The City

Gene Woods is deep in a groove.

With his Stratocaster in hand, he’s singing a song — one of his songs — into a hot mike. At a break, he spins to his left to put the focus on vocalists Jane Harrod and Lara Brier as they purr the chorus.

Seconds later, the singers are out front on their own as Woods and drummer Arthur Rouse, percussionist Steve Parrish and keyboardist Tom Martin get into a little jam at the back of the stage.

“What really makes this exciting for me is the ability to express ourselves in original music,” Woods says of the band, The City, a jazzy, bluesy act that’s just starting to make some noise in Lexington.

He’s not doing it for the money.

Woods has a pretty good day gig: He’s chief executive of St. Joseph Health System.

Most of his bandmates also have solid day jobs. Brier is the drama teacher at Sayre School. Harrod is a landscaper, Martin is the editor of Business Lexington, and Rouse owns Video Editing Services. Parrish recently retired from a career as a psychiatric nurse.

“He’s still a psychiatric nurse,” Martin jokes, and Woods adds, “We just don’t pay him on this side of things.”

Rounding out the lineup for the band are:

■ Brian Powers, bass, who works at the University of Kentucky College of Law and is working on setting up his own law practice.

■ Chris Goode, trumpet, attorney.

■ Mike Meuser, trombone, attorney.

■ Dr. Jay Zwischenberger, harmonica, chief of surgery at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

■ Paul Osbourne, saxophone, who has had a variety of jobs, including stockbroker and financial consultant.

“All these day gigs are to put food on the table,” Osbourne says. “My life is music. Since I was 13, I played music.”

Everyone in the band has significant musical experience, and several are playing in other bands. They all have had other careers but have kept music as part of their lives.

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