The little band with big band sound

Sheldon, Mo. -- Listening to the Soundsations is like a stroll down memory lane, they play the music your parents and grandparents grew up on. They are led by Jack Decker, Sheldon, and they're finding popularity playing the old music with a new crowd.

"We do the older type stuff - Glenn Miller and bands like that," Decker said. "We played the Downstream Casino recently. It's interesting, the parking lot is in Kansas, the casino is in Oklahoma and the Baxter Springs exit is in Missouri."

Decker likes the venue and the group plans on doing more gigs there. One of the things he likes is that gambling isn't the only thing to do, the casino has much more to offer.

"You don't have to gamble to go there," Decker said. "What they've done with it is give it the Las Vegas treatment. They're making it bigger and with more to do that just gamble."

The group is composed of more mature musicians, Brian Hicks is the youngest at 48 and Tom Parkhurst is the oldest at 74. Their age is definitely an asset in their playing -- between them they've probably played just about every genre of music out there.

Decker has played with Roy Clark, Dave Duddly among others; Lou Colbe has played with Dean Martin, Sonny & Cher, Kay Starr, Johnny Desmond and others; Parkhurst had an eclectic work history, he's played with Sha-na-na, Kenny Rogers, Neil Sedaka, Mel Torme, Ray Stevens, Wayne Newton, Ray Price, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, and Bobby Vinton.

"Most of them have played with famous people," Decker said. "We're going to play the casino again but we have to take some time off, our horn player and sax player are working with Bobby Vinton on his Christmas show in Branson. Once that commitment is over we'll get busy again, we'll play two months at the casino."

The most striking variety of music styles is probably represented by D'Vaughn Pershing. Pershing played on the Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle, Jack Benny and other popular shows of that ere. He later became involved in rock opera in Hollywood, conducting and playing for shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Tommy and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For more information: www.thesoundsations.com