I've been looking around MySpace and Facebook, and the thing that really mystifies me is that this band seems to operate in a vacuum, largely unnoticed by any of the 'scenes' out here on Long Island.

The blues guys? We're too rock. The tribute guys? We don't even register with those guys - we don't have the star power, heh heh (even though two out of three of us actually play in a couple of tribute bands). Other cover bands? We're the competition, so we don't get a whole lot of respect from other bands that play the same places we do. The reunion guys? They're too busy trying to bring their bands back to the level they were at back in the day.

So, here we are, working from the outside. Does it bug me? Maybe a little, but I've always been apart from whatever scene has been happening. Even back when I was in Snakeyed Su, we played all the same clubs as everybody else but we never really blended in with everybody else. Of course, we were the only band on the scene that got a chance to go to The Big Dance, however badly that may have ended - so maybe there's something to sitting at a different lunch table than the Cool Kids.

Sure, there are a few bands who know about us - Fullhouse, Finespun, Almost Queen and Blackmore's Night have come out to see us pretty often. But we pretty much remain a well-kept secret as far as Long Island's 'rock community' goes.

But I'll tell you what - I'll stack this band up against any band out there, any day of the week. For my money, we can hang with anybody. It'd be nice if we got a little more love from our fellow musicians, but even if we don't we'll still rock harder than most of those guys who play the bigger clubs. Bank it.