Donnie Iris looks forward to performing: 'I am not ready to quit yet'
Donnie Iris is ready to get back to performing after sitting idle for 16 months.
“This is great,” said Iris, who lives in Coraopolis. “All of us in the band have been itching to get back on stage. It has been rough. People have been asking me if we have gotten together in the studio. I tell them, ‘No, we don’t want to be in the studio. We want to be performing in live shows. That’s our focus.’ ”
He and his band Donnie Iris & The Cruisers have begun booking shows. The first will be July 29 at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre. The band will open up for Styx.
On Oct. 9, they will be close to home at the Roxian Theater in McKees Rocks. They plan to play at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg sometime in early 2022 around his birthday, Iris said.
“In all my life, I have never experienced something as difficult as what we have all gone through the past year and a half,” said Iris, who is 78. “It’s been tough.”
Iris tested positive for covid-19, along with several friends he had been out to dinner and a night of music with in February. He was asymptomatic.
“I was lucky,” he said. “Very, very lucky.”
During the quarantine months, the band didn’t do any virtual concerts since they all live in different states. He missed the camaraderie of his bandmates as well as the Pittsburgh music community, which he said is “loyal and the best there is.”
Iris saw that connection when local musicians gathered to remember Eileen Hertweck, wife of The Clarks guitarist Rob Hertweck. She died in February.
“I went to the viewing, and there was a very long line that stretched for blocks,” Iris said. “The music community here has always supported one another.”
Iris has always felt that support, he said. He said Pittsburgh radio stations such as WDVE have helped keep his music in the rotation. “I think our songs are relevant, even today,” Iris said. “They are also easy to remember. “
He hopes people will continue to remember.
“I am not ready to quit, yet,” said Iris who owned a mortgage business years ago and enjoys spending his free time on the golf course. “I don’t think I will stop playing until I fall over. It’s still fun for us. We all appreciate being able to get back out there, and we will never take it for granted. To be able to be back on stage is unbelievable. There is nothing like live music.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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