Gary LeBar (Johnny Apollo)
Oldies Tribute Artist
Johnny Apollo, a.k.a. Gary LeBar, grew up in Iselin NJ, a little introverted. As a kid, he use to sing only around the house and at church mass. It was in 7th grade at church that he remembers fellow classmates turning around to look at him while he was singing, but at the time he thought he had sang something wrong. But much to his surprise he was asked to join the church choir & 7th grade glee club. He only sang with them for a year but this is where he found his voice.
During his senior year in high school, he was asked to join a band with fellow classmates who had heard him singing in a drawing class. That led to being the front man for some local bands for the next 6 years . One of the best bands he recalls being in was called Pandora, where he played out 4 to 5 nights a week for 2 -1/2 years.When that band broke up,
the song in his heart was gone. He had felt it was time to pull out the old sheepskin, an associates degree from Middlesex County College, and find a full time job instead.
After buying his first new car, then a second one and his first home he thought to himself, " this fulltime job thing has it's benefits too". He then got married to a local girl he met back in his band days. Gary & his wife would have two children and buy 2 new cars. Singing and entertaining would become just a good memory. Years would pass by and he suddenly started playing guitar and singing again, then he got together with
two old band mates and started playing for fun.He started to feel a song returning to his heart.
After the sudden passing of one of these band mates, who was from his first band, he started to think, "what am i waiting for ". He tried to get a band together but that didn't work out. So he thought, " why not try it myself ". With a guitar and some backround tracks he started to learn some popular songs at home. Then he went to see an old friend, Joe Inacio ( Elvis ) & Jim Castro from ( JC Sound ) at one of there dinner shows. They began talking about how great the oldies music sounded and found out that Gary had the same passion for music as they did and asked him to come out and open up the Tribute show they were going to do at Moby Dick's Bar & Restaurant in Sewaren NJ.
The rest as they say is history, or at least, history in the making ! Always adding to his ninety song repertior, Gary is getting people up on their feet dancing at the tribute shows with his opening act. Singing classic fifties and sixties tunes by great artist, such as, the Beatles, Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, the Drifters, Roy Orbison, the Temptations & many more !!
He also does his own act called Johnny Apollo Solo Fight , singing classic songs of the sixties & seventies.
***Note from Gary***
" The dinner shows are great because the people come to listen to these great songs and appreciate the way you perform them. When you see somebody singing along or dancing, and see what it means to them you get such a rush of energy back. There's nothing like it ! And the applause don't hurt either...."
Gary LeBar (Johnny Apollo)
