By Crazy John Kerecz

ONCE UPON A TIME IN PA...A BAND BEGAN TO PLAY AND WRITE AND PERFORM AND RECORD AND DO WHATEVER IT TAKES, AND TO THIS DAY HAS NEVER LOOKED BACK! TIMES HAVE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS, AND STILL WHITE WITCH THE BAND CONTINUES TO STEP INTO THE FUTURE, WHILE HOLDING ON TO IT'S ILLUSTRIOUS PAST. THE BAND WHITE WITCH REMAINS TRUE TO ITSELF EVERY DAY, AND TO ALL OF THE FANS WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE BAND YEAR AFTER YEAR. WHITE WITCH'S MUSIC IS FILLED WITH PASSION AND LYRICS THAT REFLECT THIS WORLD. A STAGE SHOW AND SONGS THAT REACH OUT AND GRAB YOU AND SCREAM..........PAY ATTENTION!!!

When you see or listen to White Witch you can tell that their music is their purpose, dream, and life's blood.  If you have ever been to one of their shows you know Uncle Jeff, their lead singer, and the rest of the band is under the spell of their own music.  The history of White Witch and Uncle Jeff has had its trials. He has fought cancer, and he has run with the devil as he puts it, but today he is no longer on that path, is cancer free, and puts all his energy into his music. A new CD was put out last year called "Never Dies The Dream" and talks of going back into the studio to start working on the next one are in the air.  Recently I got the time to talk with Uncle Jeff the following is some of that conversation:

CJ: Tell us how White Witch got started

UJ: We started in the fall of 1984, and the 80's were brutal.  I am sure the young bands have heard stories and they are all true and then some.  We took a break in 1989 and I lived in Arizona, Pittsburgh, and all over playing in other bands, unfortunately, experiencing the drug world from east to west coast, I ended up in a lot of bad places but somehow I got clean and White Witch got back together. In 2002 we released a New Album, then again in 2004, just released one in 2007, and we are working on a new one.

CJ: You told me earlier about one of your first gigs where you opened for a major band.

UJ: It was our second. We opened for Steppenwolf.  It was a killer show and at that time we had custom made witch outfits made by the seamstress that also made outfits for Ozzy and Motley Crue. It was incredible; I even got hung on stage as part of that performance.  While going up to the stage someone yelled look it's an Alice Cooper clone, which I thought so cool since Alice Cooper and Ozzy are my two biggest influences.  When we got up on stage there were 7000 people looking back at us. It was pretty cool.

CJ: That was a pretty great experience for a second gig. Do have any memories of your first gig?

UJ: Yes we broke Hybrid Ices attendance record for that venue that night.  We always battled it out, if we could beat them by two and then they would come back and beat us by twelve, back and forth we would go.

CJ: OK, let's talk about your music and how would you define it.

UJ: Big vocals, real clean, catchy clever lyrics, big guitar Randy Roads sound, Killer drums, with a one of a kind sound.  I have kind of a freaky voice, super tramp, Ozzy, Alice, very clean but different.  It seems to be catching on now and I am better now that I am older.  I do not see myself as a singer but as a vehicle for this thing inside of me that is going to do what it needs to do with laser like accuracy. White Witch has not yet got to where it is going as a band but it is getting close to where I can almost smell and taste it.

CJ:   Being in the business for so long what do you feel are some of the things a band needs to overcome to get where they want to go?

UJ: Your biggest battle is yourself, your biggest competition is yourself, your worst enemy is yourself, and if you do not believe me you will find that out, as you go thru the course of your life, if you are ever able to stay in this business.  I have been pounding the pavement in this business since 81 and the only one you can truly depend on is yourself.  You have to believe in yourself.  If you believe in yourself you can make it happen but it takes time.

CJ: What got you started in music, and got you to put together White Witch?

UJ: I was born to do this.  This is the only thing that I have.  It was my destiny to be a singer in a band called White Witch.  I know there are lots of people that will say he is 46 and if they are going to make it why have they not made it by now.  The thing is everything has its own run, this band was not meant to manifest it's self till it was good, old, and ripe.  There is a fine line between old and gold. I feel within a year something special is going to happen for this band. We are a lot better now than we were 20 years ago.

CJ: Tell us about White Witches band members?

UJ: Well yes I want to describe them: Doug Lehman who lives in West Palm Beach Florida but is a Pa boy.  He is a true guitar shredder comparable to Randy Roads and the other greats. Carl Berry my drummer is 53 years old and small in size but big in drumming.  I have only heard one drummer like him and that was Pat Benatar's original drummer. Billy Zimmerman is actually an expert guitar player comparable to Warren DeMartini from Ratt. We switched him over to bass for us and he is like a young Ted Nugent. And of course myself Uncle Jeff Pittinger lead vocals. It's an explosive line up~!!

CJ:  Tell us about your latest album and the meaning of its title "Never Dies The Dream"?

UJ: Well it is smok'in hot and all comes back to the fact that I was born to be a singer in a band named White Witch and that this is my dream and destiny, which will never die.  So the album's title comes full circle to this.  I heard a story a long time ago that Jimmy Hendrix was cursed by black magic and that was why he died and that David Bowie had the same curse but was warned about it and had a white witch save him from it.  Well my band became White Witch and I want good to come out of it and help people through it.  Our shows bring many different types of people together and they always leave smiling from having a good time.

CJ: You talked to me before about wanting to help people.

UJ: Yes I would like to set up a fund that even if I were no longer around would have yearly events that would raise money to help people in need.

CJ: Anything or additional advise you might have in ending.

UJ: Yes life is a game of inches and you are not going to be successful if you are spinning on drugs or alcohol.  You are not going to be truly successful, I can guarantee that 100%.

CJ:  Well thanks for taking the time to talk to me.