Average White Band co-founder Alan Gorrie said it is time to get off the road.
The band launched a final tour this spring but will continue to make music.
“It’s the touring that is the hard part,” Gorrie said. “Being on stage is wonderful and still exciting. Since COVID, touring has become really difficult. It’s extremely expensive and hard to manage. We all felt it was time to give it our best show. I use an analogy of a boxer — you don’t want to go out when you are on the slippery slope down. You want to hang up your gloves when you are still at the top of your game. You don’t wait until you get knocked down on the canvas. With our age and experience, you know that’s what coming if you don’t call it quits.”
The Scottish funk and rhythm and blues band will perform at 8 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. Average White Band is the Aug. 10 headliner in the Aug. 9-10 Carmel Jazz Festival.
“It’s wise to let people see you one more time at the top of your game,” the 78-year-old Gorrie said. “Expectations are high for this band. We’ve been hugely respected by musicians, the musical community and audiences alike over the years, so you don’t want to diminish that respect by dwindling out.”
Average White Band was founded in 1972. Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre are the original members still performing. Gorrie shares lead vocals with Brent Carter. Gorrie also plays guitar and bass.
McIntyre plays guitar along with vocals.
“Onnie and I have been on the road for more than 58 years,” Gorrie said. “We were in a couple bands before the Average White Band. We’ve been constant travelers since the mid-60s. We’ve put in our time.”
Average White Band has had to replace members through the years but remained intact. The group disbanded in 1983 and restarted in 1989 with Gorrie and McIntyre.
“Another analogy is that a great sports team can only stay great by bringing in new blood,” Gorrie said. “As people retire, or in our case a couple of people have passed away, you have to keep regenerating and rejuvenating. We’re very fortunate because of the respect (we have) in the musical industry. It’s never been hard for us to get the best talent who are a little younger than Onnie and I but have grown up playing AWB music and have fitted right in there as if they’ve been there all the time. In fact, one of our horn players has been with us for 28 years.”
Gorrie said there are six to 10 staples the band always plays, such as “Cut the Cake” and “Pick Up the Pieces.”
“We vary the rest depending on where we are playing,” Gorrie said. “We’re not pure jazz, but we’re on the jazzy tip of rhythm and blues. We do play a lot of jazz festivals.”
Average White Band had its farewell tour of the United Kingdom in April and May, then began playing in the U.S. this summer. Gorrie said playing in the U.K. for the last time on tour was emotional.
“There were a lot of tears in the audience the very last night just outside of Manchester, England,” Gorrie said. “It was an emotional time for us and them. After 52 years of AWB, people have come to expect we might just go on forever. When people are all in the same venue and they realize this is the last time we’ll be playing in the United Kingdom, it’s a pretty heavy burden. We got through it with aplomb. It’s bittersweet when you know it’s the final run.”
Average White Band performed in May 2023 at the Madame Walker Theatre in Indianapolis.
“We haven’t played Indianapolis enough over the years,” Gorrie said. “We used to do a festival at the Indiana Convention Center in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is our first time outside (of Marion County).”
For tickets, visit thecenterpresents.org. For more information, visit carmeljazzfest.org.
