Ron Appel, 76, is the drummer for the classic rock band Wasted Gravity, known for rocking audiences throughout central Maryland. Photo by Positive Vibe Media

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Wasted Gravity boasts five musicians over 50, including Ron Appel’s grown daughter, Karen Leaf, the group’s lead female vocalist. Photo by Timothy Cox

As the drummer for a classic rock band called Wasted Gravity, Ron Appel is considered the bedrock and rhythmic heartbeat for the Baltimore area band.

Composed almost entirely of Boomers, the band’s eldest member is Appel, 76. Age aside, the fellas and one lone female member continue to rock to the music of their youth — music appreciated by their burgeoning fan base.

Wasted Gravity’s motto is “Music you love, Music you lived.” They play an ever-changing setlist that includes songs from artists like Janis Joplin, the Eagles, Stevie Wonder and Bob Seger.

“We play to people who want to hear the music they enjoy being played like it was originally played,” said Joe Puleo, 65, a retired Bel Air computer analyst whose guitar style was influenced by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.

“The late ‘60s, that’s when the music changed forever — for the best,” Puleo said.

In addition to Puleo and Appel, Wasted Gravity includes Silver Spring’s Mark Smith, 56, on rhythm guitar, mandolin and harmonica; Severn’s Mike Hutchins, 63, on bass guitar; Columbia’s Dave Lopes, 49, on acoustic guitar and lead vocals; and Howard County resident Karen Leaf, 53, on lead vocals, who is Appel’s daughter.

Wasted Gravity came to fruition in the early 2000s after the breakup of two previous bands. Lopes’ and Hutchins’ Loose Thoughts and Smith’s and Appel’s Flashpoint combined to create the current musical group, which plays at various locations throughout central Maryland.

A serendipitous meeting

In a twist of fate, Smith and Hutchins were both traveling home on a Metro train when Smith noticed Hutchins reading a biography of rock legend Neil Young. A brief conversation about the book led to the beginnings of their friendship — and of Wasted Gravity.

Smith, a self-described city kid who was raised in Washington, D.C. and Prince George’s County, Maryland, is proud of his penchant for varying styles of music, from acid jazz to acid rock and all genres in between.

“I was raised on classic country and Big Band at home, found rock and the blues on my own, and got turned on to go-go music at Potomac Senior High School,” he said.

That said, Smith credits his mother for taking him to his first rock concert (Elton John and Kiki Dee) when he was 12. As a kid, he tagged along with older classmates to see acts like ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Kool & the Gang and even a young Bruce Springsteen, who performed at Carter Barron Amphitheater in 1975, when Smith was 13. Smith’s parents quickly realized his love for music and immediately supported his passion.

Wasted Gravity’s best asset, Smith said, is its family vibe. “We’ve been together long enough that we understand our human failings. Hey, we’re six people balancing six independent lives; families, children, grandchildren, work. There are no prima donnas or egos in the band.

“I’d pick relationships over musicianship any day. It’s the key to success for the long haul, including bands like the Rolling Stones,” he added.

Performing for the fun of it

Most of the band members are either retired or working stable government-type jobs.

There’s a “special joy,” Hutchins said, “to get to a point when you’re not relying on the money you make in music to feed your family. Thankfully, we’re all beyond that point.”

Hutchins, a D.C. native, started playing acoustic guitar at age 8. He transitioned to bass guitar at 15 and has never wavered from the instrument. Besides a brief move to Southern California for work assignments, Hutchins is a lifelong resident of the DMV area.

Unlike Hutchins, drummer Ron Appel, a Catonsville High School graduate, took a decades-long hiatus from music.

“My brother Louis and I played in a drum and bugle corps early on, and I played my father’s saxophone as a kid. But I didn’t return to drums until I was in my early 30s,” Appel said.

“I was busy raising a family and working a 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift with the Department of Defense as a computer analyst,” he added.

Thanks to another musician friend who kept egging him on to return to his musician roots, Appel eventually reconnected with his true passion.

His wife of 57 years, Frances Appel, also inspired his return to music, he said. “We used to go out and check out the live bands in the area. I always paid attention to the drummers and would converse with them during their breaks.

“One day [Frances] said, ‘Maybe you ought to get a drum set and get back into music.’” Frances now serves as her husband’s unofficial roadie, helping him pack and unpack his drums for every gig.

Appel’s daughter, Karen Leaf, said she enjoys her role as the lead singer in the band, working alongside her dad.

“Working with my father gets a little tough sometimes, only because he can be overly critical at times,” she laughed. “But I realize he only wants the best for me.”

When Leaf isn’t on stage, she works in the guidance counselor department at Howard County Schools, where she’s been for 20 years. The married mother of two adult daughters said, like her father, she was a latecomer to live music, although she often sang in her bedroom as a child.

The band’s other singer is guitarist/vocalist Dave Lopes, who is from Providence, Rhode Island. Lopes, a U.S. Army veteran, took organ lessons as a child and played in bands during college. Lopes writes music and poetry and credits Wasted Gravity as his inspiration.

“I’ve done my best work with this band. They’ve challenged me. They are my family,” he said. “We’re here to have fun and be happy.”

Wasted Gravity is scheduled to play at Coakley’s Pub in Havre De Grace on Sept. 27 and at Inverness Brewing in Monkton on Oct. 26. A full performance calendar can be accessed at wastedgravity.com and on Facebook. For bookings, call (410) 551-1468.