The History of the Professors
2005 - present
Reprinted without permission from the Rocklopedia Britannicus, page 613

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January 2005: Peter VanEmburg (ex-FOUL RIFT) joins the band on drums, after an extensive search and screen process in which The Professors auditioned some of the finest drummers in New Jersey. Congratulations Peter!

Peter VanEmburg on drums Gary Radford on Classical Guitar

April 24, 2005: The Professors unveil a new drummer, new instruments, and a whole host of new songs to the lucky attendees at the LISSA Annual student picnic at Cook College, Rutgers University. Peter VanEmburg awed the crowd on his Professors' debut with his percussion and vocal talents. Gary Radford played his classical guitar for the first time in a concert setting, adding a completely new dimension to the Professors' sound. The highlights of the performance were the Professors' premiere of a 16 minute version of "Dogs" by Pink Floyd, an 11 minute medley of songs from Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and Rush's classic "Closer to the Heart," all arranged for classical guitar and harmonica! I don't think there has ever been an arrangement of Floyd and Rush songs quite like this. The gig also saw the premiere of two original Professors's songs: The Last Wasted Hour by John Barrows and Everyone's Gone Now by John Barrows and Mark Wallinger. Marie and Meg Radford returned as special guests with Marie playing keyboards and Meg performing lead and backing vocals.

May 13, 2005: The Professors return to Lenfell Hall at Fairleigh Dickinson University to perform at the Convocation Ceremony for students graduating from the MA in Corporate and Organizational Communication. Gary performs the entire first set on classical guitar, and dedicates the performace of Pink Floyd's "Dogs" to the retiring Dean of Becton College, Barbara Salmore. Maya "Little Schmnoopy" Romanenko makes her debut nailing the chicken to the floor during the performance of The Professors' classic, "Sunday Night at Kenny's." The show ends on a high with two completely spontaneous encores. The first, "Psycho Killer," was a song that was fairly familiar from recent practice sessions. However, the playing of Hawkwind's "Brainstorm" as the final number of the night came as a complete surprise to both the audience and the band. The song went splendidly and crowned a very successful performance.

June 2005: In the announcement that shocked the music world, John Barrows leaves The Professors for the second time.

July 17, 2005: The departure of John Barrows resulted in a radical regrouping of The Professors as a trio. The challenge was met spectacularly as the new Professors line-up performed for the first time at the Failte Coffeehouse in Hopewell, New Jersey, with Meg Radford performing backing vocals. For the first time in their history, The Professors performed an entirely acoustic set, with Gary playing classical guitar throughout. Existing Professors' songs were re-arranged for the acoustic trio set up. Crisis of Confidence and Peer Review , which are usually performed as loud electric guitar songs, were given completely new acoustic treatments. A new Pink Floyd medley of "One of My Turns" and "Nobody Home" (from "The Wall" album) and "Wish You Were Here" was performed for the first time. This show also saw the premiere of the original song Generations, with lyrics by Peter VanEmburg and music by Gary Radford.

October 16, 2005: The great success of their first Failte Coffeehouse concert led to an invitation to play there a second time. Alysia Slocum joined Meg Radford on backing vocals to add a rich chorus dimension to The Professors' sound. The show provided the premiere of The Babysitter Blues, with lyrics by Peter VanEmburg and music by Peter VanEmburg and Nick Romanenko. Peter dedicated the song to his wife, Jennifer, for their 12th wedding anniversary, which was the day of the performance. Two classic Professors' tunes were revived from the back catalogue: Christie, Are You Out There? and Cold Snap. Meg Radford performed superlative lead vocals on "Cold Snap." The Professors also performed "The Trees" by Rush for the first time.