For those now in their 50s wanting to turn back the clock, that means playing Brown Eyed Girl and I Saw Her Standing There. And Mustang Sally, in the key of C. "We recommend Mustang Sally as a good starter song," Lamond said. "A bad starter song is anything by Steely Dan, or Frank Zappa. Or Yes."
Part of recapturing lost innocence means laboring under an illusion or two. Lamond recommends that the practice rooms be free of mirrors. "You don't want to be playing your guitar, feeling like you're 20 all over again, then look in a mirror and see some paunchy balding guy," Lamond said.
Not only do many spouses approve of the bands, some even participate. Rob Reis' wife, Julie, 54, is a singer in the Tennyson Seven.
And when such bands get the occasional gig, the faces in the audience tend to skew to the band's own demographic, a fact that helps determine song choice. Mike Brown, who was trained as a classical pianist and came to rock 'n' roll a bit late in life as the keyboardist for the Palo Alto band the Wildcats, said his band's repertory is easily recognizable, with a staple of Beatles and Doobie Brothers. "We want everyone to know the song in the first couple of notes," he said.
Playing together can also bring about some corporate bonding. Bryan Stapp, 44, the chief marketing officer for Quicken Loans, an online mortgage company in Detroit, has been playing guitar since he was 15. A father of four, Stapp is in a band called the Loaners with three of his colleagues.
When the Loaners are playing at company events and they start in on a Led Zeppelin song, or even Bruce Springsteen or AC/DC, sometimes the company's chief executive, Bill Emerson, jumps in for the vocals. "It's a great thing when your chief executive is singing an AC/DC song," Stapp said. The Loaners were recently chosen to play at the Detroit International River Days festival later this month, opening for Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band.
By and large, the children of the band members, some in bands of their own, approach their parents' newfound passion with surprising equanimity. "Every single one of our kids thinks it's very cool," said Cheney, whose band plays many of its own compositions. "They actually like the music we do."
When O'Connell's 13-year-old son, Robby, has friends over, they often bring their guitars. "It's great when your kid's friends know you as the dad who can play all the licks to Black Dog," O'Connell said.
In spite of the occasional irritation that comes when the throb of a bass interrupts his studying, Darren Reis is also open-minded about his parents' hobby. "They're pretty good," he said. "It's not like they're in a bad band or anything. The music they play isn't my music, but there's some cool stuff."
And Reis considers himself one of the luckiest aging boomers around. "Every Tuesday I get live rock 'n' roll in my house," he said. "Nothing can beat that."
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