And The Band Played On

As we got to know Jeff better, we felt he was a great "fit" in our little band. Despite the differences in our musical appreciations, the diversity of styles that Jeff brought to the trio was essential to creating the expressive tension that I believe to be the main requirement for good composition.

Jeff and I rehearsed more frequently in the beginning as we were both very dynamic songwriters. Not that our songs were dynamic necessarily, just that we were active in the process of songwriting. It was great to have another writer to work with though there were challenges in finding our way to communicate our ideas. There were many times that I know I was a real shithead. I admit that my ego got in the way on more than one occasion and it's hard telling how many good ideas were lost in the pissing match. This is something I regret and find no pride in to this day. (Jeff, I am sorry for that.)

Through the summer, we wrestled through the process of gaining familiarity with each other, finding ways to goof off together, and preparing for a recording session we were playing in October 1978. Since Todd and I had already ventured into the studio, we were considered the veterans (in our minds, at least) and we wanted to make certain to avoid some of the mistakes we felt were made in previous outings. We had developed a playlist of about 10 songs but were mainly focused on refining 2 songs for our new demo.

We had also begun to prep for possible gigs and made a checklist for our demo distribution, once complete.

- more to come -

New Blood

After a short time, I approached Jeff with the idea of rehearsing with Todd and I. The first couple of sessions were a mixture of nerves and excitement. It had been a while since we had a bass player to rehearse with and I was really enjoying the playing freedom it afforded me.

Jeff was a big Beatles fan and knew just about everything the Beatles ever recorded. Todd and I weren't really fans but welcomed the influence it would have on what we had been writing and rehearsing. I was wearing out the grooves of my Rush - All The Worlds A Stage LP and loaned it to Jeff. The difference between Paul McCartney and Geddy Lee is pretty dramatic as their music covers a totally different spectrum.

We continued to play together for a couple more months and soon we decided to take some new songs into the studio at Bob Goodsite's once again. Basically, we reworked an earlier song I wrote, "Stand Up", and wrote a new song called, "You Come Crawlin' Back". Todd had written the lyrics and Jeff and I thrashed out the music.

More about this........