday evening.  I had no preconceived notions as to what the band would sound like, or even what type of music they would play.    I was just told that "11th Hour" is a band I had to hear. 

I arrived at Sweetwater on a band break.  After ordering a beer, I pulled up to a bar stool and watched the crowd.   The usual chitchat circled around me-who was doing who, who wanted to do who, and who was working who, and because I'm a writer I tend to hone in on those conversations.  You never know when a snatch of dialogue here or there might end up in a book. 

Scanning the cozy and friendly bar, I spotted a few non-descript, rock and roll type guys working the room.  Nothing out of the ordinary as guys work the room all the time.  It's the nature of the bar scene.  However, what grabbed my attention, was that these guys weren't just talking to the girls, nor were they talking to certain groups or cliques in the bar.  No, these guys chatted with everyone, smiling, animated and genuinely appeared to be having a good time.  I thought to myself, "Aha, real players!"   I also thought, "Mmm, these guys would make great characters in my books"  So I continued to observe these guys.   A couple of the guys were the typical longhaired rockers, but the one guy sported a jersey and a fresh haircut with the boy-next-door look.

Within about five minutes, these "players" simultaneously headed to the small stage in the corner and picked up their instruments, and that's when I realized I had observed the 11th Hour Band at work.

Since my entire life is based on deadlines usually met at the 11th hour (like this article), I understand the concept and Rob Johnson, the group's founder and lead guitar player, confirmed the origins of the name  "Since we pretty much work best at the 11th hour, the band's name seemed to fit...and you should see us when we're setting up and tearing down."

Okay, I'll buy that.  Although they may rush around at the last minute, the tunes these guys play are absolutely the best, and their last minute rush is undetectable in the ease of their singing and playing.  That Saturday evening, Rob Johnson chatted up the crowd from the stage  Barely into the first verse of the song, the dance floor filled, and the dance floor stayed that way the entire set...as well as all the sets.   Rob even stepped off the stage and walked through the dance floor, strumming his guitar and dancing with the ladies.  Women dirty danced against his guitar, but Rob didn't miss a stroke (what a guy!)...or is that a strum?  Keith Morrison, the newest band member and bass player, worked his magic on his guitar while that boy-next-door-look-alike Steve Underwood sang his heart out into the microphone.   Without a good drummer like Mike Brown, the band's beat couldn't continue and the dance music wouldn't be quite the same.  Blend all those musicians and voices together and 11th Hour band is definitely a hit.

And the music-the music spanned decades of great hits from Elvis to Bon Jovi, appealing to everyone.  According to Johnson, "I think 11th Hour's formula for success is that we cater to dance oriented rock.  We try to have a wide variety of styles, as well as eras that we play out of the 50's to current hits, swing to blues, to alternative, to all regular genres of rock.  We want our crowds to have a good time, dance or mingle, drink beer, and enjoy the good music.  That's what we're doing up here on stage."

The 11th Hour Band has been playing the bar scene for almost ten years.  Their current schedule can always be found at their web site.  Not only did the 11th Hour band energize the crowd at Sweetwater but also a few weeks later they livened up the stage and the dance floor again at Hiccups.  Since the band has a set list of well over 100 songs, each night is different.  Rob says, 11th Hour prides ourselves on taking requests and learning songs requested.  We strive not to play the same songs and do the same show two nights in a row.  This makes our act fresh for our audience as fresh for us as well"

Diana Rowe Martinez is planning her schedule for October, following her fav bands and looking for new ones.  Halloween is her favorite holiday and she'll be checking out the constumes....and her new favorite band-11th Hour.