Wilson Long plugged his light blue guitar into the 5-foot-tall amp that sat in the corner of his garage. He wheeled up to his microphone, positioned at eye level. He glanced at his two fellow band members and starting singing.

Brothers Byron Long (on drums) and Wilson Long (guitar and vocals ), along with Joe Castiglioni (bass and background vocals) have been rocking out for roughly nine months. They call themselves Frantic Recovery, and they have played at restaurants such as Champs in Blacksburg and the now-closed Green Dolphin Grille in downtown Roanoke.

Getting a band off the ground is hard for anyone. However, brothers Byron and Wilson deal with an obstacle that makes reaching their goal more difficult: muscular dystrophy .

Wilson, 27, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was 9; Byron, a Hidden Valley High School student, was diagnosed at age 7.

Muscular dystrophy is an inherited disease in which the muscles that control movement progressively weaken.

There are nine major forms, which can occur anywhere from infancy to middle age or later, according to WebMD.com, a health information Web site. The various types of MD affect more than 50,000 Americans.

The disease has left the Long brothers in wheelchairs.

“When people see us, and they see that two of us are in wheelchairs, they don’t really know what to think,” Wilson Long said. “And then when they hear us play, and they see that we have real talent, they’re like 'Wow. This is going to be good.’”

Dealing with these circumstances has brought challenges that other bands don’t often face. For instance, MD makes it harder for the band to ready equipment before shows.

“Luckily, we have great family and friends that help set up at our gigs,” Byron Long said. “Without our sisters, who help set up, it’d take a lot longer.”

Once they learned how to play the drums and guitar in wheelchairs, “you’re set,” Byron said.

When Byron and Wilson were putting the band together, they said they knew their success depended on finding good band mates.

“We were looking for the right people for the band so that it would go smoothly and we could all have a good time,” Byron said .

The pair found the third band member, Castiglioni, by posting a bulletin on MySpace.com.

“My brother and I started our MySpace Web site and posted a bulletin with the subject 'We need a bassist,’” Wilson Long said. “Joe happened to see it and contacted us. He came over, and we jammed.”

By the end of the first night, the group had written bass lines to three songs. The brothers knew there was “instant clickage.”

Since then, Castiglioni said, their friendship has grown, and the three band members feel like family.

“The band is about brotherhood,” Castiglioni, 27, said. “Since Byron and Wilson are brothers, it may seem like I am somewhat of an outcast. But that’s not how it is at all. I fit in. I feel like I’m part of the family. I call Byron and Wilson’s mom 'Mom,’ too. We’re all really close.”

Frantic Recovery plays a unique type of rock music, band members said. From the Beach Boys to the Dave Matthews Band to Nirvana, each member of Frantic Recovery has different musical influences. Because of those varying interests, Frantic Recovery creates a foot-thumping rock sound that makes many concertgoers sing along.

Byron came up with what he calls a unique and well-fitting name for the band.

“I made it up randomly,” he said. “I just said the two words out of the blue, and my brother was like, 'Hey, that should be the name of the band!’ Plus, after we came up with the name, it kind of made sense. With my brother and I having MD, we need to make a frantic recovery.”

So far, Frantic Recovery has written 21 songs in the nine months they have been together. Their first demo is called “Two Wheelchairs and a Microphone.”

When it comes to the creative process, Wilson said he’s usually the one who comes up with the main ideas and lyrics for songs based on life experiences. After he arranges the chord progressions, Byron and Castiglioni then “make it better,” Wilson Long said.

“Joe brings the melody out with his creative bass lines, and Byron brings the intensity of it to a new height with his powerful drum beats,” Wilson Long said. “I mean, sometimes, I will have written the music a completely different way, and they come up with a better way to play it. We all kind of work like that.”

Although they are still a new band, the members of Frantic Recovery think they have a loyal fan base. Green and black T-shirts with the band’s wheelchair-like logo can be seen around the Roanoke Valley. The band members said that’s the best publicity.

“The best way we can get our name around is word of mouth,” Castiglioni said.

Byron added that the band has gained fans through MySpace, performances and friends who spread the word. In an attempt to get off the ground and make a name for itself, the band plans to record another demo in October.