The Hiller Gang

Playing music professionally is a hectic, deadline-oriented activity with ample servings of both stress and unmitigated joy. Consummate professionals either live on a bus, fly all over the globe, become managed equities, or pay dearly in lack of privacy for their fame. No less professional are those individuals and groups that routinely entertain at bars, clubs, fairs, shotgun weddings and anywhere else that their musical offerings are appreciated.

Usually, area musicians in the entertainment field have full-time jobs and families that limit the time they can devote to music. Local bands and most area bands usually are temporary entities. Work schedules and life duties cause a revolving door to members of most groups.



Such was the case when I joined a small group of square dance musicians to fulfill a need at a Brownsville area fire hall. We had all played together at jams where musicians in various stages of talent gathered to express their abilities in harmony with others. Jams are indigenous to musicianship at all levels of music.

Stories abound of outrageously famous musicians showing up to jam with a local band in a bar or club. There, the pressure is off and the music is relaxing. Early in my musical adventure we would jam regularly at Al Lenkey’s home in Vanderbilt.

Al would provide accompaniment on snare drum to a host of guitars, fiddles various other instruments and vocals of every range. Non-musician family members would be listening or playing cards at the kitchen table to the accompaniment of a big plate of fried chicken. From that group of wanna-be music pros came a country band that was in need of a name.

Joe Pleva, farmer by trade, played hoe-down fiddle. Al kept time with the snare drum, Joe’s son Joe (Sonny) Jr. played accordion, and I can’t remember who played bass, but it may have been Ron Enos, who was the regular bassist in the Ranch Hands band.

We had everything we needed for a square dance band except a figure caller and a name. Since we were all living room jammers, we hadn’t thought of that necessary accoutrement of fame. Actually, most musical groups, even the most well known, began as garage bands or street corner singing groups.

There was a choice of several area figure callers, and I believe we settled on Spike Knight, who had called dances regularly with the Ranch Hands band. With several weeks of practice behind us, we were prepared to perform, when the fire hall rep called and inquired of the band’s name for advertising. At a loss for a distinctive power moniker, Joe replied, “Just call us The Hiller Gang”.

So for the next Friday night and many more to follow, “The Hiller Gang” had couples dancing in squares at Hiller Fire Hall. Roy Hess Sr. is a retired teacher and businessman from Dawson.

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