About Time

What personal website would be complete without some boring, self serving biography which at this point will only show that my memory didn't completely go with my hair!! Here's mine - focusing primarily on my ongoing 35+ year music career... I'll try to keep things chronological but I'm sure I'll be jumping around a bit... like now...

Who am I?? Well... nobody really... I am a professional musician (drummer primarily) and Micro Computer Specialist / Network Manager / Web Master for a local school district. I used to work under the umbrella of MIDI-Evil Music which came out of a conversation with some fellow musicians back in the mid 80's - just as M.I.D.I. (pronounced MID-ee) was gaining popularity. For the uninitiated, M.I.D.I. stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface - it's the way computers communicate with electronic musical instruments like drum machines, samplers, keyboard synthesizers, sound modules, light controllers, etc. When MIDI was first introduced back in the early '80's, many musicians were outraged. They were sure that MIDI was going to put live musicians out of work - the same way they thought drum machines were going to put drummers out of work (if you hear a 'band' without a live drummer, it's painfully obvious and even worse when a non-drummer is doing the drum sequencing - the computer term for recording a drum or any other instrumental track via MIDI but more on that later). During this one particular debate about musicians being replaced by machines I said that I thought that it was going to be good for musicians - a useful tool - 'MIDI is not evil'!! MIDI... evil... MIDI-Evil!!! I thought it was an interesting twist of words so I adopted it for myself.

I guess I must have believed some of the 'putting musicians out of work' hype though because I went right out and bought a drum machine and a MIDI interface. I had only been in the music business a few years and wasn't ready to get out just yet so I decided to learn as much as I could about how it all worked. Besides, someone would have to show the 'technologically challenged' people how to use the stuff and it might as well be me.

Sequencing... without starting an 'Introduction To MIDI' course... The term sequencing, I believe, comes from the way that MIDI tracks are recorded. I learned MIDI sequencing on Dr. T's Sequencing Software courtesy of Matt Donnelly (a friend, keyboardist, drum corps alum and now school Superintendent - who says musicians never grow up and even if you're not playing, if you haven't sold all your gear you're still a musician). Anyway, I began sequencing with Dr. T's software on a Commodore 64 computer (MIDI does not require a lot of computer horsepower). Dr. T would record the notes as you played them on a drum machine or MIDI capable piano keyboard and then you could go back afterwards, add other tracks (just like a multi-track tape or digital recorder) and view the recorded data and make corrections or whatever. This data was nothing more than a sequence of note events indicating what note was played, when, how hard it was hit and how long it was held down as well as other information like instrument volume, pedal information, pitch bend and on and on and on... There was a separate track for each instrument you were recording and a separate line for every event in the sequence for every track and you had to scroll through thousands of lines of events just to find whatever particular event you might be looking for. The note information is still recorded in much the same way today but the software interface is much more user friendly so you never actually have to edit the raw note data directly.

I use MIDI to this day - it enables me to do drum tracks for various studios without ever leaving my home! And in retrospect I guess it did put some musicians out of work... My friend Matt who I mentioned earlier, along with Mark Caruso and I were in a band together called 'The Upstarts' from 1993 - 1999. The band had live keyboards, guitars, drums and vocals but used a laptop to run sequencing software that played the bass guitar parts as well as run a custom designed light show (so I guess we put 2 people out of work if you count the light man). It was a one time experiment (to cover another double booked band's gig in an emergency) that ended up working non-stop for 6 years.

I was born in Glens Falls Hospital, yada, yada, yada... grew up in Lake George, NY with my parents Elaine (originally from Chestertown) and Lewis (originally from Greenwich) and brother Larry - a former trumpeter and now accomplished bagpiper. Let's stop right here for a minute since you're probably dying to ask where my other brother Daryl is - I haven't heard that in at least... 10 minutes!! Oddly enough, I DO have a sister Cheryl (Larry, Daryl and Cheryl... boy will we be glad when the Bob Newhart show fades from memory)...

I began bangin' on stuff longer ago than I can remember - I started playing drums at about age 8 and taking lessons in school at age 10. My first teacher was my father Lewis - he and my Mom Elaine bought me my first drum when I was all of 7 or 8 (see picture at right - note the 'Buddy Rich' left handed grip). Both of my parents had a musical background - Dad played drums and piano and Mom played guitar and sang... and played bass drum in the Chestertown High School Marching Band. During one particular parade the band was at the top of the hill in the middle of town when the straps on the drum broke and sent it tumbling down the hill and her chasing after it!!

My first real drum teacher was Mr. Don Siano (who was also the high school chorus teacher) at Lake George Elementary School when I was in the 5th grade, followed by Mr. Hirum Bevins in 6th grade who also served as jr. and sr. high school band director where I started playing in the 7th grade. They shaped me through my early stages, taught me to read music... and my Dad exposed me to all of the great big bands so I was a huge jazz fan while I was in school. Then in my senior year at Lake George Mr. Ray Durkee became band director and taught me a lot about professionalism, respect and showmanship and took the band program - concert, jazz and marching - to a level never seen at the school - before or since.

The bands began taking part in several high profile parades / competitions and other events including the ground breaking for Olympic Stadium in Lake Placid and were making plans to participate in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC!! Mr. Durkee (a Lake George alum) had visions of greatness for the Lake George music program and was (I believe) promptly run out of town by the school.

Mr. Durkee landed in Florida where he had numerous state champions in all categories of music and also ran an incredibly successful arts and theatre program. In 2010 he returned to the area and took over the Lake George Community Band. I graduated in 1978 - majoring in mathematics and business, the recipient of the John Phillips Sousa award and named to the 1978 edition of Who's Who In American Music - many thanks to Mr. Durkee, Mr. Bevins, Mr. Siano and of course my parents.


The Sentinels Fife & Drum Corp in 1976 (that's me drumming back right)	'Cabaret Night' 1978 (Mr. Durkee's stage or jazz band didn't perform 2 or 3 numbers as part of the Spring Concert but rather performed a full evening's worth of entertainment which included vocalists and dancers backed by the band, with waiters, waitresses and refreshments!!)

Mr. Siano and I would reunite in 1975 (I was 15) when he and drama club director (and social studies teacher) Mr. Michael 'Mickey' Luce asked me to play the drums in the pit band for the Sr. class production of 'Anything Goes'. It sounded good to me and I did 3 more Sr. plays... 'Finian's Rainbow'... 'South Pacific'... and my own Sr. class production of 'Annie Get Your Gun'. They added a special percussion feature during the Indian ceremony at the end of the first act for me to 'cut loose' a little which required me to appear on stage and in costume (the first and last times I've ever 'acted')!!

In addition to Mr. Siano and Mr. Luce I had the chance to work with two excellent pianists in the 'pit' - Ms. Margaret Leonard and Mrs. Fay Robinson. Ms. Leonard was responsible for me landing my first professional gig, also in 1975 (the same year I was introduced to drum & bugle corps but I'll come back to that), in the pit orchestra of a summer stock production of 'The Man of LaMancha' at the Towers Hall Playhouse in Lake George, NY working for the late Mr. David Eastwood. The show ran 6 nights a week for 3 weeks plus weeks of daily rehearsals for which I was paid the grand total of... $50... HOORAAAAAYYYY!!! I WAS 15 YEARS OLD AND I WAS A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN!!!!

Towers Hall closed after that season... Mr. Eastwood moved his company to the Holiday Inn where it became the Lake George Dinner Theatre which still runs today and I continued to play in the orchestra whenever they did a musical. The last production I did there was 'I Do, I Do' in the spring of 1978 and the bass player was Jamie Dier who also played upright bass with 'The Dixie Daddy's Dandies of Jazz'.

'The Dixie Daddies' were a local Dixieland band lead by the original 'Dixie Daddy' - drummer, Mr. Larry Johnston who was also the head of the Audio / Video department at LG school (and drum corps alum). I was a big fan of the group and had the good fortune to see Mr. Johnston play with the band numerous times on the steamboat Minne-Ha-Ha from the time I was about 13 and he would always ask how old I was - anxious to get me in the musician's local and get me playing. Unfortunately he passed away my senior year at LG... I remember we were at an away football game in Fort Ann, NY and he was going to video tape Mr. Durkee's newly revamped marching band's halftime show when he suffered a heart attack...

At my last high school concert I was approached by Mr. Mike Stone, head of the music department at a Adirondack Community College who asked if I'd be interested in playing with his concert band, doing some teaching and starting a Percussion Ensemble program. I jumped at the opportunity and soon found myself in the Musician's Local and performing with the college's concert band as well as the union's wind ensemble (a small concert band), marching band (maybe 2 parades in 5 years), the summer concert and big bands (2 concerts every week, all summer, no rehearsals - all sight reading) and the local symphony orchestra - all comprised primarily of local music teachers. The whole experience served to sharpen my musical reading skills as well as my writing and arranging. My association with Mike Stone lead to the forming of 'The Carbon-Based Units' - a jazz / fusion quartet featuring Mike on keyboards, Frank Conti on sax, Jack Wilcox on bass and myself on drums. The group became a quintet for a short time - adding Mark Caruso on guitar who I would later work with in 'The Upstarts'. One of Mike's other projects was an original off-Broadway contemporary musical called 'The Lucky Ones' which had a large pit orchestra of which I was glad to be a part even though the show's run was brief...

I stayed on with Mr. Durkee at LGHS as a drum line instructor for his marching band until he was sent packing by the school (about 1980). His successor asked me not to work with the kids anymore - he 'didn't want them learning from two different sources'. Now the school band is an annual 'no show' for the town's Memorial Day Parade...

I went on to write and/or teach several area Junior and Senior drum & bugle corps as well as high school drum lines at Gloversville (who went on to win a state championship), Schalmont, Ballston Spa, Warrensburg, Salem, Broadalbin, Cambridge, Greenwich, Whitehall and Amsterdam just to name a few.

The Dixie Daddies Dandies of Jazz... I was sitting at home having supper one November night in 1978 (5 months after graduating high school) and the phone rings and it's Jamie from the 'Dixie Daddy's'. It seems the drummer who had replaced Mr. Johnston had skipped town without a word and the band was on their way to a major gig at a convention in Albany and desperately needed a drummer - 'was I interested?' WAS I EVER!!! I remember setting up for the gig and watching the other guys in the band (most of whom were at least in their 50's) giving Jamie an earful for bringing 'this kid'!!

...they offered me the gig full time after the first song!!!

The band was a fixture in Lake George, playing on the paddle wheel steamboat Minne-Ha-Ha. By the time I joined they had moved across the street from the boat into the Steamboat Wharf - an old D&H rail station turned night club and decorated to look and feel like a New Orleans hot spot. It was a great time - especially during the summer when it was hot and sticky, the place would be packed, people dancing and screaming and weaving conga lines of dancers with umbrellas (ala New Orleans) between tables and inside and out and back...

I played with them until right before the summer of '81 when the boss at the boat company (who was fond of a local Italian singer he wanted performing in 'the Wharf') offered the Dixie band a gig back on a boat - 2 hours less per night plus it was an early night and the same money that they were making for 4 hours in the club. The only condition... they had to use his friend on drums who was the drummer in the band already on the boat and being bounced to make room for the Dixie band (who was being bounced from the club to make room for the Italian singer). The guys felt horrible but I told them there was no point in ALL of us being out of work so I wished them well and I was out of my first band...

While with the Dixie band, the bass player and I would regularly visit a local hangout called Bud's Day and Night Club which hosted weekly jam sessions. All the local musicians would turn out at one point or another and it didn't take long to figure out who was who in this area. One of the more sought after was a keyboardist named Matt Donnelly and around 1981 he formed 'Phoenix' - a top 40 dance group where I also met Don Young (bass and vocals) (who'd have guessed that we'd all work together again in different bands years down the road). While we didn't realize it at the time, 'Phoenix' was the prototype for what 10 years later would be the very successful wedding and party band 'Direct Drive' and included two future members in Matt and Marc Pratt (sax and vocals) who incidentally was the fill-in 'reed man' with the Dixie band that fateful night back in '78.

During a 13 week run at a local Sheraton with 'Phoenix', where we were entertaining some locals but mostly ski tours, I became very sick - weak to the point where the other band members had to carry me to and from the drums between sets. After the last night of the run I got about 4 hours sleep then had to setup and play a Stravinsky concert the next day - 'The Story of the Soldier'. This is a classical piece for small ensemble with some amazing time signature work (practically no two measures the same). I got through the concert, came home, passed out and found myself in the ER. A few days later Matt was elected to call and tell me that 'due to my failing health and I really didn't hit hard enough the band had decided to let me go'.

Over the next few years I continued working with various theatre groups and bands throughout the Northeast, traveling and performing at a multitude of venues both large and small - festivals, civic centers, casinos, concert halls, etc... joining or filling in with various musical groups and styles including, 'The Kosek Brothers New Yorkers Orchestra' (Polish); 'Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys' (about 1982 - jazz / swing / rock, rhythm & blues - picture at left); 'The Profs of Note' and 'The Capitals' (big band); 'The Fabulous Armadillos' (country / Texas swing); 'Juice & the Jive Tones' and 'Swing Fever' (Manhattan Transfer clones with some Asleep At the Wheel, Michael Franks, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, etc. thrown in); 'The Carbon-Based Units' (jazz/fusion); 'The High Rock Drifters' (country/Cajun); 'Native Son' - an odd mixture of folk and rock which included one of my best friends from school, Gary Moon with whom, I'm happy to say, in 2005, I recorded drum tracks for his long overdue CD and in 2007 laid down the tracks for his follow up CD; 'Aged In the Hills' (roots based country, rock, Cajun and more) - click here for some video clips); 'Standing Room Only' (classic rock / wedding and corporate party band); 'Lois & the Kryptonites' (classic and current rock and dance); 'Area Code 518' (classic, old style country with a little of today's country thrown in); 'Doc Orlof's Blues Elixer' (blues), 'Clean Street' (classic rock, blues and R&B) and the list goes on and on and on...

Click here to check out some audio samples!!

In 1985 I met another of my now best friends, Danny Lombardo, when I auditioned and joined 'The Main Event' - the house band at his club The Tropicana. It was a great situation... the band worked 2 or 3 nights a week year round - 6 or 7 nights during the summer and only moved equipment once or twice a year to take a vacation or play a rare offsite wedding or party. This also provided a permanent rehearsal setup which enabled the group to add 3 - 5 songs every week!!

Pictured is the original line up with (from left to right) Danny Lombardo - keyboards, bass, vocals and club owner; myself - drums, vocals and keyboards; Gerry LaVene - guitars and vocals with whom I recorded an album of all original jazz tunes called 'Beam Up' (Gerry passed away at 59 on 9/3/08 - see below) and seated is Debbie Burke - vocalist.

I played with two incarnations after this one which included Jeannie Blake on vocals and the second with Nadine Toma on vocals and John Eisenhart on guitar, keyboards and vocals.

I left the group after about 3 years - frustrated with the musical quality and performance consistency of the group. Looking back I can now appreciate how difficult it was for Dan to 'be the clown' when he had to 'run the circus' too.

I returned a year or so later to help Dan make the leap into MIDI technology... he replaced his drummer with a machine but didn't just play over a pattern or two like many others with drum machines but rather we were programming legitimate drum tracks.

Today he is the 'house band' on the cruise ship Lac Du St. Sacrament on Lake George and has a top notch setup (actually two identical setups in case he has to play a club at night) utilizing the latest in MIDI, sampling, vocal enhancement, sequencing and Bose PA gear all run from a laptop computer.

PLATTSBURGH -- Gerald "Jerry" F. Lavene, 59, of Pine Street, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, at the CVPH Medical Center.
He was born in Plattsburgh, the son of Lawrence and Dorothy (Smart) Lavene.
Jerry graduated from Plattsburgh High School in 1967. He attended Berkley School of Music, in Boston, for two years, where he became an accomplished classical/jazz guitarist. He went on to play with such noted artists as Louis Armstrong, Tal Farlow, George Benson, Tony Orlando, Mary McPartland, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as well as several other New York and Vermont artists. In the local area, he played at Brodies, Dominics, 13 Morgans, Cadilac Club, Red Fox Inn, Tijauna Jail, Iris', PAFB NCO and Officer's Clubs, Lake Placid Inn, Stonehelm, Howard Johnsons, Holiday Inn, Chowbella's, Ruth Cliff, Giovani's, Tail O the Pup, Monopole, Upper Deck Restaurant, White Face Inn, Hawkins Hall, Kent Delord House, as well as weddings, the Vermont Jazz Festival and many others. Jerry's life was music, and he looked forward to every new "gig" and the people that he played with.

In 1988 I received a call to sub in a fairly new band, an unnamed trio where I met two excellent musicians who became very good friends - Ray Blackwater (guitar and vocals) and Tom Sullivan (bass guitar and vocals). Tom was coming off the Atlantic City casino lounge and New Jersey wedding / party circuit with the top notch 'Rich Kelly & Friendship' while Ray had traveled up and down the east coast with his own group 'Blackwater' - both were settling down in the area, coincidentally in Mechanicville, NY.

The band was raw to say the least with only three instruments, decent harmonies... a mix of southern rock, oldies, traditional country and originals... but it was Ray's huge, powerful voice that carried the group!! Be sure to check the Audio Visions page for some samples!!

I left the group in early 1990... I had experimented with MIDI with 'Voyager' to try to augment the live instruments but wasn't happy with the results or the sort of venues we were playing... I was looking for something more and decided to look elsewhere and take some time off from live playing.

I had been on the instructional staff with the Vagabonds Sr. Drum & Bugle Corps up until the corps disbanded in the mid '80's and now the Capital Brass Sr. Drum & Bugle Corps out of Albany was looking for help. I decided to focus on the corps for a while - not playing during the summer would allow me to travel to competitions with them which would hopefully help the corps' scores improve... I stayed with the corps until they folded after the 1993 season and their only Finals appearance at the DCA World Championships... Swing by my About Face page for more on my passion for drum & bugle corps...

'Swing Fever'...

I have always been a huge fan of 'The Manhattan Transfer' - their music and incredible 4 part harmonies consistently blow me away.

In the late 80's some friends and fellow musicians thought it would be great to put together a band that could actually perform some of the Transfer's music as well as 'Dan Hick & His Hot Licks', 'Asleep At the Wheel', 'Swing' and our own renditions of various big band tunes.

Gus Russo (now nationally recognized authority on the Kennedy assassination) - guitar and vocals was the leader - just prior to 'Swing Fever' he had been a member of a similar band called 'Swing Shift' (I joined him in a second incarnation called 'Juice & the Jive Tones'). I had met Gus while recording radio jingles and some of his originals... The rest of 'Swing Fever' was comprised of Michael Dimin - bass guitar (now a prominent bass clinician and performer www.michaeldimin.com), Dr. Anthony Holland - vocals, keyboards, woodwinds (head of the Skidmore College Music Department in Saratoga Springs, NY), Marilyn Beuhler - vocals and keyboards (fresh from the Manhattan Light Opera Company and studying with world renowned Richard Fredericks and 'the Jive Tones'), Val Lord - vocals, keyboards, woodwinds and violin (a music educator at Ballston Spa High School in Ballston Spa, NY and highly sought after theatrical accompanist) and myself on drums and vocals.

We rehearsed for a solid year before playing our first gig - 8 months of nothing but vocal rehearsals, then 3 months of instrumental practice followed by a full month with everything. The vocals were key and Val, Marilyn and Tony could all sight sing and could put together 3 or 4 new songs every night!! Gus on the other hand had to learn his harmonies the old fashioned way - BY EAR and could only learn one song every 3 or 4 weeks!!!

We played our first gig - a benefit with 3 opening acts before our much heralded debut... rehearsed for another month then set out on a busy June, July and August performance schedule. Unfortunately about mid July Gus started developing vocal and throat problems forcing the band to rearrange the vocals on the fly or in the parking lot right before gigs would begin. Consequently the band disbanded at the end of August after barely 3 months of performing.

Be sure to click here for some sound bites!!

I actually had the great good fortune to meet and talk to the members of 'The Manhattan Transfer' on a number of occasions when they performed in the area. Tim Hauser, one of the male leads, is originally from Wynantskill, NY.

From October 1993 to December 1999 I played with probably the finest project I've been involved with to date - 'The Upstarts' - a contemporary top 40 dance trio. The group began as an experiment to cover for another band who had double booked themselves. It went so well that we talked about trying it out long term - the idea being to have a band with few enough pieces (3) as to provide ample income for the players while still being able to compete entertainment and price-wise with the disc jockey's who were landing the majority of wedding and corporate party gigs at the time. To accomplish this we went without a bass player, instead opting to use MIDI. The result consisted of Matt Donnelly on keyboards and vocals, Mark Caruso on guitar and vocals and myself on drums and vocals. The bass parts (and occasionally some Latin percussion) were 'sequenced' (recorded via MIDI) ahead of time by Matt or myself then played back via laptop computer during the performance. The sequences also ran a custom designed light show which illuminated each player as he would sing or solo as well as adding appropriate, rhythmic, colorful backdrops for each song.

The group had all the work they could have wanted - usually booked at least a year and a half in advance but at the end of 1999 the group decided to call it quits and move on...

Click here to hear how much sound 3 guys can put out!!

I was probably at a playing peak (physically and mentally) while with the 'Upstarts' and made some excellent contacts during that time - filling in with some well known acts at some large venues - they were experiences I will never forget!!

In October of 1998 I took a full time position with Computer Image, a retail computer networking, sales and support shop in South Glens Falls... I went in as the Service Expeditor - overseeing the repair shop but worked my way up the ladder very quickly to where my job included sales, inventory, designing custom built systems, building systems, etc... eventually becoming #2 person in house - second only to the owner.

I was a little disappointed after the demise of 'the Upstarts' so once again I decided to take some musical time off to regroup. I was contemplating musical retirement after almost 25 years in the business... I finally had a solid day gig...

Then in April of 1999 came a phone call from Don Young from 'Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys' (and others - almost 20 years removed from 'Phoenix') who called looking for a drummer for a revamped Tuesday and Wednesday night house band at Ridin' Hy Ranch Resort on Sherman Lake in Warrensburg, NY. The prospective group would consist of Don on bass and vocals, George Schacher of 'Aged In the Hills' on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and vocals, Randy Rolman of numerous bands - both locally and nationally, currently with 'City Limits' (the weekend house band at Ridin' Hy) and now owner of The Legend Guitar Shop on pedal steel guitar and vocals, and myself on drums. No rehearsals - just show up and play all summer... I thought about it for a minute and decided to snag it. 2006 was my 8th and final summer with 'Red River Randy & His Saddle Sores'!!

Along about 2003 I started debating retirement again... the drums were getting kind of beat up and so was I... back... knees... and I was struggling to find something that would light that musical fire in me again - it had become just a job and I was working full time days so I felt I no longer needed to 'prostitute' myself musically.

After much deliberation (and a decent tax refund) I decided that I was either going to get out or get new gear... So I purchased a set of Sonor Force 2001!! Many thanks to Don Howland at Parkway Music for his help and guidance and rekindling that fire!! Now I just need to find a band that will do the same for me...

The ranch gig gave me the opportunity to meet and play with George Schacher of 'Aged In the Hills' whose drummer had recently lost his battle with a prolonged illness. I also met Troy and Sharon Phillips of the 'On Stage Revue' at the ranch (and through Don) and I filled in with them every Sunday and Monday the summer 2003. My association with 'Aged In the Hills' lead me to join NECMA - the Northeast Country Music Association... during the summer this organization has a lot of multiple band outings including the Saratoga County and Altamont Fairs. They also have their own awards show each March or April, usually held at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady - in 2005 the show was at the Egg in Albany, NY (I filled in with 'The Back40 Band). These performances gave me the opportunity to see many of the other bands in the organization - the most popular and impressive of which at the time was 'Railway'.

The first time I saw 'Railway' was at the 2001 Northeast Country Music Association Awards Show at the Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, NY. I was filling in with 'Aged In the Hills' in the same show but these guys were the big guns... the headliners... the ones people were waiting to see and when they hit the stage I knew why... the music and harmonies were tight and the charismatic lead singer was 'all that' and more!!

Then, I think it was later that same year, they had to replace that talented and hugely popular lead singer (John Karl - www.johnkarl.net) when he was offered a corporate sponsored mini-tour out of Nashville. They replaced him with a string of female vocalists... then they replaced their drummer in 2002... in August of 2003 I got wind that they were replacing the drummer again and decided to check it out and in September 2003 I started drumming with 'Railway'!!

I played with them through a couple guitarists and female vocalists - it was high energy and fun... drumming was often a welcomed 'aerobic' workout but during the summer of 2005 I grew tired of the constant rebuilding and auditions and decided the time had come for me to move on...

March 2007... I've enjoyed some time away from full time playing, grabbed some fill-in gigs, settled into married life, closed on a house, adopted my wife's biological daughter, locked into a great day gig as a Micro Computer Specialist / Network Manager / Web Master with an excellent local school district, etc... things are in place and I'm anxious to start gigging again!!

I've had groups call in the past year and a half but turned them down if it didn't feel quite right... I got a call from Frank (bass player from 'The Back 40 Band') back in the Fall of 2006... their long time drummer Chico might be relocating in the spring...

Then he called again in February 2007 to say that Chico was indeed moving and see if I'd be interested in taking over the drum duties. I went over the book - crammed like crazy as country is not something I listen to with any regularity (I knew 5 songs going in) - and we got together, played close to 3/4 of the book less than 2 hours the first rehearsal... the guys are pretty tight... the book was interesting though, as I said earlier, I haven't listened to any contemporary country so I had a lot of homework and catching up to do... but we started booking dates and got out there!!

     By May of '07 we were getting tighter and landed some high profile gigs like the block party before the Lynard Skynard / Hank Williams, Jr. concert, opening for the likes of Luke Bryan, Chris Cagle and John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band and playing the after concert party for Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn!! We won several 'Best of' awards for consecutive years...

     Early 2008 things were really coming together - shows were tighter and developing a good flow... we had a great, enthusiastic following, were cutting a new CD and to top it off were asked to open the 2008 CountryFest in front of about 35,000 people!! It was a trip but I had a funny feeling...

     Sure enough... about mid August I got the call from Frank (the leader / bass) who informed me that he and Eddie (the guitar player) were 'moving on', I was welcome to join them but he was calling Rick (pedal steel) and Dave (lead vocalist) to tell them they were OUT!! Shortly thereafter I got a call from Rick and Dave saying that they were going to put something together and invited me to join them... and that was the end of that incarnation of 'The Back40 Band'.

     I'd been nursing a nagging foot ailment since the previous winter and the prognosis was better than expected but I was advised to keep off them as much as possible until around the first of the year so the decision was made for me and I politely declined both groups offers.

June 2009... A brief bout of Drummer - Interuptus while my body and I came to grips with Type II Diabetes and some Neuropathy in both feet...

Fall / winter 2009 - I did some auditions to see if I could still play... met some great players and nice people but the music wasn't quite what I was after... Some groups were pretty good and had some serious potential but were grossly disorganized and later folded before they really got started... and I really didn't feel quite right yet...

February 2010... I have my Type II Diabetes under control and am adapting to the Neuropathy in both feet so it's times start playing again... after all, I only played 6 times in 2009!!

Out of the blue, Back40 Band shoots me an email - they're looking for a drummer again... I've been working on a project closer to home and more along the musical lines that I enjoy but, at least for the short term, I've jumped back in with them... first gig in about a month!! Stay tuned...

March / April 2010... it's good to be playing again!! Back40 has a job or two each month and is morphing again - Dutch is gone and a keyboard may be on the horizon... playing a few jobs with just the 5 of us but we'll manage...

July 2010... 'Back40' is trying to go with just 5 members and has a handful of jobs this summer... I've been filling in with 'Branchwater' and that's filled a lot of holes in my calendar!! I'm close to debuting with my new project but am reluctant to provide more details until it actually happens... :)

Anybody's guess... Like Glenn Miller's search for that elusive 'sound', I guess I'm looking to join (or form) that elusive band possessing the same corps style dedication, organization and preparedness I've come to expect of myself and that will fulfill and challenge me musically and professionally. I think I'm at the point where I've seen enough bands from both inside and out to know how things should and should NOT be done and have some interesting ideas for a group but haven't had a chance to put them to the test.

I am always toying with the idea of putting together another version of 'The Upstarts' but haven't found the right players to try it yet (besides, sequels are never as good as the original). 'The Upstarts' were the only band to even approach the level and sense of organization, discipline and accomplishment that I'd known in drum corps - possibly because there was another drum corps guy in the band and we knew what it meant and what it took to be disciplined, prepared, polished and professional... in drum corps you put in thousands of hours of rehearsal time for about 11 minutes of music!!

...to again quote from my first professional experience, "To dream the impossible dream..."