This page is here to tell the story of Jeff's first band and share with you information on its original members and photos from the archives! Never before seen or heard stories and pictures of Jeffs early years in music! Jeff began singing professionally at the age of 11, but it wasnt until he had matured to the ripe old age of 13 that he started his own band, JEFF BRANDT AND GALAXY!! The first place to hire the band was a lounge called the Hangar Lounge in the Airport Inn in Des Moines Iowa. Charlie Keller was the owner of the lounge and had seen Jeff perform in a competition at his Rolling Prairie night club in West Des Moines with the great entertainer Paul New. Paul and his band Steel City were performing at the night club and backing up those who were competing. Jeff won the competition and was given a two nights stay at the Rolling Prairie Inn and a champagne breakfast for two. This would be great for anyone else but for a 12 year old boy it didnt do much for him until Charlie told Jeff if you get a band together I will hire you to work for me. So Jeff did just that and the band opened at thier first lounge for a big three week run! Jeff also became a big fan of Paul New and today still looks at Paul as one of his many influences. This is an example of a typical Jeff Brandt and Galaxy Stage show set-up. The size of the room of course would determine how large the stage set-up would be. This particular stage set-up is from Minot, North Dakota at the Executive Inn circa 1984. PAST MEMBERS OF GALAXY Gina Kalitzki(Keyboards), Gary Powers (Bass Guitar), Roger Myers (Lead Guitar), Scott Martin (Drums), Pedro Hall (Bass Guitar), Tom O'Connor (Lead Guitar), Steve Rorebeck (Drums), Brian "Taz" Grant (Lead Guitar), John Rafdol (Lead Guitar), Jim Davis (Bass Guitar), Brad Richman (Drums), Dave Petersen (Bass Guitar), Steve Dingman (Bass Player), Nelson Shrank (Lead Guitar) and many more. PICTURES OF GALAXY MEMBERS While it appears that there were a lot of members to the band most of these people were very short term. The main band consisted of Jeff Brandt (Lead Vocalist), Gina(Keyboards and Vocals), Gary Powers (Bass Guitar and Vocals), Roger Myers (Lead Guitar and Vocals) and Steve Rorebeck (Drums and Vocals). WHERE ARE THEY NOW?? We are going to attempt to find out whats is happening with these past members of Galaxy! To let you know what they are doing, what they have done, and all around catch you up with them! Steve Rorebeck is currently working at Rieman Music in Des Moines. You can visit his website by clicking HERE. Gary Powers now lives in Houston , Texas and is promoting several internet home business opportunites. Just click HERE to check it out! Roger Myers resides in Osceola, Iowa and works for Midwest Optical in Indianola. Brian "Taz" Grant continues to work with his own band, The Taz Band in area blues and jazz clubs throughout Des Moines. At last word, Tom O'Connor works in real estate in the Des Moines area. Steve Dingman now resides in Chicago, Illinois and continues working in the music field. (Thanks for letting us know Steve!) Nelson "Bo" Shrank lives in the quad cities area of Iowa and continues to amaze people with his incredible guitar playing. We will have more on Bo soon. Thanks to you too Bo for dropping us a line to update us!! If you have information on past members of Galaxy, please e-mail us below! More is coming soon!! YOU ARE VISITOR #Since 09/01/99 Jeff Brandt Enterprises 2008 www.jeffbrandt.com is a division of Jeff Brandt Enterprises All images and text within www.jeffbrandt.com are owned and held by Jeff Brandt Enterprises. Any use or reproduction of these images and/or text is strictly prohibited without the expressed written consent of Jeff Brandt Enterprises. This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page
images and/or text is strictly prohibited without the expressed written consent of Jeff Brandt Enterprises.
