June 22, 1996
In early 1996, an old friend of mine and fellow ex-skycap, Scotty Melton of Mr. Nasty Productions, was the producer/manager for a couple of Orlando bands. One was called Bong Water Taffy, and the other was Moral Dilemma.
I met with Scotty one afternoon - and he told me that Moral Dilemma had broken up, and that two of the guys from that band were reforming a new band called Paisley Underground. They were looking for a new bassist who could also do vocals. I met with the lead singer, Brian and subsequently joined the band.
Since I had just started my teaching career with guitar lessons, I think that in many ways, this short-lived band project was really nothing more than a transition for me to work with other musicians around Central Florida.
The band consisted of the three of us having rehearsals in a cramped spare bedroom of a house in Casselberry. Brian clearly had vocal and songwriting talent. His room mate, Gary was the drummer. All I can remember about Gary was that he reminded me A LOT of Tommy Chong.
We played a couple of coffee house acoustic gigs in Winter Park. Honestly, I think I grew bored with the direction the music was going. The music desperately needed a much better drummer, and maybe an additional guitarist or keyboardist. Since Brian and Gary were room mates and good friends, replacing Gary was never going to happen anytime soon. So, I eventually left the band and moved on to better things.
This acoustic show was played at a place in Winter Park called Java Jabbers. It was located near the corner of Howell Branch Road and Temple Trail.
Paisley Underground