Silverbacks ready to shine in BG return

The Silverbacks, though not so named back then, made their debut back on the Main Stage of the Black
Swamp Arts Festival in 2005. The jazz combo brought together veterans of the area musical scene led by
Bob Manley, from Bowling Green but then living in Cincinnati, pianist Michael Peslikis of Bowling Green
and guitarist and bassist John Johnson of Toledo.
After three years of appearing at the festival the band went on a brief hiatus though all the
participants continued to be active on the area music scene – Johnson with groups including the Toledo
Jazz Orchestra and the vocal jazz group Sixth Edition; Peslikis solo in a variety of settings; and
Manley, who moved back to his hometown Bowling Green in 2007, with JoeBobDuda and later the Joe Baker
Band as well as The Welders.
Two years ago that trio, often joined by ace Toledo drummer Scott Kretzer, starting getting together at
Peslikis’ home.
The Silverbacks came back to life. Now the group, or elements of it, play regular gigs at Degage and the
Village Idiot in Maumee as well as at other venues.
What they haven’t done since the 2007 festival is a gig in Bowling Green.
A concert in conjunction with the annual Art Walk in downtown Bowling Green will give The Silverbacks a
chance to step out in BG again. The show starts at 6 p.m. and will feature Manley and Peslikis with
drummer Bob Rex, with whom they play Sunday evenings at the Villlage Idiot, and bassist Greg Wolfram, a
student from the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts. Veteran singer Flo Metzger is
expected to make a guest appearance as well.
The Silverbacks as a trio with Peslikis, Manley and Johnson on bass also will be playing Saturday from 7
to 10 p.m. at LaRoe’s in Grand Rapids.
While the initial appearances of the group were more along the line of friendly jams on familiar tunes,
the band’s sound has evolved because of those weekly sessions on Georgia Avenue.
"We don’t want to just jam," Peslikis said. "We want to have some kind of arrangements. We
work out the details – introductions, backgrounds."
Manley credited the pianist with providing "all those nice little touches."
The band’s repertoire covers a wide range including the standard "When I Fall in Love," which
Peslikis recast in waltz time to funky jazz tunes such as "The Preacher," and even tunes with
a traditional New Orleans feel.
And the regular rehearsals and work help make the ensemble tight. "You start to develop a musical
rapport," Peslikis said. "You start to intuit what the others guys will do."
Of course, it also helps when you have over a century of playing experience under the group’s collective
belt.
Peslikis started playing in dance bands when he was 14 and growing up in New York City. He joined the
musicians union at 15 and joined the band at the Thousand Acres Dude Ranch in Stoney Creek, NY in 1952.

He’s kept at it since playing all manner of music – shows, polkas, society gigs, piano lounges, and
silent movie scores.
That flexibility has been essential for Peslikis. "In a small market like this, if your going to get
any substantial income out of it, you have play anything you can."
For his part, Manley got his start playing flute in fifth grade band. Then he saw the Beatles on Ed
Sullivan and switched to guitar. He worked in the rock band Rail and when the band played covers of
tunes by the band Jethro Tull, he’d play flute.
It was a clerk at Finder’s Records who told them that Ian Anderson, the flutist with Jethro Tull, had
been influenced by jazz reed master Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Manley and his friends checked out Kirk, and the jazz bug bit them. Manley started blowing a hand-me-down
saxophone from Chip Myles.
He did one year as a music student at BGSU, and then studied for three years with Gene Parker. Though he
loves jazz, he’s made his living over the years playing in pop, rock and blues bands in Hawaii and later
Cincinnati.
But jazz is close to their heart. Peslikis said he just loves to perform for an audience, adding that
nothing compares to the musical experience "when you find that groove in jazz."
"Jazz is so expressive," Manley added. "In improvisation you just reflect how you’re
feeling."