{"id":7087,"date":"2026-05-13T11:25:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=7087"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:25:03","slug":"simply-out-of-this-world","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/winter-2022\/features\/simply-out-of-this-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Simply out of this World"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mary Howard<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustration adapted from a 1972 promotional poster by Barclay Shaw \u201972<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was September 1968, a year after the Summer of Love, when John Moses \u201972, then in his first year at Trinity College, plucked an index card from an archway leading to the Main Quad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt said, \u2018Want to start a band?\u2019 \u201d remembers John \u201cKlondike\u201d Koehler \u201972, the one who had posted the card. That simple act started the Outerspace Band, a rock-and-roll group made up mostly of Trinity alumni\u2014a \u201cband of brothers\u201d who have endured for more than five decades.<\/p>\n

The current lineup is Moses on lead guitar and vocals, Koehler on bass, Compton Maddux \u201972 on rhythm guitar and vocals, Eliot Osborn \u201971 on keyboards and vocals, Dave Robinson \u201972 on harmonica and vocals, and Michael Wisotzkey on drums. Original drummer Kirk \u201cChief\u201d Kubicek \u201972 still gigs with the band at their Trinity Reunions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of college classmates and friends running any business for 50 years is a significant achievement,\u201d says Osborn.<\/p>\n

Notes Robinson, \u201cWe\u2019re just having too much fun to let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Moses and Koehler started rehearsing in a former laundry room on South Campus, they could not have anticipated the longevity of the project they were starting. \u201cWe wanted what a lot of kids wanted, just to play music,\u201d says Koehler. Almost immediately a group came together \u201cthrough providence, with very little effort on our part,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

At one point that fall, to garner additional members, Koehler stood up during a lull in his calculus class and asked if anyone was interested in starting a band. Maddux and Robinson raised their hands.<\/p>\n

Within a few months, they had their first gig. It was November 1, 1968, in the old Cave caf\u00e9 in Mather Hall, recalls Moses, a retired public school teacher who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. \u201cMy future wife was in the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Famed blues singer-songwriter B.B. King and John Moses \u201972 jam in February 1970; the band opened for the music legend for his show in the Ferris Athletic Center. Photo by Michael Fairchild<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At that point, the band was called Gasoline and performed mostly covers. \u201cWe played the usual stuff: Jimmy Hendrix, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and the blues,\u201d says Moses. That first year, the band played 22 gigs, mostly at Trinity and other colleges, and grossed $2,691.<\/p>\n

By February 1970, they had talked their way into opening for B.B. King in Ferris Athletic Center. Robinson\u2014a \u201cblues purist\u201d whose skills on the harp earned him the nickname \u201cWailin\u2019 Dave\u201d\u2014remembers King as \u201chumble and unassuming.\u201d He found his way into King\u2019s dressing room and was greeted with coffee and doughnuts. \u201cHe treated me like one of the guys in his band,\u201d says Robinson.<\/p>\n

Moses notes, \u201cThat gig was a crossroads.\u201d It was the largest audience the band had played thus far, and, according to The<\/em> Trinity Tripod, <\/em>their performance was \u201csuperb\u201d\u2014high praise considering they shared the stage with a legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt couldn\u2019t have been any better,\u201d adds drummer Kubicek.<\/p>\n

Osborn was in the audience that night and was impressed with Gasoline. Shortly after, he joined the band and, in the words of Moses, \u201cbrought in a whole new element.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The band\u2014with John Moses \u201972, Eliot Osborn \u201971, and Dave Robinson \u201972\u2014performs at Haverford College in 1973. Photo by Bina Williams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Osborn was an experienced songwriter. Though he was only a year ahead of the rest of the band members, \u201che was like an adult,\u201d remembers Moses. \u201cWe really got it together [after Osborn joined].\u201d And his original songs motivated other members to write their own.<\/p>\n

During the rest of their Trinity years, the band continued to play bars and events. We got a lot more traction than we were expecting,\u201d says Osborn. \u201cWe realized we had something good going on.\u201d Did all that focus on music affect their academic performance?<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d says Moses, who admits he graduated 100th from the bottom of his class.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that in 1972, after all the members had graduated, they decided to \u201cmake a run of it,\u201d says Koehler. \u201cPlaying music together was really the only thing we wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their lineup changed a bit. Maddux left to pursue other musical venues in Colorado, though he found his way back to the band in the 1980s. Al Scheeren, a trombone and fiddle player from Maine who had backed Glen Campbell, joined in 1975. They also added managers, Eric Weiss \u201972 (now deceased) and Rich Sieger \u201973, and sound engineers and roadies, Arthur Adams IDP\u201972 and Don Pugh \u201971. Adams continued with the band as a sound engineer and webmaster until his death in 2018.<\/p>\n

Calling themselves the Outerspace Band\u2014\u201cwe were looking for new frontiers,\u201d explains Koehler\u2014they became well-known on the New England circuit. Considered a jam band, they played an eclectic mix of rock, country, bluegrass, and blues\u2014including original numbers. They lived communally in a series of rented, rundown houses in the town of Wendell, Massachusetts, putting in an average of 250 shows a year and hoping for that elusive record deal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Outerspace Band members pose in 1975 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they enjoyed a legendary run at Jack\u2019s, performing more than 75 times at the venue. Clockwise from top left: John Moses \u201972, Eliot Osborn \u201971, Kirk Kubicek \u201972, Dave Robinson \u201972, John Koehler \u201972, and Alex Scheeren. Photo by Ron Pownal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While they never got that deal, they did get to play the White House in 1975. As the story goes, Koehler\u2019s sister had a friend who was on the dance committee at Holton-Arms School, the same prep school in Bethesda, Maryland, attended by Susan Ford, daughter of then-President Gerald Ford. Working those connections, Koehler and band manager Weiss drove to the school with a reel-to-reel of their music. Susan Ford liked what she heard and decided to hire the Outerspace Band to play at her senior prom at the White House.<\/p>\n

The experience was surreal, says Robinson. \u201cIt was like playing a gig at a museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koehler recalls driving up to the White House in the band\u2019s old freight truck. \u201cA security guard stopped us, and we said, \u201cHi, we\u2019re from Outerspace!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kubicek agreed it was an unusual environment. \u201cEvery third adult was carrying a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media buzz that followed was extraordinary. \u201cTo this day, we\u2019re known as the band that played the White House,\u201d says Robinson. \u201cEven our skeptical parents couldn\u2019t deny that something was going on.\u201d The event was covered in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe<\/em>, and Rolling Stone<\/em> magazine, to name a few. But despite the press and the band\u2019s talent\u2014\u201cI would put us up against any band writing their own material,\u201d says Moses\u2014their big break never came. Instead, they kept playing smoky bars and putting every penny into just getting by.<\/p>\n

By 1977, things began to change. Band members were getting married and thinking about starting families. That June, they scheduled what was to be their last gig. But a funny thing happened: \u201cWe kept getting requests to play weddings and other special events,\u201d says Moses.<\/p>\n

So, while they dialed back their rigorous gig schedule, the Outerspace Band kept playing. Over the years, they\u2019ve opened for performers including Dr. John and Waylon Jennings and recently backed Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers. In 2001, they released a CD of their original music to rave reviews. They\u2019ve also performed at Trinity Reunions and are scheduled to play at their 50th this coming June.<\/p>\n

\"\"
John Moses \u201972 (in blue) rocks out with bandmates Compton Maddux \u201972, Kirk Kubicek \u201972, Dave Robinson \u201972, John Koehler \u201972, and Eliot Osborn \u201971 at a 1987 concert in Freeport, Maine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And every summer, the Outerspace Band spends a few weeks touring Maine. They started playing gigs in and around the shores and ski resorts of \u201cVacationland\u201d while at Trinity. \u201cWe\u2019re the princes of Maine,\u201d jokes Maddux, who recently moved to the state. He says their Maine fans\u2014now spanning several generations\u2014will drive 60 miles to see their show.<\/p>\n

Most of the band members have other musical projects. Episcopal priest Kubicek plays in a Grateful Dead tribute band near his home in Sykesville, Maryland, with his son, also a drummer. And Maddux has produced two CDs of his original country music, collaborating with artists including Richie Havens.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also enjoyed successful careers outside of music. Koehler started Klondike Sound while at Trinity and still does consulting work at major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Osborn, who taught music to visually impaired students, is founder and\u00a0co-director\u00a0of Project Troubador, a nonprofit that works to bridge cultural, racial, and ethnic gaps through music, dance, and mime.<\/p>\n

But when they are together, it\u2019s like coming home, says Maddux, \u201ca place where you can give full play to your strengths, where you are well-known among lifetime friends. We\u2019re really lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Today\u2019s Outerspace Band\u2014Eliot Osborn \u201971, Michael Wisotzkey (Maine drummer), Compton Maddux \u201972, David Robinson \u201972, John Koehler \u201972, and John Moses \u201972\u2014in June 2019 in Rockland, Maine. Photo by Chris Morse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Video compilation of summer 2021 performances by videographer Wendy Wiley<\/p>\n