Exactly how this part came about, I really don’t remember, but at some point, I became the keyboard player for the Squirrels. During the time of the demo recording, Lisa was the band’s keyboard player, but she wasn’t on hand during the recording and had missed at least one gig opening for Stormz at Hobie’s. If the change was a conscious decision or a kind of osmosis, I’m not sure. Hopefully, Lisa will fill in the blanks in the future.

Now to be honest, my musical tastes were often quite different from the rest of the Squirrels. I had only recently gotten into new wave music through Wally’s friend, Steve-in-Black, and was still quite a prog-head. I was also quite a fashion nerd, partially due to the 14 foot scarf I often wore. Ok, I did have a perm at this time, which made me look like my brother (who had naturally curly hair), but otherwise I was a rather boring jeans and flannel shirt guy.

Band activities in December mainly revolved around rehearsals for another opening slot for Stormz, scheduled for Christmas Day at Hobie’s but eventually canceled, and the band’s Holiday Bash/Nut Mixer in the barn at the Poplar Grove Plantation on December 29th. This was my first gig as the Squirrels’ keyboard player.

Notes about the gig (minutia you really don’t need to know):

• I knew how to play about 5 or 6 of the songs at this point.
• I was extremely nervous.
• I was to the left of Matt toward the rear of the stage.
• Keys used were the Mighty Casiotone and my Pro-One synth.
• The Pro-One was too wide to fit the stand, so it was on my right.
• “Wanna Do You,” the song with my prominent synth solo, was about the 3rd song played.
• The poster said “Dress Warm or Bring Date”. I dressed warm.
• In 1999, I got married in the same barn.

The following Friday was New Years’ Eve. Sometime during that afternoon, we somehow got word that the band that was supposed to play at McPatrick’s, a bar across the street from Hobie’s, had canceled. We sprang into action, called the guy and got the gig! Not only for Friday night, but Saturday too! The afternoon/early evening was spent calling as many of our friends as possible. We had about 20-30 people in the audience each night.

Notes:

• I would take out my full keyboard rig (Yamaha CP-20, Moog Opus 3 and SCI Pro-One) for all subsequent gigs.
• Learned about 2 more songs for each of these gigs.
• If I didn’t know a song, I played cowbell and/or tambourine.
• As we were finishing “Telegraph” at the end of the second set, Peter D shouted out “Happy New Year!!!” to those in attendance. We did not play “Auld Lang Syne”.
• About the only picture of me with the band was taken under the marquee for McPatrick’s for the New Year’s Eve show.

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