The Gideon's Radio Redemption

If you haven't read the rest of my band stories yet, go read them first and come back.

I'll wait. Just click Music over there on the left of your screen.

After reading of my experience in a few bands (there are a couple more that I haven't written about yet) the title of this story will make sense.

For the past 5+ years I have had the honor and joy of playing and making music with an unlikely trio that I can say without exception has been the high point of my music career. Indeed this experience surpasses even my days as a full time bass player with Michael Murphy & The MOB.

It started back in 2009 when, while my head was still shaking from The 10-2-1 Experience, I found that the desire to play again was still boogying right along.

I didn't want any old band to play in. I wanted to go back to what I know, what I'm good at, what I love: Blues and classic blues derived rock with a hint of jazz & Motown in mix.

Headed over to Craigslist I did. Came across an ad from a guy that was looking to test the waters and see if he could put together a blues band.

Of course I responded.

And Fate said "thank you".

Turns out that Mark hadn't played in many years either, for many of the same reasons.

So we talked and decided we'd see if any drummers responded to Mark's ad and we'd see what happened.

Some time went by, Mark and I both had business on the table, but a couple months later he had found a drummer!

We arranged to meet at Mark's house and just jam and see how it went. Jamming did ensue.

Well, Fate wouldn't have said "thank you" if it wasn't going to go good!

Mark and I gelled easily due to our love of a lot of the same music, and the drummer was great!

We practiced together a few times and the drummer was really more into country and things and decided to go back to his old band.

Mark & I were on our own until Pete's name was given to Mark. Then Gideon's Radio came together like Mark and I were originally looking for.

Well, that's not exactly true.

There were two more drummers. They were both very good drummers but they both had issues. The one that was best just lived too far away. The other one, let's just say he had too many issues for me to remember honestly. What I do remember was I LOVED the way he counted off a song! "One, two, three, GO!"

Oh, and a singer/keyboardist/sax player. He was a decent singer, ok keyboardist and a great sax player. He preferred them in the opposite order of his talents. He also liked to drink up to a twelve pack during a three hour practice.

Then there was that female singer! She could sing! She could also drink wine and she also thought Mark ( a long happily married man) was REALLY cute. Something about talking about music in the moonlight under a tree got the best of her and she decided she really needed to kiss Mark on the cheek.

That wasn't why she got fired. Mark is pretty easy going and laughed it off. It was going to be hard to have a singer who would most likely be laying on the floor by the end of the night.

Shortly before she had to go, we had agreed to play a quick set for a fundraiser. We needed to test the waters. She wasn't there for that show.

That show went great. It was after that when we let "GO! Boy" and "Sax Boy" be on their merry ways.

Which they were none to pleased about. I think I told Mark to make it my fault because I lived the furthest away and wouldn't have to possibly run into them at any given moment in time.

Did I mention Mark is an easy going guy? Everything about the guy says the last thing he would ever want to do is hurt someone's feelings. But, he not only made the calls, he shouldered the decision himself. And did have to have a couple of chance encounters.

Then along came Pete.

And John.

Shortly after Mark was given Pete's name & number, John somehow came into the picture.

John & Pete's first time playing with Mark & I happened the same night.

John sang (which is what we were looking for since neither Mark nor I relished the idea of singing very much).

John also played a mean keyboard and could blow a harmonica like nobodies business.

After practice when Pete & John had left, Mark and I sat around in his driveway talking. Finally we have a band. Mark and I were excited.

A few practices and we think we're ready to test the waters. Pete gets us a short set with a bunch of other bands playing a Christmas party. We were really excited. Well, except Mark who was really nervous instead.

We ramped up the practice schedule a bit. John missed a couple because of this reason or that. No biggy.

December 3rd 2010 rolls around and it's show time!

We're the second or third band on the bill. We've got our families and friends in attendance. We're ready to show off what we've been working on!

The first band plays. We talk. Mark paces and tells us how nervous he is. We wait for John.

Apparently John had a business trip a few days prior and had to fly to Colorado. He was supposed to be back in plenty of time.

I see you think you see where this is going. Shut up & let me tell the story.

Sorry I blew up.

So we wait, and we pace and we make phone calls. There's no way we can NOT play when we're there and all these people, many specifically there to see us, are waiting for us.

And waiting they are because, we have no singer and it's our turn.

We set up embarrassingly slowly trying to kill time.

Somebody comes and tells us that John's girlfriend called and he would not be attending the evenings festivities as he was stuck in the airport in Colorado due to a blizzard going on.

There's no doubt there was a blizzard going on. We were getting it too. In fact, I drove home 60 miles at 30 miles per hour that night.

Now what?

We've proven our resiliency in tough situations many times over the years, but this was the first time.

We rationally decided to have each of us pick which songs on the set list we thought we could sing. We quickly scribbled names on our set lists so we knew who'd be singing what.

We had a plan.

Jamming did ensue.

We start almost every show with a Stevie Ray Vaughan instrumental. Why? 1.) It's cool. 2.) It helps get the body warmed up for the physicality that comes with passionate music making. 3.) Because of doing it at our first show. 4.) It gives the audience a second to warm up to us which then allows Mark's nervousness a moment to subside.

Yes, Mark is nervous before every show no matter what. Except when he says "Surprisingly fellas, I'm not feeling very nervous" and then gets nervous because he just realized he wasn't nervous! Mark and I also share a neurotic nature- Pete on the other hand is cool as a cucumber about anything and everything. For instance; if Pete's drums got stolen from his car before set up here's how Pete would respond:

"Well, that's crap. I'll have to call the insurance company Monday. Ok, um, I can probably use that big tub there for a bass drum. I'll need something to hold it in place because I'll have to actually kick it. Some beer pitchers will make decent toms. Grab me some of those Mardi Gras beads and a milk jug and that'll take care of the snare. For cymbals..."

Yeah, you can't really phase Pete at all.

Up on that tiny stage, Pete sang the first song which was the great Buddy Guy tune "Mary Ann".

Mark and I took our turns.

And we nailed it. Dead to the floor.

Nobody had a clue that wasn't the show they were supposed to see. As we were taking our stuff down, guys in the bands playing next were telling us that they didn't want to follow what we just did.

THAT was cool. I mean to have other musicians actually tell you that is rare. Funny thing is, ever since, we have always preferred opening slots. Because we know we're going to make it hard for the next band!.

So, show is a success! We plan to regroup for practice the following Monday. We do. John comes, apologizes, explains the situation away (other than the part about not letting us know some time before we were supposed to go on stage!).

We schedule the next practice.

I had to work late so I arrived late and John was not there yet and he lived only a few blocks away.

We talked and decided right then that John was out and we would not look for another singer. We could do this ourselves.

Do it we did.

We now have probably over 100 songs that we can play with one or the other of us singing.

We've been together for over 5 years and have never had an argument, not even a disagreement over song choices. Each one of us plays songs we don't really like or like to play because somebody in the band does like it or it's something an audience will like.

We're a band in the classic romantic sense that non-musicians believe a band is. Which is rarely ever reality.

We're bandmates and we're friends.

Not like we're friends with our other friends. Sort of like that but different.

I now live 70 miles away from Mark & Pete and all three of us travel in different circles outside of the band.

However, we in this band have known more and shared more of the ups and downs and gains and loses in life than we have probably shared with our regular friends.

I said we were an unlikely trio and we are. While we're in the same age range and grew up at the same time, and listened to mostly the same music growing up, we come from three very different backgrounds.

Yet, we have the time of our lives when we're together.

We've developed a relationship of mutual respect and complete "as is" acceptance of each other. Not to brag, but, the world could learn a little something from this band.

Then there's the music!

We play together like it ain't nobodies bidness. We're probably the second tightest band I've ever heard. There was a band we opened for called Loomis. They were so tight there were creases in the freaking air and I sh*t you not.

98% of the stuff we play is stuff we love and love playing. The other two percent is the stuff you play just for the audience. Before we did it, none of us would have probably thought "Tub-Thumping" was a song we wanted to play. Audiences love it and now, we love closing our shows with it.

We play and feed off of each other. In the past five years, each of us have become far better musicians than we were before we met.

Together we wrote and recorded an album of 11 songs that are as varied as our influences. It's called "Solid State" if you're interested.

When that album was completed (yes! You CAN buy it on I-Tunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and wherever fine digital music is sold!) when I listened to it the first time I was impressed. The songs are good, the recording is excellent and it is a true representation of this band.

Except that on the album Mark does all the singing. We thought for the sake of continuity on the album it would be better to have one voice represent us and his is quite frankly, the best of the three.

The other thing that happened was I knocked myself out. Not literally of course, but I listened intently to myself and I was just amazed at the bass player I had become over the years.

More than once I asked myself "did I really come up with that?". More than once I wondered "did Mark overdub my crap?" Of course I know he didn't. That's me on that record.

Many musicians I've played with have pushed me further, but none even close to these guys.

I think the three of us actually try to get better solely to impress each other so we can have more fun doing it!

Because that's really what this band is about.

Making that music that we love together and having fun doing it.

We're just as happy practicing in Mark's basement as we are on the stage of Famous Dave's Blues Club.

We're just as happy to play for a fundraiser as to play for a venue that puts money in our pockets.

We have played so many benefits and fundraisers. A lot of bands don't like lugging their gear and playing for free and it's some times hard for these things to get good bands because of it. For us it's a chance to play for people and none of us mind helping out where we can. I'll admit at one point there had gotten to be so many that it was getting frustrating to be the go to band if you needed guys who'd donate their time, but we never said no to a single fundraiser or benefit unless we already had something booked at the time.

We've shared so many stages, so many memories, so many stories, so many personal triumphs and tragedies, that we have ingrained ourselves in the fabric of each others lives.

What the hell more could you want from being a member of a band?

Perhaps that redemption?

Redemption: deliverance, rescue. Atonement.

Gideon's Radio delivered me from a life devoid of the music I love to play. It rescued me from settling for playing music I didn't want to play in bands I didn't want to play in.

Atonement? Let's break that down: at-one-ment.

Gideon's Radio led me to being at one with the musical passion within me. It made every bad band, every High & Mighty Mike (NOT MIchael!), every DipStick Dave, every note for note English guy with a superiority complex worth it.

Gideon's Radio has also been a huge part of helping me become at one with myself.

Mark and Pete's complete and total acceptance of me exactly as I am has helped me offer myself that same acceptance. I am a better, broader, happier person because of my membership in this band.

What this band has done for me musically and personally is beyond anything I ever imagined a band could be. By far.

A lawyer, a political right hand man and Harley salesman walk into a bar...