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The band had made a few appearances in the beginning of the Wildcard hosted jam nights. Jon and Des had a very cool chemistry that really worked. There was great potential in this band. Although interestingly, Jon had never set out be a singer or frontman, he had come to excel at both. Certainly a natural. The band was a pure blues based rock and roll band, and the material drew heavily from blues based rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, and many others. |
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Rock Bottom Version 2.0
(Clockwise from left: Des, Charlie, Linc, Jon) |
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In the late Spring of 1998, I joined the band after about a year of serious negotiations ("Pretty please with sugar on top, let me join your band!"). The first jam night that I filled in for a missing Linc (now that's a pun!), we just kind of looked at each other and said, yeah, that was good stuff. With several more Wildcard hosted jam nights under our belts, we knew it was only a matter of time before we would join forces. When that time finally came, the train not only kept a rollin', it was picking up speed! We were able to procure several fall and winter bookings, in addition to a televised spot during the Rehab Marathon and an opening slot at a Z-98 Appreciation Party. |
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Not Motley Crue...
(From left: Des, Darren, Jon, Charlie) |
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We were also able to spend a fair amount of time doing some recordings of Jon's originals (Clap hands! Clap hands! For the song man!) Hold Me Tight, Fool For Love, and Support Your Local Blues Man were all completed songs that came out of these sessions. |
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Our first appearance at a Z-98 Party,
opening for Torpedo Alley. |
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The early part of 1999 was a great time for the band. We played the Rehab Telethon, did the opening slot for the
Z-98 Appreciation party, which led us into a headlining spot a few months later. The band was really coming along at this point. We had really covered alot of ground in only six short months. In April, played our last gig at the infamous Rhythm Bowl in Shelby before it closed. It was standing room only. Things were going very well. |
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Look, Mom! We're on TV! |
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Charlie decided leave the fold of Rock Bottom in early July, and additionally, Jon had also decided to take a brief sabbatical from music at the end of the year. Now we really had a dilemma. We needed a singer and a bass player. The first call I made was to Sean Lotz. Although a guitar player by trade, he agreed to come aboard as the bass (and sometimes trout) player, which was fortunate for the band as he is an awesome musician and a great vocalist. He was (and still remains) a fine addition to the band. |
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One of Seans first bookings with the band in Plymouth. |
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After some unsuccessful local fishing to find someone to help us out in the vocal department, Larry Thetge decided to leave his current band, HR Garn, and join the ranks of Rock Bottom. Larry, Sean, and myself had all played together, and became friends, in the HR Garn band. There was no question that we would work well together musically. Larry is one of those true (and profficient!) rock and roll guitar players, and he was eager for the chance to return to the music he always loved. Without Jon carrying the vocals, we would have to carve a bit of a new identity for ourselves. With Sean already being a great singer, it was up to Larry and
I step up to the mic! |
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Rock Bottom Version 5.0 |
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We rehearsed with Larry through the early winter of 2000, and although it took a great deal of trial and error to figure out what kind of material Larry and I were going to vocally contribute to the band, we finally found some things that worked. We discovered to our most pleaseant surprise that Larry had a knack for singing like the late Bon Scott! OY! Also working in our favor was the glaringly apparent fact that Jon still liked to sing (La, La, La!)! He actually wound up "sitting in" with us on many of our bookings during the first half of 2000. |
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