Band of 50-somethings rocks for causes

Most days, Fredrick Borges leads the life of a medical malpractice attorney. He drives to his Newport Beach law firm, shuffles through paperwork, makes a few conferences calls, then heads home to Irvine.

Few would think the 54-year-old, with his spectacles, graying hair and receding hairline, is the drummer of a rock ‘n’ roll band.

Even Borges admits he looks “kind of dorky when I play.”

But on weekends, Borges loosens his necktie, picks up a pair of sticks and trades in his loafers for a pair of red and white-checkered Vans as he plays with his group, Attractive Nuisance.

The seven-member after-work band is made up mostly of graying professionals covering classic rock hits. The executive roadie, Byron Chamberlain, is 76.

“I’m the only one with a truck,” joked Chamberlain, president of Mariners General Insurance Group in Newport Beach. “But I’m replaceable.”

Instead of playing crowded bars amid drunken fans, the group has become a staple on the charity show circuit, playing for nonprofit groups throughout Orange County.

“We’re seven players who got the idea of doing charity and bringing music to people who really need it,” Borges said of his 10-year-old group.

“We’re pretty decent; we actually get paid for this sometimes,” he said with a chuckle.

Borges had just a few weeks of drumming lessons behind him when he formed the group in 2004 almost on a whim. His friend’s daughter, Lindsey Kolodny, had endured multiple brain surgeries and lost an eye to melanoma. As he watched her at a New Year’s Eve party, dressed in bandages and dancing with her dad, Roy, Borges decided she needed a party.

He rounded up his newly formed band, rented out the ballroom at Angelo’s and Vinci’s Ristorante in Fullerton and played before about 90 of Lindsey’s friends and family members. Months later, Lindsey died. Shortly after that, her father also died of cancer.

Every May since, the group has returned to the restaurant to play a charity show in the Kolodnys’ honor.

Those shows launched the band’s career. Attractive Nuisance has performed at more than 20 charitable events while helping nonprofit organizations raise about $250,000.

Borges said he picks up players from Craigslist ads, at shows and even while running errands.

While Borges was at Gelson’s market, a manager overheard him telling a cashier about how his band needed a bass player. She quickly gave him the name of her 20-year-old bag boy, Oscar Ramirez. He’s the youngest member of the band by about three decades.

“I’ve been in other bands,” Borges said. “But this is a total experiment — like a crazy laboratory.”

Band members say playing smaller charity shows outweighs the satisfaction of being recognized by playing larger venues.

“The playing is brought to a whole new level,” said keyboardist David Cannan, 56. “You know you’ll impact those lives in some way.”

Lead guitarist Bryan Koenen, 55, pointed to the Orange County Stand Down event in Tustin, where the group performed in September to benefit homeless veterans and families.

“I’m pretty patriotic and I enjoy those veteran gigs,” he said. “You get a feeling that you’re there for them — not just a second thought.”

Rhythm guitarist Ron Gorman, a community college music instructor, has played in scores of other bands but says Attractive Nuisance is the first he has been a part of that performs exclusively for nonprofits.

“The charity events are my main motivation because we work for some great ones. Other groups try to get recognition, but this is for a purpose,” said Gorman, 55.

Most recently, the band organized and played a Halloween show at Angelo’s and Vinci’s to benefit Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County, which provides low-cost oral care for children.

Borges became the nonprofit’s lawyer after a routine insurance referral. After meeting with the chief executive, it took him “about 20 minutes” to devise the Monster Mash Halloween show, complete with costumes, music and food, Borges said.

According to Healthy Smiles CEO Ria Berger, Borges is “like the right brain, left brain; the soft and the hard combined all in one body. For him to have such a soft heart about nonprofits but do cutthroat stuff as a managing partner for his law firm is amazing.”

Borges and his band helped raise about $32,000 for bays and chairs at Healthy Smiles’ flagship clinic in Garden Grove.

Borges’ philanthropy isn’t exclusive to Orange County. Last spring, he read a news story about Katie Renfroe, a 6-year-old girl from the rural Florida panhandle who has megalencephaly, a disorder that can cause facial features to become abnormally large.

He was so touched by her story that he flew Katie and her family to California, had their refrigerator stocked with food, treated them to a trip to Disneyland and took them to Angelo’s and Vinci’s for a party where his band played.

“She rocked out and we’ve been tight ever since,” Borges said.

Forming the band has elicited some chuckles from colleagues, he said.

“They crack up a lot, and a lot of clients crack up,” but most wind up in the audience of Attractive Nuisance shows, Borges said. “Where else can you rock out with your kids?”

Borges recalls a show where an elderly woman approached Borges and asked him to play “Mustang Sally” once more. “I’m going to teach everyone how to do the electric slide,” she said.