All about "Black Annie"
"My entire being is a mixture
"Black Annie"... What a wonderous and strange tale that is.
It all started one stormy night back in 1990.
Actually, I don't really remember if it were stormy or not, but it makes a good opener.
I was a Junior in High School and had learned about a band that needed a back-up singer.
As those who are close to me know, I was an avid singer at that time with a lung capacity of nearly three minutes and an ear that could pick out endless harmonies.
Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.
Especially when I heard that a fellow choir member was trying out as well.
This particular songstress was one of unequivicable power and poise.
Her name... Jen Struble.
Jen and I tried out for that band, then called "Interpol" for no obvious reasons.
Since we were the only two applicants we got the parts.
We loved it!!!!!
Singing with that band was the most fun I had in High School.
We had one 'gig' at Bastille's under 18 club.
We opened for a band that looked and sounded exactly like "The Cure", one of my personal all-time favorites.
The gig went well; we sang our little sixteen-year-old hearts out!
Months went by and there was dissension among the band members:
The bass player was moody and distant,
Jen was in love with the lead singer,
The drummer was in love with Jen (in addition to being her best friend),
Nick- the keyboardist- and I were falling in love,
and the lead singer was a jerk.
It was failing due to the simple things that break even the most famous and successful bands apart:
Emotions!
Well, at least it wasn't drugs or death or any of those terrible things!
Nick and I split from the rest of the band to find some different people to work with.
Jen stayed with "Interpol" until the end.
We all remained friends somehow.
The people that Nick and I found were Matt Holtman, Todd Obermueller and Robin, Todd's sister.
When Robin left, Ryan McArthur came along.
We later replaced Todd with Jeremy Pierson.
But the main core of Black Annie, in my mind, will always be Nick (bass guitar), Matt (lead guitar), Jeremy (drums), and me (vocals).
Nick taught himself to play bass.
Matt was and still is one of the finest guitar players I ever had the extreme pleasure of working with.
Jeremy, a heavy metal drummer, tempered his style and enthusiasm immensely to meet our needs.
I was just singing. I really like to do that.
Black Annie wrote about twenty or so songs.
A lot of them started out as prose that I had written nowhere near a melody.
Matt and I worked endlessly, finding ways for existing works of mine to fit with beautiful riffs he made up.
Matt wrote the words to one of my favorite Black Annie songs, Winter in England.
Jeremy wrote a fabulous drum line to Here I am.
Nick wrote a neat bass solo in Shame.
I added a lot (probably too much) in the way of vocal coloratura to every song.
We enjoyed ourselves so much and only played out a few times.
It was Kismet!
I still have recordings of old Black Annie songs.
If you're interested in hearing your old favorites again, contact me! I'd love to share those memories with an old friend!
By the way, the name of the band was created by Todd Obermueller.
He once knew this African-American woman whose name was Annie
At the time we were thinking of a name I had red curly hair like "Little Orphan Annie" and always dressed in black.
It seemed like a close enough match for such a cool name.
of swirling experiences,
tasted through different lives I have lived
throughout history..."
Winter in England
"Black Annie"
