My first step towards getting in a band happened in about 1973, when I convinced Mike Martin (already a local hero) to come listen to me play the drums in my basement. This eventually led to my first actual professional band (we were supposed to get paid), Riff, with Mike, Steve Butler, and Danny Vanderpool.
When this ended, (sometime after the great Weber’s of Plymouth bar fight) I got together with Eric, Carl Weber, Jerry Garn and Steve Butler to form The Gran Falloon Band. This lasted until the floor nearly collapsed at Weber’s Bar in Shelby, Carl died and moved away, we brought Mike into the band, and renamed it Back On Earth.
After a few years of good jobs, great times, etc., Mike and Steve left to pursue other avenues, and Eric, Jerry, and I hired a husband and wife team (Keil and Randy Robbins) to keep the BOE thing going.
When that ended horribly, I did a road thing with Sweetwater Bridge for a while. (Country rock w/ Chuck Kaber, Russ Hock, and the Hignite boys).
Sometime after that, Eric and I joined with Tom Mossman and Ron Baker in Hand Over Fist, which lasted a while.
After a few stints with other local bands, and some successful BOE reunion gigs, we reassembled BOE (sometime at the beginning of the ‘80s) and have been going ever since.
Album credits include, Chuck Kaber`s "Gray Clouds Rolling", Jerry Garn`s solo album "When a Bridge Burns" and the Infernofest CD.
This is my band history as I remember it. Later, I may be informed that I remember something different. Keep checking!
Currently, I’m working on remembering our current bass player’s name (Jim Schwan, Jim Schwan, Jim Schwan) and what night we’re supposed to practice this week.
Smitty's Gear
I use a Roland SPD 20 electronic drum pad with a KD7 bass drum trigger for my main kit. The SPD 20 has 250 or so different sounds, which you can arrange into 99 different kits. This is very confusing, but easy to carry. I run it through a Roland KC500 amp / drink stand and also through the PA. I also just bought a Noble & Cooley Alloy Classic snare drum, which is the best sounding snare I’ve ever played. My cymbals are mostly old Zildjians,(and I mean old) but, I like to just use two or three and switch them out once in awhile.
My guitar is a …Oh never mind.
Smitty's Old Ludwig Drums
