By Kevin Cuddihy | Assistant Editor
The Rough Drafts is the unofficial band of STC, performing at multiple conferences and reuniting at the 2012 STC Summit. The band was conceptualized in Chicago in 2001, as original (and current) members Rich Maggiani and Tommy Barker made plans to get some other musicians and put on a jam session at the next STC Summit. So it was 2002 in Nashville when the original Rough Drafts first performed. Tommy Barker, Rich Maggiani, and Peter Hartman took to the stage to open the event. Other musicians came on stage to jam and they rocked all night long.
The band wasn’t quite sure what reception they’d get when they started, but that first night was an unmitigated hit. “The room was packed, people flowing out into the hallways,” reminisced Maggiani. “Many people were curious how a bunch of tech writers could ever pass as musicians. We ran through a four-song set, starting with Good Rockin’ Tonight, and the room just lit up! The expression on peoples’ faces was just indescribable—happy, laughing, singing, dancing, buzzing, with that ‘Wow! They can really play’ attitude. The excitement was palpable. I played that entire set with goose bumps. Sitting at the back of the stage at my drum kit, surveying the entire room and the guitarists in front of me, I felt like I was floating on air. It was such a thrill, such an incredible thrill! I can still feel it over ten years later.”
The band plays a little bit of many different types of music, including rock, pop, jazz, country, rockabilly, and some blues, and dancing is not only allowed but encouraged and even reflexive.
Throughout the years, other musicians have become part of the band: Sheila Jones joined in 2003; John McGloon and Ken Reid were added after the unfortunate passing of Peter Hartman in 2006. For the 2012 Music Jam, Barker and Maggiani are joined by Viqui Dill and Robert Hershenow, but as always any musicians present are welcome to jump in. The set list consists of simple three-chord rockers that most musicians can play or sing along to easily.
The two constants throughout the years have been Barker and Maggiani, and neither limits their musical escapades to The Rough Drafts. Barker has been playing clubs and honkytonks with The Prophets of Rockabilly in Lubbock, Texas (although a forthcoming move will end that) and has jammed with many of the musicians who played with Buddy Holly, and Maggiani plays with friends at private parties and with his children.
One of the new members this year is Viqui Dill, who has dreamed of being a rock star since age seven. Dill was introduced to Maggiani at the Sacramento Summit, where Maggiani mentioned the possibility of reviving The Rough Drafts for 2012, and quickly jumped on board. “Music is language, pure and simple,” explained Dill. “Technical communicators have a passion for language. What could be better than jamming in my favorite language with my fellow language lovers?” And while this is her first time with The Rough Drafts, she plays in multiple bands in and around her hometown in Virginia and teaches beginning guitar and beginning bass as well.
Robert Hershenow is another new member with a long music background. He, too, heard about the revival in Sacramento and wanted in. “I’m excited to be part of The Rough Drafts this year, and I can’t wait for that dance floor to fill up! It’s going to be a great time!” Hershenow has been performing since the age of nine, he said, and currently is both writing and recording his own material.
So how did the band come to be called The Rough Drafts? Maggiani explains:
“After Chicago, back in my office, I told my employees what we had planned for the next conference and that the band needed a name. The copywriter, Philip, said he’d think about it and went back to his desk in the next room. Soon he called out, ‘Who’s in the band?’ I told him there were just two of us at point. ‘What about other musicians?’ I said we’d just gather them when we got to Nashville. ‘How are you all going to practice?’ I admitted that we probably weren’t going to practice very much, if at all. There was a short pause and he asked one final question: ‘And you’re a bunch of tech writers?’ I confirmed. ‘Then you truly are The Rough Drafts,’ he said. And so it was born.”
