Regrettably, one of the most rewarding of my personal accomplishments has come to a close. The band Gridlock no longer exists. Our last gig was the Halloween party for Bradshaw Farms on October 25th. The following night our lead singer and bass player both resigned. Neither Tony nor Mick showed any real interest in continuing this project, so we are closing shop.

I started with a crappy little garage band in the basement of my home in 1999. Very shortly thereafter, I invited Joe Everett to sing for us. In 2002, we had a significant lineup change and added Dan Murphy on bass, Mick Pinneke on drums, and finally Tony Garcia on guitars. The original Gridlock was born.

Our enthusiasm seemed to extend beyond just the music; we truly enjoyed hanging out with one another and we demonstrated that when we played. But somewhere along the line we lost that enthusiasm. The guys started drifting apart for various reasons - musical tastes, the direction of the band, business travel, and personal issues all took their toll. We've had members leave and rejoin, but we've always attempted to rebound. Not this time.

Make no mistake about it, Gridlock was my baby and I'm a little bitter about the way this came to an end. It's nobody's fault I guess, but it has made me realize that perhaps I was the only one that still felt the way I did about "us". Sad.

I am not ready to quit playing live music but the task before me is daunting. It takes a lot to pull together five guys who share the same vision - that, ladies and gentlemen, is why good bands come and go but great bands live forever - but I'm going to give it a try. It will take some time and effort, though. Most of you know how to reach me...call me if you're interested or know of someone who is.

Until next time, I thank you all for supporting us. On a personal level, nothing I have ever done has been so rewarding. Playing live is a huge adreneline rush and on the nights when things went right, there was nothing like it. I have met some great people along the way and the enthusiasm that many of you have shown for our performances has made me very proud. A special thanks goes out to the oiginal Redheaded Sl*ts, who made us feel like rock stars so many years ago by cheering us on at our very first public performance.

For all of us - Joe, Dan, Mick, Tony, Grant, and John - it has been an honor and a joy.

Tucker