Creating Fresh Indie Folk Music
My friend and I were cutting through the back parking lot of the Lamplighter Lounge in Coldwater, Michigan. We were on our way to the arcade to play Moon Patrol and Asteroids. This day was different because we heard live rock music coming from the upper floor of the “ghetto” house next door. It has long since been torn down, but I remember the dirty grey-white paint chipping off the walls revealing the wood underneath. We stopped and listened for a good 10 minutes. It was exciting and they had no singer, and I turned to my friend and said, “I’m going to sing for them.”
He said , “I know Aaron lives there and I’ll talk to Lonnie. He knows Aaron and will get you in”. Weeks passed and I continued to ask, “Hey, did Lonnie hear from Aaron if I can come over?” Finally, the day came, he said, “Yes, Aaron is cool with you coming over.”
The following Sunday I cut through the neighborhood to his house and got up the courage to knock on the door. My friend Aaron was a stranger at the time, he opened the door and looked at me then said, “Come on up”. As I ascended up those stairs, I didn’t know it at the time, but I was beginning my journey into a lifetime of music. It was not until 20 years later I learned that Aaron never had a conversation with Lonnie. The reason he invited me in was because I was standing out in the freezing cold with holes in my shoes.
We formed a Michigan punk band called “Twisted Value” and about a year later we released a vinyl EP titled “Take it for Granted”. The music was panned by critics and the band was destined to fail like all good punk bands. We had 500 copies of the EP but half of them got destroyed in a basement flood. About 150 were distributed and the remaining 100 became a failed piece of abstract art that I created by melting and glueing them together. It fell apart and I threw them into my backyard swimming pool which was not maintained. It had evolved into a cesspool and a human health hazard. Those records now sell for $100.00 as rare vinyl on eBay and I still own one.
Later on in life, we started this new band, Roots Asylum along with some other great friends. We're just having a good time, that's all that matters. Cheers everyone!
