OP_032317

opprairie.com Life & Arts
the orland park prairie | March 23, 2017 | 25
Famous Unknown USA expands its fan base
Band to perform at
Orland Park Public
Library in May
Amanda Del Buono
Freelance Reporter
With what could be described
as a blues/folk rock
feel, Famous Unknown USA
has shared its music and passions
with many members
of the community and those
nearby.
Formed approximately
seven years ago, the band
features three members:
Bob Hauck, 55, of Orland
Park, who plays bass guitar;
Gary Reyes, 62, of Willow
Springs; who takes on the
roles of lyricist, lead singer
and drummer; and Gary’s
son, Christopher Reyes, 40,
of Orland Park, who is the
lead guitarist.
In order to keep their
hobby and passion alive, the
three continue to perform locally,
building a following of
fans along the way.
This past November,
Famous Unknown USA
released its first album,
“Greatest Hits.”
The album came to be after
Christopher discovered
his father’s collection of
original songs, hidden on a
computer.
“Basically, I found a treasure
trove of music that he
had — files stashed away of
totally completed songs that
were edited, produced and
mastered,” Christopher said.
“And I was like, ‘Dad, these
are good songs. Why don’t
we start playing these? Why
don’t we put out an album?’
So, we did that. As a
joke, it’s called the ‘Greatest
Hits’ album, just because
it’s years of songs
that he had, and so I just
did ‘Greatest Hits’ because
it was the greatest hits out
Bob Hauck plays bass for Famous Unknown USA. Photos by Chris Mangulabnan
of what we sorted through.”
Gary explained that he got
interested in home recording
more than a decade ago and
has since been creating his
own music. Without a band,
he taught himself to play a
variety of instruments and
recorded a number of songs,
some of which are appropriate
for the band. Others do
not necessarily fit its style,
he said.
“I had set up a home studio
and I had started writing,”
he said. “For me, it’s a
lot easier to write when you
can record an idea and then
hear it back, and then add
to it or take away from it or
make changes to it. It’s like
having a band at your disposal
whenever you want.”
In order for Christopher
and Bob to learn the songs to
be able to play them at live
shows, Gary said he gave
them demos of the songs
from which they learned
their parts.
“I would help them along
if they needed help learning
the parts, but there was
always that reference they
had,” he said. “These cover
bands, they have the original
artists to listen to over and
over again, and pick up parts
and try to recreate it, and
that’s what they did.”
He added that some of the
songs on the album had to
be recreated in order for the
band to be able to play them.
Despite playing music for
a majority of his life, Gary
said this is the first band with
which he has produced original
music.
The “Greatest Hits” album
has been received well, Bob
added.
“It’s such an eclectic album
of songs,” he said. “It’s
had very good reception by
people who have listened
to it, [and] venues are impressed
with it.”
That album now is available
streaming through
numerous sites, including
Pandora, according to Christopher.
“Anyone can [release an
album], really, but we got
picked up by Pandora, which
you have to apply to and you
have to get accepted. So that
was exciting, because they
have 83 million active listeners,”
he said.
Gary has been encouraged
by the response to the music
that he has written and its
acceptance on Pandora, he
said.
“I guess [Pandora] saw
something in it that they
thought was unique enough
to put out there,” Gary said.
“I think it’s pretty neat that
people would download it
and pay for it. … I was re-
Please see FAMoUs, 32
Gary Reyes plays drums for Famous Unknown USA.
Christopher Reyes plays guitar for Famous Unknown USA.