Recently, I went calendar cruising at the centralmaine.com calendar website to see what was happening at the turn of the New Year. I wanted some act that was new to me, and I quickly found Steve & The Good Old Boys, who will be performing at the American Legion Post 2 in Augusta. Having never chatted with anyone in that band before, I called the Legion Post and got the name and number for Steve himself. Mr. Goucher was kind enough to give me some time on the 5th of this month to chat with him about his band and what folks can expect from their show in Augusta on the evening of the 31st. I began by asking him how long he had been with The Good Old Boys.
Goucher: About 40 years.
concert info
Steve and the Good Old Boys
Time: 8 p.m.
Date: Monday, Dec. 31
Venue: American Legion Post 2
Address: Legion Drive, Augusta
Cost: $25 members and guests
Phone: 582-5330
Q: Is the current line-up a fairly new one?
Goucher: No, no — I’ve had the same guys with me for quite some time now. I’ve had one guy with me for over 30 years.
Q: Wow, that’s pretty good. I would imagine that you’ve performed at this venue before?
Goucher: Oh, yeah. We usually play there once a month.
Q: Is this your first New Year’s Eve there?
Goucher: Nope, we’ve played there in the past.
Q: Would you run through the names of the other members of the band and what they play?
Goucher: Sure. My lead player is a guy named Dennis Royer — he’s steel guitar and he sings, too. My bass player is Pat Healy. My drummer is a guy named Ed Blush. I play rhythm, and I have a lead guitar player named Levi Boyd. I also have a female singer named Carol Royer — she’s the wife of Dennis.
Q: Are you the lead singer?
Goucher: I’m the lead singer, yup. Dennis sings, Pat sings and Levi sings, as well.
Q: Now what do you cover in your shows — the music you perform?
Goucher: Well, we do a lot of old country — Merle Haggard, George Jones, Randy Travis. We do some ’50s and ’60s Elvis stuff, ya know.
Q: Do you do any original material?
Goucher: Nope, no — I haven’t gotten into that part of it yet, as far as the songwriting goes. I don’t really have a lot of time to sit down and be idle to write (chuckle).
Q: Well, when it comes to playing out, where else do you perform?
Goucher: We play in Bangor at the Bangor Singles. We play down to Biddeford Singles.
Q: Now “Singles” — is that a club chain?
Goucher: Yeah, it’s a singles club.
Q: Okay, makes sense. Now, I would imagine that everyone in the band has day jobs?
Goucher: No, most of them are retired.
Q: Oh, wow.
Goucher: Well, I should say a couple guys are retired. But my steel guitar player’s retired, his wife’s retired, and I’m getting ready to retire.
Q: Now because you’ve been performing for so long together, do you write up a set list for your shows?
Goucher: Nope, we just play it by ear — whatever people seem to like, that’s what we lead to. If they like fast songs, we kind of lead to that. If they like them slow, we do that — it depends on the crowd.
Q: And that must be a relief for you — not having to follow a list of songs and just follow the audience’s lead.
Goucher: Yeah, we have a pretty good following.
Q: I take it your shows are well-attended.
Goucher: Oh yeah, yeah. We usually have a full-house at the Legion every time we play there, unless there’s a threat of a bad snowstorm or something.
Q: And we’ve had more than our share of those so far this year. I can’t remember a snowier November.
Goucher: Yeah, really, I know. It’s been bad; it’s been a long winter already (laughter).
Q: Yeah, and it’s not even winter yet! Well, I’d like to go back to our talk about retirement. Do you have any desire to retire from what you’ve been doing musically in your life?
Goucher: Nope, no — hopefully once I retire I can play more music. I’m hoping I don’t have to worry about being on-call to plow snow or whatever. I work full-time for the Maine Turnpike Authority — I’ve worked for them now for 27 years. Plus, I have a logging business on the side.
Q: My word, you are a busy guy. Is there anything, sir, that you’d like me to pass on to the folks reading this article?
Goucher: No, just tell people that we’re out there and if they need us, to call us. We’re very well-known around here.
Lucky Clark has spent 49 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at luckyc@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
