Stagecoach West continues to roll on more than a half-century after forming at Gonzaga

The longest-running band in Eastern Washington continues to roll along. Stagecoach West, which will play Saturday at Barrister Winery, formed on the Gonzaga campus in 1967 and has been performing in the area since 1972.

“It’s hard to believe that Jim Braukmann and I have been together since we formed this garage band more than 50 years ago,” vocalist-guitarist-percussionist Peter Arthur said. “There’s no reason to stopv.”

Stagecoach West continued after two original members, vocalist John Keogh singer and guitarist Bob Barzee, passed away. Arthur, Braukmann – who plays bass – and guitarist-vocalist John Mattresse, keyboardist-vocalist Randy Albright and drummer Rick Westrick have been a collective for more than a generation.

“The two newest guys are from the ’80s,” Arthur said. “It’s amazing that we haven’t had a personnel change, but we don’t need to make a change.

“Part of what keeps this band together is that we’re the best of friends. We really enjoy each other’s company. We have this amazing chemistry and when we play it’s like we’re telepathic.”

However, Stagecoach West has never written a song.

“We’ve never had the energy for that or the inspiration,” Arthur said.

That’s fine, since creating songs and performing tunes are two different animals.

“There’s no doubt about that,” Arthur said. “It’s two different things. Our heroes are the people who wrote the songs we play.”

The members of the longtime band look up to the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, Neil Young and the members of the Eagles.

“Those recording artists are all tremendous writers and we respect that,” Arthur said. “We love playing songs that they wrote. We put a lot of effort into those classic songs. We never mail it in.”

Stagecoach West sounds like the moniker of a country band but the group is an eclectic act. Outlaw country tunes will be followed by a classic rock cut and then a jazz tune.

“We’re all over the board, which makes it fun for us,” Arthur said. “We have no problem going from Merle Haggard to the Beach Boys to Louie Armstrong. It makes it interesting for everyone.

“We’ll play a lot of familiar songs, and it’s cool when we play something from a band like the Beach Boys, everyone knows the lyrics so everyone is singing along.”

When Stagecoach West isn’t performing, some of the members in the band work as educators. Arthur, 76, is part of the art department and teaches water color at Whitworth University. Braukmann, 76, is a professor at Eastern Washington University in the technology and recording department. Westrick, 66, is a percussion professor at Whitworth and is also part of the Spokane Symphony. Albright, 73, is a former law enforcement official. Mattresse, 73 is a former social worker.

“It’s been a balancing act, but we do what we can to keep the band going,” Arthur said. “It’s been a great deal of fun playing so many places in and around Spokane.”

Stagecoach West has performed at virtually every venue of note in the area.

“We played the Coliseum, which was unforgettable for so many reasons,” Arthur said. “That venue had the worst acoustics. We’ve played Northern Quest, the Fox and Coeur d’Alene casino.”

Stagecoach West was the first band to play the Spokane Arena.

“We performed at a cool soft opening,” Arthur said. “It was a big party for everyone that worked on the venue. That was amazing, but probably the coolest thing is that we continue performing.”