Since he moved to the area, Andreas Barrett has been teaching music at Fairfax County schools — currently at Mount Vernon High School and Walt Whitman Middle School, and before that for two years at Fort Hunt Elementary.
As much as he enjoyed his job, something seemed to be missing.
“I’ve always wanted to have a band and write music,” said Andreas.
His wife Leslye Barrett plays regularly at the White House and goes on tour in the fall, as a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band.
“I was on tour and Andreas started writing music,” said Leslye. When she came back, Andreas told her that he wanted to hear what the songs would sound like if his music was performed by a full band.
With Andreas handling viola, keyboards and backing vocals, lead vocalist Leslye asked fellow Marine Band members, drummer Chris Ferrari and saxophonist and guitarist Jeremy Saunders, to play with them; then fellow music teacher and bassist Rob Schonberger joined. Electric guitarist John Landau completed the group.
“We love it, it’s a nice way to make music together,” said Leslye.
AFTER PLAYING together a few times, the group started looking for names. They came up with The Rub, taking off on the phrase, “There’s the rub.”
The Rub is coming on strong. Their debut recording, “Three Wishes,” was released in January and the band’s making appearances around the area.
The CD took almost a year to complete, but the group is pleased with it.
“I’m glad we took our time,” said Andreas, whose favorite song is “Dark Matters.”
“It’s powerful and has a lot of emotion,” he said.
Some of the other titles are “I Wonder;” “Wide Asleep;” and “Everyman’s Refrain.” All of the songs were written by Andreas, except “Journey Through the Dark” and “Mockingbird,” which were written by John Landau.
They’ve played two shows at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, and the CD is being sold at local stores, including Tower Records on Little River Turnpike and Parcel Plus on Belle View Boulevard, which features local authors and artists.
While none of the band members have quit their day jobs, Andreas said, “We’d like to play as much as possible and see where it takes us.”
“I think they’re a very talented group,” said Ulysses S. James, conductor of the Mount Vernon Orchestra. Andreas has been a member of the orchestra for the past six years and directed the Mount Vernon Youth Orchestra for a few years. “He [Andreas] has a very good voice and he’s quite an artist. The group is very tight.”