SECOND WIND

It all began about as humbly as it possibly could. Back in early 2006, guitarist John Nicholas had gotten together with guitarist Bob McClelland, who had some prior band experience and suggested they try and get a few guys together to mess around. "I had no desire to do campfire songs with one other guy", Bob says, intimating that if they hadn't gotten a couple more guys on board pretty fast, Second Wind may never have happened. The two enlisted acquaintances Dave Winfield on bass and Rob Stammera on drums, John offered up the spacious playroom in his Barbara Lane home for rehearsals, the thought being that they'd rehearse a few times, do maybe one open mike night or two, and call it a day. But they desperately needed a lead singer to round out the band and give this thing a try. Well, lead singer Steve Houk's wife Mimi was over at John and Nicole's house for a preschool meeting (can you say inauspicious beginnings?) and John mentioned his and Bob's plan. Mimi said Steve might be interested but he'd never sung in a band before, so she went home and told Steve about her conversation, and after some soul searching, he decided to give it a try. Driving over to John's for the first rehearsal two weeks later, Steve was sweating bullets and even considered turning around and bagging it -- "I'd sung hammered at a couple parties and solo in the car and shower, I knew rock music well and could carry a tune, but this was gonna be WAY different playing with real musicians", Steve recalls -- but after experimenting right off the bat with John Mellencamp's Jack and Diane, the band hit a stride right away and things moved pretty fast over the subsequent weeks and months, their rock and roll sound clearly beginning to gel. After playing their first live show in front of a small group of family and friends in John's backyard on Father's Day, other live club and party gigs started coming their way, and you could feel that something special was clearly happening. About a year or so in, Stammera and Winfield left to pursue other interests, and drummer (and elementary school principal) Sam Elson and gifted bassist & instrumentalist Dan Stephan were recruited to join the band, raising the bar higher than ever, and that's the lineup Second Wind has had since then. Currently, the band has several high profile summer outdoor gigs booked, including the main stage on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC at the annual Safeway Bar-B-Q Battle and returning summer concert series appearances in Silver Spring MD and Fort Washington MD at the annual Rolling Thunder Kickoff at Harley Davidson of Washington. The whole Second Wind experience has exceeded all of the band member's wildest dreams by tenfold, and things are going stronger than ever. Second Wind especially thanks their beautiful wives and wonderful families and all the great friends they've made along the way, it wouldn't be the same without any of you. We'll see you up the road.

Fairfax, VA