Rat Pack set to take the stage in Glenwood

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Post Independent Photos The Rat Pack, Glenwood’s own big-band cover group, will be playing at the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts on Saturday. Above, from left, Carl Meitler, Jimmy Coates, Peter Martin, Jacquie Meitler, Brad Vierheller, Eileen Martin and Dave Gardner. Courtesy Photo

By Stina Sieg
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 4, 2008

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — On Saturday, the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts was mostly empty — yet full of music. This wasn’t the normal strums of a guitar student, however, nor a bopping stereo from a dance class. No, it was the honeyed, polished voices of the Rat Pack.

Almost.

In actuality, the Glenwood-based band is made up of local singers. They usually include Brad Vierheller, Dave Gardner, Peter Martin, Jimmy Coates and Eileen Martin, not to mention Jacquie, Jennetta and Carl Meitler.

Yet during this rehearsal, it was actually possible to close your eyes and believe you were listening to Dean, Frank or Rosemary (Clooney). It was easy to suspend disbelief, that is, until everyone burst out laughing.

“No, I am somebody, regardless of whether somebody loves me or not!” joked Jacquie Meitler.

The group, of course, was in the middle of “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” at the time.

The women sounded like they were singing out the call letters to an old-timey radio station. The men’s voices were overly suave and cool. Together, they made up the kind of that finger-snapping, toe-tapping tunes that just don’t die.


“These Boots are Made For Walking,” “My Way,” “Mambo Italiano” — somehow, people know these songs, whether they were raised with them or not. The sounds are simply infectious.

The New Rat Pack

WHO: The Rat Pack, a group of local singers, performing big-band hits (this time as a fundraiser for the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts) WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday WHERE: The Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, 601 E. 6th St. WHY? Because these ditties aren’t going out of style any time soon. TICKETS: $16 for members, $20 for non-members. Tickets are available at the door or call 945-2414 to reserve.

“I just love big band music,” said Vierheller, pianist and group director. “It’s so much fun to have guys to sings with.”

Since the group started last year, he’s performed at parks, fundraisers, birthday parties and more. This all came about when he and Jacquie Meitler wanted to do the play “A Tribute to Frank Sinatra,” but found the royalties were too high. So, instead, they embarked on their own cover band. The group, which has members from their 20s into their 50s, can perform with anywhere from four to nine people. It’s also easily adaptable to fit long or short sets. There are no rules here.

Yeah, they’re doing it their way. And it’s working.

“People eat it up,” explained Gardner, tenor.

He attested to watching audiences move and sway, unable to keep still during the songs.

“You can see it in the crowd’s eyes,” added Coates. “A lot of people like it.”

The baritone said he’d grown up with these songs, but hadn’t thought to sing them until recently. He seemed happy, if a bit surprised, to now be part of them.

“It just feels good,” he said.

Producer Jacquie Meitler, too, had a definite appreciation of the music. She admitted, though, that for her this is bigger than these timeless songs. She could be in a Beatles cover band, she said, or a tribute to the Beach Boys or Andrew Lloyd Webber. It almost seemed as though it didn’t matter, as long as she was performing for a live audience with people she cares about.

“Singing just makes us really happy,” she said. “We’re doing what we love to do.”

And that, she explained, is what it’s all about.