Mike Kach ‘so grateful’ for benefit featuring Outlaws and Pat Travers

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Mike Kach performing with Dickey Betts & Great Southern. COURTESY PHOTO BY FRANK SERIO

Mike Kach performing with Dickey Betts & Great Southern. COURTESY PHOTO BY FRANK SERIO

Mike Kach still sounds awestruck by the outpouring of support a month following the benefit concert announcement. On Sunday, Southern rock luminaries the Outlaws and guitar hero Pat Travers plus an all-star cast of local musicians are performing at the White Buffalo Saloon in Sarasota. Money collected from ticket sales and through raffles and an auction will raise funds for Kach, the longtime keyboardist and co-lead singer in Dickey Betts’ Great Southern group.

Kach was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in February.

“The first thing the doctor told me when I was diagnosed was to avoid alcohol completely and I’ve done that for the past six months and am seeing rewards in every area of my life,” Kach says from his Sarasota home. “My better half (Karen Riegel) has been such a trooper, giving me moral support in every possible way.”

One of the area’s most beloved musicians, Kach has performed at numerous benefit concerts for others over the years.

“I consider Mike a brother," says Mark Serio, Kach's guitarist on Sunday and one of the event's key organizers. "We’ve been playing off and on together for close to 30 years. A group of us have helped to raise money grassroots-style for many worthy causes through music benefits. Mike has always graciously volunteered his musical talents. Now Mike is in need of our help and there is no greater gift we can give than helping our brother out.”

Kach relocated here from Connecticut shortly after graduating high school in 1984 and has been a mainstay of the local music scene pretty much ever since. Outlaws’ guitarist Chris Anderson befriended Kach and got him gigs backing Betts at several local benefit shows. A few years after Betts split with the Allman Brothers Band he invited Kach, whose influences range from original rocker Jerry Lee Lewis to jazz giant Jimmy Smith, to his Osprey home and asked the keyboardist and soulful singer to join Great Southern.

Dickey Betts & Great Southern are, from left, Mike Kach (keyboards, vocals), Andy Aledort (guitar), Kenny Crawley (drums), Dickey Betts (guitar, vocals), Duane Betts (guitar), Frankie Lombardi (drums, vocals), Pedro Arevalo (bass, vocals). COURTESY PHOTO BY DAVID SPERO/2014)

Dickey Betts & Great Southern are, from left, Mike Kach (keyboards, vocals), Andy Aledort (guitar), Kenny Crawley (drums), Dickey Betts (guitar, vocals), Duane Betts (guitar), Frankie Lombardi (drums, vocals), Pedro Arevalo (bass, vocals). COURTESY PHOTO BY DAVID SPERO/2014)

Kach spent about two years on the road with Betts before the release of the acclaimed DVD/CD “Back Where It All Begins: Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” The collection features a brilliant rendition of Betts’ Grammy Award-winning composition “Jessica,” the rare instrumental to enjoy radio airplay. The song’s famous keyboard solo gets beautifully extended by Kach, who as a teenager would play along to a recording of “Jessica.”

“Going back now and listening, it’s incredible to be playing that,” Kach says. “In the beginning there, I had to be careful not to get distracted because I would listen to (Betts) and get so caught up in what he was doing, just being around that powerful energy he puts off.”

“Back Where It All Begins” and Betts’ last release to date, “Rockpalast: 30 Years of Southern Rock, 1978 — 2008,” feature Kach singing lead on the Allman Brothers-style arrangements of “Statesboro Blues” and “One Way Out” as well as the Betts-penned Allman Brothers hits “No One to Run With” and “Southbound,” the latter of which finds Betts and Kach sharing lead vocals. Most stirring, though, is hearing Kach sing lead vocals with Dickey Betts & Great Southern on his own ballad “My Getaway” (mislabeled on both releases as “Get Away").

“It’s a special feeling, really, a treat to have him take to the song,” Kach says of Betts. “I showed him other songs I wrote and he likes them OK but this one caught his fancy and he plays that guitar solo so beautifully.”

On Sunday, Kach will perform with his own top-shelf band, which is fellow Great Southern members Frankie Lombardi (drums, vocals) and Kenny Crawley (drums), joined by Berry Duane Oakley (bass, vocals), Serio (guitar), RJ Howson (guitar) and Jeff Arevalo (percussion). Kach plans to take the same band, and perhaps a few special guests, into the studio with him to make a solo album to release in time for the holidays.

“It’s a little strange being on other side of the benefit deal but it only reinforces my dedication to do more benefits for others,” Kach says. “This is a truly remarkable gift at a time when I really, really need it. I’m so grateful and humbled and just, I feel so fortunate.”

Benefit Concert for Mike Kach
Outlaws, Pat Travers and Mike Kach Group with special guests throughout the day
1-9 p.m. Sunday; White Buffalo Saloon, 5377 McIntosh Road; $25; 927-6655; mikekachbenefit.myevent.com

Mike Kach playlist:

Wade_Tatangelo_by_Mike_Lang_HT_06212013

Review: Dickey Betts & Great Southern in Sarasota

Dickey Betts on his days before, with and after Allman Brothers: interview

WADE TATANGELO is a content producer who has been an entertainment editor, reporter, columnist and reviewer at publications nationwide. He is a Hershey, Pa., native who grew up in Tampa and graduated from the University of South Florida. Wade joined the Herald-Tribune in 2013 and writes the weekly Bar Tab column. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4955.

Last modified: September 2, 2015
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