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  by Jim Price

 

   As I arrived at the Angus Inn in Hughesville on a late October Friday evening to interview and see this month’s feature band, White Witch; lead singer Jeff Pittinger was anxious and sweating a few bullets.  He had learned, minutes before my arrival, that his bandmate, guitarist Doug Lehman, en route to this night’s show from his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, was stuck at Philadelphia International Airport; his connecting flight to Williamsport wasn’t being allowed to depart due to a security problem that had the airport on lockdown.  Jeff and White Witch were facing the prospect of having to perform this night’s show without a guitar player.

    Since Doug does live in Florida, White Witch regularly rehearses without him; and Jeff informed me that he vocalizes the guitar solo parts in Doug’s absence.  So if ..worst came to worst and Doug wasn’t available to perform, Jeff said this show would go on and White Witch would play as a trio, and like during practice, he would vocalize the guitar solos.

    Fortunately for the group, though, it never came to that.  Some 15 minutes later, Doug called Jeff to report that the airport security situation had been resolved, and that his flight out of Philadelphia would depart shortly.  Jeff, drummer Carl Berry and bassist Bill Zimmerman all heaved sighs of relief.

     White Witch has a collection of such stories to tell, accumulated over a career that started over two decades ago.  This is a group that has weathered some adversity and paid some dues, and per the title of their latest album “Never Dies the Dream”, continues to carry forth the dream of getting their hard-hitting music to the masses.  Asked what ‘the dream’ is, Doug commented, “The dream is…It’s almost 2009, and we’re still here.  And that’s more like a nightmare!”  Laughing, he added, “It’s a good thing; we’re here, and we’re here to stay.  It’s rock and roll.”

   Asked what keeps their dream fresh after all these years, the members of White Witch credit the strength and staying power of the bands and music that influenced them, citing Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin and other practitioners of 70’s-era hard rock and early heavy metal.  ..The thrill of taking their music before enthusiastic audiences also keeps it exciting.  According to Carl, “For me, it’s the live shows.  When everything’s working well, and the crowd’s into it, it’s a great high.  You can’t beat it.”

     It only takes a few momaents into a White Witch live show to realize that this is a seasoned and confident unit that fully believes in their music.  Their performance is tight, powerful and spirited, and they sell their set list of heavy-rocking original tunes and select cover material with abundant enthusiasm.  Doug delivers beefy riffs and sharp guitar solo work atop the forceful and thunderous rhythms generated by Carl and Bill.   Against this booming backdrop, Jeff confidently sings and works the crowd, marauding the stage and offering anecdotes and stories along the way.  White Witch breathes fury into hard-hitting original numbers like their title song “White Witch,” “The Power,” “Marrianne,” the autobiographical “Game That I Play” and the torrid “25 Hours to Live;” conjures darker, more traditional early metal imagery with such tunes as “Slaughter In Salem” and “The Crutch;” and celebrates their influences with charged renditions of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and Judas Priest standards like “Breakin’ the Law” and “Diamonds and Rust.”  White Witch goes all out when they perform, unleashing the beast on stage and leaving fans howling for more.

   Because of the long travel distance between Doug and the rest of the band, White Witch schedules only a few shows each year.  But when they do put a show together, ..they make it a special event, providing concert-caliber sound and production, band guests and other special features.  Regarding what they try to accomplish with an audience on any given night, Jeff states, “Complete devastation,” adding “We do the best job we can.”

   Carl adds, “I just like to perform and entertain, and when these guys are clicking, it makes my job a lot more easier and I can have more fun.  I hope the people enjoy what we do.”

   According to Doug, “It’s like we bring a stadium show to a small club.  It just wipes them out when they see that kind of thing.”

    And for Bill, the group’s objective is to “Provide a visual experience, something for them to see.  And get the girls hot.”

    Bill is the newest member of White Witch, joining the group early last year.  Bill has enjoyed his time with the band so far, commenting, “It’s great.  They’re a bunch of good guys, best guys I ever played with as far as talent, great to get along with; they’re up on their game.  They know what they need to do to accomplish what they want to accomplish.  I like it, I really enjoy it.”

   Conversely, Jeff thinks that Bill’s addition has been beneficial to White Witch.  “He’s smart, doesn’t make bad decisions which can bring giants down.  We don’t have to follow him around because he’s never drunk.”  Jeff added, “He’s younger, he brings youth, strength…and we like that.”

    White Witch dedicated the “Never Dies the Dream” album in memory of their former bouncer, fan and friend Crazy Eddie, who passed away last year.  Asked what Eddie meant to the band, Jeff said, “Crazy Eddie was my best friend, and he bounced for this band for over 20 years.  I miss him dearly.  When he died, it was the hardest thing I ever had to get through.  He’s with us…Even though he’s not here, he’s still here.”

   Carl added, “Obviously, when you’re in a band for as long as we have, we’ve had some ups and downs, but Crazy Eddie was always positive.  We’d be down, and he’d always have positive things to say.  It helped, because the next show would always be better.”

    As Doug recounted, “Eddie was always behind the scenes, getting people all fired up, stirring up things here and there.  If it wasn’t throwing somebody out who was acting up, he was a riot, a one-of-a-kind.”

   White Witch intends to continue their dream with several objectives in the coming year.  The group is currently working up new song material for their next CD, to be recorded in 2009.  They are in the process of creating a video.  And they will be hitting the live stage in the coming year as well, hoping to return to venues in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Altoona, Allentown, and their Williamsport area home base as well.

   It has been a wild, fun and hard-rocking journey for White Witch thus far.  These four rock warriors continue to soldier on, as never dies their dream of winning new fans and achieving new heights in their music and career.  As Doug sums it up, they’re in it for the long haul… “White Witch is kind of like the flu in the winter, it just never goes away.”  Laughing, he adds, “It always comes back.”