All Keyed Up

Musician John Cruz, a UMass grad who played in the Valley in various bands, moved back to Hawaii some dozen years ago. A few years back, Cruz was nominated for a Grammy for his Hawaiian slack-key guitar album. He has a new album coming out, getting good reviews and lots of airplay, that features several songs co-written by Matt and Mark Herschler and singer/songwriter Joe Keenan—all tried and true veterans of the Valley music scene. John Cruz’ record company and manager have arranged to fly the Herschlers and Keenan to Hawaii for a surprise/record release party. (Hope we didn’t just spoil the surprise.)
Advocate contributing photographer Robert Tobey made this image of Matt Herschler positioning salvaged Wurlitzer organ keys into a custom box he built for the upcoming trip to Hawaii. Standing behind is Geoff Gallo, who designed a unique amplification system for the reconfigured Wurlitzer.