“What do you do for a living?”
This is the most likely question to be asked as part of an introduction. The financial side of one’s life, however, is rarely a representation of identity. Musician Vic Padios understands this well.
As the general counsel for Nebraska Furniture Mart for over six years, Padios handles all the company’s legal matters, including contracts, lawsuits, and management. Add a wife and five children into the mix, and Padios has his hands full with both business and personal matters. This does not stop him, however, from engaging with his passion for music.
Outside the office, Padios serves as a guitarist and vocalist for The Festertones, a band that plays mostly rock-and-roll covers in various venues throughout Omaha and Benson, including the Reverb Lounge, O’Leaver’s Pub, the Slowdown, and the Shakedown Street Tavern.
“We actually sound tested the Steelhouse before it opened,” commented Pete Festersen, drummer for the Festertones and the band’s namesake. “We played the first note in there before The Killers performed.”
The Festertones have been playing for eight years. All members have musical backgrounds, which, according to Festersen, helps the band’s cohesiveness and creativity when they can only get together sporadically. “Vic is a very accomplished musician,” he attested, “and definitely adds to the overall quality of our sound. He can pick up any song in about 15 minutes.”
“I’ve been playing music since I was a teenager,” Padios stated. “When I went to law school in 2000, it was kind of a time when I thought to myself, ‘I better grow up and get a real job,’ but music never really left me.”
Practicing once or twice a month, The Festertones play around four shows per year when they have time to get away from the hustle and bustle of corporate business life. As City Council president and the vice president of strategy and public affairs at CHI Health, Festersen also keeps a busy schedule. “It is difficult to find the time,” he lamented, “but we make it work, because we love doing it.”
The band has an extensive repertoire of covers, occasionally playing original music as well. “We play stuff from the ’60’s through ’90’s–as long as it’s rock, we play it,” Padios said.
Padios remembers when, back in 2017, the band did a tribute to a late artist. “About the time Tom Petty died, we decided to get together and play a whole set of Tom Petty covers,” he recalled. “We just enjoy playing music together; we’re pretty versatile.”
For Padios, music is a liberating hobby.
“It’s just a great outlet for creativity and stress relief,” Padios said. “It’s an opportunity to do something really different than what I do in my day-to-day work. People like to see other people for only their jobs, but people are so much more unique and multi-faceted than that.”
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2024 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2024 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
