Greg Ring, Rick Barnhart, Matt Piatt, Don Staats and Susan Owens are members of Insured Sound, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the Artsbridge Music in the Park on June 5. (Photo provided by Susan Owens)

PARKERSBURG — Local band Insured Sound is celebrating 50 years of nonstop performances since the 70s.

To celebrate the anniversary, Insured Sound will perform at Artsbridge Music in the Park, at City Park in Parkersburg from 7-9 p.m. June 5.

Established by the band’s first drummer, Dave Piatt in 1975, Insured Sound has 50 years of musical history with performances across Ohio and West Virginia.

The band has changed over the years. The current band members all joined in 1998 except for Matt Piatt, who took over drums in 2006 after the passing of his father, Dave.

The band includes Greg Ring on keyboard, sax and flute; Susan Owens as the lead vocalist; Rick Barnhart on bass; Don Staats as the lead guitarist; and Piatt on drums.

Rick Barnhart playing the bass guitar alongside lead vocalist Susan Owens. Barnhart is from Mineral Wells and has been with the band since the 90s. (Photo courtesy of insuredsound.com)

Staats joined Insured Sound in the 70s before leaving and returning in the early 90s to continue touring with the group.

Aside from Piatt who works full-time as the director of inventory for CWS Office Solutions, all members are enjoying their retirement by devoting their time to performing and touring on weekends.

Owens is the first and only female band member who was invited by Dave Piatt to join as the lead vocalist. Owens has been part of the band for 27 years and is excited to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary in June.

“It’s all very exciting and they’re such great guys. We all love music and I have sang since I was probably about 5-years-old,” said Owens. “It’s fun for us when we see people having fun and dancing and we just love music.”

Owens said the band enjoys playing all genres of music including The Beatles, The Eagles and Motown. While they may all have favorites of their own, she personally enjoys performing at dance clubs where everyone is dressed in ball gown attire.

Susan Owens, Insured Sound’s first and only female member, singing live for an audience. Owens has been with the band for 27 years and said she loves music and performing live. (Photo courtesy of insuredsound.com)

“We’ve all been together for a long time and we play cover tunes and anything from the 50s to current music,” said Owens. “We do a little bit of everything.”

Insured Sound has continuously performed since 1975 with performances from southeast Ohio to Charleston. The band tours year-round and performs mostly on Fridays and Saturdays at various venues and events where they have received an invitation. Insured Sound plays at fraternal organizations, festivals, formal dance clubs and events like Artsbridge in Parkersburg. The tour schedule with locations and dates can be found on its website insuredsound.com.

“We’re going to be performing a lot of different songs,” said Owens, talking about the upcoming performance at Artsbridge. “There’ll be a song from every genre for every age and that’s the fun thing about the band.”

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com