Imbued Vagary - Muv Muffle (Live)

This raw unedited live excerpt is taken from the Imbued Vagary 06.17.17 performance at SHAPE Solstice Arts Festival in Shippensburg PA.

Utopian Gong (Live)

This raw unedited live excerpt is taken from the Imbued Vagary 06.20.15 performance at SHAPE Solstice Arts Festival in Shippensburg PA.

Ebow Nucleosis (Live)

This raw unedited live excerpt is taken from the Imbued Vagary 06.20.15 performance at SHAPE Solstice Arts Festival in Shippensburg PA.

"ADIAK the Orange"

"A(erobic) D(ancing) I(s) A K(ick) the Orange" was my first personal transport vehicle.  This 1976 Chevrolet Vega was originally my mother's car and was named for the sticker that adorned its rear bumper.  I began driving it when I turned 16 in 1986.

This small subcompact manual steering and brake tank of a car started to vibrate violently (steering wheel and car) once you hit about 60mph (of course I hit speeds well beyond this) and, if you wanted to stop it, you would have to put your foot through the floorboards to do so.

It conveyed me on many adventures.  One of the most infamous being a journey to "The Wall".  For any of those who made a trip to "The Wall" in the late '80s know that it was (and maybe still is) a perilously long and bumpy ride.  One filled with rocky craters that could swallow an unsuspecting small car.

One fateful evening, M Scott McConnell, Jackey Dickey (later McConnell), an unnamed 3rd person, and I made this journey.  It's a night that none of us will ever forget.  It seemed to take an eternity.  The small "ADIAK the Orange" was weighed down so much by the four passengers that it barely cleared the ground.  Our average speed was about 5mph as we scraped our way to our destination and back.  "ADIAK the Orange" and we survived but neither the car or us would ever be same again!

When I went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Fall 1988, I left "ADIAK the Orange" behind and began my new adventures with "The Charger" but that's a blog post for another day.

RIP "ADIAK the Orange"!

Remembering Larry Roy Fiber

Larry Roy Fiber quietly passed away today (02/05/11). As a kid, he and his wife welcomed me (the kid from across the street and friend to their sons (Lonny, Danny, and Larry Lee), into their home. I will always be grateful for his (and their) hospitality, friendship, and parenting. I cherish the times that all of us shared together.

For FFS fans, it's also important to note that he is one of the progenitors of the FFS musical movement which is still alive today.

He will be greatly missed.

On (and in) The Water

Here's another photo that I uncovered from my Christ United Methodist Church Youth Fellowship days in Shippensburg, PA. This photo, taken during Summer 1986, is from a YF retreat to the legendary A-Frame cabin in Central PA.

In this picture, you'll notice that we both have oars. What makes that special to note is, months earlier in frigid water temperatures, we had lost one of them while navigating the same waterway. Our boat capsized when Pete decided to be "cool" and stand up while we were negotiating a turn. Needless to say, we were both a little "frosty" after going into the drink. However, I managed to hold onto my oar and pull the boat to shore. Pete frantically tried to retrieve his oar but to no avail. The only thing that he almost got was hypothermia!

Pictured from L to R: Pete Morgan and Matt Norcross.

Young Troll In Da Hoodie

Here's another photo that I recently uncovered from my Christ United Methodist Church Youth Fellowship days in Shippensburg, PA. This photo, taken early in 1986, is from a YF retreat to the legendary A-Frame cabin in Central PA. This is the only known picture that exists of me wearing a hoodie.

Pictured from L to R: Krista Miller, Jennifer Davidson, and Matt Norcross.

Youth Fellowship Volleyball

I heard rumors that some pictures from my 1985 and 1986 Christ United Methodist Church Youth Fellowship days had surfaced.  Though scared at what I might find, I went in search of these.  

What you see here from Summer 1986 is the first glimpse of the 8 photos I discovered.  It's a poor quality picture of a picture but it's nonetheless revealing.  The gratuitous "ass shot" shows me in uncharacteristic colorful clothes.  Sporting an aqua blue shirt and a rainbow striped white swim suit, I'm preparing to return a volley.  Not many photos exist of me wearing colorful clothes but click here for another one captured by Kim (Scott) Hepfer from Spring 1987.

P.S.  Pictured from L to R:  Ruby Appleby, ???, Jen Davidson, Suzie Jacobs, Matt Norcross, Dave Wolfgang, and Ann Shallcross.  The person obscured by me is most likely Pete Morgan.

Need You Tonight

As Dungeon Aire, we had quite an eclectic and adventurous set list for our first and only gig on 12/31/87 at "Number 9" in Shippensburg, PA.  It included such diverse songs as Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop, The Cult - Wildflower, The Suburbs - Monster Man, Mondo Rock - Primitive Love Rights, and even two original songs (Pung and Progressions) that we had written.  Somewhere between all of that, we also chose to perform INXS - Need You Tonight.

Here is a jam box recording from the show which features Brad Shaeffer - Vocals, Matt Skirpan - Guitar, Matt Norcross - Bass, Scott McConnell - Synthesizers, and Tim Harrell - Drum Machine.  It's the only song that Tim played the drum machine.

P.S.  Pictured from L to R: Scott McConnell - Synthesizers and Matt Norcross - Bass.

Ttam Troll Thinking Big

Ttam Troll caught Thinking Big and blocking Kurt Smith's Torment of Tantalus painting at SHAPE's Thinking Big Exhibit in Shippensburg, PA on 04/30/10.

MC2P4 Thinking Big

MC2P4 caught Thinking Big at SHAPE's Thinking Big Exhibit in Shippensburg, PA on 04/30/10.

"This Mistress, come out to play-i-ay!"

After a long trip back from Long Pine Run Dam and a brawl with the Baseball Furies, This Mistress pose for a photo.

Shot near Orange Street in Shippensburg, PA in early 1988, this photo features the original line up of This Mistress (from L to R) Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan, Matt Norcross, Brad Shaeffer, Tim Harrell, Scott McConnell, and Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson.

Dungeon Aire Revisited

Here's another "classic" photo from the first and only Dungeon Aire gig on 12/31/87.  Pictured from L to R:  Matt Norcross - Bass, Matt Skirpan - Guitar, and Brad Shaeffer - Vocals.

This Mistress - Music For Tents Part 2

Here's another photo from the This Mistress performance at Wynn Ruffin's birthday party in Summer 1988. This line up included (from L to R) Matt Norcross - Bass, Scott McConnell - Synthesizer, Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson - Guitar, Tim Harrell - Drums, Ken Chandler - Vocals, and Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan - Guitar.

Read the show report here.

The Chicken Strut and Wooooooo!

In early 1988, Dungeon Aire added a second guitarist, Bart "The Fart" Wilson, and we changed our name to This Mistress. Our first gig under this moniker was during Open Mic Night at The CUB on the campus of Shippensburg University.

However, this show almost didn't happen. Our lead singer, Brad Shaeffer, threatened not to perform. At the time, no one really knew why he was refusing to play but it was later revealed that he didn't want to perform because he hadn't had enough time to rehearse and develop his song and dance moves in front of his mirror.

As this video will attest, maybe we should have honored his request and not performed. You'll bear witness to his infamous "Chicken Strut" dance and bent over "Wooooooo" warblings during the choruses of the song. Remember now, he is a "Monster Man"!

This original six member line up of This Mistress included Brad Shaeffer - Vocals, Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan - Guitar, Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson - Guitar, Scott McConnell - Synthesizer, Matt Norcross - Bass, and Tim Harrell - Drums. Musically, it's a pretty good rendition of a band favorite, The Suburbs - Monster Man. As usual, "Scrap Pap" is slightly out of tune due to his penchant for tuning to the television instead of an instrument tuner but the rest of the band performs well and Scott delivers an inspired synth solo.

P.S. Thanks to Steve Olsen for, again, capturing on video another one of our performances.

This Mistress Pin Collection (1988)

Recently unearthed, the This Mistress Pin Collection is a must have accessory for any leather wearing rocker. Tighten your ammo belt, strap on your spikes, and pin on the "baddest" looking pin set you've ever seen!

The top pin features the early '88 6 piece incarnation of This Mistress. Shot at Long Pine Run Dam, this line up included (from L to R) Tim Harrell - Drums, Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson - Guitar, Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan - Guitar, Matt Norcross - Bass, Brad Shaeffer - Vocals, and Scott McConnell - Synthesizer.

Order your pin set today!

P.S. In case your wondering, this pin set is not for sale and is literally the "baddest" (as in NOT good) pin set I've ever seen.

Band Geek Alert! Part 2

So, if you happen to play electric bass (Matt Norcross) and electric guitar (Dirk Frey) in high school band, what are you supposed to do when it comes time to fulfilling your marching band duties?  Well, this picture holds the answer...  Play bass drum (and imagine it sounds like a LinnDrum).

P.S. This picture is of the Shippensburg Area Senior High School Marching Band and it looks like it is from the 1987 Memorial Day Parade.  I believe that Dave Chandler is also in this picture playing Tuba.

P.S.S.  For more band geek fun, click here.

This Mistress - Music for Tents

Brian Eno released Music for Airports in 1978. Not to be outdone, This Mistress performed Music for Tents 10 years later in the Summer of 1988!

Seriously, one has absolutely nothing to do with the other but This Mistress did perform under a tent during the Summer of 1988 at a birthday party for Wynn Ruffin (sp?) - a professor(?) at Shippensburg University. On the outskirts of Newburg, PA (population 361 in 2008) and in the shadows of Blue Mountain, This Mistress hit the stage (or should I say grass) for one of their final performances. This line up included (from L to R) Matt Norcross - Bass, Scott McConnell - Synthesizer, Tim Harrell - Drums (obscured by Kevin and Ken), Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson - Guitar, Ken Chandler - Vocals, and Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan - Guitar (out of frame on the far right).

This was a fun performance with a lot of people in attendance (including Jennean Hunter - foreground center fan in picture). It also had a sort of "Battle of the Bands" vibe to it since there was another band set up at the other end of the tent facing us. Another memorable thing about the day was the presence of a mobile "head" shop which was attached to the trailer hitch of a vehicle. I guess you never know when you'll need a water pipe in the middle of nowhere! A 10th grade teacher of mine, who was in the other band, was sure glad the "head" shop was there...

Dungeon Aire

During the Fall of 1987, Scott and I began to search for musicians to form a new band. Our previous band, The Secret Society (rev1), had disbanded after Dirk Frey began to pursue Experimental Jazz music which didn't quite fit with what we wanted to do and Larry Lee Fiber had packed up Melqwar (sp?), the Fiber family station wagon, with all his belongings and headed to Los Angeles, CA to pursue a career in the music business. Larry's move to LA also deserves a special note because, with his move, there was no longer a direct Fiber family presence in Shippensburg. Though their shadows were long from UAS (Underhill Albany Station) and LA, things were never quite the same.

Not to be deterred in our pursuit to form a new band, Scott and I visited a band practice session at the home of Griff "Take a Whiff" Townsend in the Fall of 1987 where we saw Tim "LTJTHC" Harrell on drums and Matt "Scrap Pap" Skirpan on guitar. We liked what we heard from Tim and "Pap" and shortly after that practice we asked them to join the band that we were forming. They said yes and we then collectively began our pursuit for a lead singer.

While attending SU (Shippensburg University), Scott met a guy named Brad Shaeffer whom he had some classes with. Brad told Scott that he was a singer so we arranged to go over to his apartment and audition him. We went over and Brad sang Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs. Here's where, in hindsight, we should have realized it wasn't going to work out. We really didn't have any similar musical tastes but we needed a singer and he had a microphone (and a "very" small Gorilla amp) so we recruited him and our band was complete.

Now, since we had a band, we needed to find a place to practice and to line up our first gig. Here's where our friend Kurt Smith came into the picture. Kurt was attending SU and living at 9 Queen St in Shippensburg with some of his future Pi Lamba Phi brothers. They were planning a New Year's Eve party for 12/31/87 and asked us if we would play at the party.

At this point, we still hadn't rehearsed together as a band and there was only a week left before the party. Since it was Christmas break for those of us in college and high school, we were able to practice every day but, needless to say, we had a lot of ground to cover. We needed to pick some songs to play and learn how to play them. We ended up with a 7 song set list which included Pung (an original song), Wild Flower (The Cult), Monster Man (The Suburbs), Need You Tonight (INXS), Progressions (an original song), Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin), and Primitive Love Rights (Mondo Rock).

In addition to picking songs to play and learning how to play them, we also had to pick a name for the band. We had been rehearsing in the basement of 9 Queen St which was also to be the site for our first gig. The basement was affectionately referred to as "The Dungeon" and, as you can see in the picture above, the basement was pretty nasty and was equally "smelly". As an homage to our rehearsal space, we decided on "Dungeon Aire" as the name for our band.

We managed to get through the show and it was well received by the partygoers. They didn't seem to notice that Matt Skirpan's guitar was severely out of tune for most of the set. This was the only gig that we did as "Dungeon Aire" and shortly after this show, we added Kevin "Bart the Fart" Wilson on guitar to the band and changed our name to "This Mistress". More on that in future posts.

There was a jam box recording made of this entire show and, without further ado, here is our version of Monster Man (The Suburbs)...

Band Geek Alert!

Now this is a classic shot!

OK, here's the damage control for this scandalous picture.  In high school (Shippensburg Area Senior High School), I played football and baseball but was also in orchestra and band.  I played double bass in orchestra and electric bass in band.  However, part of band is marching band.  Since I played football, I was not the "traditional" band geek who had to perform at half time and during football games but I was required to perform during parades.  Since I didn't have someone to wheel around an amp with a portable generator, playing electric bass was out of the question.

As this picture demonstrates, the drum line is where I ended up.  I originally played cymbals (Disney World - Orlando FL parade) but later moved to bass drum after I discovered that the drum line had been misplaying the cadence all year long.  Of course, in my head, I imagined the bass drum sounding like a detuned LinnDrum kick but that's another story.

The blurry man running in the left of the picture is Kurt Hargleroad.  Mr (let's be formal) Hargleroad was the band and orchestra instructor/leader at SASHS.  More importantly, he was my mentor and friend.  He taught me double bass technique, music theory, and severely expanded my electric bass playing abilities and love of music.  His instruction and encouragement helped to land me (at age 17) my first professional music gig as electric bassist for Gil James and the Sounds of the Decades (Big Band music) and paved the way for my entrance to college as a music education major at IUP.  He is a key figure from my life and deserves all my thanks and respect.

P.S. Thanks to Kim (Scott) Hepfer for sharing this magical moment from the Newburg Parade in Spring 1988 (CORRECTION - 05/17/87).