And so it was that Remo got to hear the demo I’d made of “Midnight” before anyone in M3 did. He picked me up at the airport and didn’t say much as he drove toward his house. I hadn’t told him anything about why I was here, only that I needed to get away for […]
A few days later I was working the register in the record store when a gangly long-feathered-hair type in three quarter sleeves sauntered up. “Michelle said I might find you here.” “Yeah.” Do I know you? I didn’t say that, though, kept my face blank. “Bart talked to me about coming to a rehearsal, like […]
The first time I sang on stage was one night at Maddie’s in 1980, when I was thirteen. Let me revise that. First time I sang lead on stage. This was before Remo had put me into the regular gig; I was just getting up there once in a while for a thrill. At the […]
I went into the bar to find Remo and the bartender watching the news on the overhead TV. I pulled up a stool and leaned on the polished counter. “What a disaster tonight was,” I said. At first, I hoped I sounded dejected, but buoyed by Matthew’s attention it was hard to. I used to […]
I spent most of the next two weeks in and around Nomad’s rehearsal studio, getting reacquainted with the music, learning their set up, and getting to know the guys all over again. Years had passed since I’d last seen any of them, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw them again, or […]
I took Remo to The Brickhouse, a blues bar tucked on the edge of Providence’s vacant downtown where the bouncers knew me and wouldn’t bug me about not having ID. I was in there all the time. This was a kind of rough place, a different set of townies from the Cage, with regular brawls, […]
I was just wadding up a piece of toilet paper and wiping it under my eye when the door to the men’s room opened, bringing a blast of club/bar noise with it: jukebox pumped through the PA, bottles clinking, people talking in that rowdy bar way. The wad of paper came away from my skin […]