Band Incognito hits prime time at the Fall Festival in Pahrump

The band Incognito will be playing at the Fall Festival from 7-8 p.m. this Thursday on the main stage in Petrack Park.

Rick Garza, the male lead singer and founder of the band, started this rhythm and blues-rock band about a year ago. He is retired after working at a career in broadcasting, where he worked for NBC, living in the San Francisco Bay area for 23 years.

Once here in Pahrump, he started a country band called Cisco and the Western Aliens. The band became a staple on a local TV show and knew over 500 country songs. When that band dissolved, Garza started up Incognito about a year ago.

“I still love to play and we don’t play for money,” he said. “We play for fun. It really isn’t about the money and all about the music. We play to entertain the audience.”

The lead vocalist

For the Fall Festival, the band will feature Diane Jackson as the lead vocalist.

“We love having Diane sing and she is a really good entertainer and performer,” Garza said.

Jackson has only been singing with Incognito for six months. She admits it took a while to get back in the swing of performing.“I was a little nervous,” she said. “I hadn’t sung for five years.”

She said she had been performing on the Eastern Seaboard for some 20 years. She was taught to sing by Jimmy Willis, who had performed with Cab Calloway.

Jackson said her idol was Tina Turner growing up and some say she has her style.

“Since I was a little girl I wanted to be like Tina Turner,” Jackson said.

Gary Fox, who plays lead guitar, said she mixes well with the band and he sees that “Turner” flair in her singing.

“She has more of a larger sound,” Fox said. “She is really good as an entertainer and good with the crowd. She really shines with the crowds. She sings in the style of Tina Turner and is fantastic.”

After Jackson left the East Coast she really didn’t think she would sing again. It was an accident that led her to Incognito. Jackson was helping her friend with some music equipment, and she and her friend ended up meeting Gary Fox at his music store in town, Foxter Music. She then told Gary she had done some singing and this led to an audition.

Other band members

Garza said his band will have Wild Bill as the drummer for the Fall Festival.

“He is taking the place of our normal drummer, Jerry Carter, who can’t be with us,” Garza said. “I normally like to keep a core group of musicians playing together, for that is how we get identity.”

He said Daryl Keppner plays bass. Keppner is the founder of the Bounty Hunter Bar.

Garza said the band is mainly a local band but he is willing to go anywhere.

“We have played Reno and Vegas but mostly stay around here,” he said. “We stay close because we all have families and are grounded. We do two or three shows a month and have a big anniversary show on Oct. 7 at the Bounty Hunter to celebrate their four-year anniversary.”

To contact the band, call Garza at 775-513-2756.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com