Bootlegs

In the late 90s I experimented with 4-track cassette recording, then with software DAW multitrack recording and CD burning, and I took the time to actually design and print labels for my own casettes and CDs along with cases, tray liners, etc..  After that, I designed my own digital cover art for some early public releases using the CD Baby distribution service, direct distribution to those that would allow it, and also directly to Amazon for CDs.  At some point I "took down" some of the early albums, switched digital distributors a couple times, and re-released some with the same titles, but with revised song inclusion and track orders.  So, there could be some actual bootlegs of early versions of my albums out there in the wild still.  Some of those early experiments are displayed below.

The "Band":  Pictured above was a band I was very briefly in with two other guys.  We had various names for the group, but I think we called ourselves "Surreal" for unknown reasons, if memory serves.  All three of us worked at the Domino's Pizza in Vail.  We played at least one Open Mic Night where this picture was taken and used for a story about the local music scene in a newspaper called The Vail Trail, and a female friend of ours whose name I can't recall gave me a copy of this photo in a frame which I still have and cropped for the cover art of my first proper album Moon Dreams.

Singer Jon:  Attended his wedding at Eagle's Nest on Vail mountain, then never saw him again.  Don't remember his last name, or his wife's name, and never heard what became of him, but he was a great singer.

Guitar Player Eric:  His last name I do remember - it's Whirley (not sure about the spelling).  From what I've gathered, he stayed in the Vail Valley, became a taxidermist, and plays lead guitar in a band called Primal J and the Neanderthals.  Insofar as his being in said band in that area, he is living a dream I once had, hence I live vicariously.

I doubt there are any bootleg recordings of this band, but I threw the picture on this page anyway, for no apparent reason, except that I also used it for the J-card on a cassette I called Midnight On The Moon (the cover art for which I also cropped the other two guys out of), which was a precursor to the actual Moon Dreams album.