“For those about to rock, we salute you” – AC/DC, 1981. 

That’s right, it’s time to rock on, only, there’s a bit of a twist. The source of the music isn’t this article, nor is it the phone in your pocket. Rather, it’s coming from a band in Nevada who call themselves “Double Minor.” And that’s where the twist comes in. While some of the band members are longtime musicians, one of them is not. Instead, he’s the voice of the Vegas Golden Knights’ television broadcasts. 

Dave Goucher has made a career out of doing Play-by-Play in The National Hockey League. Fans in Boston fondly remember his time as the Bruins’ radio broadcaster. In more recent years, fans of the Vegas Golden Knights have enjoyed listening to Goucher calling their games on television. But while his work in the booth should be garnering him Foster Hewitt Award consideration, it’s his work on the guitar and the mic that we’re interested in today. 

Three-and-a-half years ago, Goucher was approached by a friend about joining a local band in Vegas. While he was initially hesitant at first, Goucher eventually agreed to play a set with the band. That then led to his permanent inclusion in the group, despite his initial protest. 

“I’ve always loved music,” Goucher began. “I don’t know what I would do without it, to be honest with you. I started playing the guitar a long time ago now. Back in 2005, I grabbed an electric guitar, a different electric from what I currently use, it was a Fender and I started taking lessons. During my last dozen years that I was doing the Boston Bruins games on radio, I had the same teacher in Rhode Island and loved him. But when I moved to Vegas, that was a long way to travel for guitar lessons.”

“But I always loved playing” Goucher continued. “I kind of missed playing. And the impetus for joining the band was our old lead singer. He had joined the band and the rest of the band had been together for a while. Matter of fact, a couple of the members have been together 20-plus years. He was new to it and I think he kind of wanted somebody he was closer to, to also be in the band; as a little bit of an ally. He knew that I sang and played guitar. 

“I said, ‘Well, I don’t really do that in front of other people. I just do it in my little music room in the house.’ And he said, ‘The heck with that. We’ve got a gig coming up at a pub in Henderson on a Friday night. Here’s our setlist. Come up in the second set and play four or five songs with us,’ which I did. I kind of figured that would be it. Then, like two weeks later, he called me and he said, ‘You’re in.’ And I said, ‘I’m in what?’ He said, ‘You’re in the band.’ I said, ‘What if I don’t wanna be in the band?’ And he said, ‘Well, it’s too late (to back out now).’ 

“So, for me, I love it. It’s a great relief from what I usually do for a living. I mean, I love my job and love what I do for the Golden Knights, but the season is a grind. The travel can be a grind. The schedule is a grind at times. So, to be able to kind of put that completely aside, go up and play gigs for three or four hours at a time, or go in the studio and rehearse with the band, it’s a whole different feeling. 

“I’ve been playing guitar on and off for the last 20 years and this is the first band I’ve ever been in. It was a heck of a learning process in terms of where you fit in the band. What do you play? When don’t you play? Where do you sing? When don’t you sing? It’s a whole different deal than just sitting by yourself, strumming along and playing the stuff on your iPhone.”

Talk about a labor of love. Goucher was basically strong-armed into joining a band when he really didn’t have the experience or desire to join one. But it’s surprises like that in life that usually turn out best. 

Of course, we wonder, why would the band name itself “Double Minor”? It’s not like the rest of the members are hockey people. 

“What happened was, when I joined the band, it wasn’t too long after the Golden Knights had the whole debacle in Game Seven against San Jose in the playoffs,” Goucher recalled. “As you might remember, a major penalty was called and so it was kind of a play on words. Like not a major, probably not even a double minor, maybe not even a penalty, so we kind of settled on ‘Double Minor.’ It meant a couple of different things. So that was how we settled on it. 

“Obviously, my career is in hockey and our lead singer for the band, who asked me to join, used to be one of our main marketing people for the Golden Knights. He’s since moved on. So it’s kind of a combination of hockey and music that led to that name.”

What a three-and-a-half years it’s been. And an apropos name too. But who along with Goucher is in this hockey-music mashup band?

“We’ve got six of us now,” Goucher explained. “It’s myself (on guitar and vocals). Justin Frederickson, who’s our lead guitar player, who just kills it. He’s the pride of Buffalo, New York. We’ve got Tim Garb, rhythm guitar and sings. He kills it as well. He’s from Queens. We’ve got Kevin Bleuer on our lead vocals. He plays guitar. He’s from LA originally, but, fortunately, he got the hell out of there and got to Vegas a long time ago. We’ve got our bass player, Alex Zerla, who’s from Italy and our drummer Frank Kalejo, who’s originally from Chicago. 

“So, as you can see, if you play guitar, you might have a good chance of getting in the band. We’ve got no shortage of guitar players, to say the least.”

That is a lot of guitarists. It almost feels like they should be in a rock orchestra. At least one of them, Alex Zerla, is on bass guitar instead of a regular one. And speaking of guitar types, Dave, are you on acoustic or electric guitar?

“I play electric in the band,” Goucher replied. “But if I was sitting around in my music room at the house, I would more than likely play acoustic. I’ve got a Martin acoustic guitar I love. But I also have a Paul Reed Smith electric that I love too, that I usually play in our live shows. So, if I was just sitting around, I’d be strumming the acoustic, but if we’re on stage I pretty much stick to the electric. All the other guys do most of the heavy work. I’m lucky the other five guys in the band are really good.”

Makes sense. Most bands do tend to lean towards electric guitars. But Goucher kind of reminds us of former New York Yankee legend Bernie Williams, with his penchant for quietly strumming alone on his guitar. Perhaps that’s a collaboration that needs to happen one day. 

We know Bernie Williams has a couple of music genres in his repertoire. But do Goucher and “Double Minor” have multiple styles as well?

“We’re pretty much a classic rock cover band,” the Play-by-Play broadcaster turned Guitarist said. “Everything from The Beatles to The Stones to Billy Joel, the Stone Temple Pilots, Aerosmith, The Doors, you can go right on down the line. We also dabble in the ’80s. We’ve got some Duran Duran in there. Some Bryan Adams. It’s basically classic rock and then into the ’80s. We play a little bit of country. Not much, I must say. We play a Chris Stapleton song. Part of me wonders, every once in a while, if we should put a little bit more in there. But we also know where our bread is buttered. 

“We played some holiday shows back a couple of months ago, so we’ll throw in some holiday songs. We played a St. Patrick’s Day show last year, so we threw in some St. Patty’s Day stuff with some Irish feel to it. We’re always trying to kind of expand what we do, but by and large, we’re a classic rock cover band and into the ’80s. It’s my Lost Youth. I like it, ’cause it takes me back to when I was a lot younger.”

Sounds like there’s some good variety there, but also a solid understanding of their core competency. Dave, would you care to give us the names of a few songs “Double Minor” performs? 

“(For Duran Duran) we play ‘Hungry Like the Wolf.’ We’ll play ‘Summer of ’69’ by Bryan Adams. We’ll play ‘You May Be Right’ by Billy Joel. We play ‘Blister in the Sun’ by the Violent Femmes. Stuff like that. We’ll play ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads.

“I probably sing Lead on about eight songs. ‘Psycho Killer’ would be one. ‘You May Be Right’ would be one. ‘Roadhouse Blues’ by The Doors, we put a little riff in the middle of the song where Jim Morrison just kind of mumbles through some stuff. I don’t think anyone really knows what he’s saying. I don’t know what he’s saying. So I do a little Play-by-Play riff there. It used to be the Golden Knights winning The Stanley Cup and I would recreate like three goals from their Cup-clinching win against Florida in Game Five. But that’s about a year-and-a-half ago now. So I just update that with them beating the Kings or the Oilers in overtime. I do that to put a little hockey feel into it.”

Hold on. Hold on. HOLD ON! You do a little riff in the middle of “Roadhouse Blues” where you add in some hockey Play-by-Play? When did this turn into a conversation about Meat Loaf, Phil Rizzuto and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”?

“(Actually) I start the little riff off with, ‘We’ve got a real pressure cooker going here,’ like Phil Rizzuto did in ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light.’ I do it for my own amusement and also to see if anybody’s gonna pick up on it,” Goucher explained. “The guys in the band know it, but if you were sitting there having a pint listening to the band, I don’t know if you would. I kind of do that just to give myself a little chuckle when we play it.”

Bet you all weren’t expecting that. 

“I also sing ‘Blister in the Sun,’ Goucher said. “Every once in a while I’ll sing ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love.’ I’ll sing ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go,’ by The Clash. It’s a pretty good mix. And I always say to the guys in the band, as much as we all love deep cuts here and there, if people come to see us, they shouldn’t be sitting out there saying, ‘What the hell song is this?’ By and large, we play the hits and I think, for the most part, people enjoy that.”

Those aren’t the easiest songs or bands to cover, but if you can get the right sound, they certainly would make for an enjoyable experience. Of course, many great bands started as “Cover Bands,” before eventually finding their own sound and creating their own songs. One notable example is the band “Zebra,” which started out covering Led Zeppelin before writing their own stuff and coming out with the namesake album “Zebra.” Perhaps something like that may one day happen for “Double Minor.”

“Well, the guys in the band, Timmy Garb, who plays guitar and sings quite a bit and Justin Frederickson, they’ve been together a long time,” Goucher explained. “They’ve been together over 20 years. They used to do (writing their own stuff) and Timmy still does write quite a bit of original material. I wouldn’t know where to start, to be honest with you. I could probably piece together some lyrics, but in terms of chord changes and everything else, I’d probably have to give it a little bit more thought. 

“So they kind of, on the side, do a little bit of their own thing. Timmy’s written some songs for his (daughters). Here’s how much Tim Garb loves The Beatles. He has two daughters and he named them Lennon and McCartney. So he’s written songs for them.

“We probably have in our repertoire, I would say 50 to 55 songs, give or take. For me, joining the band three-and-a-half years ago, it was starting from, most of ’em, from scratch. I maybe knew a half-dozen. But we’ve added a ton since then. There are some nights we’ll play for three hours and some nights we’ll play for four. Those are long shows, even if you’re taking breaks. So, you’ve gotta have a vast variety of stuff in there to fill up that amount of time.”

50 to 55 songs?! No wonder they’re playing for three to four hours. That’s not just a show, that’s a journey through the annals of Rock and Roll. With an experience like this, fans should be flocking to go see “Double Minor.” Perhaps fans will one day be able to catch the act all around the country. 

“We haven’t toured the country yet, shockingly,” Goucher quipped. “Mainly The Strip. The first time I jumped up with the band, we played a gig in Henderson. We had a great run of shows at The Mirage. Unfortunately, The Mirage is closed now, ’cause they’re turning it into a Hard Rock Hotel and it’s three years of renovations. We had played a lot at The Strat. They’re kind of on the north end of The Strip. 

“We play a lot of local pubs around my house. We’ll play Red Rock Country Club, which is not far from my house. We’re starting a run of gigs at The M Resort at a new bar called AMP’D. We’re gonna do a run of gigs there starting later this month. We’re always looking for new places to play. And we’ve played a lot. In my time, we’ve played a lot of different places, but I always think you’re looking at what else is out there and what’s worth our while. We don’t have roadies. So a lot of these places we’re lugging everything in. We’re lugging in all of our own amps, our own wedges, our own sound system. 

“I miss some gigs because of my job. The Golden Knights aren’t gonna want to hear I can’t do the game in St. Louis because ‘Double Minor’ is playing a pub around the corner from my house in Summerlin. But we try to book it as best we can when I’m in town and believe me, they can more than get by for the shows that I’m not there.” 

Wouldn’t that be something?! The Vegas Golden Knights announcing that their Play-by-Play broadcaster was missing the game because he was playing a music gig! Actually, seeing as it’s Vegas, the land of entertainment, it doesn’t seem all that crazy. After all, if Chris Jericho can miss wrestling matches to perform with his band “Fozzy,” why can’t Goucher miss hockey games to perform with “Double Minor”? Okay, maybe that’s not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, but you get the point. 

Anyway, we’ll end this story by saying, Dave Goucher and “Double Minor,” we salute you and keep on rocking.