Louisville (pt1)
Left-Brain
The House
Yet again -- rebuilding a house from the inside out -- something that seems to be a lifelong endeavor for us!
We actually bought the house in Louisville in 2008, at the bottom of the housing crash. And spent a couple years driving up on weekends to "fix it up."
We knew when we bought it that it was a "fixer-upper" but, at the time, I had no idea how completely I'd underestimate that.
We bought the house in anticipation of probably moving here one day.
Our first grandchild had just been born so Brenda was way keen on spending a lot more time there.
Work From Home
Then, in 2013, when my company offered me the opportunity to work remotely, I jumped at the chance.
It was this new position that allowed us to move to Louisville.
(and all I needed to be at work was a big monitor and high-speed internet!)
Right-Brain
Goodbye to the Attic
When we moved to Louisville, I had to do one of the most painful things I'd ever done to date in my life, and that was to chloroform the studio. To unplug, disconnect and dismantle my labor of love for the last 30 years.
30 years worth of work, sweat, sacrifice, music and joy. Now reduced to nothing more than a massive pile of cable on the floor in front of me.
I hung onto a thin thread of hope that maybe I could reassemble it in the new house, but that idea soon faded as the last of the gear was sold off in mid 2013. There was just no good place (or reason) to hang on to it.
From here on out, the studio became a laptop and a place to plug it in. I kept a few of the mics, cables and stands. But that was about it.
The Big Pizza Box
For the first couple of years in the house, my time was completely occupied with construction projects. Not much music going on.
But, eventually, after completing the remodel on the Guest House in May of 2015, that became my 50/50: office and studio.
And by 2016 I was putting the finishing touches on another in the Pizza Box series: Number 7.
With several more following over the next few years.
The Basement Band
The last time I was in an actual on-stage performing band was with Watching the Detectives in 1991.
So, in 2021, when I was approached by my son-in-law Eric to see if I wanted to come over and "jam" with him and his buddy Joe, I was both intrigued and apprehensive.
They'd apparently been getting together on and off for years, just kind of running through pieces of 80s rock songs they licked.
Hmmm. . .sounded right up my alley.
After we actually learned a few "complete" songs, Melissa did a short stint as our lead vocalist but then bowed out and was replaced by Mandi in 2023. From there we actually started playing out and getting gigs. Go figure.
I originally dubbed the first version of the band "The Basement Band" but later we (and by "we" I mean Eric's son Roman) came up with the name UnderCover. Since we were a cover band.
You can check us out here: UnderCoverLouisville.com