Susie Kocher and her Distractions

Susie Kocher is a busy woman. You may have seen her onstage as Reno in “Anything Goes” at the Tryon Fine Arts Center. Perhaps you heard her sing the National Anthem at the Steeplechase, or just read about her winning ride later in the day. Those are just a few of the things she does for “fun” while also working for as a pharmaceutical representative and being a mom.

I caught her briefly in person one evening as she was leaving a planning meeting for Tryon Little Theatre and headed to pick up her daughter from her evening activity. We spoke on the phone a minute while she was driving and I had a break during rehearsal. I learned that her newest “free-time” pursuit was called “The Distractions” and how to “Google” their Biltmore performance on YouTube. I also learned that the band was going to be playing for a benefit for Travis. “You know Travis, who was in the accident helping out a stranger on the freeway?” No, I didn’t know Travis, but I decided to “Google” him too that night.

I managed to find the fun two minute montage video of the band without a hitch. All it took was “The Distractions Biltmore” in the search box. It was cheerful little video postcard of a joyful evening of dinner and dancing on the patio at Biltmore Estate. It seems that Susie’s one lucky woman to fill her spare time by sharing her beautiful voice and exuberance with a group of talented musicians in such an appreciative and classy setting. Not bad as far as “distractions” go in life.

I wasn’t so lucky in finding Travis, so after a few failed phone attempts, we resorted to email for the interview. In a way, I’m glad it worked out that way, because I enjoyed reading her emails. So, here is the “refined” version of our exchange. Mainly I have reorganized the questions and answers for the reader’s ease, Susie may be busy, but she communicates very clearly with text.

Susie’s first email to me was in response to my voicemail asking about Travis’ story.

Travis Fortson a young professional pharmaceutical sales representative was driving to one of his doctor’s appointments last month when he saw a woman forced off the road by a bad driver. She went off the road and definitely needed some assistance. Without thinking, Travis pulled over and got out of his car to help her. A tractor trailer came around the bend and slammed on the brakes jackknifing the trailer and hitting Travis full force. He was thrown into a ditch. One of the doctors in Landrum has a husband who works for EMS who was the one called to the scene. They were able to get Travis air lifted to Spartanburg Regional where his injuries were treated and they removed his leg. He then went to Greenville Memorial the next day for further surgery on his crushed pelvis.

As fellow drug reps, we were devastated by what happened to Travis. Some of the reps from his company approached me about our band playing for some type of benefit to help him and his wife and children handle some of the exorbitant medical bills coming his way. I contacted the guys and we agreed wholeheartedly. Steve Chastain out of Spartanburg worked tirelessly to secure a location for the benefit and after running into many roadblocks along the way, met with the manager of Wild Wings in Spartanburg who was enthusiastic in helping out. The benefit will be held on Monday September 10th from 6pm on and we encourage anyone who can to join us for an inspiring evening. Travis is excited to attend and is touched by the amount of support that he has received from so many wonderful people. Check out his website at Caringbridge.org then type in Travisfortson. You will be amazed.

Wow, over 82,000 visitors and over 1,700 loving messages at CaringBridge. What an amazing story! He’s definitely a Superman smiling with his two girls. Thank you for sharing that with me. I'd like to know more about your band that will be performing for this benefit. How long have you been together?

We have been together for about six months. The members are myself, Susie Kocher, from the big town of Lynn, NC (vocals and the red tambourine), Dave Kushabar on guitar/vocals; Hank Shugart on bass and vocals; Rob Gillum on drums. This particular group formed after our drummer departed to Florida last year and I really stopped playing sloppy garage band music! Dave and I did a half hearted acoustic duo at the Hare and the Hound a few times but children, jobs and life really put a wrench in it. Dave has two kids, we all have tons of kids and their busy social schedules get in the way of our playing music!

What projects led you to forming this band?

Rob and I work together and he lives in Columbia, SC but calls on specialists (doctors) in the Greenville/Spartanburg area as well as Columbia so we can get him to practice once in awhile since he stays in hotels in Greenville and Spartanburg every few weeks. Hank and I have played together the longest, we were in a band called Weird Mojo with Steve Whiteside and Mike VanDusen but like I said before, Mike moved to Florida last year. I really thought that was it for me since I felt tired and old and not energized to start a new band but musicians just kind of drop out of the sky and all of us LOVE to play music. Oh, and Bobby Gaines will be sitting in on some songs, he toured with Phoebe Snow for seven years and has played with some greats.

How long have you been performing as a vocalist with bands?

I have been performing as a vocalist since I was 18 years old (16 if you count the band that I auditioned with in high school and got in but my mean mother forbid me to sing with!). I am 45 so … wow 27 years! I never sang in a rock band until I moved to Tryon. I sang with an acoustic group called “Bookends” at Penn State during college and for many years after. I also sang with a traditional Celtic band in Philadelphia called the Mollyhawkes and we used to perform at Celtic festivals and some pub like places in and around the Philadelphia area.

What have you been doing recently before this group formed?

I took a hiatus and got involved with TLT in Anything Goes thinking that my rock ‘n roll days were over. I always get asked to play at this really fun horse show party at the Biltmore Estate Summer Classic in July so I kind of convinced these guys to help me out with this one gig. We had so much fun at practice that we thought we’d give it a whirl and keep playing.

On the YouTube video there are a variety of snippets from jazz standards, to classic Patsy Cline, to rock-n-roll and funk. How would you describe the band's style?

The band’s style… I think of us as solid musicians who really, really, really have fun while we play. We smile and laugh the whole time and have lots of fun kidding around with the audience. As I said before we are all pretty responsible people; parents, professionals, tax payers. We pick songs that we like to play so it’s a real variety, something for everyone possibly.

It sounds like a lot of fun! With such full lives, it sounds like this is a pretty rare occasion to gather these musicians together for a live performance.

I worked with Travis and he is a dear and wonderful young man. I hope that if people can they will come and support him. He told a friend of mine that this benefit, thinking about it is the most fun he has had since his accident.
You can hear Susie Kocher and The Distractions live Monday September 20th at Wild Wings Café in Spartanburg from 6pm “until” as they celebrate the continued recovery of “Good Samaritan” and “SuperDad” Travis Fortson. There will also be a silent auction that evening with proceeds helping to offset the cost of the medical bills for his recovery.