Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Musicians reunite for Carnival performance

Paul Racicot, left, Steve Racicot, center, and Greg Trelease are old friends and musicians who will perform as part of The East Longmeadow All Stars at the Summer Carnival July 1. Reminder submitted photo
By Sarah M. Corigliano

Assistant Managing Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW At the upcoming East Longmeadow Jaycees Summer Carnival, members of local rock bands will come together for one show as "The East Longmeadow All-Stars."

Made up of members from Opie Reid, The Guzzo Band, Hi-Fi, Legends of Southern Rock and The Hal Benoit Band, these musicians will perform classic and southern rock, maybe with a few original pieces mixed in, for crowds at the Carnival July 1 from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Band members all have connections to East Longmeadow some are current residents, some grew up in town and moved away, and some have been closely associated with the town their whole lives through their friends and their music.

Last week, Greg Trelease from Opie Reid and Paul Racicot from The Guzzo Band told The Reminder about how they got involved in the local music scene, and how they decided to come together for this one show.

"The Fourth of July weekend is almost like a reunion," Trelease observed. "If people don't see each other for a year, they'll probably see each other at the Carnival."

Trelease said his band, Opie Reid, practices in his basement-turned-studio and has also played the Carnival for the past five years.

When he was asking around last winter for any of the local band members and old friends to jam with Opie Reid, "things just seemed to fall into place" for a reunion performance.

Trelease and Racicot reminisced about their introductions to rock music and agreed that they were all bit by the rock bug when the Beatles came on the scene. They remembered the first kids in the neighborhood to play using a wah-wah peddle (Ron Burati) and the time the 12-year-old Paul Racicot was asked to be in a band with 16 and 17-year-olds because they were so impressed with his talent on the keyboards.

From their early teens they played and sang in garages and basements most notably the Racicot family's basement and their music went with them through school, careers, marriages, children and more.

Now the 40 and 50-something friends and musicians are excited about their reunion appearance in front of their town at the Carnival. Musicians in The East Longmeadow All Stars include Trelease and Racicot, as well as Paul's brother, Steve Racicot; Mark Simone of Legends of Southern Rock; Ron Burati; and Bob Boyd and Rick Guzzo of The Guzzo Band.

The East Longmeadow Jaycees annual Summer Carnival will run June 29 through July 3, with the fun starting at 6 p.m. Bands start at 7 p.m. each night This year's Family Day will be July 2 from 1 to 4 p.m; the Carnival then re-opens at 6 p.m.

The annual fireworks display, sponsored by Teddy Bear Pools and Spas, Singer Potito Associates and the Jaycees will begin at 10 p.m. July 3.