The Greatest Band that Never Was

I was in a band once. For a few years we tried our best to make the music that we we really wanted to make and came damn close to doing so. If you aren't a musician it probably sounds easy but trust me, it's not. If you are a musician you might know what I mean. I've played in a lot of bands over the years and when the project would meet it's inevitable end I never had the satisfaction of feeling like I'd made something that I could look back on and be proud of. This band was different.

We met our inevitable end two years ago. Time constraints and distance made practicing laborious. When we did have practices drugs and alcohol tended to make them fruitless. Seismic shifts in our personal lives were the proverbial last straw. We played our last show at Harpers Ferry as part of the first Alt-Country Extravanga and you know, I was happy about it. We'd busted our butts for years and I was getting frustrated with the fact that we had no momentum. I was proud of our music, but I was losing confidence in my ability as a lead singer and I really thought I was done. We told ourselves afterward that we would finish the album we had started (and done an enormous amount of work on with our friend Chris) but we haven't been back to Killing Floor studios since.

At first I was okay with it. I really didn't feel like I had anything left to offer as a musician and as such I should just shut up. There's nothing worse than a musician with nothing to say that's still plugging away just for ego stroking and adulation. My guitars went unplayed, and the unfinished demos landed in stacks of blank, anonymous CD's. The only time I would sing or play was at family parties. I was all the way back to the beginning, singing Phil and Don with my father and brother and that was more than enough for me. Music in general moved out of my life and talk radio and sports fanaticism moved in.

About six months ago I got a chance to go see my friends Dave and Will play with their band Dearborn Valley which was a nice treat for me since I very rarely go out anymore. Also on the bill that night was Bryan Pero and the Tired Horses who aside from being a fucking fantastic band (I saw them recently at Tommy Doyle's and they just blew me away) also happen to have Kevin Haverty on drums and Ben Edmonds on Pedal Steel...two alumni of my now defunct band. Enjoying the evening with me was bass player Jeff Amshalem and I think you can guess where this is going. Graciously, Will invited and urged us to take the stage for a brief set. I was nervous not having had played in a while, but I had a little buzz on and I was feeling a little adventurous so I agreed. And like that, The Vinyl Squares were back.

Not surprisingly we were rusty, but we were also pretty good. The old energy was there and what struck me most was how much I really enjoyed playing those songs again. I left there that night with a feeling I hadn't had in way too long. A feeling of confidence that you can only get from playing music that you love in front of people who enjoy it. I missed it, far, far more than I knew at first. I started slowly reaching out to my band mates and gaging their interest level which unfortunately, was tepid. The desire was there, but the logistics have thus far been insurmountable. The same old hurdles seem to be in our way regardless of how much we miss it.

I wish this story had a better ending. In fact I hope it still will. We made some songs that were succinct summations of entire parts of my being that I'm otherwise unable to express. I can't believe I was able to let that go so easily once.

I added a new (old) song to our page today. It has some warts and it's missing some key elements, but it gives you an idea as to what we were on to. It's called North Country and I hope you like it.

UPDATE 9/24

Progress has been made. Things are in the works. More to come.