Pepper

One of the earliest influences on my musical career was my father, Joseph L. Ripp who directed and sang with the Madison Barbershop Chorus. He also sang tenor with the nationally renowned barbershop quartet, The Cardinals and later recorded albums with another nationally recognized barbershop chorus, The Hartsmen. However, I really learned to enjoy singing from my sisters when I was very young.

At age 12, I began learning to play guitar on a cheap Kay guitar purchased from Montgomery Ward, with a neck so bad you had to use a bar clamp on it to play chords. It wasn't until I got my first real guitar, a 1957 Fender Telecaster, that I got really excited about playing in a band.

My first band was The Knights, playing our first paying gig at a backyard birthday party for $1 per band member when I was 15. Later on in high school, I played with a surf band, The Breakers, but secretly worshiped The Gentlemen, Spectre Inc. and The Fugitives. I can still distinctly remember watching Mark Loder play lead guitar with Spectre at the West Side Businessmen's Club and wishing that I could some day play in a band with someone who could play guitar like Mark.

In college, I teamed up with Bill Zabit, playing as a duo singing harmony to Simon and Garfunkle tunes as well as folk tunes and Beatle songs. After college Bill and I teamed up to form Sgt. Pepper, a Beatle cover band that toured the Midwest for 2 years in the early 70s. After that band broke up we went back to the duo act again, performing at the Park Motor Inn and The Pigs Ear in Madison. We later added Bix on drums to form the trio Pepper, Bill and Bix. In 1980, fate smiled on me and we added Mark Loder to the band on lead guitar and we became The Pepper and Bill Band, playing Beatles and classic rock, featuring vocal harmonies.

Pepper & Bill Band about 1981. Left to right - Bill Zabit, Pepper Ripp, Mark Loder, and Bix Olstadt.

Thinking I was retired musically, after briefly playing with The Impostors, boredom set in and I decided to purchase a PA system and a bass guitar rig. I invited Bix and Mark over to jam. Mark brought Jon Standridge over to play bass and I brought in Bob Weynand, who I sang with in the CUNA choir, to play keyboard and sing harmony vocals. We were having so much fun we decided to give rock and roll one more shot and The Relics were born in June of 1996. The rest is not yet history. The most amazing part of this band is that we've managed to overlook our differences in musical preferences and personality quirks to stay together, stay friends and continue to have fun. FUN, that's what it's all about.