Back in 6th grade when cars were big and gas was cheap; and wooden paddles were daily curriculum used by middle school teachers, I entered the Mosby Middle School band room with trumpet case in hand. Mr. Peyton, the band teacher made it clear that my reading of music and the sounds flowing from this brass beast were sub-standard. So he sent me to the back of the room into the Baritone section-exact same results, but from a bigger horn. Then he moved me to the percussion section (a vintage Ludwig snare drum i recall) and let me play about every fourth note. Thank goodness for report cards back in the day made out of white index paper and pen. I think four times that year I changed Mr. Peyton's D- to a B- before arriving home.
I friended Mike Gallagher in that band room and we formed our first band. The band was so short lived (2 weekends) we didn't come up with a name, but I know our first song, an instrumental was called "unicef". It consisted of Mike on the drums, me on the Baritone, and Mark Garmon on an electric youth organ. It should be stated that I wanted to play drums in that band but Mike beat me out for that position. Can you believe that? I mean have you ever heard him play?
Musical talents and band aspirations now took a backseat to focus on career. I'm on the fast track: From slinging hash at O'tooles restaurant for 2.35 an hour and stemming a Schwinn 5 speed Orange Krate bike, I've moved on to Roy Rogers flipping burgers for 3.05, a learner's license and a '67 Ford Fairlane. Junior and Senior year's at Tucker High found me employed by the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea company (A&P grocery store) at 8.65 per hour. Times are good and gas is at .65 a gallon. Cashflow allows purchases of a 1973 Olds 442, some cool clothing, and some part time beer consumption monies for high school parties. My older sister has a cool boyfriend, Steve LaPrade, and we've inked a deal for me to procure his double bass set of Ludwig drums on the e-z payment plan. Me and Jim Gibbs aka the "Gipper" on lead guitar and a rotation of lead vocal folks are booking weekend gigs (high school parties). The Gipper joins the Navy and my drumming is now confined to indoors with a Marantz receiver, a BSR turntable, and some Klipsch speakers. Boz Scaggs Silk Degree's ALBUM is what I cut my teeth on, some Boston, and Molly Hatchet. Man, no remote control back then.....lower the turntable needle and haul tail to behind the kit before the song started! Pops, skips, scratches, white noise....I miss those sounds.
2002 I cross paths with the Brockwell brothers. We knock off the dust on a blue set of Pearl drums in my basement, Big Al (Bruce) shows off his recent ebay acquisition of a yellow telecaster (i love that guitar) and Barry with an acoustic. Four hours and 2 twelve packs of Bud later, we pulled off some Petty, Marshall Tucker, Free and others. This gathering generated many "what if scenarios", people were kind with their comments (liars) and my cat did return back home after about 3 days. Barry steps up and purchases a Gold Top Les Paul and Marshall amp; we.... well actually, he spent a lot of money that day on equipment, cold beverages, and chicken wings in no particular order under my advisement. Session # 2 commences and Olde Yeller (Bruce's Tele) takes a dive after several songs and several beverages. We perform surgery with some solder and are somewhat back in action. We contemplate opening a guitar repair shop; but then decide a band is the way to go. We do a Halloween party, then a backyard, then some pools. The big break occurs when we play our first bar, Easy Street in 2007. We were all nervous on that first night in public, but it was a decent show with lots of fan support. Well, there was that one mishap when Barry’s guitar made no sound beginning the second set, but it worked great when he plugged the cord in. Told ya we were nervous! Nichol comes on board and we quickly figured out that if the guitars and drums can even come remotely close to her talent, we might just be on to something. Nichol really can belt out the vocals. I tell folks she would be top 5 in American Idol and after they've seen her, they agree. Bass players are interesting components of a band. Recently, we have found a real fit with Tommy Edwards, a lifelong friend of mine. Tommy is easy-going, solid, and dependable. He is GAS certified (see his bio) which we have an appreciation and understanding for this psychological disorder.
If you enjoy being entertained by bands come see us! The mix is outrageous from LADY GAGA to LED ZEPPELIN to TOAD WET SPROCKET to SUGARLAND! we bring the VOCALS, we bring the SOUND, we bring the LIGHTSHOW. Now you just bring yo A_ _............whoops gotta go! Thanks for reading, see ya at the show!