Fortune has been playing out for 25 years now. Fortune plays out all over greater-Boston/New England, and this Saturday night they’ll be playing at Whippersnappers Restaurant in beautiful Londonderry, New Hampshire. Music fans both local and regional know that Fortune has a long history, as they started out in the North Shore of Boston over two decades ago. Bassist Lou Spagnola, a 19 year veteran of Fortune, was on hand this afternoon to discuss his association with the band as well as this Saturday night’s Whippersnapper’s gig.
Fortune never really went away, even if it seemed there were long passages between their gigs. “We’ve had our ups and downs,” Spagnola said. “Our activity kind of mirrored the activity of the North Shore music scene. A lot of the clubs dried up. We’d been doing 50% originals and 50% covers around the time of the late 90s. We kind of got more involved with covers and the songs we chose might not have been the right songs for us.”
Playing out in Fortune nowadays is not much different than from playing out in the early years. Music fans still have a particular interest in their music, so they’ll actually pay attention to the band, as opposed to having to play over everyone’s cell phone conversations. Spagnola can still look out into the audience and see a lot of familiar faces from the early days of Fortune.
“I started out as a fan of the band,” he said. “I used to rehearse down the hall from them. I’d be in my practice room and I heard them rehearse their vocal harmonies, singing in three or four part harmonies, which was cool. They made me want to go see them. First, I’d be out in the crowd, and then I was in the band, and it’s cool to see a lot of those people still following us.”
Fortune still gets to play a lot of big gigs. Ernie Boch Jr. booked them to play a stump speech party for presidential candidate Donald Trump at his home. Boch also got Fortune a gig playing recent food festival in the Hub.
“That was an incredible experience,” Spagnola said, “playing at Ernie Boch’s house for Trump. Ernie Boch is a Godsend. There isn’t anything close to what he does. He keeps giving us great opportunities. I think Fortune has played his backyard more than anyone else. It’s a validating feeling (to play gigs of that size). When you start out playing in your bedroom alone or with guys in their parents garage, you have these dreams. This is like another minute of my 15 minutes of fame.”
Fortune’s original songs from their 1993 eponymous debut album and their 1996 Storyline album still go over well with audiences today. Spagnola said songs are things people get attached to on a personal level, things they never let go of.
“At Ernie Boch’s party, the event planner freaked out. She said ‘Oh my God. My husband and I heard that song years ago. I can’t believe you’re the same band. That song from the first album, my husband I chose that for our wedding song.”
Having six members in the band gives the songs extra texture, more for their audiences to sink their teeth into. Spagnola said it doesn’t always work out that well for some bands. It depends, he maintains, on whether the band mates know how to play together.
“There are some great trios,” the bassist exclaimed, “who just know how to play together. Farrenheit comes to mind. Those are three guys who just know how to play together. That’s the key. Sometimes it’s harder to do with three than with more players. You have to have the right mix. I’ve always been struck by how well our guitarists Bill Plourde and Pete DiStefano play together. Whether it’s covers or originals, they really know how to compliment each other.”
“I like to think,” Spagnola continued, “that it’s like when you mix ingredients together. You don’t want it get flat. You want everybody to maintain their individualities, stand out without sticking out.”
Spagnola said that although singer Bob Vose writes most the band’s lyrics, the other five members contribute to each composition Vose brings into rehearsals. “One person might have an idea that he brings down,” Spagnola said. “Bill might have a riff. Bill and Pete are the primary music writers. It’s always a group effort.”
Spagnola let on that Fortune have two songs that have not yet been released, but that he feels good about them. He’s hoping to have a CD out soon. One song on it will be titled “Come Back.”
“Bob came down with the words,” Spagnola said. “One of our crew guys ended up going over to Afghanistan. He went over for a tour of duty. His name is Scott Mitchell. That’s who Bob wrote the song about. It’s about wanting our loved ones to come back. We’re glad to have him back. Whenever we play that, it’s one of our favorite songs to play.”
Original songs may have been what made Fortune so successful in their early days. They seemed to be playing all over the North Shore from almost the beginning. When they started playing Boston clubs, their following came with them, insuring they could get rebooked.
“Our first show in Boston we played at Narcissus,” Spagnola said. “That massive following followed us right into town that night, right off the bat.” These days, Fortune plays out only 15 to 20 shows a year. Spagnola said the band doesn’t want to wear out the market. If they play too often, people will take them for granted and not bother going to shows booked.
“Massive overexposure can be bad for a band that needs to fill a 250 capacity venue,” he said. “We try to do a New Hampshire show. We try to follow it with a North Shore show. Then, we might play in the Dracut-Tewksbury area.”
For the Whippersnapper’s show in Londonderry this Saturday, September 26, Spagnola said Fortune will play a mix of covers and originals. “We always try to give the audience what they want,” the bass player said. “Some people love the cover tunes. Some people love the originals. We’re always adding cover tunes.”
Fortune played Whippersnappers last March to a packed room. “If I’ve noticed nothing else over the last 11 years, it’s that the New Hampshire market has great music fans,” Spagnola said.
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