FARE TRADE - BMHOF CLASS OF 2018
FARE TRADE has stood the test of time.
Just like many bands before them, this Southern and classic rock band, which began its initial run in 1969, amicably parted ways in 1981. The members agreed to end their 29-year hiatus when a dear friend asked them to play for a surprise 50th birthday party. This event would bring FARE TRADE back and keep them playing to this day.
The plan was to throw a small surprise party with about 50 people expected to attend. But when word of a possible FARE TRADE performance got out to the public, the event quickly grew to a full-on bash of 400 people packed into a small, intimate space.
The enthusiasm of the crowd that night and the energy that was generated around the band’s possible return was enough to convince the members of FARE TRADE to reunite and to reclaim the joy they always had for playing music together.
The idea of FARE TRADE was conceived in 1968. They were around 13- to 14-years-old at the time, but it was a few years earlier when the Beatles inspired the boys to pursue their dreams.
One of the three co-founders is Mark Terreri, the band’s vocalist and percussionist.
“First the Beatles got us! In 1964, when they burst onto the scene, and burned into our sensibilities, we were 8-9 years old,” said Terreri. “The Beatles and other bands that were popular at that time influenced us and made us dream of how great it would be to be in a band! How cool would it be to play music with your bandmates, write songs, get a great contract with a top-notch record company and become mind-blowingly famous?”
It wasn’t until the summer of 1968 that Terreri spoke with his friend Michael Runo, who is one of the band’s vocalists and its original guitarist. The two shared a paper route on Allendale Road in West Seneca.
“One day, while on our routes, [I] simply wondered aloud whether it would be a good idea to get together,” said Terreri. “The bottom line is that when I asked the question about playing music together, Michael said, ‘Yes.’ That was our beginning.”
Later that year, the two would recruit one of their closest friends, David Lee Frost, to be the band’s bass player and third vocalist. With guitar and drums already covered, Terreri and Runo basically told David Lee that they needed him to play bass. He did not seem overly thrilled at first, but he ultimately agreed, and so the core of FARE TRADE was in place.
Runo, Terreri, and Frost got together often in those early days to learn songs and work on their sound. Dave Buxton was next to join in 1969, becoming the band’s second guitarist and providing backing vocals. John Kensinger was recruited to play keyboards in 1972. John Pokrandt rounded out FARE TRADE’s line-up when he joined the band in 1977, becoming FARE TRADE’s third guitarist.
Ask any member of FARE TRADE, and they’ll say inspiration alone isn’t enough. FARE TRADE was molded and shaped by dedication and hard work.
“We were 14-15 years old, and none of us possessed ‘rock star’ talent in those days,” said Terreri. “We were content to slog through it all and develop our sound by rehearsing relentlessly. Rehearsals were somewhere between four to seven days a week, and they were compulsory. If you died, it was not a suitable excuse to miss rehearsal.”
It was each member’s commitment to continually improve the band’s sound and level of professionalism that led to their success.
FARE TRADE’s very first performance was a remarkable success. They played two songs at their junior high school talent show.
“We were pumped and nervous as hell, but ‘No Sugar Tonight’ and ‘I’m Not Your Stepping Stone’ had the whole auditorium collectively losing their minds!” said Terreri.
The boys were in eighth grade at that time and they already knew exactly what they wanted to do going forward.
He added, “This experience taught us that if we worked extremely hard, we could develop into an excellent band; one that could receive exuberant reactions from everyone who came out to see us.”
Terreri couldn't have been more right. By 1975, their dedication and hard work was paying off. FARE TRADE’s first recording experience was at Trackmaster Audio, with Rich Sargent producing and Alan Baumgartner serving as engineer.
The band’s enthusiasm, along with Sargent and Baumgartner’s promotional expertise, resulted in their first-ever single that boasted a sell-out of the first pressing for originals “Can’t Get Through to You” and “Summerfest.” These songs got significant airplay on WKBW, 1520 AM, Buffalo’s AM radio powerhouse, and received an astounding number of requests from their fans.
In 1981, FARE TRADE stepped away from the music scene, but the band left on a high note. It was a Friday night on Jan. 2. A full-page article dedicated to FARE TRADE appeared in the Buffalo News Gusto section. The article was written to commemorate FARE TRADE’s “Farewell Show.” They performed at their favorite venue, the Barrelhead, in West Seneca.
This show was another sellout, and an extraordinarily memorable evening. In the aftermath of such an emotional event, owners Billy and Peter Klas informed the boys that they had broken all previous Barrelhead attendance records. This is a milestone that FARE TRADE treasures to this day.
Since their reunion in 2010, FARE TRADE performances have been limited (three to four shows a year). Their concerts typically sell out and draw a thousand or more excited fans.
“Our shows, especially for the last eight years, have been large and ambitious productions,” said Terreri. “We enjoy strong support from our fans, and they are the reason the shows have been so successful.”
The annual Cabin Fever concerts alone have entertained thousands. FARE TRADE’s seventh Cabin Fever concert in February of 2018 generated an estimated audience of over 1,600 fans.
FARE TRADE’s charity-focused concerts also enjoy strong support, highlighted by large crowds of enthusiastic fans.
“There is no suitable way to express our appreciation for the tremendous support we receive from our fans. We owe our fans a great debt of gratitude. We love them! They are the reason we’re here. They are why we want to play, and they are why we continue playing,” Terreri said.
Perhaps what makes FARE TRADE special is that through their music, they are linking the past to the present.
“Many of our fans have told us that they met with people they haven’t seen in 25 years!” said Terreri.
But it isn’t just nostalgia that brings fans together; it’s a common understanding that this music, and the atmosphere that surrounds the events, is all-embracing and fun. FARE TRADE wants everyone to see for themselves just what it is like to come together in waves and rock the house with a kind of energy that you’ll rarely get anywhere else.
Terreri concluded, “So we want to invite everyone, confident that all who attend will be happy they came out. This includes fans who have been with us through five decades, and newcomers that are seeing a FARE TRADE show for the very first time.”
Other Career Highlights:
In the summer of 1974, while attending a Summerfest Concert at Rich Stadium (now known as New Era Field), FARE TRADE met and befriended Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their initial contact came after Skynyrd opened for the James Gang and Emerson Lake & Palmer.
FARE TRADE found the Florida rockers to be exceedingly friendly guys who were easy to meet, easy to talk to and gracious with their time and advice about the music business. To simply say that their influence was significant would be to understate their contribution to the musical development of FARE TRADE.
Skynyrd literally explained and taught the boys how to play their music, and they were very eager to learn. “We were meeting them at a time when we admired their band more than any other,” said Michael Runo. Because of Lynyrd Skynyrd, FARE TRADE tried to develop an authentic replication of the greatest songs in southern rock.
During one of their after-show “get togethers,” Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant exclaimed to all who could hear his voice, “FARE TRADE, the only band from Buffalo that gave us a FAIR DEAL!” Runo turned down an invitation from Skynyrd’s Alan Collins to be his guitar tech for their fateful tour that abruptly ended when the band’s plane crashed in October 1977, killing Van Zant and five others.
In the late 1970s, FARE TRADE performed a full-scale production of the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” at Artpark. The band was chosen to perform the opera accompanied by a full orchestra.
August 31, 1980: FARE TRADE opened for Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter at Perry Speedway.
FARE TRADE, on September 17, 2010, celebrated its 30th anniversary with an outdoor concert at the Chicken Coop (a VFW picnic grove) on Leydecker Road in West Seneca, NY.
Since FARE TRADE reunited in early 2010, the attendance at their Cabin Fever concerts, in addition to their annual summer concerts, has exceeded 25,000.
FARE TRADE has performed at concerts that have collectively raised over $500,000 for Western New York charitable organizations such as Variety Club, Relay For Life, Spirit Run, Exposure Concert, American Legion Riders, Italian-American Police Association, Tony Nigro Benefit, Meals on Wheels, and Wings Flights of Hope.
July 31, 2011: FARE TRADE donated its performance as part of a revitalization project, still in its infancy stages, to revive the Buffalo Outer Harbor. It was a three-day, family-friendly carnival and concert event appropriately named Outer Harbor Fest.
November 12, 2011: FARE TRADE was in concert for a sold-out show at the iconic Tralf Music Hall. With Buffalo’s Bill Kothen from Select Sound and Matt Young of M. Young Audio at the helm, the result was a professionally recorded and mastered two-hour DVD of the performance.
In 2014, FARE TRADE was given Buffalo’s Night-Life Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. The band performed at the Cove with other honorees to commemorate this honor.
In November 2018, FARE TRADE will be in concert to honor First Responders and support ECMC’s new level 1 Trauma Center and Emergency Department. This benefit will take place at the Buffalo Convention Center.
FARE TRADE still consists of its six original members. They will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2019.
Written by: Victor Schmitt-Bush