Tommy McGuire, his brother Danny, Harvey Langenauer, Alan Wasserman and C. Ricky Cash are five unassuming middle-aged guys, each with families and day jobs and everyday routines.
But twice a week, the group meets at Danny’s Roslyn home, guitars in hand, and jams out as Jagged Edge Band, preparing for local gigs spanning all of Long Island and Queens.
“We play weddings, birthdays and brises,” said Danny, who plays lead guitar. “We won’t perform the bris, but we’ll play at them.”
The band ripped through three-hour-long sets Monday at the East Hills Park, in celebration of Memorial Day and the opening of the village’s pool, pulling songs from the classic catalogues of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Doors and other blues-rock giants the guys grew up listening to.
“We do the best stuff by the best bands you’ve already heard of,” said Tommy McGuire, the band’s lead singer and an East Hills resident.
Each of the Jagged Edge Band members had been playing in various local bands dating back to the late 1970s, but came together nearly two years ago for an open jam session at Danny McGuire’s house.
“Alan and I were playing together for awhile, and we came down to Danny’s house one night and it just clicked,” said Langenauer, who plays guitar alongside Danny.
In the time since, the band has gone through various drummers, with Cash filling in recently after answering a Craigslist ad.
“They kind of frown upon the ballads,” Cash said. “As the drummer, we want the high-energy stuff, the stuff that gets people dancing. That’s our goal, to get people dancing, so those are the songs we learn.”
Because the band often plays sets that run 30 to 40 songs in a night, it continues to add new tracks to its repertoire. The band estimates it knows 80 songs.
“They’re all originals,” Tommy McGuire said. “We didn’t write any of them, so they’re not originals to us, but they’re all originals to somebody.”
Danny McGuire said the band plays gigs every weekend, and is already booked through most of the summer.
When they’re not emulating their rock heroes onstage, Danny and Tommy McGuire each work in home improvement businesses, Wasserman works as a plumbing contractor and Langenauer works in financial services.
Only Cash has fully dedicated his life to music, as he teaches drumming lessons full-time in addition to playing in the band.
Next month, Jagged Edge Band will play at the Long Island 2 Day Walk to Fight Breast Cancer in Suffolk County, and is also in the process of organizing out a small tour of Connecticut, with stops at Mohegan Sun casinos and local breweries.
“We play all the ‘-hans,’” said Wasserman, who wore a porkpie hat and sunglasses as he slapped the bass Monday. “The Callahans, the Sheehans, we get around to them all.”
As far as Danny is concerned, they just might.
“There was an articles in the Times recently where Billy Joel said that when it stops being fun, that’s when I’ll quit,” McGuire said. “That’s how we feel too, only we don’t think that feeling’s going to come along too soon.”
