The next step, that's where Greg Barre came in, having played for several years with him, we welcomed him in (though we had previously tried to coerce him in) and also added Mr Patrick Loewen on guitar, a long time friend of the band. We played our final show with Kim in Brandon and set sail with our new singer, Laura Grassia!
Her energy and vocal punch were just what we needed for the change. We enjoyed a year of steady work and good times, with the exception of a couple of blizzard ridden out of town dates...don't ask!
Pat brought a relaxed sound to the band but time was not on his side, though he may have put down his guitar after a year with us, he never really left the band....Enter Colin Jesson, an grizzled solo, duet, band player of many years. He brought a male voice to the front of the band and prepared us for the next change.....Enter Pauline Sibellou.
September of 2000 brought us to Pauline. Pauline was a fresh new voice filling in for Laura, and it was trial by fire..2 weeks notice to front a band for the first time in her life. She buckled down and went for it...successfully. You could see the fear in her eyes, but her voice held true.
That was how the line-up ended up until the spring of 2001 when Echo Beat decided to take a little holiday. We never lost contact, but times did change, it was now Patrick MacKays turn to move on, professional opportunities presented themselves and off he went on a new career path. At the same time Colin's work life brought him to the point of change as well...Enter Derek Mihalicz and Stephan Makarewiez. The rest is history as they say, or in this case...the future!