When you think of the Whanganui music scene, one name jumps out above most others: Fred Loveridge. A master guitarist, Loveridge has been involved with countless musical acts over the years, from jazz and funk to blues and rock. Now, more than four decades into the game, he tells Mike Tweed his love of performing remains undiminished.
Music was ingrained in Fred Loveridge from an early age.
"It all started pretty young because there was always music around with both my parents," Loveridge said.
"All my mum's brothers were musicians too. As a youngster, it just fascinated me.
"Even the way they talked, It was all really hep stuff and I was taken by it."
Loveridge said his older brother, Murray Loveridge, was his first real inspiration, and without realising it, he was following in Murray's footsteps.
"I looked up to him, and I still do, really.
"Murray was listening to jazz records and The Shadows, and it sort of progressed into the heavier side of things with the [Rolling] Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Santana.
"When he'd go out, I'd rummage through his records. He would leave his electric guitar lying around so I'd grab it without him knowing and try and work out the melodies and the solos.
"I wanted to figure out how it worked."
His first gigging opportunity came about at the grand old age of 10.
Loveridge's uncle, trumpet player Rod Douglas, rang his mother in search of a bass player.
"He asked if I played bass and I just said 'I don't, but I will. I'll teach myself real quick'," Loveridge said.
"I wanted to be in a band and I wanted to go out and play. If it meant I had to play bass, so be it."
Those first times on stage at country dances and "all sorts of places" were great learning curves, Loveridge said.
School bands followed, and any kid from the neighbourhood with an instrument was guaranteed entry into his ensembles.
"I had a good friend who bought a drum kit, so we'd just go down the back and play along to Deep Purple tracks," Loveridge said.
"There was one amplifier with four things plugged into it. It must have sounded pretty ghastly.
"We thought we were cool, though."
His older brother soon departed for Wellington, and began playing in bands in the capital.
Loveridge said he often tagged along and managed to see a lot of music while still in his teens.
Murray eventually landed a gig with established jazz rock outfit Quincy Conserve.
"I don't know how I was allowed to get into some of the venues. I'd just stand in the corner in the darkness and watch the bands play," Loveridge said.
"Another great thing was getting to go along to their [Quincy Conserve] rehearsals.
"They had two residencies at the time, the Speakeasy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the Cricketer's Arms Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
"Sunday was rehearsal day. That's mad, eh?"
Loveridge said he took what he'd learned in Wellington and brought it home to Whanganui and his own musical projects.
"Without realising it, I was actually directing the poor guys in the band I was with at the time. I don't think I turned into a dictator, though.
"I probably still do it to this day - direct the band."
Aside from a stint in Wellington with Captain Custard, Loveridge has been based entirely in his hometown.
He said he'd never felt the desire to be anywhere else.
"I quit that band in 1980. I was kind of burnt out. The gigs were slowly drying up in Wellington and there was a bit of a shift in music.
"The intention was to come back to Whanganui for a wee bit to suss out what my next move would be.
"What do you do? You form another band. It's just all gone on from there."
Loveridge went on to play in Dance Party in the early 1980s, which "did pretty good from a local perspective".
"Back then, life expectancy for bands was around four years. After that, we'd all start hating each other and it was time to move on," Loveridge said.
"Another band would be formed, bands would amalgamate, or someone new would come to town to play with."
Gatshack owner Craig Cawley said Loveridge was one of a kind.
Cawley and Loveridge played together at the pair's 60th birthday party two years ago.
"He's played in top local bands all his life," Cawley said.
"We'd all like to play the guitar like him, that's for sure. We do our best."
Aside from his six-string prowess, Loveridge was a really nice guy, Cawley said.
"Fred has mentored a lot of young guitarists in this town.
"He's well respected in Whanganui, and has a huge history here."
Loveridge said covers were a big part of a band's setlist in the early days because people weren't going to the pub to watch a band "grind out" original material.
"It's not that I didn't want to play my own songs, there just wasn't an audience for it.
"It made perfect sense to slip originals in amongst the covers and try and get them across that way."
The synth and new wave of Dance Party, and follow-up band Smart Remarks, eventually gave way to three-piece blues rock outfit Freddy and the Tearaways.
"It was little hard and heavy," Loveridge said.
"The Tearaways had a really strong, slightly 'boganish' following.
"They were loyal, man. It didn't matter where we'd play, they'd turn up in their hordes."
Freddy and the Tearaways held residencies at the Riverside Tavern and the back bar at Fosters.
"All the bars, the Rutland, the Criterion, they would have live music, and they'd all be full. It was a great scene to be in," Loveridge said.
"I'm not sure bands these days know what a residency is. They probably think it's an old folk's home."
After a two-year break from music, Loveridge joined The Zillionaires, who went on to record an album of original material called Git Ya Wah Wahs Out.
Then came The Lick (with brother Murray) and a couple more versions of Freddy and the Tearaways.
"I went to see Stevie Wonder play in Auckland a few years ago, and as we were walking out this big, tall guy looked across at me and yelled out "Freddy and the Tearaways"," Loveridge said.
"Of all the places for a geezer to scream out that name across 50 odd people. I didn't recognise him at all, but he must have been an ex-Whanganui guy."
At present, Loveridge plays in his long-running outfit Blues Buffet, as well as Whiskey Mama and the River City Big Band.
He remains as busy as ever, be it organising the annual Pauls Road music festival, recording guitar for music producer Dick Le Fort's 'Anthem' release, or teaching music at Whanganui High School.
While greats such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Jimmy Page got a mention, Loveridge said his favourite guitar player was Steve Lukather, of Toto fame.
He spent time with Lukather in 2008.
"I became aware of him around 1976 when I saw him on Radio With Pictures late one Sunday night.
"All of a sudden Toto came on playing Hold The Line, and I was jolted awake thinking 'holy crap'.
"Here was this 18-year-old kid, and I started to realise that he was playing on pretty much everything that came out of Los Angeles.
"In my teenage years I'd buy anything Steve was on, it didn't matter who it was."
Loveridge said Whanganui had always produced talented musicians, right up to the present day.
Reggae group NLC and singer-songwriter Richard Littlejohn are two artists he has been impressed with in recent times.
"His [Littlejohn's] songs are equally as good if not better than anything in the same vein nationally that's getting recognition,
"There's also a lot of great stuff happening at the [Whanganui] Musicians Club.
"Every so often an act comes on that just stops you in your tracks."
Loveridge and his wife are currently building a new house, and a music room is obviously part of the design.
"I'll still be heading in there with my Zimmer frame to write songs and record music," Loveridge said.
"I can't ever see myself getting sick of playing live either. It's just in my DNA.
"As a working musician, it's something you need to do."
