Ron Lauback
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Ron Lauback (d.o.b. 09/11/1942) is a guitarist/bassist/songwriter from Syracuse, New York. Ron's group The Sabres was the first Syracuse based rock and roll band (1958). They specialized in instrumental music and early rock artists like Chuck Berry, The Ventures and Dale Hawkins[1].
The Sabres cut one single ("Seaweed" (written by Ron Lauback) b/w "The McCoy") recorded at Riposo Studios which received airplay on WNDR radio in 1962. The Sabres played all the regional teen dances and even backed up Bobby Vee at The Three Rivers Inn one time for DJ Peter C. Cavenaugh[2].
The Sabres continued into the mid 1960's before splitting. Ron next worked with The Saint and the Sinners (1965-1968) featuring lead singer Tommy Forrest ex-The Monterays)and keyboardist George Day. The Saint and the Sinners started out as a typical mid 60's garage/dance band before evolving into a soul/horn band, not unlike Wilmer and the Dukes (another regionally popular band). After The Saint and the Sinners folded Ron and George Day briefly worked with The Monterays before forming Airborne (1969). This group featured a female lead singer (Karen Franklin) and was even more soul based, but Ron inexplicably left music a year later to devote more time to his family and career [3]. .
He continued to record his own demos at home throughout the 1970's and learned the keyboard.
In 1980 old friend (and fellow ex-Sinner) Dave Machen persuaded Ron to perform again, this time in a folk based group called Trinity (Ron played bass for this group). Trinity recorded an albums worth of material at Dayson Studios (owned by George Day and also home to much of the work done by Ron Wray for the History of Syracuse Music releases) which still remains unreleased. Trinity gave way in the mid 1980's to a revived Saint and the Sinners which soon changed their name to East Side Story (later East Side). East Side specialized in classic oldies and seventies hard rock. This band lasted (with virtually the same line-up) for fifteen years before folding in 2000.
In January 2002, Dan Elliott invited Ron to take Jack Abert's place in The Monterays. Ron moved from bass to lead guitar with the departure of Dave Moziak in 2005. The Monterays perform around 100 shows a year and are working on a new album [4].
Ron has had a wide variety of influences over the years. He enjoys the guitar playing of Hank Marvin of The Shadows, Bob Bogle of The Ventures, Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Gary Moore and loves heavy rock music (Lillian Axe, Giant, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots for instance).
His guitar style has changed somewhat over the years as well. In the 1960's he played Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson 335 and Rickenbacker thru Fender and Ampeg Amps. During the hard rock/metal craze of the 1980's Ron wielded Charvell's and Ibanez Guitars with Peavey Amplification. Today Ron's main axe is a custom wired Fender Stratocaster (designed by legendary Syracuse musician, the late Dave Pasternack). He uses a combination of Peavey and Fender amps.
Ron Lauback has influenced many Syracuse based artists over the years. Dan Elliott has stated in interviews that Ron and The Sabres influenced him to form his first band The Dimensions as well as the helping Jack Abert and John Wisnewski start The Monterays. Other local talent that Ron has influenced include Shane Prue (ex- Wishpool and solo artist), Brian Williams and Dan Wagner (Wagner) and Steven Alexander (The Erika DeSocio Band).
Ron and his son Ronnie Dark record music together under the name RLB.
Ron Lauback has also made numerous contributions to the field of medicine as well. His work has been published in several academic journals and periodicals. (example: "High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Assay for Dane Salt Potassium (-)-N-(1-Methoxycarbonylpropene-2yl)-p-hydroxyphenylglycine" written by Naseem Muhammad, Peter S. Tsai and Ronald G. Lauback; Affiliation: Bristol Laboratories, Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Syracuse, New York, USA--Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies, Volume 5, Issue 7 1982)[5][6]
