History
(by Jason)
It's a blur in my mind at best, but the way I know it began was as an idea Gary and I had in 1996 while watching kids for the YMCA. We had decided to dissolve the band we were in and start a new band that sounded more like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We never did sound like the Heartbreakers. For starters, Gary and I were the only members (guitar and bass). Not exactly the line-up you'd expect for a Heartbreakers wannabe band, but that's neither here nor there. The point is we started something new.
I had written two new love songs for my then girlfriend, now wife, Becky, and called them Truck and Drowner. We figured these songs could be a starting point for The Katies along with some of the old songs Gary and I played in our previous band. We named the band after Becky's little sister and with very little practice decided we were ready to play a show.
We were hanging out with Seth and Ben from FL.OZ. a lot at this time and some how we managed to get Seth to play with us as kind of a piano / guitar / accordion player. It only seemed natural that we open up for FL.OZ. at a club that used to be in Murfreesboro called Squeezers. In a last minute brainstorm at the show, we asked Sam Baker (the former FL.OZ. drummer), to sit in with us since we thought he rocked and his drum set was already on the stage. He agreed put a sheet over his drums and we played our first gig as The Katies with Seth on piano, Gary on bass, Sam on drums and me on acoustic guitar. We played a couple of shows this way at the Boro and one or two in Knoxville with just Gary, Seth and me. Then I began doing some recording for some solar album that fell through. After that, or along the way I cannot remember, we added another member, Mac Burrus on guitar. Mac and I had played together before in his old band The Plain and I was always crazy about his guitar playing. So when he joined up I was convinced with Seth and Mac on guitar (my two favorite guitar players from around town) we would rock.
We were a five-piece band now, but only for a little while. We played a couple of shows that way but it was decided since Seth and Sam were only helping us out until we got good and started that we'd go ahead and split with Mac on guitar, me on guitar, Gary on bass, and whoever on drums. Gary and I had always wanted Joshua (my brother) to play drums with us but there was a problem in that he was 16 and still lived with my parents 2 1/2 hours away in Clinton. We got Jason Strength to play one show with us in Johnston City and then Mac broke his neck.
With Mac's neck broken and our drummer situation in the air, The Katies were put on an indefinite hold. During this time, I asked my parents if they would mind if Joshua started practicing with us and maybe play a few shows on the weekends. Although he was still in high school, my parents were gracious enough to let Joshua start entertaining the idea of playing with us.
We also started writing some new material and Mac started playing the fender Rhodes (he had a big piece of metal looking equipment screwed into his head yet he still was unstoppable. I'll say this for Mac, he is a true musician because when everything conspired against him he found a way to play music even if it wasn't guitar and I'll always be amazed by him for it.)
There was a long down time. Finally, Mac got to the point where he could play guitar again and it was agreed that Joshua would come down and practice and play a show. It ended up being the other way around....
I had booked a show for a Saturday at the Boro even though The Katies had never played with Joshua. The plan was that Joshua would skip his Friday class, drive down Thursday evening, and we would practice Friday and play Saturday.
What ended up happening was Seth called me Thursday while Joshua was still in route and asked if The Katies wanted to open up for Fluid Ounces that night at Exit/In. I said yes, called Gary and Mac and convinced them we could pull it off and waited for Joshua to arrive.
That night The Katies opened for Fluid Ounces with Mac in his headgear playing guitar for the first time on stage since the wreck and the best drummer I ever had or ever will play with, playing our songs like he had done it all before.
We didn't rock really, but I knew then, that we could.
I don't remember that show at the Boro but I assume it wasn't that bad because we kept playing shows.
It's hard being in a band when all the members don't live in the same town. The rest of the time Joshua was in high school we played a couple of shows and practiced very little in Gary's parent's garage. The shows we did play were fun and showed pretty good potential I guess. But the only thing I remember from this period was Mac leaving the band.
I've said before that Mac is a true musician, and like all musicians his chief end is too make music. We weren't really playing a lot or practicing that much. I think Mac felt it was time to be playing and when he got an opportunity to play bass with Self he took it. He is a great bassist.
With Mac leaving the band Gary, Joshua and I were faced with the weird situation of finding a replacement. But, how do you replace Mac? We didn't want to be a three piece because I didn't want to be the only guitarist. I thought for sure that I could never pull it off, but we tried.
Our first real show as a three piece was at Exit/In. We were bad (and not in a good sense). It was the only time I ever doubted The Katies. After that show, we looked a little for a guitar player. Our friend James played a little with us and we had also talked to Ryan about it and I think even Ernie.
During this time, Joshua moved to Murfreesboro and got a house with Ryan, Moon Eagle and Mac on Leaf Street. The Leaf Street house would become the home of The Katies. I started hanging out with Jeff and Stan a lot and really started listening to music again. Jeff has a great music selection and he happens to have a wealth of knowledge about Rock-N-Roll, something I always enjoy learning about. We listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin and somehow decided that we could pull off a three piece. But, we were gonna have to turn it up.
I bought a Les Paul and Gary borrowed Matt's Big Muff from James. We set up in the dining room at the Leaf Street house and drove Joshua's roommates insane.
It was a cool time in every sense of the word. We were writing a lot and we were writing a lot together, which was new to us but it was all working. We slowly started playing more shows around the Boro and Sebastians. I loved it. I knew this was the best band I'd ever be in and I was glad to be in it.
A friend of mine Dave Grant and Gary with his band The Skokies had both recorded with this cat from Kingsport named Brian Carter. We asked him to record The Katies and he agreed. Now I could probably write a history of the Carter Sessions that would be well worth the read but that is for another time, as Ben Morton would say. I will say this, nothing I know of on this earth can prepare you for the Carter Experience and if you have the time, I would highly recommend it.
We recorded 17 songs on the 1st sessions it was pretty live and wild. I learned a lot about being a guitar player and a lot about being in a band. I think it was during this time that we developed the idea of playing for The Katies alone. That is The Katies and no one else. These are our songs, this is our band, and we will play the way we want for us.
Shortly after we finished recording, Rick from Spongebath got a hold of some rough mixes somehow, I'm still not sure how. I think Carter gave them to him. Anyway, we met. It was decided that Spongebath would release the Carter Sessions, and this began our relationship with Spongebath.
Being on Spongebath had its perks because we started getting better gigs and more of them. We also moved out of the dinning room on Leaf St. and into a practice space that we still practice in (we share one with The Features and sometimes Count Bass-D). We also got to record more with Carter, hence the Carter Sessions Vol. 2 which is really a live 8 track recording of a bunch of "lost" Katies songs.
We also got the opportunity to record with Joe Baldridge, an album that is slated for a July `99 release on Spongebath/Elektra. That too is another history in and of its self.
Well, that's pretty much it. We've been with Spongebath for a little over a year now with two releases on the way, hundreds of broken strings, a few cymbals, one kick drum pedal, and a bass in our wake and we're just getting started.