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Band Chronology/names used:

• "Chevrons" 1964-66 (Kenny Ciaviarella, Tim Austin, Tommy Elliot, John Butler, and JC Whitman)
• "Fugitives" 1996-67; Played at the Little Nashville Club on the Strip between Bismarck and Mandan (Kenny Ciaviarella, Tom Elliot, JC Whitman, and John Butler) Kenny had graduated and started teaching at Mandan but we kept busy playing even if long distance.
• "Ken and the Guys" Summer, 1967; House Band at the Little Nashville during the summer of 1967. (Kenny, Tommy, and JC)
• "Chevrons III" 1968 (Kenny, Tommy, and JC)

Three talented musicians associated for approximately four years between 1964 to 1968. These three musicians became acquainted as they attended Dickinson State College. As I recall, I hung out with Larry Ungrecht and he was friends with Tom Elliot and introduced him to me. It seemed Kenny came into the picture when a band was generated for a DSC College mixer and there was a practice. It seemed there was a blonde guy singer at first try and later this other real good singer, Austin, had a real good voice and he had a good PA system. At that time we didn't have much equipment but I was in on the two first versions of the band. In the early photos of the band I was playing a home-made bass guitar original straight from Tom Elliot's workshop. Tom was innovative, had dexterity and held a belief that he could repair anything electronic and amazingly, he usually could. His Fender amplifier was the smallest, so he made a Fender looking extention base that made his amp look as tall as Kenny's Fender amp. I don't recall if he put speakers into it but I wouldn't doubt if he did.

Naturally, each of us arrived at DSC as musicians from previous bands working in other localities. Kenny Ciaviarella was a founder of the original "Chevrons" which was a popular and successful band playing out of the Mandan/Bismarck area prior to 1964. I had gone to several of their dances as a kid and had seem them work. I thought they were really good. Tom Elliot was a major player in the "Escors IV" playing out of the Dickinson area prior to 1964. They had cut a "45" record and that was pretty impressive to us in North Dakota. I had considerable band experience since my father had an orchestra and often needed a drummer or upright bass player. I had learned to play drums as a kid and only "thumped" on the bass viola belonging to my uncle Albert Whitman from Mandaree, ND. Later I formed a trio called the "Quiet Three" and played local towns and operated from the Parshall area.

The strength of the band was founded on considerable musical talent inherent in the threesome. Kenny was the undisputed leader of the band and had polished guitar licks down. Kenny had Buddy Holly looks and sound. Kenny had a thick mat of curly hair, Buddy Holly voice, Buddy Holly glasses and could pick his Fender Jazzmaster with Buddy Holly licks. He could play all the Ventures songs without mistakes and we relied on him to provide that. His lead vocals were clear, crisp, and strong.

Tom was the gifted intellectual wizard and had exceptional flourish and finesse on his Gretsch with a Bigsby tremolo and he had the George Harrison sound down solid. Tom provided the second part harmony and I would come in with the third part harmony. We did the Beatles songs exactly as the recording and prided ourselves on the close rendition. Tom's excellent guitar work was exhibited in harmony with Kenny's and they sometimes did two-part guitar leads.

I had a high voice that easily provided the third part harmony characteristic of Beatle's early music. At a later date I acquired a Fender Precision Bass guitar and it completed the full sound of the Chevron's music. Tom and I easily fell into line under Kenny's indomitable musical leadership.

When Tom's folks lived south of Dickinson I recall us getting together on Tuesday evenings at Tom's house and we would each bring two or three songs with words for each person and we would practice those until we knew them. Usually all we brought was our guitars and no amps. Sometimes we would practice a song or two that we trouble with at a previous dance. And we tried to get it done in an hour or two. That was Kenny's idea and we enlarged our repertoire by that method.

John Butler from Illinoius was the drummer for the firs two years and played with us during the Little Nashville Club summers. He didn't have a drum set at first and I acquired parts and pieces from my uncle Albert Whitman at Mandaree, ND. Later John was enamored with the "cocktail" version of a set and ordered one. I remember him really talking it up as the ultimate drum set. Well it finally came and we eagerly looked forward to it being a cure-all for our lack of a complete drum set. As I recall it was an upright long silver tom-tom. It had a vertical bass drum pedal on the bottom that hit upside-down and the snare head was on top. It seemed he tried it on one or two jobs but it wasn't satisfactory so he did a combination of it with a regular drum set. Later, John went back to Illinois and we became a trio since we each could "handle" the drum parts. I bought a gold Ludwig drum set that we kept as part of our equipment and finally returned the drum parts to my uncle.

Kenny was the booking agent and kept a full schedule of engagements for the band. Kenny had a red and black Plymouth that was our main band vehicle. We wore white and gray seersucker jackets and ties for our formal dance jobs. We dressed alike because that was the thing to do back in the '60s. One getup were these madras shirts and shiny gray slacks, because it was the "joe cool college" look. I remember Kenny and Tom making fun of me because I didn't have the same silver slacks as theirs and I thought mine were close enough, but they weren't as the photo shows. We had them on in one photo taken at the Little Nashville Club on the Strip. Tom and I bought "Beatle Boots" because we were totally taken by the Beatles look, but Kenny never did succumb to the craze and he passed it off as a "fad" that would fade. And it did.

The other synthesis factor was that we lived together at Thomas' parents house during the fall quarter (1996?) and we shared an attic together. Kenny went on to Student Teaching in Mandan during the winter quarter, as I recall, and he came back in the Spring. Throughout his departure for student teaching, we continued to associate as musicians.

Playing out of Dickinson State College, The "Chevrons" played DSC College Mixers, Pudge Bedouin's Bar, Queen City Bar, Esquire Steakhouse, Dickinson Elks Club, Mandan Elks Club, Eagles Clubs, the Curve in Hettinger, Flaxville Bar, Montana, Many Proms and Homecoming daces at local cities such as Bowman, Hebron, Hettinger, Killdeer, South Heart, Belfield, Scranton, New England, Reeder, Rhame, Beach, Regent, Mott, Almont, St. Anthony, Glen Ullin, and Stanton.

One of our mainstay places to play was Pudge Bedouins basement of his bar. As I recalled we played there as a trio mostly. I don't recall the name of the bar. But it was a college hangout. We would ask Pudge to play on basketball nights, usually Tuesday or Friday and he would rub his bald head with his two fingers missing and say, "Well, I don't know guys," but in the end we usually played there and packed it full by closing. I remember he paid us $45 for the night which we split three ways or $15 each. That was good money in those days for middle of the week work. Lots of times we just left our equipment there during the week because we were usually booked there for the weekend. When a fight would break out we would turn our equipment around so nothing would get damaged. Once I remember a guy falling into the drum set on the low stage. I guess it was kind of a wild west bar when I think about it.

I remember when Kenny went to Mandan to be a teacher. He came back with a black Ford and it was winter. Kenny came after me and it was a fresh snow on the ground. About three inches of soft snow and he said he liked to drive right after it snowed because the road seemed real soft. Maybe it was the power of suggestion or the new vehicle but as we hit the street it did seem real soft on the road.

Another interesting characteristic of Kenny was his expression of "doing nothing." He would say, "Guys, I'm going to go home and 'putz' around." Tommy and I thought it was a funny word and we'd laugh about it but later added it to our vocabulary.

Kenny was the youngest of his Italian heritage family and we fondly teased him about being the "bambino." I think he enjoyed the teasing about it. I remember his mother and exactly where she lived in Mandan. I remember she had good cookies to eat when we stopped in. I remember Kenny being a real neat guy, his mother's house was always spick and span so he must have learned it from her. He prided himself on how he dressed and his car was always pretty clean too.