Checking in With ApX Alum Drummer Fred Behanna
Wed., Jan. 24. 2024 5:25pm EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
I had a great lunch with ApologetiX alum drummer Fred Behanna on Wednesday. His wit and memory are as sharp as ever; we shared many laughs and reminiscences. I hadn't seen him in person in over six years, and the three hours we hung out together whizzed by!
Fred played drums for us from February 1999 through January 2001. You can hear his drums on 15 of the tracks on Biblical Graffiti (Weird Al's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, plays on the other seven tracks) and all the tracks on Spoofernatural. Even after retiring from ApologetiX, Fred provided supplemental percussion on Keep the Change and Grace Period.
A veteran of many rock bands, Fred also played with famous gospel group The Steel City Quartet and the vocal group Frontline. A long-time praise and worship team drummer, Fred continues in that role at his local church.
Fred combined with our bassist, Keith Haynie, in an interesting rhythm section: Nobody ever remembered Keith's name and Fred never remembered anybody's name. Consequently, Keith has been called by an assortment of names and Fred decided to call everybody "Ben."
He also had trouble remembering places, so if we asked him a question about where something occurred or was going to occur, he'd always answer "Uniontown," a reference to Uniontown, PA, home of famous Laurel Caverns.
A father of three, Fred now has seven grandchildren. If you'd like to see photos from the lunch, I posted them on the band's Facebook site, https://www.facebook.com/Apologetix.
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