Kip Pollay and the Vulture Mine Road Band

 
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            The Vulture Mine Road Band, or VMR for short, was born in Kip Pollay’s basement in his hometown of Wickenburg, Az., in 1985.  The group consisted of Pollay (drums and vocals), Joe Ciampa (guitar and vocals), Harry Richter (guitar), and Pete Sheppard (bass and vocals).  The band members were all longtime friends in their small town, famous for dude ranches and historic mines.  The most historic of all the mines, was Vulture Mine.

            Band Co-founders, Pollay and Ciampa, were living on Vulture Mine Road when they decided to put their shared love of music together and build a band.  After a few weeks of good hard practice, VMR took their act to Box Canyon, which was a favorite hang out of the Wickenburg residents.  The Box is located in the Hassyampa River bottom just a few miles from the town.  Hassyampa means “river flowing underground”, and for the better part, the water does just that.  The river bottom is mostly dry sand, but there are areas where the water pops up and flows toward Wickenburg, until in basically drops underground again.

            The band members would hook trailers to their 4X4’s and load everything needed to put on a show.  This included generators, amplifiers, and a light show.  The Box was a natural amphitheater as it has two 200’ walls enclosing the stretch of river.  These events, that often drew 400+ people from their town, made VMR a town favorite.

            The band then began playing the local bars, which at this time, only hired country and western bands.  The bands ability to play anything from Garth Brooks to Metallica, soon earned the band a large following.  They became the house band at the La Cabana, located in downtown Wickenburg.  After a couple of years playing before the home crowd, VMR hit the road and played in bars statewide.  Their favorite town to play was Prescott and spent a lot of time on Whiskey Row.  It was also a short drive for the local fans who would come in masses.

            The band rotated members through the years and even changed their name at one time to True Energy.  At that time, Pollay was the only original member of VMR.  True Energy spent most of their time on original music and had well over 50 original songs in its second year.  They were winning “Battle of the Bands” contests, filming for a video in Europe and preparing to tour Europe.  Their music had also gotten airtime on KUPD FM 98.  The band, well known for its hi-energy R&R, would destruct before getting to Europe.

            Pollay put up the music and began to focus on being a single father to a newborn son in 1991.  Five years passes and Pollay and Ciampa hooked up again.  They began to write and play music together once again, but were not playing the clubs.  In 1999, the duo decided to hook up with Robert and Russ Tharp, who were from a very musical family, and had each played with Kip on occasions.

 They decided to go out again as VMR, and scheduled a reunion gig at the hometown favorite, the La Cabana.  The crowds were once again coming out to see the local rockers.  The music they play includes classic rock, new rock, old country, new country, and original.  The band continues to be known for the energy they bring to the crowds. 

Robert has since been replaced by another Tharp brother, Rod, and that brings us to the current lineup of: Pollay (Drums Vocals), Ciampa (Guitar and Vocals), Rod Tharp (Bass, Vocals), and Russ Tharp (Guitar and Vocals).  The band is for hire, and can often be seen at the La Cabana, in Downtown Wickenburg.  The L.C. is easy to find, as it is located next door to Circle K at Wickenburg’s only downtown streetlight.

For more information on the band, call Kip at (928) 684-0701.