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Kashmir |
| Kashmir 1989 Rich Rust - Vocals Dan Rembert - Guitar Keith Rickabaugh - Bass Ken Stumpf - Sax Chris Mazur - Drums Horn Section: Scott, Pat, & Jim Awards: 2nd Place, 1989 PSU - Beaver, Battle of the Bands |
| The Story of Kashmir |
| In early 1989, Kashmir was constructed for one purpose only; showcase the talent of its musicians. The life span of this band was not as extensive as the counterparts that competed against or just simply performed with in the two shows in March. Kashmir started as the brainchild of Rich Rust and he hand-selected the musicians himself. First, he went back to his roots and recruited his cousin, Dan Rembert to play guitar. Next, Rich enlisted a few of his classmates at Ambridge Area High School. The band inducted renowned percussionist Chris Mazur and versatile, Ken Stumpf at saxophone and to fill in the musical gaps in the all-star line up. The distinctive sound that Rich anticipated was found when Scott Zbreszny, Pat Wright, and Jim Madonna joined the band and completed the horn section for this ensemble. Keith Rickabaugh was also inserted at bass to complete the rhythm section. Keith played earlier with Dan and Rich in a start-up project that never got started up so he had experienced the chemistry between the two that would help push the band in the right direction. Once all the players were on board, the strategy was in place and the objective could be accomplished by much preparation. The two performances that were intended for Kashmir were within a week of each other, so there was a time limit working against the band. The first show was �the Ambridge Area High School Talent Show �89� and the second show was �the Penn State - Beaver Campus, 1st Annual Battle of the Bands�. From the inception, the band trained for two weeks and they worked relentlessly within that timeframe. Every intense night was spent in the basement of the Stumpf household to hone the sound that would define Kashmir. Now that all the details were completed, it was time to piece together the set list. The songs that were selected included, �Kick�, �Angel of Harlem�, �What You Need�, �Kashmir�, and the ever popular, �Hands Wandering�. �Comfortably Numb� was also added for the Battle of the Bands set. The band stole the show at the Talent Show with the untraditional sound of the horn section. Later, Kashmir took second place out of eight gifted bands in the Battle of the Bands. The sessions produced a live recording called Just like Kashmir and a documentary video that was recorded during this project called the Rich and Dan Show to feature the duo both on stage and behind the scenes. This documentary told the story of all the various musical works over the last decade of the innovative team from ISE and the Jet Fighters, through the present day. Just as soon as Rich and Dan seemed unbreakable and the next project would produce even greater returns, the improbable happened to the duet. Dan went on and finished his college career. He fully expected to return to the partnership with Rich and to continue to progress in the upward direction only to find Rich had also moved on. The group that Kashmir lost to in the Battle of the Bands was a side project of another popular Pittsburgh band and they took notice to Rich�s talents. Soon after Dan�s departure to school, Rich was asked to join the Distractions and he agreed. While Rich�s career decision never damaged their personal relationship, the musical connection with Dan took a severe blow. Rich�s musical career amplified, but Dan�s remained underdeveloped. Many future projects attempted to fully restore the collaboration, but Kashmir was the final celebrated project between the talented two-some. |