Fort Bliss Band is ready to rock in 2016 at JJ’s Bohemia in downtown Chattanooga.
The bandmates from Brainerd, Ringgold and LaFayette are practicing for gigs at their rented space along Cloud Springs Road.
The name Fort Bliss Band comes from vocalist/guitarist Ken Welch, of LaFayette, who grew up in El Paso, Texas. Welch’s father, Dallas Welch, retired from the U.S. Army as a staff sergeant after 25 years of service. He was stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas.
“I was right at the edge of the desert,” said Welch. “It [Fort Bliss] is where the military first tested atom bombs. We moved here when I was 9 and it was a culture shock. A military base is the most diverse place you will ever see and it’s white people everywhere you go here [in LaFayette].”
Keyboardist/bass guitarist Jennifer Weaver, of Ringgold, joined the band in 2013. She played in the band The Moscow Theater Siege with her brother Andy Weaver from 2003 to 2007. Fellow band members bassist/rhythm guitarist Russell Ariks and his wife, drummer Laura Ariks, of Brainerd, joined in 2012. The Ariks couple performed in Tom Grey’s Dream Band from 2003 to 2008, and from 2008 to 2011 the couple performed in Thee Something Brothers Band.