Phoenix Teen Born Without an Arm to Debut Band at Tempe's Yucca Tap Room

Marcus Klepacki was born without a right arm and without a thumb on his left hand, but the 19-year-old Phoenix musician has been playing an acoustic drum kit since around age 10, and on Sunday, Sept. 6, he'll make his public debut with his new band, Third Man Factor, at Tempe's Yucca Tap Room. The show caps a childhood marked by serious medical challenges, including a scoliosis diagnosis at age 3 and years of chemotherapy for leukemia, and a musical journey that runs through one of the Valley's best-known nonprofits and a university program that brought his bandmates together.

Klepacki's path to the kit started at Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Centers, the nonprofit founded by Alice Cooper and Chuck Savale in 1995 that offers free music, art, and vocational instruction to youth ages 12 to 20, according to the City of Goodyear. As reported by the Phoenix New Times, the Solid Rock Teen Center is where Klepacki was taught to play drums using one arm, and where he also played guitar, including a slide-guitar style, at an open mic. His drum instructor there, Mark Savale, who serves as regional director of the Solid Rock Teen Centers, told the paper that Klepacki is a good drummer, period, not merely good for having one arm.

A Childhood Shaped by Medical Battles

Long before he picked up drumsticks, Klepacki was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 3 and wore a back brace from kindergarten until just before high school, according to the same account. He also underwent chemotherapy for leukemia for three and a half years starting at age 7. In 2021, Dr. Greg White, head of pediatric spinal surgery at Phoenix Children's Hospital and director of its Center for Spine Care, performed Klepacki's scoliosis surgery. His parents, Alex and Melissa Klepacki, raised him with typical childhood activities throughout.

White's connection to Klepacki extends beyond the operating room: the surgeon also plays bass in the cover band Central Line, and in 2024, Klepacki and a former band opened for that group at Copper Blues Live in Desert Ridge, a high-capacity rock venue and pub that has hosted regional acts since 2010. Klepacki's musical education also included marching band and concert band at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, which offers fine arts pathways through its North Valley Arts Academies.

Mastering the Purdie Shuffle With One Arm

At Solid Rock, Klepacki learned to play the Purdie Shuffle, the complex half-time syncopated rhythm created by session drumming legend Bernard Purdie that layers triplet hi-hat beats and quiet snare ghost notes over a beat-three backbeat inspired by the sound of a slowing train, per the Phoenix New Times' reporting. Unlike Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, who lost his left arm in a 1984 car crash and adapted by using a customized kit with electronic triggers and foot pedals, Klepacki plays an entirely acoustic setup using his own specialized technique. His drum heroes include Neil Peart, John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Buddy Rich, and Meg White, and his favorite band is the White Stripes. A video of Klepacki playing guitar that he posted to Instagram has received over 100,000 likes.

Klepacki has performed about half a dozen times at Alice Cooper charity events, giving him stage experience well before Third Man Factor came together. Savale, who has watched Klepacki's progress closely, said he believes the young drummer will find a way to succeed if he wants to.

Third Man Factor's Path to Yucca Tap Room

Third Man Factor's members met mostly through Arizona State University's Bachelor of Arts in Popular Music program, housed at the university's Downtown Phoenix campus within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The band includes Klepacki on drums, Fletcher Placko on vocals, Chris Sanchez and Ben Pakula on guitars, and Noah Paz on bass. Placko and Sanchez are both from Tempe, Paz is also from Tempe, and Pakula is from Scottsdale. The band describes its sound as influenced by 1990s alternative and grunge acts, and its members aspire to become famous rock stars who fill arenas.

The band landed its Yucca Tap Room slot after the mother of The Black Hole's frontman saw Klepacki perform, according to the Phoenix New Times' account. Yucca Tap Room, originally opened as Frank's Yucca Lounge in the 1960s and renamed by Peter Hu in 1972, stands as Tempe's oldest operating live music venue and a longtime hub for East Valley rock and punk acts, per the Phoenix New Times. Third Man Factor will take the stage at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6, on a bill that also includes The Black Hole as headliner, along with Band of Fools, the Hard Bop Group, Just About Halfway, and Rino.

What Comes Next

Placko has said Klepacki is fun to be around and a good collaborator, a sentiment that speaks to how the band came together within ASU's tight-knit music program. Looking ahead, Klepacki plans to pursue a music career through producing or session work, though how Third Man Factor intends to grow beyond Tempe's dive-bar circuit remains an open question. The band's Sunday debut places it within a Tempe scene that has historically produced nationally recognized acts including the Gin Blossoms, Meat Puppets, and The Refreshments, giving Third Man Factor a storied backdrop as it steps onto the Yucca Tap Room stage for the first time.