The band is composed of lead vocalist/guitarist Don Osborn, 74, drummer Jeff Crownover, 73, bassist/vocalist Bill Hunter and keyboardist Ken Civils, 73.

The four have played together in various combinations and in many, many bands since high school six decades ago. Hunter, Crownover and Civils graduated from Altoona high school in 1970.

“We started together and now we’re ending together,” Osborn said.

Crownover said, “We just love playing.”

Flashpoint members from left to right: Keyboardist Ken Civils, bassist/vocalist Bill Hunter, drummer Jeff Crownover and lead vocalist/guitarist Don Osborn. Courtesy photo

As part of Timepiece, Civils, Crownover and Hunter, opened for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap in the 1960s. Then, the members joke, the band Three Dog Night came to a Holiday Inn to see Timepiece. The men laugh at their inside joke. The members of Three Dog Night were looking for a place to wind down after their own gig. Two members did stay and listen to Timepiece.

Hunter, Crownover and Civils play with Flashpoint, Oz and the Fabulous Flashbacks. Crownover spent 25 years playing in the local hit band U.S. Sound Theatre.

A Hollidaysburg Senior High School graduate in 1968, Osborn spent eight years, 1971-1978, in Los Angeles playing with different bands and touring bars and hotels throughout California, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah.

“We grew up in the most amazing time of music,” Osborn said, citing Frank Zappa as his musical influence.

For Hunter, it was the Beatles and for Crownover, big brass bands like Chicago.

“It was a magical time for music,” Crownover said.

The men joke that it was the music that attracted them to performing and how musicians attracted women. Today, the only groupies who follow them are their wives.

Nowadays, the band plays an ever-dwindling number of clubs and bars that feature live music in the greater Altoona area.

“There are not nearly as many places to play like there were in the 80s. We used to play six nights a week. Now there are only a limited number of venues with live music.”

One of those places is the Unter Uns. On Wednesday nights, “jam sessions” happen with different musicians picking up instruments and playing together. Many times it’s the Flashpoint members in varying combinations.

“When we play together, it’s so natural,” Crownover said. “We know what to expect from each other.”

Civils of Altoona started working at Ford Music Store in Altoona part-time in high school. When he graduated from Mount Aloysius College in Cresson with a degree in music (he played trombone) and a minor in education.

Upon graduation, Ford Music hired him full-time and he worked there for 43 years until it closed in 2012. Then, he continued to work in sales until his own retirement yet he continues to play.

Making music is “satisfying,” Civils said. ” I enjoy it. I’m not a real outgoing person. I like to hide behind my keyboard and not talk in a microphone. I like watching people having fun and I have a lot of fun.”

Staff Writer Patt Keith is at 814-949-7030.

Where to listen to Flashpoint:

8 to 11 p.m. Sept. 12 — Newburg Fire Hall, Altoona

7 to 10 p.m. Sept. 26 — Bavarian Club, Altoona