O Greg!

I reconnected with an old friend recently. He was the lead singer, songwriter, and virtuoso guitarist for the band No Flies on Nigel back in Baltimore in the early 1990's. Greg is a terrific storyteller, a quality he immediately put on display at our reunion, and something which I had forgotten about. This man can weave a tale, with the laughter and the suspense and the insanity set to "11" the whole way.

One of the first stories he told was about when he first saw One Way Dog, another Baltimore band of the time. He had recently been lamenting that No Flies didn't seem to fit in with the Baltimore music scene at the time, being dominated by a loud, heavy sound equal parts Seattle flannel, DC punk, and Hammerjacks hair. What he heard at the One Way Dog show convinced him that they were compatriots in a different, more eclectic, more melodic sound, and he set about to meet them and to form a partnership.

Just a few nights later, No Flies was playing at E. Jay Buggs when Maddog and I went in to check about getting a gig for Here Are The Facts You Requested. There were few people in the bar that night, as was typical. But the band was terrific. Like HATFYR, they didn't seem to fit in with the Baltimore music scene at the time. I knew immediately that they were compatriots, and I set about to meet them and to form a partnership.

A few weeks later, Greg took me to see One Way Dog at the American Revolution, just around the corner from my apartment. Later Greg took me to a Puddle show at Towson State. (More on Puddle later.) The eventual result was a loose confederation of bands we called Stock & Pillory. We shared resources, fans, drums, amps, gigs, beer, and band members until HATFYR left Baltimore in 1994.

Greg is a music teacher now, and he also told me a story about a student of his who he felt was ready for some lessons in improvisation. Greg taught him a simple chord pattern, and then invited the student to improvise a lead guitar part while he repeated the chords. The chord pattern was the Here Are The Facts You Requested song called O.



I was flattered that Greg chose these chords to give and example of jamming, and reminded how he loved that song in particular. I love it too. I am happy that we've shared the experience of making music together, and excited that our proximity allows us to revive our friendship.

Before we left Baltimore, Greg recorded a song for us that expressed his love in signature fashion. He played every part himself and it was damn near better than anything we had recorded ourselves. We called it O Greg!