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It all started several years ago back when Pompeo and Betsy used to own the Fireroast Mountain Cafe. They'd let musicians come in and play for their customers on Friday nights. Don and Alice Browne had one of those monthly gigs. David used to come and listen to their music and occasionally be invited to sing along. Then they asked him to bring his uke. Eventually Alice decided not to do it on Friday nights anymore as she had another gig there on Friday mornings. Since Don and David already spent too much time together they invited some other friends to join them, namely Tim Gustafson who used to play in a trio called Outhouse Moon with Don and Alice, and Tom Judge who jams with some of us every Sunday morning over at Walker Church, and Steve Sandberg who also jams with us at Walker besides playing trombone for a number of other bands. That first winter the band routinely outnumbered the patrons, but Ponpeo and Betsy to their credit, let us keep playing. People would come in for coffee and treats, take one furtive look at the band and order it to go. Gradually though, we became less a group of soloists and more of a combo. At some point we felt comfortable inviting friends and neighbors and it gradually truned into a "scene". Thanks to the new owners Lisa and David, we still hold our playful public rehearsals at the Fireroast Mountain Cafe the 3rd Friday of every month and the windows usually steam and the laughter sometimes drowns out the music. Our first gig was on a riverboat, a setting that was just perfect for us although during a rousing rendition of "The Saints Go Marching In", in which the whole band was parading around the boat our Tuba player got jammed in a bulwark. He'd still be there if it weren't for his enormous experience in improvisation. We finally had to come us with a name for our band and after almost calling it "Quits" we settled on naming ourselves after the establishment that made it all happen. Later on Dick Danaher, whose kid went to school with Tim's kid and David's kid at the time, was asked to sit in with us one night and we liked his accordian and reeds so well we asked him to stay on. on January 27-28 2006 we recorded our 1st CD live, in order to showcase the special relationship we enjoy with our audiences. The band has always shared our stage, our microphones and even our guitars with brave members of the audience who want to act out their dream of performing with a band. It's the same dream the band is living. |