Most stage musicians have "groupies," and the duo that calls itself Brotherly Love is no exception.
Lee Durley and Ray Paul were doing a recent gig when they noticed someone who was trying hard to get their attention. The venue was an assisted-living facility in Salinas. The fan was waving to them from her room, down a hallway.
There have been a lot of special moments over the past several months, since Durley and Paul began performing regularly for shut-ins at facilities like Windsor Gardens in Salinas and Classic Residence by Hyatt (formerly Park Lane) in Monterey.
Some of their audience members are in a wheelchair or otherwise immobilized. They can"t applaud.
Durley"s name is well-known on the Central Coast, where, among other things, he"s been a popular radio personally — originally a couple of years at KRML, then an eight-year-stint at KIDD Magic 63 — and the talent coordinator for the Monterey Bay Blues Festival for the past 23 years.
He"s also been singing and playing at popular local haunts like the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay, the Hyatt Regency, Sly McFly"s and the Highlands Inn, alongside other well-known local artists such as Howe Cochran, Eric Tonn, Joe Indence, Dave Morewood, Louie Belson and Scotty Wright.
Durley was performing alongside pianist Sonny G at Laureles Lodge on a Friday night seven years ago when he met Paul, who was there with friends for dinner and drinks.
Paul, a San Francisco native, was a mostly retired Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe performer who once had shared a marquee with the likes of Englebert Humperdink. His father, Sam Paul, had worked as a bodyguard in the 1970s for Frank Sinatra.
"Ray showed me his old scrapbook and he was wearing my clothes! He had the bell-bottoms … he had the natural (hairstyle) É we connected right away," Durley said with a laugh.
In addition to his professional gigs, Durley had been teaming up with local singer Ree Brunell to do occasional shows at nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, a concept that attracted Paul after he received a touching voicemail from a former high school teacher, now in a facility himself in Turlock.
Durley went to Turlock, too, to perform at the facility where Paul"s mentor was residing. Something clicked that day, they say, on a deep, soulful level, and Paul has been booking similar dates ever since. Since Jan. 29, they"ve performed 26 times at 15 different facilities, and have a dozen future dates already booked.
Some are paid gigs. Some facilities have little or no budget. It couldn"t matter less to Durley and Paul.
Durley was singing Christmas songs alongside Brunell at a facility in Seaside last year when a woman in a wheelchair began singing along.
Paul recollected another woman in Salinas, paralyzed and in a wheelchair, who was wheeled up close for the performance.