As I started on my musical journey, what is the first things that happen?  Obvious answer, is being a musician you need to buy equipment -DUH! Well at 16 when I really embarked on my journey the first things purchased were a Fender Precision Bass Guitar (with a “C” neck) and an SVT amplifier with a double stack 15″ JBL speakers. Then in the next 3 to 4 years I started to accumulate other equipment odd’s and ends. A SM 58 microphone, a few mic stands, a small 8 channel Tascam mixing board, Mic cords a Mic snake, etc, etc, etc.. Before you know it I had enough for a small but serviceable PA system that we could use in my home studio (or should I say My parents house) GOD BLESS THEM! Yes God bless them for putting up with years of banging and loud music while they sat in the living room below my so called studio with the TV on 10 so they can drown out the noise, I mean music-My parents were the best! Then came our  first Lampshades show. It was in my high school, Mineola, New York in which I had already graduated a few years before but 2 of the Band members, Gary and Pete were in their senior year and got us the gig to play for the senior group. As said above, I had enough equipment for a small PA system and brought in everything the day before the show to this fairly large school auditorium. So we set up for a sound check and quite frankly it did not sound very good as we really did not have enough equipment to accommodate the space and the mixing board only had the 8 channels. Four of the channels were used for vocal mic’s and we only had 4 left for the drums, bass guitar, keyboards and lead guitar–ugh! – not nearly enough to cover. I can’t remember how it happened, I know John Kessler had some equipment to lend us and we either purchased or was lent the additional mixer that gave us another 12 channels. The next day when we did the show I distinctly remember one of the teachers that heard our sound check the day before comment how good it sounded verses the day before sound check. It still took another couple of years for Centour Sound to fully be up and running with getting a friend involved , Bill Veldran, who became the co-owner of Centour Sound.

More to come on Centour Sound…….