When CRB started (just about a year ago), we quickly assembled a drummer, a keyboard player, a lead guitar player, acoustic guitar players, singers ... but no bass player. We asked everyone we could think of in search of a bass player who wanted to play the kind of music we had in mind, and who lived in or around Penfield. No luck.
Finally, Lee called his good friend, Jim Bareis, an excellent bass player who lives in Brockport (known to us as the Town of Far, Far Away), and asked if he would pitch in. Jim, being an amiable, music-loving fellow, agreed ... with the proviso that we continue to look for a bass player that lived nearby.
During the following months, Jim was more to us than just a temp bass player. He had an astute ear for when a song wasn't grooving quite right. He hauled tons of sound gear to practices and gigs. He was host to one of our more fun practices (ok, it was mostly a jam session) in his house in the Town of Far, Far Away. He was relentless in his quest to get our sound right (not an easy task with our seven instruments and five singers). And most importantly, he became a good friend to the rest of us.
A few weeks ago, Jim told us that as much as he's enjoyed his stint with CRB, the commute was really ... too far away. Plus he wanted to focus on his other musical endeavors. To be blunt, the dude quit.
As luck would have it, Lee met a guy named Dave Catalfo at a party. Dave mentioned that he was a musician ... and Lee mentioned that we needed a bass player. Dave was into the music we were playing, lived nearby, and played bass! He even had a son at Cobbles Elementary School, where most of the band's kids go to school. It was a match made in ... well, Penfield.
So right now we're spending some time breaking in our new bass player and getting ready to record our demo ... which leads us back to Jim in the Town of Far, Far Away. But that's another blog entry.
Until then, welcome Dave ... and thanks a million, Jim.