Sometimes backyard barbecues are too much fun to end. Sometimes they even spawn bands — real big ones, like The Valves,who boast 11 pieces.

     This relatively new local group crept out of a blast of a time at sax player Steve LeClaire’s house last year. Having played in lots of bands, he had a bunch of old bandmates who dropped by to play, and they didn’t want to stop.
     “It was just so much fun to be doing it again after so much time off,” says LeClaire.
“Probably like an addiction you never really kick — a bunch of great players, wonderful people in the right place at the right time. I guess some things are meant to be, but I’m very, very fortunate to have the luxury of this situation.”

     Great music should find its way to the stage, and everyone at that cookout was up for making a go of it, and adding more to the grill. LeClaire asked guitarist Greg Wolodkin and drummer Bart McCracken to play right away. Wolodkin worked with piano player John Duesenberry and baritone saxophonist Allen Kiefer at Mathworks, and brought them into the fold. McCracken added guitarist Mike Ladd and bassist Joe Miglionico, who played in Chimera with Ladd and McCracken. McCracken’s job soon pulled him from The Valves, but they found Rick Murphy to take over, and Hammond player Tom Gajda joined to fatten up the sound. LeClaire felt he needed a “right-hand man” in the “Tornado Alley Horns,” so he got Roger Grover on trumpet. Although Grover was already in a bunch of bands, after that cookout, he realized he missed blasting it out with section-type R&B work. Joe Reidy then filled out the final piece of the Tornado. Singer Reagan Karacius was discovered a bit by accident, but she is surely one of the focal points in the band.With a smoky but cutting voice and stage presence to match, Karacius leads wisely with a command beyond her years. A Berklee student, LeClaire knew Karacius’s dad, but didn’t know she could sing. After hearing a disc of original tunes, he was blown away and wondered if she could sing the style The Valves were into: Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, James Cotton and the like. She could, and does.

     “Our horn section alone is larger than the average band,” says Wolodkin.
“It’s great fun playing with a full horn section. And how many bands do you see lugging around a Hammond organ these days? You can’t simulate the sounds and colors that come out of the Hammond-Leslie combination. Having another guitar player allows me to put down my guitar and play the harmonica once in a while, which is something I really enjoy doing.”
Wolodkin describes his guitar style as straightforward: plug in the amp and play. He listens to stuff by players like Roy Buchanan and Albert Collins, and knows that when acting is the piece of a big puzzle, it’s important to know when not to play, too. Dynamics are important, or it can get muddy — something that The Valves are adept at keeping a close eye on.
“I think we’re lucky in that we’re all relatively like-minded,” says Wolodkin.
“Most of us have played in various bands for years, and our primary mission in this one is to have fun. That takes a lot of the pressure off and makes it easier to get along.”