Strike Up the Band Local Group Invited To Perform for Troops Overseas

By Lila Arzua Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 25, 2004; Page VA05

Jenny Boyle and her musicians have known about one another for years, performing with different bands and bumping into each other on the local music scene. The five Virginia and Maryland residents joined forces recently as the Jenny Boyle Band and almost immediately learned that they had been chosen to go overseas to entertain U.S. troops and diplomats. "The whole point of this is bringing a little bit of America to them," said Boyle, 24, who grew up in Springfield.

 Under a Defense Department program known as Armed Forces Entertainment, Boyle and four other musicians and their production manager are leaving soon to perform in Amman, Jordan; Cairo; and at Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey, from which U.S. troops rotate in and out of Iraq.

Every year, Armed Forces Entertainment sends about 250 up-and-coming bands to play for military personnel worldwide. Only about one-fifth of bands that audition for the program are invited to participate, according to John Field, a civilian who coordinates the Mediterranean circuit. "Good sound, nice young people," Field said of the Jenny Boyle Band, which plays popular rock songs -- a mix of Top-40 hits of the last several decades by such musicians as Janis Joplin, Guns N' Roses and Jewel. Field said that what clinched the invitation was the band members' extensive performing experience, professional Web site (www.jennyboyle.net) and the quality of their demo CD.

Traveling with Boyle will be drummer Sean Bradley, 21, of Herndon; guitarist Josh Burgess, 30, of Waterford; bass guitarist Jeff Reed, 25, of Baltimore; guitarist Chris Roque, 30, of Baltimore; and manager Gabe Gawen, 24, of Fairfax City. Burgess said his reaction to the opportunity to entertain the troops was "cartwheels." "I've always wanted to see the world, and now music is taking me there," said Burgess, who also plays with the local band Schizophonic.

 Field said the tour can be a beneficial experience for entertainers and audience. "They [the musicians] get a lot of respect for what the military is doing, and the people on the ground appreciate them," Field said, adding that the performances can also help groups raise their profile. Field said that about 20 years ago, he helped to coordinate a show in Germany for a little-known country singer named Randy Travis.

 Members of the Jenny Boyle Band learned of their selection barely a month ago, and the intervening weeks have been a whirlwind of paperwork and vaccines. It won't be a pleasure trip once they get there. During the tour, they will sleep in desert tents, eat in mess halls and perform outdoors, shaded only by camouflage netting in temperatures that can easily exceed 100. The band's grueling schedule will include seven performances interspersed with predawn plane flights and interminable travel in cramped buses. The band has substantially downsized its usual collection of speakers and amplifiers to comply with size and weight restrictions -- no more than 20 pieces of equipment. Members are also stocking up on bottled water.

 Boyle sang her last performance stateside March 16 at Kilroy's in Springfield, where she worked as a waitress as a teenager. Kevin McGillicuddy, then a bartender, is now the manager and recently booked Boyle every other Tuesday for acoustic singing and guitar performances. "She brings in a very nice crowd," McGillicuddy said. The band's farewell performance drew dozens of relatives, friends and longtime fans to wish it well. It opened with a Sheryl Crow song "My Favorite Mistake," with Boyle shaking her tambourine to the beat. The band ended its first set with a rousing rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama," punctuated by a drum solo and several guitar riffs.

Although the members have produced original work, their concerts overseas will consist primarily of popular cover tunes. "She has an excellent voice," said Connie Carvajal, 41, a decades-long Kilroy's regular who said he had seen the cocktail waitress transformed into a lead singer. Boyle never took voice lessons, but relatives said she was "singing before she was speaking" and making tape recordings of her tunes for her mother, a nurse, to listen to after night shifts at the hospital.

Boyle's first break came as an 8-year-old, when she and several young cousins formed a group called the Sparklers. They charged neighbors 10 cents apiece to attend their basement performances. "I don't remember her ever being nervous," said cousin Alicia Neumann, 24, a former Sparkler.

Now, Boyle and her band mates are preparing to take the stage before hundreds of spectators at a time. Longtime friend Catherine Milchak, 22, predicted that troops who hear Boyle will consider themselves lucky. "She's such a sweet and loving person, and it shows through in her music," she said.