RICHMOND, Va. -- One local rock and roll band is bringing their passion for music to fans with live music.
Guitarist Justin Haught was once a national semi-finalist in the Jimi Hendricks electric guitar competition. Now, he's taking the stage with the other band members of the Vagabond Dandies.
"Vagabond Dandies are a kind of a variety rock band that does a wide range of kind of sub-genres of rock," Haught, who is also a dermatologist at VCU Health, said.
The band is made up of doctors and educators.
"Basically, we formed because we all love music and performance is one part of being a musician, it's not just practicing and we all decided at the same time that we kind of come together," Vaught said.
The band born out of the pandemic, Gonzalo Bearman, the band's drummer, said that the passion of music brought the group together with Gary Tye, a pediatric neurosurgeon and Greg Lawson, an educator.
"Yeah, I think it comes from our need to express ourselves through the passion of music, being together, the comradery, being a band but also performing and that has a really important value to us. I think it does to the people that show up to watch us play, they enjoy themselves and they say it's so nice to be back outside listening to live music," Bearman said.
The band's Facebook page tells of their successes. The band plays classics from the '60s and the '80s and sprinkles in some top hits.
"We usually don't tell people that we're doctors, we say hey, we're part of a band," Bearman said. "I guess the fact that I have long hair and let it down, I kind of look the part."
The band said that they plan to perform for music lovers as long as they can.
"We do this for the love of the music and for proper causes. So if there's a function that needs a band, we're here to help and we're here to collaborate. It's not about the money for us at all," Bearman said.
The Vagabond Dandies will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Nutty Buttery in Richmond. For more details, visit their Facebook page.
