Second Flyte

"This band has done its homework! “Second Flyte” has captured both the spirit, and the sound of the Original “BYRDS”! I should know!" , Jimmi Seiter, (road manager and percussionist for the BYRDS.)
- n/a

"Incredible! This band has nailed it! By far the best Tribute Show I have ever watched! I endorse them 100%!"

Sandi Conner, Morning Show Host - 106.9 BOB FM and
Production/Promotions Director for Centennial Broadcasting, Lynchburg, VA - n/a

Second Flyte ready to take the stage
The group, a tribute to the Byrds, will perform this weekend in a 40th anniversary celebration of the Monterey Pop Festival.

By Ralph Berrier Jr.
981-3338

If Ed Embrey's father had gotten his hands on a TV remote control 43 years ago, Embrey might not be in Monterey, Calif., today.

Embrey and four friends play in the band Second Flyte, a tribute to 1960s folk-rock progenitors, the Byrds. Second Flyte's impersonation of the band is so spot-on, organizers booked them for a 40th anniversary celebration of the Monterey Pop Festival.

The band would never have formed without Embrey's undying affection for '60s rock 'n' roll. That affection was born Feb. 9, 1964, when little Ed saw the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show," which gets us back to his dad.

"My dad saw these guys with long hair and said, 'Cut that blankety-blank TV off!' " said Embrey, who was a 7-year-old kid in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in 1964. "My mom stopped him and said that I could watch it.

"That was it. I wanted a guitar after watching 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' I begged my parents to take me to see the Beatles' concert in D.C."

He didn't get to go, but his musical tastes had fully matured. He devoured records by the Kinks, the Zombies and Gerry and the Pacemakers. He learned to play guitar, and as an adult became an avid collector of vintage instruments. He learned the licks, chords and solos of all his favorite bands.

"My influences were the three B's," he said. "The Beatles, the Byrds and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys."

Those are more B's than you can shake a Rickenbacker at -- and Embrey, 50, would know, because he plays a classic "Rick 360," just like his hero, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds.

Embrey, who lives in Lynchburg, plays the "part" of McGuinn in Second Flyte, a band he started a couple of years ago to re-create the Byrds' heyday between 1965 and 1968. The group plays two sets this weekend as part of the Monterey Summer of Love Festival, a gathering of original performers and tribute acts who participated in the famous Monterey Pop Festival June 16 to 18, 1967.

The festival provided the breakout opportunity for Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Janis Joplin. The fabled lineup included Otis Redding, the Mamas and the Papas, the Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, Simon and Garfunkel and, of course, the Byrds, as well as many others.

This weekend's festival includes appearances by original Jefferson Airplane members Paul Kantner and Marty Balin, reunions of '60s groups Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Electric Flag, plus the Monkees' Peter Tork and a slew of tribute acts.

Second Flyte plays at festivals, fundraisers and private functions, dishing out Byrds classics "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Feel A Whole Lot Better" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." The group dresses in period suits, and its members wear shaggy wigs with the familiar long bangs of mid-'60s rockers.

"It's all part of the illusion," said Steve "David Crosby" Arrington, 54, a Bedford County supervisor who plays a 1962 Gretsch Tennessean guitar, just like Crosby did.

"It's not about us. It's about the music," Arrington said.

Second Flyte does a credible job re-creating the Byrds' "jangle-rock" sound (you can hear brief sound clips at secondflyte.com). The group includes Bedford Countian Will Newman (Gene Clark) on guitar and vocals, Martinsville's John Johnston (Chris Hillman) on bass and Rustburg's Michael Moehlenkamp (Michael Clarke) on drums. The group members range in age from the 30s to the 50s, and they practice weekly, either at a recording studio in Bedford or at one of the members' homes.

Embrey is a veteran of the tribute-band circuit, having played with Hard Days Night, which you can probably guess paid homage to the Beatles. However, as Embrey said, "there are a 113 Beatles tributes in the U.S. There's one on every corner and God bless 'em."

He didn't know of any other Byrd-brained bands, so he talked Arrington into learning some songs. When the full band met for a practice session, they played three songs Embrey had asked them to learn.

"It felt really good," Arrington said. "You could tell we had something."

Second Flyte has played shows throughout Virginia, including Festival in the Park in May. Organizers for the Monterey festival found Second Flyte through the Internet and sent Embrey an e-mail invitation two months ago.

The band performs Sunday on the John Phillips Memorial Main Stage, right after Peter Tork.

"Quite frankly, we're honored to be representing the Byrds," Arrington said. "To me, the Byrds at Monterey is like the Beatles at Shea Stadium. You don't go much higher than that." - Roanoke Times july 28 07

Arrington, VA

Friday Apr 4
Second Flyte to perform for Free Clinic - roanoke.com

“Naturally, everybody needs more donations.”

The Liberty High School auditorium will be transported back to the 1960s on Saturday when Second Flyte takes the stage for Music Fest II. - Roanoke Times