Subscriber Services '); '); Search Kentucky.com Archives for Welcome Guest Sign in Membe... Serving Backup...

Khan seemed uneasy, but she took the stage, and after few seconds she smiled broadly at the band, kicked off her shoes and rocked Tell Me Something Good. A bit later, she went back to her drumming roots on a mighty, mighty rendition of Brick House.

The Barnstable-Brown bash has attracted a laundry list of celebrities, including musicians Ludacris, Backstreet Boys, George Strait, Stevie Nicks and ZZ Top. That's where the house band comes in. Once a year this collection of musicians with mostly regular day jobs takes center stage during one of the Derby's biggest parties.

It's a standard rock combo: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and two singers, frequently augmented by some horns and even, one year, a DJ for the hip-hop crowd. Wilson's role is offering celebrity musicians a chance to take the stage.

The array of celebrity artists brings with it all kinds of challenges: switching from country to funk in one song, following a sometimes-unpredictable partygoer, and the occasional round of "stump the band."

Wilson was part of the original group that played the party, and he later took over. "Having seen what the job entailed, I told Mrs. Barnstable I could put together the perfect group to play her party," Wilson said.

Why does the group play together just once a year? "It's that way by design," said keyboard player Bob Ramsey, who is the ensemble's music director. "If you have people that don't normally play together and know different styles of music, there's a better chance that for almost anything anyone wants to do, there will be someone who can say, 'Yeah, I know that tune; I can get the band through it.'"

Once the group has the guest list, the members start looking at the musicians who are coming to determine a handful of songs to work up. Usually, it's the artists' biggest hits. But sometimes a musician will toss the band a curveball.

Frequent guest Meat Loaf, for instance, typically takes the group on hold-on-to-your-instruments odysseys, switching songs and direction in a sixteenth-note. He might start with a hit, then veer into an old gospel song -- adding some schtick along the way.

Drummer Max Maxwell won't part with the drumsticks used by Beard or by Chaka Khan or other guest drummers, including Pamela Anderson, who backed up Kid Rock, who was briefly her husband.

"The first year, I could hardly believe I was going to get to do this: back up artists I have heard, have records and CDs of, and have admired for years," said Kington, who still gets starstruck after 11 years.

Kington vividly remembers Michael McDonald plowing into the Doobie Brothers' classic Taking It to the Streets, and looking at fellow singer Jimmy Vallandingham and saying, "Oh my God, we're backing up Michael McDonald!"

Playing with the stars, the band has racked up its share of legends, such as the night 'N Sync -- or three members of 'N Sync -- sang. They were singing Bye Bye Bye, and as they entered the second verse, they realized there was no Justin Timberlake to sing his part.

"After the party, there was a limo out back and the window rolled down," Kington said. "It was one of the 'N Sync guys who said, 'Your band was awesome.'"

Jim Wilson could tell Chaka Khan wasn't sure. In the midst of dozens of VIPs, he was telling Khan that the house band had worked up a few tunes, so if she'd like to come up and perform, the stage at the Barnstable-Brown Derby Eve bash was hers.

This is cache, read story here