Marna Bales
Like most serious singers Marna discovered her passion for making music at a young age. She first picked up the habit in church and sung her first solo, "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" in elementary school. She had such a stubbornly voracious appetite for music that when her mom told her they couldn't afford for her to take both dance and piano lessons, she developed a plan to clean her piano teacher's house as payment for her lessons. The piano career came to a crashing halt when Marna froze at her first recital. After that, she picked up a microphone and to our knowledge hasn't put it down since.
Put off by the heavy opera influence for music students in college, she opted for a public relations major while singing late nights to develop her craft. She raised her daughter Macy at rehearsals so it's not surprising that the two not only share a passion for singing, but identical pipes that produce unmistakable blood harmonies.
Marna's professional music career has developed through the years from answering that first classified newspaper ad for a female vocalist, to logging "way too many years" in a variety band to finally doing her own thing. If you ask her what made her decide to take that first giant step into solo land, she'll tell you that, "One day it became clear to me that I was just going through the motions in that cover band. And I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I wanted to have my own band, define my own style and write my own music,” which triggered the birth of The Marna Bales Band.
Marna and her husband Jody Boyd began writing with co-writer Melanie Cox and things started taking off. In a few short years they have written and recorded two full length CDs and a Christmas EP, and the video for their song “Wave” appeared on the national cable television network GAC. The Marna Bales Band became hometown favorites and played for crowds as large as 48,000 and shared the stage with luminaries such as Sara Evans, Montgomery Gentry, Charlie Daniels, and Delbert McClinton.
The Marna Bales Band has recently evolved into the mother-daughter duo called Marna & Macy.
Macy Kaczmarek
When Macy came home from elementary school with the assignment of dressing up for career day - she dressed up like a rock and roll star! Macy grew up in Richmond, VA and spent her high school years at a specialty center for the performing arts where her desire for the stage increased immensely. Her college years were spent at the renowned Shenandoah Conservatory of Music studying musical theater.
The beginning of Macy’s involvement with the band began one day when Macy casually agreed to show up at the studio and record some background vocals for a song her mom was recording. Jody was so excited when he realized how Macy and her mom's voices blended like magic! The real clincher was during a holiday break from college. Macy was prodded to get on stage and perform with her mom and the band. Their family harmonies and combined energy exploded on stage!
But all involved decided Macy had to finish college before becoming a full time band member. So for the next few years, Macy performed sporadically with the band when her college schedule allowed. Then May 2006 arrived and Macy graduated and joined the band. In a few short months, Macy blossomed on stage and became a featured performer. It became clear that the "Little Diva" deserved a featured name in the band. Marna & Macy became the official name of the group beginning in 2007.
Jody Boyd
Well if you haven't seen Jody play the drums, then you've missed quite a treat - especially when he keeps time with his teeth and when he makes nonsensical comments on the microphone. Jody, a Roanoke "Star City" native, remembers wanting to play drums in kindergarten when another boy was assigned the drums. From that day forward, Jody vehemently pursued the drums. Musical talent has always come naturally to Jody. He is an accomplished pianist and guitar player and a gifted writer and producer. Jody has co-written and produced all the band’s current CDs. He has performed with symphonies, jazz bands, and top-40 bands but his true love is rocking out and performing and recording his own tunes.
Velpo Robertson
When introduced for the first time, people always say, Vel-who? But once you hear Velpo play slide guitar, you remember the name. Velpo hails from Richmond and for years folks would come from miles around to hear Velpo play. He's been a professional musician since before he could drive (his first band's manager and driver was his mom since no one in the band had their driver's license!). A man of few words, unless he is singing, Velpo has performed with more big names than we can list. He plays mandolin, dobro and has performed on and produced many albums during his career.
John McNiel
John has been performing in one way or another since he was a young man growing up in Richmond Virginia. His first tour took him all over the United States competing in BMX bike races, but music proved to be a less painful pastime...well usually, anyway. John’s first interest was actually the drums, but the neighbors thought a machine gunner had moved in rather than the next Buddy Rich, and after hearing some friends and neighbors play guitar, he was hooked. With influences from hard rock to jazz to bluegrass, John likes to play just about anything where the guitar is really loud…