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The Skip Castro Band

In late 1977, four Charlottesville musicians — Danny Beirne (piano), Bo Randall (guitar), Corky Schoonover (drums), and Charlie Pastorfield (bass) — found themselves out of work and without a clue. Corky (who had recently returned from a stint at Boston's Berkley School of Music) suggested over beers that their mutual love of late '40s and early '50s swing music might make an interesting focal point for a new band. Rehearsals began, and on December 31st, 1977, the Skip Castro Band played their first performance. Skip Castro's unusual blend of boogie, swing, rock'n'roll obscurities, and original tunes in a frenetic live show quickly earned them a reputation up and down the Eastern Seaboard as a band to be reckoned with. For a decade, the boys kept up a grueling pace of 200-300 shows a year, drawing big crowds and opening shows for the likes of The Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Little Feat, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Kenny Loggins, The Hooters, Bob Weir and The Beach Boys. All good things come to an end however and, in March of 1988 the band called it quits.