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Ron Carlson: Bass, vocals Pat Carpenter: Drums Mike Elsberry: Lead trumpet Steve Greenfield: Guitar, sax, piano, vocals Jane Reynolds: 2nd trumpet, piano, vocals David Sternquist: Guitar, harmonica, vocals Kumari Troeh: Lead vocals, piano

Start date for lineup: Fall 1977 Last date for lineup: Summer 1978

This version of Willow came about after Brian Wolf had left the group. A replacement was sought since the band had good job prospects. Steve called upon Ron to take Brian’s place on bass. Ron had played bass for an earlier version of Willow and was renting a house from Steve at the time. Willing to fill in for some extra money appealed to Ron and he joined up.    Everyone’s instruments remained unchanged for the most part. Since Ron did not own a bass nor bass amp at the time he used the same bass that Brian had played along with the Ampeg amp. Shortly after joining he switched over to a sunburst finished Fender Precision bass that Steve had acquired.    This version of Willow practiced nearly exclusively in the basement of the old H & R Block building in downtown Boone. (There was one practice in Ron’s kitchen and a few practices in the living room of Jane’s house in Boone towards the end of this lineup’s existence.) All the gear could be left set up in the basement space and could be used anytime after business hours. It was a fairly large and comfortable setup for the band. The only drawback to the basement was the stairs during load outs and load ins. The picture here of the group was taken against the north wall of the practice space.

The material the band played remained fairly intact and headed in roughly the same direction. Willow did embrace a few of the disco tunes of the day, but stayed mainly with the album oriented rock and some of the more funkier R&B of the day along with some hits. Some examples of the tunes played: ‘Rubberband Man’/The Spinners, ‘Play That Funky Music’/Wild Cherry, ‘You're Still a Young Man’, ‘Down at the Nightclub’/Tower of Power, ‘(Mama) Shake Your Ass Off’/Edgar Winter Group, ‘Sir Duke’/Stevie Wonder, ‘Dream Weaver’/Gary Wright and ‘We’re All Alone’/Boz Scaggs - Rita Coolidge version.    Willow played several dances around Iowa. Some of the best remembered by group members were the Parents Without Partners dances and the week long gig at the Holiday Inn in Ames. Several high school proms were also played including one in the ‘rotating’ restaurant atop the Holiday Inn located in Des Moines and the Ames High prom held at the Memorial Union on the ISU campus. One memorable incident at the Ames High job came when the band played the newly learned tune ‘Dream Weaver’. Part way through a vocal member of the audience shouted out, “Play something you know!”

This version broke up when Ron, David, Jane and, later, Pat left the band. Summer was fast approaching and Steve was wanting to take the band out on the road. These members all had jobs that were important to each of them and they felt they could not afford to take the month or so off to go on the road with the band. Replacements were sought and Willow did continue on. To read about this last version of the group just click the ‘next band’ pick at the left.    David is currently still in Boone and is semi-retired. He participated in more bands in the Boone area after leaving Willow. He plays occasionally, mostly for his own enjoyment. Ron is living in Boone and still plays occasionally. From here he went on to a reunion of sorts with a former bandmate, Denny Allen, helping Denny out in the recording studio. He also was a member in a few more groups. Pat also lives in Boone. It’s not known if he continued in any more bands. His work situation is also not known although he initially worked for Fairchild Communications in Boone after leaving the group. Jane had worked as a dental assistant in central Iowa and may be retired as of this writing.

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