The Empty's (Ex The Forgotten) Debut!

ahhhhh my bands first gig! I have not stepped onstage in nearly 14 years, it is a long time coming. Back then I was playing bass in a band called The Forgotten. We were riding high with tours, singles, albums, comp. tracks being released, high profile tours and shows. I played bass and back up vocals. Everything was flying high, or so I thought. After putting so much into my prior band, Slip with Gordy (vocalist for both Slip and The Forgotten), I was hitting burn out. I decided to walk away at the most in-opportune time as the band was just about to really take off and be what they are today. Regrets? Oh yeah, some for sure. But hey, I had to move on. I was 35 and finishing college, tiring of living in a shit hole where the band practiced and the world revolved around. I was bartending and just getting the bug to.....well, grow up. Fast forward, and now I am married, have a great stepson, live near Santa Cruz (near the beach) and have a good job (that I hate) and have settled into middle age. I turned my hobby pursuits to other things, mainly outdoor pursuits that I still dig to this day. Backpacking, snowshoing, cross country skiing, etc. Though, there was one thing bugging me. I just cannot get music out of my blood. I am born to play. Well there I was sitting around one Thanksgiving weekend when my wife presented me with a real nice acoustic guitar purchased from our friend Greg Lisher of Camper Van Beethoven. Certified rock guitar!!! All it took was some strumming and the fire was ignited once again. This leads up to the here and now. I now play guitar (rather poorly) and sing (rather poorly) in a band with 3 other unsuspecting bandmates. We're called The Empty's. I would say our sound is akin to The Ruts, Clash, SLF as well as some more modern American punk bands like Swingin Utters, Workin Stiffs, Social Distortion. This is for fun. All smiles and no pretense. The best part is I will be on stage again in July. Smiling my life away! A kid in a candy shop!