Smoking Furby's....

I bought the bass, I couldn't afford shit so I went to a music store and bought two strings. I was determined to learn to play. I didn't own a tuner and would constantly ask Gabe to tune my bass as well as to teach me songs. The first song I ever learned was Geek Stink Breath by Green Day and then Polly - Nirvana. Time crept on and I remember going to an outdoor show at the Whitesburg River Park. I think this was my second show ever. It was in the fall, I remember some bands that played were Leery, Misled Youth, Doug Pukeface and JD had a punk band from Kingsport, TN, and there were definitely more. I was very naive at the time and I remember writing 'I Play Bass' on the back of a t-shirt in hopes that someone would come and ask me to join their band. It never happened....until at some point Jason Ritchie asked me about starting a band or maybe vice versa, so we would meet up every thursday to play in my parents living room for a couple hours. There were nights of begging my dad to cross pine mountain to pick up Lee Sturgill and his drum kit, or to take them back for him, all so I could try to make this dream of being in a band happen. We played shitty covers of shitty music and to us we were doing it. We started off under the name Boxed 'N' then changed the name to Force of Change. At this point, We wanted to play for people. So I booked my first show. It was in November if I remember correctly at the Jenkins City Park. It was cold, snowy, and a huge learning experience for me. I booked High Hopes, Misled Youth, Carmalitta, Leery, Force of Change, some southern rock cover band, and Evelynn's Downfall. I remember there were some issues with a PA system, almost noone showed up, and again it was cold as hell. The whole day/night is a blur to me right now but it was fun and it got me started.... also, this was the first and last time Force of Change played as a band. I'm not sure we even practice after this. I could be wrong though.

The stench of a Hondo

I was now spending a lot of time with Gabriel and his band. I was learning more about music, being in bands, and new bands to listen to. I was also learning a lot about the local music scene. I really began to listen to our local punk rock radio show, Saturday mornings 12pm-5pm Ska, Punk, and Other Junk on WMMT 88.7fm. Hosted by none other than Evan Smith, Brennan Hunt, Derek Mullins, and a whole slew of other folks that would randomly show up. Through this radio show I learned of other local bands, shows, and the infamous Skullboy Records. Being 14, in my freshmen year of highschool this was all an interesting time for me, a time for change, a time for transition, and a time for learning. It's hard for me to keep the timeline of events straight but I will do my best. If nothing else I will keep the details as accurate as possible. It was now pushing into the early part of the school year, I was itching to meet some people interested in music and getting a band going. I eventually met Lee Sturgill and Terry Fields, I began to hang out with them at school and talk about music. Terry only lived a few miles from me so on weekends our parents would host rides so we could hangout in my bedroom listening to all types of shitty nu-metal and band around on our shitty guitars. At this point I didn't even know how to tune a guitar. I continued to run around with my cousin Gabe, then one day he invited me to go to hazard to jam with Steve Smith of Misled Youth and mutual friend Doug Reynolds. I arrive to catch a few songs from the Misled Youth practice and to see how this jam session would work out. This night I met Jason Ritchie another Hazard musician.  Apparently the jam session didn't work out because I don't remember ever going back. However, I did make some new friends and some new people that were a part of the 'scene'. Now at this point I had started dating a girl much older than me, which meant I now had a ride to practice. Somehow, through angelfire, geocities, or some online forum I got in contact with Jason Ritchie, he wanted to start a band, he played guitar, he knew where I could get a cheap bass, he had an extra guitar amp I could use, and guess what my new friend Lee Sturgill played drums, and Terry was thrilled with the idea of doing vocals. My first step was to get a ride to purchase this Hondo bass for $15. I finally did, it smelled like shit, it only had two strings, and was all out of wack, but it worked and got me started.... i can still smell that damned thing, fuck!

In the beginning

In the beginning.... a thirteen year old boy who always went out of his way to be different, to be extreme, and to shock the people around him. I lived in a tiny Appalachian town, Whitesburg, population 1,4--something. I had bigger dreams and aspirations but I didn't know it at the time. During the summer transition between eighth grade and highschool my cousin Gabriel Craft moved back home from college. At this time he was part of a band which played music from around the 90's Seattle scene, luckily this led me down a better musical path. At the time I was all about KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, 311, and so on. Gabriel and I were always really close and both of us always loved music. When he got into highschool and then moved on to college we slightly lost contact so I didn't know he was a musician or in a band. Him moving back home changed my life, for the better. At this point we started hanging out a lot and talking music. I started going to his practices, getting interested in learning, and changing my musical taste. One weekend during this summer his band setup a show at our local community arts theater, Appalshop. It was Gabriel's band Leery and a local band from Cumberland, KY, WYRM. Being almost 18 years ago I can't remember every detail but I do remember walking in, Gabriels dad working the door which I think it was only $1-$3 to get in. I remember pre-show his dad giving him a speach about never having your wallet in your pocket on stage and staying focused. Gabriels dad was an ex-rocker from the 70's, he knew his shit, well about rockin' in the 70's, I miss his stories. So, I go in. I knew noone, hell I don't think there were more than 10-20 people there. I just sat up front in aw. This was my first experience with a live performance of bands that were playing loud, raw, emotional, and doing something that they created themselves. I left the theater that night with a new vision, a new passion, and a drive to do something of my own. Aside from that, I knew I had to get more people involved, there had to be more people who would feel just like me.