From epic beginnings, Fleeger has put together quite the career
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LEWISTOWN -- A music artist's first live performance is always a memorable one. Though this doesn't necessarily mean it was remembered for all the right reasons.
Ron Fleeger III started his career playing in an unassuming place such as Roosevelt Middle School in Williamsport for a Battle of the Bands competition.
"It was 1996, so I was in eighth grade -- or 14 years old -- at the time," Fleeger recalled. "We did two songs -- "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins and "Big Me" by Foo Fighters."
The Foo Fighters' video was a spoof on Mentos' commercials using a fake breath mint, Footos.
"We had two girls run down the aisles, throwing Mentos," added Fleeger, who lives in Lock Haven. "We almost incited a riot. If it wasn't the second to last day of school, they probably would have suspended or expelled me."
Fleeger's band, Isolated Fate, placed second or third that day, but "it was still fun," he said. They also played original songs, and Fleeger continued to write his own music after the band broke up.
Nearly 30 years later, Fleeger has continued to have a successful solo career. He is slated to appear at the Hungry Run Wine Bar and Bistro, 10042 Route 522 South, Lewistown, at
7 p.m. Saturday.
Fleeger bills his shows as "Retro Rock" and performs a mix of covers and originals from his extensive catalog. "Mostly older music but some new stuff as well," explained Fleeger, who also performs regularly with the band, Whiskey Lips.
One peek at his videos and it's easy to see why the 42-year-old Fleeger is described as a "human jukebox" and a "Tasmanian Devil of energy" with regard to his live sets.
His influences and songs include Queen, Billy Joel, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Lady Gaga, The Killers and George Harrison. His live sets are marathons of seemingly random tidbits of rock and roll history.
"I grew up on Billy Joel, which hugely influenced my singing," Fleeger said. "During the '90s rock explosion with Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Green Day and the Pennsylvania band Live, they got me into doing rock music." Live hails from York, which is remarkably similar to his hometown of Williamsport.
Fleeger's sets are billed as "Retro Acoustic Rock," but Fleeger doesn't shy away from new music, including Tyler Childers, Ghost and Billy Strings.
Fleeger consistently entertains with songs everyone knows but not everyone plays. He began recording in 1998, with the release of his debut project, "Perpetual Care."
He followed that up with numerous well-received recordings from his bands, Entity, Bad Light Project, The Hidden Agendas and Ron Fleeger and The Stranger, the latter of which won Album of the Year for WVIA, 2009 on the Bus Stop Radio for their "Lucky 7s" album.
Backing up Fleeger for his studio recordings are Ryan Haller on bass; his wife, Sarah Gibbs Fleeger on keyboard and vocals; and Nate Losell on drums.
The acoustic improv trio The Whiskey Lips includes Fleeger on vocals and guitar; Damon Shaheen on guitar; and Greg "Wylie" Weigle on cajon and vocals. The band plays classic rock but in an improv format, meaning there's no set lists and plenty of joking around when it comes to their performances. "Sometimes we've played (the music) before and sometimes we haven't," Fleeger said. "It lets us make fun of somebody for messing up."
Despite his success and long hours, the music industry remains a part-time gig for Fleeger. He works full-time as a store manager at LL Flooring.
"Being a musician, there are no health benefits, so you've got to do something that pays for that," Fleeger explained.
Despite the shortcomings, he invests plenty of time with practicing, performing, scheduling and marketing. "You really have to put in the time commitment," Fleeger said. "I try to spend one to three hours practicing every day. I play, learn new songs and write.
Fleeger is set to release his newest studio recordings later this year and is currently recording at BlackBerry Alley in Selinsgrove.
It's taken a lot to hone his craft, "After a while when you've been playing 20 years for three hours a day every day," he added.
For more information, find him on Facebook.