OK…..well this was a deviation from my usual type of music…that’s for sure.
I’d gone on a 6 month backpacking trip to South America and when I got back I thought it would be good to get my vocal chops back and what type of music fit the bill….Country Swing!
This band was made up of : Bob Haist: Guitar, Bart Derstepanian: Drums, myself on Bass and this wonderful singer: Deborah Finkle.
We billed ourselves as The Bowlegged Barnes Brothers and Missy. A great name for a country swing band. We played a lot of Asleep At The Wheel and of course Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Of course, none of us were related but that didn’t matter. Guys kept coming up to us on stage asking if they could dance with our sister.
We worked for 5 months on our four party harmonies before playing a gig. Unfortunately the band lasted about one year as all people wanted to hear at that time in the country bars was The Gambler, which we actually did play. It felt like The Blues Brothers in their movie being told: “We play both kinds of music, Country and Western”
Instead of giving up we decided to change directions and call ourselves:
“Hogtown”
(this is the nickname for Toronto, along with “The Six”)