Session Road Band

You can take the Session Road Band out of Session Road but you can't take Session Road out of Session Road Band.
When vocalist and rhythm guitarist Hannah Romawac married long-time boyfriend Javier "Javy" Olives last week here, her brothers Chavi(drummer and leader of the band) and JV (percussionist), lead guitarist Coy Placido, bassist Jal Taguibao, and keyboardist Jesse Hoover as well as friends and relatives tried to make the whole-day
affair as close to home as possible.
They were married last June 16 at the St. Joseph Church. Though more popular as the place where Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzales got married, this church in Pacdal village is also memorable to the Romawacs since their house in Lualhati is a slingshot away.
The wedding was kept as private as possible, said Ferdie Balanag, an old friend of Chavi and Hannah.
"The motif was olive green and their theme song is "Somewhere Over The Rainbow'," Balanag said.
The reception at the Baguio Country Club was interesting because only tapuy or the native rice wine was served. A dance troupe of Igorot dancers wearing g-strings and tapis (native skirt) blessed the jars of wine and beat the gongs and led the community dancing.
To keep up with the formal atmosphere though, the tapuy was served in crystal glasses not in the usual coconut shell passed around. The local band "Rewind Band" made the counterpoint to the gongs with their reggae and R&B.
When Hannah danced with her ailing father Tony Romawac, the funniest shaman in his wild days, all the guests were sobbing.
The Session Road being what they are, the day would not be complete without a wedding concert at Session Road.
All the old friends including National Artist Ben Cabrera, anthropologist Padma Perez (whose ten-year-old daughter Solana had her first one-woman show at the Café by the Ruins), artists Kati Sta. Ana and Bob Acosta, filmmaker Butch Perez, Baguio artists and many others flocked to Vocas at the top floor of La Azotea to hear ska from the Spaceflowers.
The meanest ska band north of Manila, Spaceflowers were wearing their patented plaid uniform and Chuck Taylors as they churned out classic ska songs as well as their originals like "Brown Boogie Man."
In the end, Hannah and the rest of the gang went onstage to serenade their guests.
Anytime soon, the Session Road Band will be serenading the whole country with their third album, "Bakit Hindi" under Alpha Records.