My first "Band"

Growing up in the South with a God-fearing mom who served as both parents in my household, church was part of daily life. I became a christian at an early age (8) and have struggled with my walk off and on but God has rescued me from myself on more than one occasion. This led me to my first band which I wanted to focus on christian rock. I began writing songs in highschool, christian to folk to rock. I was very nervous about attempting to start a band because my own ability was still in the beginning phase and I didn't want to embarass myself too much. But many have said the best way to learn is to learn with others, or just try to keep up. So I put out an ad online I think. My ad was answered very quickly by a guitarist named Brett Lay. It was kinda funny cause Brett and I had went to highschool together and he was one of those quiet weird guys who had weird friends and just did weird things in highschool. For example, I recall one of many days when he had painted a face and teeth on his hand in English class and suddenly his hand was alive like a pet dog attached to his arm with sounds and all. He would simply caress the animal (his hand) and snarl if classmates came too close. Since highschool, Brett had found Jesus and was anxious to make music. Brett's commitment to God was evident and personally, he has made me a better christian just by how he leads his own life. Granted, Brett is still out there. I, myself, am a bit over the edge, but Brett is still ahead of me. The chemistry b/w us was immediate. He had several songs written as far as progressions and the music, and I had the words. Now we needed a drummer. And Ricky came calling. On a sidenote, starting a band with someone out of state with no driver's license can be less than a pain in the arse. But I was committed to doing the band thing so I gladly picked up Ricky in SC and drove him to our practice spot in Mt Holly, NC. It was then that I realized that someone would have to sing. Now I can carry a tune, but others can do it so much better. I have had good and bad reviews on my own voice to this day. I'm no singer. I think if I write just the right tune I can pull it off average, but I have always felt that my own voice has taken away from any song I have written. But it was always out of convenience, that I sang. But not yet. I recruited a guy from church a good 10+ years older than us. His voice was amazing, but almost too pretty for what we we're doing (I'll get to that). But just like that, I had a band. Now if we could make music was the question.

Me + bassist + drummer = A Loud Something

Low and behold, FarmerJ's girlfriend's cousin, Ricky, was a drummer. He was 15, but he could play drums. Obviously, I was intrigued. Now Ricky lived in a trailer in SC, so my first experience with an ensemble of sorts was very enclosed, loud, and awesome! Jason still struggled with bass immensely but simply from lack of practice. He has always had natural musical ability, he just hasn't grasped it by the reins yet. Ricky grew up with his dad's music and the classics such as ACDC and Led Zeppelin. Needless to say, even at 15, he was far ahead of us musically. We mainly struggled to play covers from the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and Weezer. One thing I realized is that when the distortion is blasting and you're in a 10 x 12' room playing it, it almost sounds good, and all the crunch even serves to hide you're lack of any skill whatsoever. So to us, we we're pretty darn good. It never amounted to anything more than just rockin the trailer or trying to impress Ricky's sister and her friends who wouldn't realize how bad we were. But for my first little group experience, I had the itch and I wanted more.