Lip Service Inc. at Asian Garden
by Dorothy Timpy
Take talent, congeniality, energy, powerhouse
vocals, artistic creativity, mixed with a desire to have fun while
pleasing the audience; then glue all of it together with dedication
and love for good music and it all comes out Lip Service Inc.
The group consists of: Keri Fletcher, vocalist;
Rex Beard, guitarist and vocalist; Paul DeLano, bass; and Ron Wood,
drums, vocalist and comic.
Drummer Wood comes across at first as a bit shy
and somewhat reticent to talk about himself, until he hits the bandstand,
that is. Then all bets are off and he fills in any vacant spots with
funny chatter and stories as entertaining as the music. Not only
does Wood add his own brand of vocals, but he steps in to do back-up
duties too. A genuine “family man,” whose wife works in real estate,
Wood spoke greatly about his children and their golfing abilities.
DeLano, a full-time musician, is touted as one of the
Northwest’s busiest bass players. He can be found any night playing
live with one of four bands, recording in one of several Northwest
studios or writing original music in his home studio. His bass guitars
are extremely unique in design and the sound emanating from them
is both unique and creative, as well as full-rounded.
Beard joins the other two instrumentalists with
an abundance of talent on his guitar, as well as plying his vocal
talent. He adds all this to his expertise in composing many of the
band’s originals.
Fletcher soundly rounds out the group with her
big, powerful vocals, adding energy to her high level of talent.
Fletcher co-authors with Beard in the music arena; some of the original
tunes are Lip Service, My Last Girlfriend (Left me for a Rich
Guy), Never Ending, Affection, Don’t, Dust Devil, Deep. Fletcher
booked the group at Asian Garden at Allen Blvd. and Murray Rd. She
recalls with nostalgia that it was the very first stage she performed
on, though it was with another band.
Asian Garden is a top-notch restaurant, serving Chinese food,
noted for years for its high quality. Though they more often than
not have a DJ to entertain, on this night of live music, it was wall-to-wall
audience and the dance floor kept avid dancers busy with the music,
The Garden makes huge efforts to keep its clientele
not only well-fed but well-entertained. They feature ladies’ night
each Wednesday evening; bring on Karaoke for a contest on Thursday
evening; and have what they term “Fab Friday Giveaways,” when they
give out prizes to a lucky person. Saturday night theme is different
each week, so hop on over and find out.
The lounge had its first ever guys’ night recently
with a panel of ladies. The guys had to dance the first round, play
musical chairs in the second and the final three played the dating
game with the ladies picking out the winner. They announce that on
the next ladies’ night, the men will pick the lady of the evening.
The musicians called this an all-night rock, as
opposed to doing a short private party gig, so they went onstage
a bit before 9:30. They played a first set of more than an hour because
the audience indicated they were very anxious for them to begin the
evening of entertainment. The band stayed onstage throughout the
evening, signing off at 2 a.m., much to the distress of the audience.
The Asian Garden is located at 14280 S.W. Allen
Blvd., Beaverton. Phone them at 503-646-4611 for more information
or see Music on Tap this issue.
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