COUNTRY CLUB SET REALLY ROCKS.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - At age 50, Corky Knight fulfilled the fantasy of nearly every teen-ager in America.

He bought a guitar and started a rock 'n' roll band.

Four years and as many bass players later, Corky Knight and the Daze make regular appearances throughout the Santa Clarita Valley and they are the house band for the Valencia Country Club.

``When I turned 50 I realized all the things I wanted to do in my life but never did,'' said Knight, a Valencia life insurance agent. ``People told me that I was crazy and that I'd never do it, but I knew that starting this band was something I needed to do.''

They may not look like rock stars, with their khaki pants, Hawaiian shirts and leather loafers, but they are doing their best to sound like genuine rockers.

Every Wednesday night, the band members unload their gear at the country club, plug in their amps and spend about three hours rehearsing their ever-growing repertoire of classic rock hits.

In addition to Knight, who plays rhythm guitar, bass and harmonica, the band features 54-year-old Pete Clancey of Valencia on guitar and lead vocals, 48-year-old Steve Hobbs of Valencia on lead guitar, and 42-year-old Karen Crosby of Chatsworth on drums.

All of the members say playing in the band keeps them young at heart and allows them to express parts of their personalities they kept hidden for years.

``I spend most of my time on the phone in my office talking to divorcees and giving them financial and psychological counseling,'' said Crosby, a home mortgage broker who has been playing drums for 25 years. ``The band gives me a chance to do something different and show a side of my personality I don't get to show very often. Sometimes I go out in the audience and get people dancing, and if I wasn't performing I'd never do that.''

The first person Knight recruited for his band was Clancey, a golf partner whose history in music was limited to singing in his church choir.

``I'd never played in a rock 'n' roll band, and I'd never played rock 'n' roll music,'' said Clancey, president of Renaissance Executive Forums in Valencia. ``But when Corky asked me to be in his rock band, I said sure. Who wouldn't want to play in a rock 'n' roll band if they could?''

Soon after that, Crosby and Hobbs showed up for a rehearsal and the rest, as they say, is history.

Knight invested about $10,000 of his personal income into buying equipment for the band, and the members began playing for free at charity and community events throughout the valley.

``We get to relive our youth, and we get to have fun. If someone would pay me, I'd do this for the rest of my life,'' said Hobbs, an appraiser who has been playing guitar for 36 years. ``All of us are dedicated to being there every week, and we're not going to let each other down.''

Though they playfully hurl insults at each other in casual conversation, the band members say they have become very close over the years, and compare their weekly rehearsal sessions to a form of group therapy.

``We can talk about anything with each other,'' said Crosby. ``And it might sound dumb, but if we don't have rehearsal, we still have to get together once a week. I need my band fix.''

She added that her husband and 6-year-old son have been extremely supportive of her hobby.

While friends of the band members were initially skeptical, they have since changed their minds.

``When we start playing, you can watch people's eyes light up as soon as the beat starts,'' said Knight. ``We had a huge learning curve at first, but now even we're surprised by how far we've come.''

Knight began playing guitar when he was a student at San Fernando High School and formed a band called The Okays with some of his friends. Eventually, however, he said the demands of adulthood took priority over his passion for music.

``You go to college, you get married and then you can't go out and do crazy things any more,'' he said.

When he reached the half-century mark, however, Knight said he decided it was time to have fun again.

He bought a Fender Stratocaster guitar just like he had in high school and began relearning the songs of his rock heroes - the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chuck Berry, and Dion and the Belmonts.

``I'm very shy by nature, but there's something about playing guitar in front of people that makes me feel younger,'' Knight said. ``When it works, it's a real high.''

For Knight and his band mates, the whole point of playing in the band is to have fun. When it starts to feel like work, they say, it's time to quit.

``It's about being with friends and just being guys,'' said Knight. ``This band is always on my mind now and I'm way happier than I've ever been.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Corky Knight belts out a surf tune during a practice session at Valencia Country Club.

(2) Corky Knight plugs his ears while members of the band tune their instruments. Fun is the band's main ingredient.

(3) Karen Crosby of Chatsworth, a home mortgage broker who has been playing drums for 25 years, lays down the beat.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer