People of Pantex: Geoff Cormier
Lights erase the audience from sight. A left hand slides across the neck, fingers pinning string to fretboard. Pick between fingers and thumb, as the right hand gives the instrument voice. Geoff Cormier moves to the mic, wiping sweat from his forehead. His gruff but smooth vocals charge in on the heavy riffs crossing the bridge. The bass punches harder and the rhythm drives deeper. Snare, tom, and cymbals cascade into beautiful chaos. Cormier belts the last lyrics as the band erupts into a face-melting finale.
There wasn’t a profound moment that swayed Cormier to pick up a Fender guitar. Passion for musicianship coats his DNA. On his father’s side, almost all 10 of Cormier’s aunts and uncles play the guitar and sing. His dad was in a band in the 70s. At an early age, Cormier received his first real six string from his grandfather and joined in on family jam sessions, reinforcing his blood-tie to music and sparking an unquenchable fire for performing.
“That camaraderie you get when you’re playing with other musicians is indescribable,” Cormier said. “When I was younger, I would play with my family, then later with my friends in middle school. In high school we started a band called Dead Leg. I’ve been in bands ever since.”
After high school, a deeply patriotic Cormier enlisted in the military. The Boston native packed his bags and headed out to boot camp. He was proud to serve his country, but didn’t want to give up his love for music and performing — so he didn’t. Cormier was an airman by day, and a front man by night.
“When I was in the Air Force, I was in a heavy metal band called Winterlock,” Cormier said. “We put out two extended play recordings and were nominated for a music award. I was in the band almost the entire time I was stationed in Albuquerque. I had a lot of fun and made a lot of really good friends.”
Cormier fulfilled his commitment and left the military, bound for Pantex. His time in New Mexico helped acclimate him to the region, yet upon arriving to the Texas Panhandle, he realized he was alone and without a band. Fortunately, Pantex has a strong community of welcoming people. As for the band? Cormier found fellow rockers in Amarillo through the universal language of music.
“Our first band name was Decades Apart,” Cormier said. “All three of us members were almost 10 years apart from each other, so we thought Decades Apart was pretty fun. Then our original drummer left and the next guy we brought on wasn’t from Texas. None of us were, so we came up with the Texas Transplants. We all transplanted from somewhere else.”
Cormier proudly serves as a Program Manager for Performance Improvement and loves that he can continue serving his country in a different way. His work life and hobby have always had their differences, but there are similarities as well.
“You have to be creative to be able to play and write music,” Cormier said. “Having that creativity really helps me with that aspect of my job, of being able to think outside the box to help people.”
Cormier loves his job and doesn’t plan to leave Pantex anytime soon. His career journey to Bomb City has been a fairly straight road. His musical journey, however, has been fast and furious with a few lane changes, but on that rock n’ roll highway, he has crossed paths with some great musicians.
“Back in high school, I met Dave Matthews from the Dave Matthews Band,” Cormier said. “I was working concessions and cooked him a hot dog before they played at Foxboro Stadium. He even thanked me for it on stage that night and autographed a band photo that reads ‘To Geoff, thanks for the hot dogs!’ I also got to hang out with the band Sevendust after one of their shows because my friend in the Air Force was friends with their drummer. And I met Jerry Cantrell, the guitarist for Alice in Chains, while waiting for a cab after their show. He hung out with us until the car got there and gave me a guitar pick.”
With influence from Pink Floyd –– Cormier’s favorite band –– as well as Green Day and The Beatles, Cormier brings a unique musical perspective and sound to the Texas Transplants. The band covers hard rock songs in their genre, but their niche is playing the hits of Prince, Cash, Dylan, Skynyrd, and others but with a killer hard rock or punk twist, like Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” performed as a power ballad. The band also plays original material, offering a unique, homegrown taste that they pepper into their well-blended set list. In every song they play –– cover or original –– they work hard off stage to make sure their performances on stage are rockin’.
“We practice once a week and play at least once a month in the Amarillo area,” Cormier said. “As for set lists, it really depends on what I can do vocally. Singing is not an easy thing, especially hard rock and punk. You sing quietly and then you sing loud and you scream sometimes so I have to think about what songs I can sing so that my voice doesn’t go out. Also, we want to keep the ebb and flow of the concert interesting. If you’re just playing a bunch of fast songs in a row, everybody’s going to get bored, or if you play only slow songs, everybody’s going to leave.”
Like a carefully selected mix tape, a Texas Transplant show never drags or disappoints. Practice, practice, and more practice keep the band primed, coordinated, and electrifying. Currently, they are cutting an album, but until then, live gigs are the only way to hear them. Regardless of venue or medium, Texas Transplants, especially Cormier, plan to rock on.
“I love it,” Cormier said without hesitation. “If I could play every night, I would. It’s a passion. You can book us for a gig, but we also do a lot of charity shows to help give back to the community. A lot of times it’s a family who’s suffered a tragedy or accident and accumulated a lot of medical bills. We love being able to put on shows for them and give all the proceeds from that to help people in need. I love that about us, and I love being in the band. It’s an addiction and I can’t get enough of it.”
Watch his People of Pantex video here.