Michael McEntarfer '73
Some things change, some things stay the same! Michael McEntarfer ’73 has been playing the keyboard since high school, and he recently shared how it’s still a big part of his life.
"When I was 15 years old, I was the keyboard player for a local teenage rock band in Fredonia. One night, we all piled into one of our dad’s station wagon to see Bob Dylan in concert at Kleinhans Music Hall. It turned out to be a very historic event - Bob Dylan had “gone electric” by switching from acoustic folk music to playing with a rock band (consisting of The Hawks who later became The Band). His folk music fans were outraged. They protested and booed Dylan and his band. A ruckus ensued. And my teenage friends and I were there to see it.
Michael (behind the organ) with his band, The Wretched in 1967.
Last year, I responded to a request from WNED PBS TV asking people to submit their memories of the music hall. I submitted my story and forgot all about it until I was contacted in Dec 2021 to ask if they could film an interview with me.
The PBS documentary, “Kleinhans - A Gift to Buffalo” aired on PBS in March 2022. I appear in it twice - once briefly in the beginning and again for a longer interview towards the end."
"The band I played with in high school was called The Wretched Group. In 1968 we all graduated and went to college. (I went to ACP, of course). The band broke up and we all lost touch with each other.
Then in 1999 we “put the band back together” to play at our class reunion. We have continued to get together each summer to play a few gigs. It has been so awesome to get back together each summer with these guys and play music again - they are among my oldest and dearest friends. They live across the country. They come back to Fredonia, and we spend a week together and play music.
Michael (first row, second from the right) with The Wretched today.
I have also played keyboards in several local bands over the past 10 years - Although I am not currently playing in a local band. My current project is learning the bagpipe."