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Smokin' Herb... Enter Here

Hello, my name is Jimi Pocius, I'm a musician from Rockville, CT. I was born in Willimantic,CT in 1962,and have been playing music since 1969. Been a long time, and one strange trip, but it was worth it!
Both of my parents, Felix and Ethel, were musical. My Mom used to sing on the radio when she was young, and my dad was a field musician in the Marine Corps.
My first instrument was the Cello, which had the grooviest sound, a timbre I've always emulated with my guitar.
But I never really learned it the way I should. Hell, I was a kid!
Shortly thereafter, i started messing with the recorder also, but was none too serious with that either. I mean, How RocknRoll is a recorder?!?!
My Oldest Sister Marcy had been playing folk guitar since I was an Embryo practically, and THAT I was always fascinated by. She used to sing me songs like "Tom Dooley", and I, being a rotten little brother, used to mess around with her folk guitar at every oportunity. I actually wrote my first song on it, not even knowing what I was doing, when i was about 8.
My other sister, Jeannie, was already on her way to being the baddest ass trumpet player alive.
Meanwhile, my Brother Wally had discovered "Black Sabbath", which meant I did , too.
Up until this point, I (believe it or not) HATED RocknRoll!! Thought it was all stupid, trite, dumb-ass Neil Sedaka kinda shit.
How little I knew then!!
Right after Sabbath, I discovered Alice Cooper, having always been fascinated by darkness...particularly tongue-in-cheek darkness, the kind that Alice still excells at.
That moment sealed my fate.......and by the time I was 11 or 12, I took a Guitar class taught by Bob Broulliard at the school I was going to.
I could play "Smoke on the Water" on one string faster than anybody!
So that summer I convinced the 'rents that I needed a guitar....not just any guitar, but an electric guitar!
After a whole lot of arguing, my Dad, Felix finally conceded, but declared there would be "NO AMPLIFIED GUITARS" in his house, and off we went to the local pawn shop, where I , in my complete ignorance, picked out a three pickup strat-ish looking Teisco Del-Ray for the princely sum of $42.00.
But no amp, Dad would NEVER buy one! The guy at the pawnshop felt sorry for me, and threw in a cheezy micro solid state practice amp with the Teisco, and I was good to go . I soon discovered that I could get some VOLUME out of it by hooking up some bigger speakers......so of course, I hooked up every speaker I could find, which made it a LITTLE louder.....until it caught fire, forcing me to use my fish tank to put it out. Lucky for the fish, They had all already died and the tank had mostly evaporated.
So NOW I needed a new Amp!
So I raised what I could in terms of capital, and back to the pawn shop I went. There I picked out an old Kay gtr combo, about a 75 watter.
NOW I could hear myself just fine......
So couldn't all my neighbors, and half the town. My dad used to cut the circuit breaker to my bedroom!! But I had to Rock!
Meanwhile, I had begun studying the Accoustic(uprite) Bass, which I (totally sucked at for the first year) eventually recieved awards for playing in school...but that's another story for another time...I actually passed an ALL NEW ENGLAND audition less than 24 hours after having a cast removed from my broken left wrist, going in cold. Guess they liked that Rock-n-roll style vibrato of mine....there was hope of getting me into Berkely, but I deemed the Blues to be more important.....I ultimately quit high school to play it, much to the chagrin of my music teacher, Dr. Wade. She was pissed at me for YEARS....but I get ahead of myself!!
Right about then, my best friend Jeff White turned me on to my first "toy", a Kay fuzztone, an orange plastic wah wah looking thing that ya had to bend over to turn on/off.
Man, I was hooked!!
BLATTZZZZZZZ!!!
Fuzztones RULE!!!!
It was All Over at that point, lemme tell ya....
I ended up playing that guitar for years, I had a few others (like the one I burned onstage at my first gig at these sandpits in Columbia, CT), but that Teisco got some miles on it! Now I've had so many guitars pass thru my hands over the years, hell even I don't remember them all!!
I was lucky also because my oldest brother, Jay, worked for the local concert promoters, so I got to see some of the best bands of the era, and my other brother, Wally, used to take me to shows. Life was good!! If you can even REMEMBER the 70's, perhaps you'll agree.....suffice to say it was a period of intense partying and exploration, I know I learned a lot from it. Mescalito can be a great teacher....
In 1977, I met my first REAL band, called "Woodfoot", and played my first gig with them just a few hours after meeting them. We were a power trio, Me, Tony Renaud on gtr, and Tim Sullivan on the skins. This eventually morphed into the "Horseful Carriage", a smokin' 4 piece. I still play music with Tim to this day.
In 1980, we played a humongous graduation party for a local high school under the moniker "Iced Heat" (Al Parker's name, we didn't like it cuz it sounded like "Iced Tea")...I blew off my own graduation to play it. they printed and sold 750 tickets, and all told there were 1,400 people that paid to get in there! It was a GAS!, and the folks treated us like royalty. And after only 6 rehearsals...now, I only rehearse my band when we're working on original music. But back then it was unheard of.
But a week later, when we went back to jam at the bassist, Alan Parker's house, we discovered all of our equipment had been stolen while Al was away doing the military one-weekend-a-month trip. We eventually recovered most of the stuff, and part of the settlement with the pinhead thief was a black Gilbert Les Paul Custom copy, which I thought was a gas....I remember telling Timbo how she was a sleazy little bitch, but that she sceamed when ya carressed her right.......So Tim named the guitar "the Slut", then gave it to me!!! My first really decent guitar, and I played the hell out of it until I ultimately passed it on to my friend Bruce "Captain Tripps" Somers. Unfortunately, Bruce had it stolen from him several years ago, tho I hope it turns up again someday.
My first real bar band, "Rockledge" (Me,Tony Renaud on the other Lead gtr, Sick Rick Breault on Rythym Gtr, Electrical Skeletal Bill Holden on bass, Mike Vrabel, a truly gifted vocalist, and the AMAZING Steve Rivkin on the drums), started playing in 1980. We had a terrible manager, but being the local Rock Band had its perks...Sex , Drugs and RocknRoll were the order of the day...especially since our crooked manager was the town's first selectman!! A period of debauchery that was unbelievable....lottsa fun to say the least!
In '82 after seeing "The Wall" on 14 hits of blotter, I inherited the monikor "Pink Floyd" from some friends. The name stuck. Some folks STILL call me Pink....That same year I'd started Jamming with Andre Corsini, Dean Sypher, and Darren Duchaineau, and we adopted the moniker "11th Section Road" which eventually included Eric Haegar and Todd Meikle, (my little brother) whom I'd taught to play gtr a few years previously. Eventually they became known as "11th Section", and ultimately became a very popular local band with a decided streak of jazz fusion. Of course I was long gone by then, but they had grown out of Me and Todd's band "The Blues Project" in '86...but I'm getting ahead of myself again....
I spent the early 80's in a pretty much forgettable series of rock bands,(except "KnightMessenger", which featured Me and Todd on gtr, Jimi Pabilonia on Bass, "Jessie" Odis on vox and Harold "Guido" Picarello on the drums) then spent three years in hotel graybar after being set up by an undercover cop. Ya live, ya learn. No gtr for three years sucked pud, but I DID learn to write the music in my head on paper.....I wrote like 200 songs during this period.
Just before I got out in '86, I found an old Gibson Firebird in the paper for $200.00,and called all my friends in hopes I could find 10 of them who could spot me $20.00 til I could pay them back. One of them hipped my folks to it, and they bought her, a 1966 Firebird that I named "Luetta", tho I just call her "Etta". She was to be my main axe for years to come, and I still play her often.
About the time I came home, I gotta gig in a local machine shop where i got to know my brother Mark "Guitar" Easton, a local living legend. We've been best friends ever since, and our playing styles definately rubbed off on each other...I got a bit of soul from him, and he copped my speed. Mark got a gig playing for former James Cotton Bandleader Kennard Johnson, and I worked as his Roadie for a couple years, absorbing some killer primal blues, a truly formative experience that changed my whole life.
During this period I'd distanced myself from the 11th Section crew, I was not into playing fusion. It sounded like elevator music to my ears, so i formed the seminal punk band "The Damn Dogs" with Guido, Bruce Somers on gtr, and Timbo Riggot on the bass. It was a gas, but we were unofficially the "Damn Dope-Sniffin' Dogs", and eventually burned out, seemed all we did was rehearse and lines.(Sorry, but Cocaine is a waste of time, life and money, once ya stop doing it. I don't miss it at all.)One night while going on a beer run, I hit and scratched Bruce's 'vette.
That was the end of the Dogs. Probably all for the better. I was on to bigger and better things anyways.
Shortly after I joined the local critically acclaimed all-original Prog-rock band "Quartz Movement", and played with them until a nearly fatal car wreck in 1989. Mark Cashman, the bandleader pulled the plug - too many bad things had happened to the band just before I joined, guess my crash was the last nail in its coffin. So me and the Keyboardist, Mike Zappulla went on to form an all original hard rock band called "Avatar", With Jim Koenicke(rgtr,vox), Ray-dude Ducharme(bass), Dave Josselin(sax,harp and flute,vox) and John Boyle(drums,vox), which lasted a few years too long, unfortunately. It was a good band (indeed, we split first place in a "battle of the unknown bands" with local rock legends "Diamondback" at Buster's Pub & Cinema in East Hartford, CT, although I don't think they had Jimi Bell on gtr yet.) destroyed by internal musical politics and childish games, not to mention some pretty serious drug and alcohol use. I was ecstatic when it finally was over.
I was DONE with music after dealing with them, and hung my gtrs on the walls as ornaments. Wouldn't even touch them until someone special convinced me that "it's in ya, and it's gonna come out".....Thanks, Jules! (See? It's all your fault!!!,LOL!)
As you can probably guess, about this time I met my amazing Wife, Juliane, and things have never been better. We wed in November of 1991, and now have three mostly wonderful children. Julie is the ultimate treasure and joy in my life, along with Em, Mari and John.
By now I was juggling as many bands/gigs as possible. It was freekin' nuts!!
A bunch of us had been jamming at a place called The Palace in Stafford Springs, CT, and became known as the "Palace Blues All Stars". This motley crew included me and Easton, with Andre Corsini on drums, Eric Haegar on keys, and Dean Sypher on bass. One night on a bunch of mushrooms, we made the fateful step and became known by the unique name "Pink Salami Grinder", after an incident with an old rotten salami grinder and a can of pink spray paint. Ya woulda had to have been there....One of the more memorable nights we had the first (and last)annual "Mark Easton Memorial Jam", which had me, Mike Bloomer, Mark Easton, Mike Foster (yes, Lefty's brother & Mark's partner from "AVALANCHE", on gtr and B-3),Todd Milanese on ANOTHER B-3, Eric Haeger on Keys, Deano on bass and Andre on drums WITH ALL KINDSA GUESTS...harp, horns, you name it...what a nite! The club actually had to remove tables to fit all the folks in!
"PSG" would play many gigs over the next 10 years, and will probably play many more.
Mark eventually got too busy with "Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze", and left. We replaced him with the incendiary Mike Bloomer from "Starkweather" (his band with Rick Drena AKA Ludent Tremmel who'd been the founder of the legendary "Anglion Audio Theatre"), and eventually morphed into the 6 piece blues/rock band "Blue Noise" after adding Hammond Organist Todd Milanese, which went on for the next three years.
But I was frustrated with its direction; and quit in 95 to form the short-lived "Nasty Axe" with Marty Robinson(rgtr,vox), Joey Rivera(bassgtr,vox), and Al Pellegrino(a truly gifted Drummer)...think Heavy Metal Southern Rock, and you'll get the idea...what a band, it was too good and ultimately imploded after a bunch of standing room only shows. Some of us still can't stand each other to this day.
Played with a bunch of other bands for a while, eventually started a Blues Band with Tim Sullivan, where I met my partner in crime for the next 4 years, Big John Keryck.
About this time, Chopper George showed up at a gig and gave me an old Strat he had bungeed to the back of his chopper. This became my new favorite axe, and ever since I play strats live primarily. Leo Fender was a genious, he created the SOUND of rocknroll. It's a good thing!
When Tim cut out to pursue a more structured situation, I brought in Al Pelegrino and The "JimJamms" were born. We survived about 200 gigs in the next few years before ultimately disbanding. I spent a period just doing pick-up bands with friends, lucky I know a buttload of Musicians!!
One Night I gotta call to cover a cancellation at a friend's niteclub, and there the best band i've ever been in, "Smokin' Herb" (which was Me, Peet Reilley(gtr,vox),Herb Lester(bass), and Dave Bertok(drums)), was born. The band was named after Herb, who smoked these disgusting cigars on stage....This band clicked from the very first notes it played.....we eventually were even on national TV, an episode of American Justice on A&E. It's been a gas....Herb left (under protest; I'm not gettin' into it) around the time I gave up on Alcohol after partying with a mess of Angels in Hartford all nite (at Sue Madera, our former manager's B-day bash...man, 15 double shots of jagermeister can DEFINATELY kick yer ass!!) and we hired Bob Laramie (THE baddest bassist on the planet) before settling on Dean from PSG and went onward and upward until Dave Bertok, the most amazing drummer on the planet, moved due to financial difficulty and poor health leaving me, Peet Reilley and Dean to pick up the pieces. We hired Rick La Penta from the local band "Kindred Spirit" and are still playing rock and roll music to this day.
All them drugs, all that sex and all that rocknroll.....amazed that I'm Still Here!! I feel like a local version of Keith Richards (without the smack habit) sometimes...
As I'm sure you can tell, I'm leaving some pretty incredible stuff out...but, dear reader, if I didn't stop now , we'd be going far too long for this humble web page! I may add to this from time to time tho, if the spirits move me.
The well of stories runs deep!!
Wellp, that's it.
That's my story, and i'm stickin' to it!
Jimi Pocius
August 21st, 2003

Deets:

Dirty Bad hyper - modded Blackface (early 80's) Fender Princeton Reverb (60 watts - used to be 12 watts) ( Celestion G12M100, phat boost, footswitchable overdrive & tremolo, reverb) (usually used live to drive the talkbox), Tube Guru "recycler" (also heavily modded) 50 watt all tube 2 channel with fx loop guitar head (Mike Bloomer builds some of the finest guitar and harp amps I've ever heard or played thru), 1966 Blackface Fender Bandmaster head, Tube Works 2X12 guitar cabinet, Marshall 50 Split Channel Reverb 2x12 combo, assorted Hosa cables, Jim Dunlop #215 & 218 heavy wall glass slides, Jim Dunlop Big Stubby (3.0mm) Guitar Picks, assorted stompboxes, assorted homebrew switching and foot controllers.