Tin Pan Alley is more than just a phrase to describe a type of music. There was an actual Tin Pan Alley in New York City, a small street that ran between Fifth Avenue and Broadway. It was the center for sheet music publishers when sheet music was the rage and the public waited eagerly for the latest songs to come out. The tinny sounds of many cheap pianos demonstrating the latest attempts to produce a hit tune were said to sound like a hundred people pounding on tin pans.
Many famous songs and well-known musicians came out of Tin Pan Alley until the 1930’s when phonographs and radios replaced the piano players who needed the sheet music.
Today, thanks to Owen Hand and his group The Tin Pan Alley Cats, this music is making a comeback in this area. This five-member band is performing locally, playing the typical Tin Pan Alley songs from some of the original sheet music. Their style is warm and lively.
Dressed in black with red highlights, they capture the attention of the audience with their opening number. Lead Singer, Cherie Fischer, and Band Leader, Owen Hand exchange banter with the other three musicians and a rapport is established with the audience that lasts through the evening. Dancers take the floor, others tend to sing along and everyone is foot tapping.
This all started two years ago when Owen Hand was asked by the Historical Society to put together a musical group for one of their events. He gathered some of his creative musical friends and from that has evolved the present day Tin Pan Alley Cats.
Owen leads the band, plans the programs and plays the banjo, and ukulele and sings. After he retired from teaching at 55, Owen continued to be a national and state ranked tennis player. He became a musician quite accidentally when a tennis buddy put a banjo in his hands and he was hooked. His second hobby became music, playing and performing with various groups including Banjos by the Bay, Beach Bums and Sons of the Beach.
Vocalist Cherie Fischer is the Lead Singer and M.C. She has been playing the banjo and ukulele for many years and 12 years ago she started singing in public. She was the first policewoman in Santa Cruz in 1972. Cherie can be called a well-traveled person, having flown with United Airlines and later owning her own travel agency for 17 years. Best of all, she owns a suitcase full of Tin Pan Alley sheet music.