Sky-Church
Olympia, Washington
1970 - 1972

Members
 

Chris Judy ~ ?
John Lucas ~ Guitar, Vocals
Linda McIntyre ~ ?
Pat McIntyre ~ ?
John Pugh ~ Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Ron Shilling ~ ?
Bob Todd ~ ?
Leroy Webb ~ Bass, Vocals
Chuck Wilkowski ~ Drums
 

In Memory of

John Pugh

Photo By John Lucas Sr.

Sky-Church formed in 1970, and for over two years played around the Puget Sound Area, including the McCleary Bear Festival, and the Capitol Pavilion.  The musical emphasis was on melodic, blues-based hard rock with scorching guitar provided by John Lucas, and a very solid rhythm section of Leroy Webb (bass) and Chuck Wilkowski (drums).  They covered Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, Led Zeppelin, Jimi, and arranged blues standards.  John Pugh was the versatile lead lead vocalist and could sing everything from "Purple Haze" to "Yesterday".

In 1972 the band split, with Lucas, Webb and Wilkowski forming the "Flying Lizards", with Lucas and Webb then forming "Roanoke", which was fronted by a female vocalist.   Leroy Webb went on to join "Shaker", and John Lucas joined "Bighorn" near the end of their northwest reign in the late 1970s.  John Lucas auditioned for Buddy Miles' touring band in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, a job eventually landed by Mike Bloomfield.  John later auditioned as a guitarist for "Rail", a band that included former "Bighorn" members.  That gig was given to Ronnie Montrose.  John Lucas continues to play around the Puget Sound Area, including with his rock and roll band "Roadhouse", and still is a fantastic player.

Following Sky-Church, John Pugh formed a very tight trio with Kevin Washburn (bass) and Mark Peroni (drums), and assumed lead guitar and lead vocal duties.  I don't recall the name of this band was, but they toured the Alaska circuit around 1974.

In 1975 John Pugh moved to Salt Lake City and played in a number of bands, most notably fronting a funk band with horns called "Spice".  John then fronted a top 40 touring band "Passin Thru" from 1978-1979.  John resided in Kennewick, Washington from 1979 until his death at age 51 in 2003, and played in many local bands such as "Juice", "Niteshift", and "Donna Jean and Blue Denims", in addition to performing as one of the early "one-man band" acts.  I have compiled tapes with music from many of these bands, and would be happy to make them available for former bandmates or other interested folks.

Mark Pugh, August 2004
pugh8634 @ comcast.net

Pat and Linda McIntyre (seated), Chris Judy, Leroy Webb, Bob Todd, Chuck Wilkowski, John Pugh (seated at drums), Ron Shilling and John Lucas.
Photo By John Lucas Sr., January 1972

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I stumbled upon this website quite by accident while I was Googling.  Anyway, it brought back great memories of the summer and fall of 1972 that I spent in Olympia WA.  I arrived right about the time Skychurch disbanded.

I had some old photos of Skychurch stored in a box somewhere, so, I dug them out and here they are.

Vickie Voss Kaplan, July 2009

If you have corrections, a neat photo or more information, please send it to:


Last Update: 10 March 2010
Credits:  Mark Pugh, Vickie Voss Kaplan