Write. Rehearse. Repeat. Perform.

The Stories Behind The Songs

Write. Rehearse. Repeat. Perform.

Write. Rehearse. Repeat. Perform. 

 

The common misconception of a touring musician is that the rock & roll lifestyle is all glamour and glitz. This lifestyle is portrayed with an abundance of parties, drugs, groupies, and famous celebrities in the company of the aforementioned band.  

Although there is a small amount of truth to this, this is not a 24/7 reality.   

This illusion of the rock & roll lifestyle is exaggerated by record labels and media to increase public interest.  The desired intention is to make the band look larger than life so that it will generate more attention.  More attention, in turn, becomes more fans, and more fans increases record sales and the financial bottom line.  

Sounds like a grand lifestyle, and there’s no doubt a band like Van Halen, KISS, or Aerosmith enjoyed plenty of this excess in their lifetime. This becomes the staple for which bands gage their success.  

To discredit this lifestyle would not be totally accurate either. Parties did happen, groupies did exist, and the drugs were available. The reality of it just looked a lot different than it was portrayed in magazines or music videos.  

Although I never had the pleasure of touring with my own band, I was able to go on the road with Devin on a couple of occasions.  Of course, by this time, they had already been on the road for over three years.  I didn’t see them in the early years, I only heard the stories.  

When you’re a young band, the need to play on a stage outweighs all other desires.  The euphoric rush you feel when you’re performing in front of a crowd is addicting.  I know this feeling and I can tell you there is no greater high.  

Eddie would share stories of Devin’s first shows in great detail while we were traveling through Louisiana on our way into Mississippi.  Eddie was driving and I was riding shotgun.  

The band had just played at Tipitina’s in New Orleans.  Everyone was still pumped up after an excellent show.  Tipitina’s was a new venue for Star-Crossed Lovers and the band had just dominated their audience.  

I was tagging along on the road with the band as an additional roadie.  They had played the Vatican in Houston the day before.  I was in between jobs and collecting unemployment at the time.  I wanted to experience what it was like to be on tour.   

I was half-way joking about leaving with the band, but Devin was all for it, and I had nothing holding me back.  He persuaded the guys that this was a good idea, and they squeezed me in.  I went home packed some things, kissed my girlfriend goodbye and I was road bound. 

A van with six people is already uncomfortable, but a van with seven people can become a little overwhelming.  I pulled my weight to make it work.  

Devin’s debut performance was a high school talent show in his sophomore year of high school.  He was nervous but he never let it show.  He had just joined his brother’s band as the lead singer the previous summer.   

The band was still known as The Saints of Valhalla, a band moniker that Steven had been proud of.  It was his vision to follow in the steps of the mighty Led Zeppelin.   

They learned three cover songs to perform for the show.  The show was a complete adrenaline rush.  The band won first place.  Devin remembers that his life changed that day.   

The caveat of the evening was getting Nora’s phone number.  Nora Whitwood would become Devin’s high school sweetheart and his longest lasting relationship.  They were together for close to five years, and remain close friends to this day.  

Devin was only a sophomore, but the other members of the band were older.  Two were in their senior year and the other two had graduated the year before.  

Devin and Eddie started their first year of high school in 1983. Both completely excited and a little intimidated as they entered the front doors of James Monroe High School for the first time.  

Devin and Eddie had been best friends since the third grade.  Eddie moved to Rochester from Philadelphia.  His parents were divorced, and his mother had moved to Rochester to be closer to her family.  She wanted Eddie to grow up in a safer place.  

Eddie’s mother worked two jobs as a single parent, so Eddie spent a lot of time at his grandmother’s house. Devin’s family lived two houses away.  Eddie remembers that Devin was an awkward kid like himself.  Their friendship was pretty immediate, and they have been inseparable ever since.  

Devin and Eddie were only 15 at the time, so shows consisted of house parties or high school auditoriums.  The band played about half a dozen shows their first year, but the fever for performing had already taken root.  

The following summer, the band began increasing its performance area to include high school auditoriums and clubs throughout the WNY district.  To play the clubs, they would either lie about Devin and Eddie’s age, or the shows would have to accompanied by a parent.  Devin’s parents were the most frequent to volunteer.  

They also started adding original material to their sets as they traveled to Buffalo and Jamestown.  As a result of a local radio station playing a couple of their songs, the band began to notice an increase of fans in attendance.  

By the following summer, they would expand their footprint to cover central and east New York as well.  

The weeks became a series of repetitions.  Star-Crossed Lovers developed a routine of writing, rehearsing, performing, and continually repeating the process.   

Life was good.

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One of the great things about music is that it lives on forever!!”

— Dodd Michael Lede