The 4 A.M. Band (excerpt from chapter 10)

"One Thing Leads to Another" sang The Fixx in the 1980s. That fact definitely applies to our music inside. Although Lakeside Coffee House was a tremendous experience, it was only the starting point for others. High schools hosted informal music jam sessions and Calumet College, where I attended, promoted acoustic open microphone nights. I played at these places periodically, even doing a few songs with friends in a club called "The Cave," on the same stage where Chubby Checker once performed. Slowly, I began fine-tuning the few songs I had memorized, writing and expanding my small repertoire.

After Lakeside closed, my new friends gathered in parks or apartments. My home basement was roomy, had furniture and was available on weekends when my parents were building their retirement cottage in another part of the state. I found dedicated musicians and friends at Lakeside and four of us played together frequently at my house, occasionally joined by two others. We played the songs of each other's favorite artists: Cat Stevens, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Steve Goodman, Neil Young, James Taylor, Tom Rush, George Harrison and Eric Clapton, among others. We worked on harmonies and filled in guitar parts. It sounded good.

Our group didn't need a bass or dums, although we found different ways (low notes on guitar and thumping on the wood) to fill up the sound. I was improving but still felt like a beginner among these talented musicians. Our sessions went long, yet no one cared about the time and we often hit a peak in the middle of the night, towards morning actually. At some point, someone suggested that we call ourselves "The 4 A.M. Band" and the name stuck. We had no plans to perform or write -- we were caught in the moments of our music.