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Bailey’s R&B record raises $4,000 for Haiti relief

From Elon University

For as long as Gary Bailey, MSW ’84, can remember, music has played an integral role in his life. Infused with passion for soul music from an early age, Bailey, a counselor in the R.N. Ellington Health & Counseling Center at Elon University, and his brothers, Montie, Velmar and Tony, grew up listening, singing and playing rhythm and blues.

Their passion for music was such that in the 1970s the brothers began performing and recording with some friends and became a band known as Brief Encounter.

The band released two albums and eight singles during its heyday, but despite relative success, it disbanded in 1983 when the members decided to pursue other career paths. The brothers went their separate ways too. Gary Bailey attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and eventually opened a private practice.

For nearly 30 years, the band remained a memory for Bailey. Then, one day, he received a phone call from one of his brothers. Full story