Four shows after joining regional rock band Fools & Horses, Steve Herrera stood onstage with his bandmates as the opening act for Bon Jovi at the Verizon Center, then known as the MCI Center, in D.C.

What?s especially compelling about that vignette is that Herrera joined the band in 2006 almost by chance after reading a call for musicians tacked to a bulletin board in Baltimore. A band name was not listed.