The San Jose Reunion

The Art Boutiki in San Jose, California
October 20, 2018 7-10PM

Jim Bruno:

In late 2017 in Southern California, I had the opportunity to play once again with my great friends Bob Culbertson and Bob Cooper. It was as thrilling as you could imagine, and the show re-energized my passion for playing my electric horns and the Sticks again.

Well, the 2018 Stickband reunion happened! We brought all the great elements of the first reunion to this Bay Area show, but we also brought back many other members of the Stickband throughout its history. Besides Bob Cooper, Bob Culbertson and Jim Bruno, Verleen Schermer, Don Telian, Rick Alegria and Michale were all part of the show in San Jose!

This reunion was great in so many ways. You know… music is such a wonderful spiritual experience. For me, playing music (other than family) has always been and still is my greatest joy as far as my passions go. The Stickband reunion was another great moment for fulfilling that passion; getting to reconnect in musical way with old talented friends is a wonderful gift. That’s exactly what happened.

On this page we’ll be sharing videos & photos from that evening. Don Schiff, Michale, Verlene Schermer, Don Telian, Bob Cooper and of course, Bob Culbertson – what wonderful and talented people they are. I thank all of them for their eager and helpful approach to that evening. We had rehearsals and communications in the months before the actual night and all of it was a joy. I had not played some of the music in the set for over 30 years, but it felt so great to be back on stage playing these wonderful instruments and all original songs. Yes, not one cover tune for the evening; all music performed that night we wrote and created ourselves … again, what a gift.

So all who read this page I simply say…enjoy! We’ll be adding more content, and I’ll notify everyone via the Facebook page as that happens, but here’s a start with some interviews taken just after the show. Of note – we are in the process of editing the videos of the performance, but keep in mind that it’s a fairly monumental task, especially since we want to give you the best possible representation of how things went, so bear with us. The photos and videos speak for themselves.

Keep Singing!

Founding Members Jim Bruno and Bob Culbertson, right off of the stage at the 2018 Stickband Reunion Show in San Jose, California, talk about how it felt to play together a second time.
Michale Milburn-Jones joined the fun at the second reunion, and shares some thoughts on the experience.
Stickband Founding Member Bob Cooper reflects on the second Stickband reunion, and talks about the handoff of drumming duties when he left the band.
Right after the show, Verlene Schermer talks about the 2018 Reunion, reflects on her time in Stickband, and talks about her current projects and musical passions.
Don Telian shares his thoughts on joining Stickband and about returning to participate in the reunion.
Verlene Schermer performs a heartfelt song celebrating caregivers.