Where I've been - part II

I last left off at end of summer, 2008.

While the band was changing, my personal life was changing too. Essentially, a relationship of 3+ years had come to an end. Now, I know... big deal - just another break up. But not really. Like many, it was a relationship that I put a lot of faith in. We lived together. Because of that, I sold a lot of my things that we didn't need. I'm talking the simplest things - pots, pans, silverware, towels, etc. As someone in the middle of college, and not a whole lot of funds to draw from to start over again, I moved home, back in with my parents.

At first it was a bit strange. I hadn't lived with my folks in over 10 years. And I know it sounds like nothing more than self pity, but I simply started getting down about it. Here I was in my early 30's nearly obsessing that I should have been farther along in life. But re-runs of Family Guy, American Dad, and Mind of Mencia helped me get through it.

But good things can come out of feeling bad, right? Oh the humor! Seriously though, being down gave me a little motivation to start writing again. Quite therapeutic. And the efforts paid off. I put out an acoustic EP early '09. An acoustic EP was something I always wanted to do. An accomplishment... for me anyway.

Spring came around and the band grew to 5 members again. Anthony's brother Gerard starting filling in on bass duties and Fred moved back to keys only. It was a good thing... Gerry, Anthony and Gerard were in a band together for years. I heard the connection immediately as we started to become a 5 piece band again. We did some warm-up shows in the Spring & Summer in New York City at Arlene's Grocery. But it was then that I started to realize that live music wasn't as important to people. The economy was tanking, people (quite rightly) were more concerned with saving money and staying home. Our turnouts suffered, Fred ended up leaving, and I was kind of lost on what to do. It quickly became time to start writing again...

To be continued...