Virtual Soapbox

RASH: Original Music

Yes, even though we only played out twice & practiced about every six months, we did play our own music in addition to the cover songs that encompassed our set list. One of the best things about playing your own stuff, is that you can't play it wrong- YOU WROTE IT! Some of the songs were written previous to RASH first getting together, some of them are songs various incarnations of other groups have played, & some of them we wrote as a group. Regardless, they're all a blast to play, I like all of them. Here they are, & a little bit about how each of them came about.

Dirty Joan - words & music by RASH. This song was written during a practice at my house in October of 1996. Roz came up with the riff used in the verse, & just started to play it. We all just picked it up & jammed on it for a while. It just clicked. We kept at it, worked out the verse & chorus, & came up with a bridge that rocked. A variety of lyrics were shouted out, & eventually through some effort by myself, Chewie, & my wife Kathryn, we came up with what would become the final product: Dirty Joan. Chewie & I have always said that the song reminds us of Kiss back in the '70s. I've always thought Chewie had that Gene Simmons vocal kind of thing going on. It's kind of a goofy song, but it rocks, & it's a lot of fun to play. Whenever we practice, & the two times we've played out, it's the song we always save for last. The week after we wrote this thing, we all sent each other emails admitting that the riff had been somehow lodged in our subconscious & wouldn't go away. The funny thing is, my old landlord's name was Joan. Just a coincidence...

The Juice - words & music by Mark Thomas. This song was originally performed by the mighty Trinity, an acoustic trio that Roz used to play in back in Potsdam when we were all in school. They played often, & every time they did, it was a guaranteed good night out, including plenty of beer & great acoustic music. If I have the details right, this song was written about an experience that actually happened to the Trinity guys. They used to play at this bar called the Down Under in Potsdam, NY, that was considered kind of a "townie" type of bar. It was a real funky place. Anyway, from what I've been told, this woman wanted to come up on stage & sing a song with them. They were always pretty indulgent of drunk idiots in the crowd, so they they said okay, & they did a tune with her. I guess she wanted to keep singing, & they asked her to leave the stage, & her biker boyfriend pulled a knife on them & said she was going to keep singing. I'm not sure how many more songs she did, but I think they let her stay on stage a little while longer. This song is about that woman.

Was I The One - words & music by  Pat O'Brien. This is a song that Roz  borrowed from a friend of his, Pat O'Brien. It's a good straight ahead rocker. I like the fact that it sounds like is starts in the middle of the song at the very beginning.

The Cheatin' Song - words & music by Bob Rozwod. Another Roz original from back in his early days as a rocker. This is a pretty dark song that features good solos by both Roz & Chewie. It also has a big loud drum fill in the bridge that I love to play.

Sunset On My Life - music by Steve Jakubowski, words by Scott Coldren & Steve Jakubowski. Jake wrote this song & came to a practice with it completed. He'd had the verses, chorus, & bridge already written, but he didn't have any lyrics. One Saturday morning before the other guys had yet to arrive, Jake & I started working on it ourselves. He played his guitar & I followed along, making up my drum part as I went. We hammered it out for a while, & by the time the other guys had gotten there, we actually had a song structure. We worked on it some more later that day with the whole band, & decided we'd give it another go the next time we got together. Jake & I sent each other countless emails back & forth with different lyrics, trying to come up with something that would fit the music. I was reading the book Dune at the time, & one night I came across a passage that sparked something. I wrote down a few lines, then wrote a few more, & I eventually worked out the first couple of verses & a rough chorus. I sent it to Jake the next day. He liked it most of it & I went from there. He then sent me a demo of the song that was just him playing piano, so I could write lyrics along to a melody, & not just rely on what I remembered from our last practice. There was even one night, when Kathryn & I called Jake up & sang in two part harmony what I'd written so far to see what he'd think. After many emails & many re-writes, we came up with a really good song. It was the coolest thing the next time the band got together & we heard it as a real song played by all of us. It's experiences like this that make me wish we could have the opportunity to really practice & play like a real band, because there's really something there.

Bonnie - words & music by Steve Jakubowski.  Another Jake original. Like with Sunset, he'd worked this one all out before he came to practice. It even had a slide guitar part in it! He had lyrics, but no title. We gave him some crap & told him it sounded like a Bonnie Raitt tune with the slide in it, & the name just sort of stuck.  The song has nothing to do with Bonnie Raitt, or anyone named Bonnie for that matter.

Early Mornin' Hool - music by Ken Davey & Bob Rozwod, words by Chris Brown. This tune celebrates the joy of having a smoke in the early part of the day; 'nuff said. Very funny lyrics, a great riff, good dynamics, this tune just feels good to play.

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