Phat Daddy, Phat Horn Doctors just phine with phans

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 2, 2004 | by CHRIS CASEY THE GAZETTE

It's pushing midnight on a Saturday night and Stan Shaver, a lanky 29-year-old wearing a rugby shirt, is searching for words to describe the music throbbing inside Fat City Blues.

"I dunno, something in the music gets you going, man. I'm a white boy, but when they play you can groove to it," Shaver says.

Just then, the band launches into Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music" and the dance floor pulses with a kinetic frenzy.

Non-stop booty shaking is the scene when Phat Daddy and the Phat Horn Doctors, Colorado Springs' hardestworking R&B band, commands a room. Their high-energy sets of tunes by Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Santana, Kool & the Gang, Joe Cocker and other R&B greats can be heard most weekends at Fat City Blues, Southside Johnny's, Frankie's Bar & Grill and other local clubs.

Phat Daddy has become the Springs house band, playing many of the biggest festivals and charity events.

Dianne Reid, director of special events for Easter Seals, says she fell in love with Phat Daddy and the Phat Horn Doctors a year ago.

"I'm their biggest groupie, not only because of their awesome music -- you can't stand still -- but because you can see their hearts through their faces," Reid says.

The faces in the band, which originated 10 years ago as Ret-To- Go, have changed over the years, but band founder Keith Stovall and his wife, Rachel Stovall, have been fronting the band for the past several years.

Their pairing on vocals proved to be a "good match," says Rachel, who admitted to starting off as a groupie.

"I met Keith six years ago. He was playing with the band at the Ritz," she says. Back then, the group was down a vocalist and, during a band break, Rachel made her pitch.

"He didn't take me seriously. He wasn't sure if I could sing, and that was OK, because I wanted to go out with him. We courted for six months and we got married."

Keith deadpans, "She stalked me, man."

In the last 21/2 years, especially after the addition of the Phat Horn Doctors -- Kenny Johnston on sax and Curtis Lucky on trumpet -- the band has jelled into a solid eightpiece of groovin', power-set sound.

"I've been playing professionally for 23 years and I've never been in a band that entertains so hard as this band. This group works so hard," Johnston says.

But it no longer has to work hard for gigs. Phat Daddy get so many requests the band can't fit in all the gigs.

Rachel explains that "Phat" was the name the Stovalls' children gave the band. It stands for "pretty hot and tempting," she says.

But there's little chance Phat Daddy members will succumb to the temptations of the nightclub circuit.

"Everyone goes to church," Rachel says. "Nobody drinks too much, nobody does drugs, nobody's chasing the women, nobody's chasing the men -- I don't 'cause Keith would kill me. It makes for a stable group. And the people who come are like family."

During a break, Phat Daddy members stroll the packed club, chatting with folks who've been coming to their shows for years.

Keith and Rachel will perform again just a few hours from now at their church, where he's in the band and she sings in the choir. They perform in three Sunday morning services and a Wednesday service. Then there's Phat Daddy rehearsals on Tuesdays and church rehearsals on Thursdays. Weekends they're performing in the clubs.

"We're pretty much in music all around," Keith says.

When not performing, all the band members have day jobs. For instance, Keith, 45, is a senior manager for Oracle Corp. and Rachel, 37, is a mortgage broker.

Rachel, a Colorado Springs native and 1984 graduate of Harrison High School, said performing for community fundraisers is a regular part of what Phat Daddy does. Besides Easter Seals, the group has performed benefit gigs for the American Diabetes and American Heart associations. Phat Daddy headlined this year's Territory Days at Bancroft Park.

"People in this city have done so much for us in terms of the fan base, the love and support, we should give something back," Rachel says.

The fans getting into the groove surely appreciate that.

"What's cool about this is I don't have to join a health club, I just joined the band," says Johnston.

Chris Jekins, 47, has been a loyal Phat Daddy fan for years. Just back from a year-long stint in Iraq, he's celebrating his recent retirement from the Army doing what he enjoys -- attending a Phat Daddy gig.

"I like the horns, the drums -- I like everything about them, especially the vocals," Jekins says.

At Fat City, Phat Daddy is cranking out the fan-favorite "Celebration," and the band is barely visible behind the wall of dancers crowding the stage.

Perspiration beads up on the forehead of Shaver, who is reacquainting himself with the dance floor. "The rhythm, how they play, is just so on the rhythm."

Soon, Phat Daddy's rhythm will be captured on the band's first CD, which will feature alloriginal songs.

For Johnston, who used to front his own band in Denver, the secret of Phat Daddy's popularity is its infectious energy and relationship with its audience.