The ever-progressing musical career of Daniel Dorris, Part I

I have around twelve years experience of playing in bands. Those twelve years have been a chain of events...one leading to another, leading to another, etc. I have always wanted to chronicle these events, so this past December, I started writing it down.

The story is too long to put in one blog entry, so I'll break it up. Here is part one...the early years.

I currently play in a band called The Last Chucks. It's a trio consisting of myself (on bass and backups), Mike Cammarata (on guitar and lead vocals), and Goose (on drums...and is learning backups). I love the band. We play together once a week, with the occasional hiatis. We have not played an official show in about two years, but we're working on that...I think it's a valid goal for the upcoming year.

I've been a part of this band for...sheesh...about four years now.

I was just thinking about how I got to this point, so I will chronicle for you the ongoing musical career of Daniel Dorris

Summer 1998: I was fresh out of high school (having just started dating this hot little number named Kimberly). My best buddy Goose had just started drumming for a band called Stronghold (with Adam Linton on bass and Adam Wilson on guitar and vocals). I had played (guitar, at that point) with Goose for the previous year or so at church and in the occasional, go-nowhere, noisy high school punk band. I was a little bummed that Goose had a band to play in, and I did not. If memory serves me correctly, I had him convince Adam Wilson that they needed a second guitar player. Soon enough, I was in the band.

We played our fair share of shows over the next year or so, traveling to Toccoa a couple of times, and even as far as Charleston, SC once. Alas, creative differences were the downfall of Stronghold (read: I kept messing with Wilson, playing stuff he hated, and he got mad and disbanded us). Adam Linton became a lifetime friend, and Adam Wilson was seldom heard from again.

May 1999: Goose's brother, Steve had been a youth pastor at a church in Norcross, GA. He called me and asked me to take over his job, as he was leaving to go to college. I (naively) took him up on his offer, and was soon employed by Faith Life Fellowship. Honestly, I had no business being in a pastoral position. I was 19 years old. As a result, however, I had the pleasure of playing bass in the church praise band. This will be important later in the story.

September 1999: Having not played in a proper rock band for a few months, Goose and I were starting to get a little antsy. We decided to start our own band with my brother, Brent (who would sing and play bass). The band was to be called: February Days. No, wait: Kimbo Red. No, wait: We couldn't think of a name. That didn't stop us, though. We started writing amazing and brilliant songs such as "S.N.O.T.S.W.O.W (Song Number One, The Song WithOut Words)", "Friends", and "In The Morning". We were all big fans of a band called Squad Five-O at the time. Squad had morphed into a faux 80's glam-metal-type of concoction and specialized in rock anthems. Hmm...Anthem! That's it! The band will be called Anthem!

(to be continued...probably soon...I already have the stuff written.)