The SkyBlues Band: Diminished Reality

In 1994, my brother told me about some guys who needed a drummer. I vaguely knew John Hutchinson, who was one of the guys, so I called him, and the rest is history. We rehearsed in Hutch's (aka Mr. Jack) basement, and they PRAYED for me! I had just graduated with a "Commercial Art" (i.e. graphic design) degree, and was looking for a job. Within weeks I was hired to do Mr. Jack's old job, and in my home town, no less!

The band was: Me on drums, Mr. Jack on Guitar, vocals, and harmonica, Michael Walther on bass and vocals, and Steve Johnson on guitar.  There's a whole history of the band that should be written down sometime, but I don't have the time now. Basically, we spend the next six years playing in bars and clubs around the area. We played biker events a lot, too (the Fargo Blues Fest was our biggest audience). In 2000, I gradated college (this time with a teaching degree), got married, and moved to the Twin Cities (St. Paul, technically). I knew I'd be leaving them band, so I talked the guys into recording an album as a time capsule, if nothing else. 

We recorded in the summer of 2000 (like a week before I got married) with Mike Coates at Raptor Studios in Fargo, North Dakota. That in itself could be an article. Anyway, we ended up with a decent representation of our sound. Over the years we've sold and given away (probably mostly given away!) a few hundred of these. 

But who listens to CDs anymore? I do! But I'm a rare bird. In the summer of 2021, en route to our first gig in over 20 years (the band has continued with various people--I also came back for about three years at one point), I proposed putting it online, and the guys agreed. So now, Diminished Reality is available on tons of streaming services worldwide, minus the three cover tunes we did (I'm not about to pay royalties on those). If you want blues that's about something other than waking up this morning, losing your baby, or finding a new one, this is for you!

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