Overland Stage Epic 1972

From former member, Steve Babb:

Epic signed us as rock band. Song writers for the band became Christian and material changed dramatically from what Epic thought they were getting. Flew us out to San Francisco in February of 72 (which was pretty nice when you are 22 and living in Fargo).

Equipment that we had in studio sucked. Rehearsal gear was great, studio gear was not. Bass amp and one of the guitar amps had blown speakers. I went direct, no big deal. Lead guitarist ended up using an acoustic guitar for most of his parts. That was a big deal. It changed the sound of the band completely. Producer made us record a George Clinton song that we hated then released it as a single. It did well only in Fargo.

Major city follow up tour never materialized because guitarist did not want to quit his job as a hospital orderly ($69 a week). The saying for the band for the next year was"Goodbye Chicago, goodbye big time." All in all, I am very glad everything worked out as it did.

Four of the members still live in the Fargo area. I live 50 miles away at the lakes. I still play part time in a band with one of the guitarists, Don Miller. The drummer (who wrote most of the material) is an owner of an advertising agency. He does a lot of jingles. He is an incredible song writer who has released an album on his own. He still works with our original producer, Bob Destocki on various projects. The other guitarist, Rick Johnsgard plays part time in a 3 piece variety band in Fargo. The singer owns a Tastee Freeze and is still very involved in Christian music. The keyboardist, Jim Flint now lives in Chico, California and is in the construction business.

April 2004