MY VERSION:

The story of the band is truly a reality show waiting to happen. It all started after I had returned from a 5 month tour of Europe. I had seen Mike Forfia’s bass talents at an open mic night in an Akron jazz club. I asked him to help me start a new blues project. As luck would have it, blues wasn’t in the cards for me. Mike knew of a multifaceted drummer named Brandon Austin, who had plenty of touring experience and some Berklee training to boot.

We met at a place called David’s House, which I later learned was a church. I showed up late to rehearsal after a trip to Chicago and the guitarist whom I recommended for the group simply said, “These guys are insane. They’re just too good.” On the same day of our first rehearsal, Brandon suggested that we invite Vinnie Mansfield, who had led the music ministry at David’s House and had a laundry list of professional experience under his belt.

So there we were; a bunch of music ministers rehearsing in a church. I started to play my singer/songwriter music and the band ran with it like gangbusters. It sounded like Dave Matthews with distortion, or a rock version of Justin Timberlake. I loved it. At the end of rehearsal, Vinnie prophetically said, “We should prepare for rain,” and he couldn’t have been more right.