Grapevine band features well-known city characters

It seems like an unlikely bunch for a music group.

Rocky Gribble, the retired founder of the Grapevine Opry Show; Charlie Whiteside, the trainmaster for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad; two retirees from the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau; a former Fort Worth disc jockey; and a machinist.

Their “road manager” is City Councilwoman Sharron Spencer.

But the ragtag group that calls itself Grapevine Jam Band not only gathers in members’ homes for the pure fun of making music, but has garnered quite a following playing venues around town.

“The original name for the group was the “About to Breakup Again” band (ABBA), until we found out ABBA was already taken,” said trainmaster Charlie Whiteside, referring to the Swedish rock group that formed in the 1970s. “We settled on the Grapevine Jam Band.

“The entire discussion of what our name would be took place one evening during Rocky’s guitar solo in the middle of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison,” Whiteside said. “We get together and play for our own enjoyment and we are happy others enjoy it, too. Hopefully it will lift someone’s spirits as we go on our way.”

The band got its unofficial start in 2006 when Whiteside got a few friends together for a jam session.

“Being a music lover and a bass player, I invited a friend, Jim Campbell, and my brother-in-law Eddie Ritchie to come to Grapevine for a jam session,” Whiteside said.

A fourth was added: Kyle Conway, who at the time was festivals and events manager for the convention and visitors bureau and who had a penchant for playing guitar and singing.

And Grapevine Jam was born.

No one is the ‘leader’

Soon the word got around and some of the staff at the bureau and others began asking to hear them. To satisfy their “fans,” the four-piece group settled into performing about once a month when possible.

“A jam session, being a gathering of folks who wants to play and sing, normally has an open invitation,” Whiteside said. “So from time to time others would come by to sit in. People come if their schedule at the time allows them to do so and if not they try to make it the next time.”

Conway, who knew Gribble of the Grapevine Opry — considered by many to be one of the city’s most beloved reisdents — asked him to sit in.

Like the Traveling Wilburys — a popular supergroup formed in the late 1980s that included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty — no one is the “leader.”

But Gribble easily has the most name recognition. His popularity was evident when he retired last year for personal reasons, eliciting long, heartfelt applause at the City Council meeting where the announcement was made after 26 years.

Gribble, who grew up in the Grassland community and went to school in nearby Post, began playing guitar at age 13. By the time he was 14, he was playing on a Lubbock TV show.

Although Gribble sings, he prefers to sit in the back with his instruments when he performs, doing what he loves best. His specialties include electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, five-string banjo and mandolin.

‘We enjoy playing’

While Grapevine Jam has its core members, other musicians have been added over the years.

Tom Wayne, a stage name for Michael Tate, who also worked for the CVB, found time in his busy schedule to play.

“We discovered Tom could sing and enjoyed singing the older country songs,” Whiteside said.

In spring 2008, Whiteside asked the group to play on a Saturday morning for National Train Day at the train depot.

Campbell invited Joe O’Connor and “another great talent was added,” Whiteside said.

It was their first official public appearance, with Wayne as emcee.

Ritchie played until he and his wife — Whiteside’s sister — moved back home to Georgia.

Wayne became a regular as he neared retirement and his schedule began to slow down.

“Finally it became six: Joe O’Connor, Jim Campbell, Rocky Gribble, Kyle Conway, Tom Wayne and myself,” Whiteside said.

The group’s resume includes playing for former Grapevine Mayor Pro-tem Ted Ware’s retirement, National Train Day in Grapevine, a benefit fundraiser for a city employee with cancer, an appreciation dinner for the Main Street Days steering committee and a cancer awareness benefit on Main Street.

“We play because we enjoy playing,” Whiteside said.

Next jam in January

In 2008, the band went on hiatus. But a couple of years later, Councilwoman Spencer, who had heard about Grapevine Jam, asked the members to revive it. Everyone was contacted and they agreed to play again “under her management.”

“They don’t just call me their road manager, they call me the world’s greatest road manager,” Spencer said with a smile after a recent City Council meeting.

The group had a few casual sessions. Thend Spencer began a campaign to move the Jam to a public venue.

“Gary Farina at Farina’s Winery and Cafe was gracious enough to give us a home and we have been a permanent fixture there since January 2012,” Whiteside said.

Usually every month on the second Tuesday, Grapevine Jam plays on a small stage while diners eat. Occasionally the schedule is changed to accommodate other events or schedules.

The Grapevine Jam has become a favorite for many hometown folks, necessitating reservations at Farina’s when they play there. Many times it is standing room only, as it was on a recent Wednesday night. Their next scheduled appearance is Jan. 8 at Farina’s.

“It’s a real good crowd, very loyal,” O’Connor said. “We enjoy the heck out of them.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Grapevine band features well-known city characters."