News

Grammy nominated band visits CAFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Danielle Powell
  • 14th Flying Training Wing
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The Grammy nominated piano rock band, The Fray, visited Columbus Air Force Base Tuesday for orientation flights and lunch with BLAZE team members.
First Lieutenant Ben Payne, 41st Flying Training Squadron, was the inside connection for this event. Lieutenant Payne went to high school with three of the band members in Denver, Colo.
"We were talking during the holidays and I told him if the Air Force could make things happen then we could also," said Joe King, guitarist and singer for the band. "He made a couple calls, and we made a couple calls. We made things happen."
During the base tour, the band went through a wing mission brief. They had medical flight screenings at the 14th Medical Group. Following the medical group, they had lunch at the Columbus Club and signed autographs for fans and band followers.
After the band had lunch, they traveled to aerospace physiology for Life Support and T-37 egress training. The members of the 41st FTS Life Support team helped the team suit-up and gave them pointers on how to use their parachute and other equipment if an emergency were to happen while in flight. Then they each went up in flight in a T-37 "Tweet."
Following the flight, the band was greeted by members of the 41st FTS where they were presented with a framed photograph of themselves with members of the 41st FTS, to commemorate their visit to Columbus AFB.
The band then ended their CAFB tour at the base theater, signing more autographs.
The Fray has been playing music together for about four years. Three of the band members went to high school together and were in what Joe King called "rival bands" in Denver. A couple years after high school, Joe and Isaac met up again in a music store and decided to collaborate.
When they first started playing together, they did not have a name for the band. "At our first show, we did not have a name. We asked the audience to give us suggestions in a fish bowl. One of the suggestions was 'The Fray' and we used it," said Joe King.
Members of the band include Isaac Slade, lead singer and pianist, King, Dave Welsh, guitarist and Ben Wysocki, drummer and percussionist.
The Fray is best known for their singles "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head (Cable Car)." Their debut album, entitled "How to Save a Life," made the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was also the best selling digital album of all time and has sold over two million copies and has gone double platinum.