The Guy Unger Band: A Decade of Classic Rock in Fayetteville: From Football to Guitar

Fayetteville's music scene is known for its vibrant and diverse offerings, and few names resonate as strongly as The Guy Unger Band. Led by 53-year-old guitarist and teacher Guy Unger, the band has been a staple at local venues for over a decade, but its story goes beyond its classic rock roots.

Born and raised in Sanford, Unger didn't start playing the guitar until he was 14. Football was his first love, but a motorcycle accident left him with a broken collarbone during his senior year, sidelining his athletic ambitions and changing the course of his life. With sports no longer an option, he turned to music with new purpose. "Ever since then, I was just soaked up in it," Unger said on May 30. "I was hearing these live concerts and seeing that stuff, and I was like, 'Man, that's what I want to do for a living,' and that's all I've ever done, ever since."

The Guy Unger Band was founded in 2014 and has been playing together for more than a decade. Unger's biggest aspiration is for the band to begin writing and recording original music.

The early years of Unger's musical journey were filled with organizing small gigs in his hometown, including renting out local venues like the Jaycee Hut—which has since closed—and packing crowds into a club called Justeens in 1988 and 1989. His first band, Aces Wild, was formed during those early years. In 1995, he enrolled at the Atlanta Institute of Music in Georgia to hone his craft, where he helped represent the school at events and even earned an endorsement with Peavey, an instrument company. "That was the first little bit of notoriety," he said.

Soon after, he joined a country band called Electric Possum, where he got his first taste of opening for national acts like Charlie Daniels and Little Texas. However, the genre wasn't quite his style. "I was trying to be Joe Satriani in a country band," Unger said, referring to the Grammy-winning rock guitarist. "It wasn't really fitting."

Through the late '90s and early 2000s, Unger cycled through a lineup of different bands: Fools Gold, 421 Underground, DL Token, Silver State, and Seal the Deal, to name a few. He said DL Token came close to breaking through when Sony Music expressed an interest in signing the band. However, the experience ultimately fueled his drive to keep pushing and introduced him to the collaborative model that would later become a hallmark of his current cover band: The Guy Unger Band.

The Guy Unger Band got its start around 2014 as the Guy Unger Trio before evolving into its current five-member lineup. Today, the band consists of Unger on lead guitar and vocals; Michael Daniels on bass, keys, and vocals; Jeff Stone on drums and vocals; Unger’s wife, Mandy, on saxophone and vocals; and J.R. Wright on keys and vocals. "Basically, everybody in the band sings and plays an instrument," he said. "We all share the lead singing duties."

The Guy Unger Band is known for covering classic rock hits from bands like Pink Floyd, with a unique blend of their own style and energy that has made them a staple in Fayetteville's music scene.