Lost Forty Fives

Bio:

If there is one recurring theme on that roller coaster ride known as Lost Forty Fives, it is forward progress. From their tentative cover song beginning to their present day original music focus, a small but fiercely loyal cadre of L45 supporters repeat, “…every time we hear you guys play, it just gets better and better.” As is the case most of the time, the people know what they are talking about. With Credence and the Ramones as common ground, a group of then-second grade fathers came together in a New Haven, Connecticut basement in the summer of 2000 with little in the way of expectations. It would have been easier to simply remain hidden in that escape-from-the-kids basement, but that was not to be the case as parties and paying gigs soon became a surprising reality. In that first year, cover tunes ranging from the Monkees to Dylan to Blue Oyster Cult appeared to be the focus. But…there was that one original tune…a ringing, trippy, falsetto nugget honed directly from the 60’s FM radio dial…and it always got a great crowd reaction. Truth be told, there existed right from the beginning an unarticulated tension within the band as to the merits of original music versus covers. As the band entered its second year, a few more originals mysteriously crept into the sets, almost as if a challenge were being issued to both the band and its audience. The debate climaxed in May of 2002 when the band packed the gym where its children attend school, and little did that enthusiastic audience realize that the band they were wildly cheering for was about to shed its skin. In this case, that meant covering up the covers and emphasizing the original music. For a while there at the end of 2002, no one really knew what Lost Forty Fives were up to. Had they disappeared? Maybe they had peaked. The reality was that a quintet became a quartet, the guitar players wrote songs and the practices became more intense as the remaining band members all realized that now was the time to make their respective contributions to the original music that was emerging. With a menu ranging from folk rock, orchestrated pop, psycho/punk, and what no one wants to admit might be country, there was much that needed to be refined. So it was back to the basement to hone and nurture that original music muse, and this time there was only one obvious way to reemerge from that basement. It was time to make a record. Having no idea what they were about to embark upon, Lost Forty Fives entered the venerable Trod Nossel recording studio in February of 2003. At that time, there was probably varying opinion within the band as to whether they were making a demo to secure gigs or whether they were actually making a record. But after that first session when the band laid down six tracks live to tape and on playback heard themselves as they had never heard before, the allure of the studio bit them hard and there would be no looking back until a record they could all be proud of emerged. Battling stressful day jobs and family commitments, engineer departures, lost mixes and the general peace and tranquility that emerges when four competitive males engage in a creative process, the band persevered with tracking taking place from February through November of 2003, with mixing finishing up in March 2004. What emerged were twelve songs written, performed, produced and mixed by the band. A daunting task, to say the least, since no one in the band had ever done a studio record before. In May of 2004, Faith and Glory was released on an unsuspecting public who immediately realized that the band had taken a quantum leap forward. The record’s twelve tracks seemed to strike just the right balance between the raw energy of the band’s live performance and an unabashed affinity for the polish of the studio. Packing an ultra-hip New Haven, CT nightspot for its CD release party, the band relished getting back in front of a live audience for the first time in a year. Faith and Glory was naturally showcased, and in what can only be viewed as delicious full circle irony, some of those cover tunes also came back out of the closet. Thrills and highlights continue to abound for the band as they were selected to compete in Little Steven’s Underground Garage competition, and they were also selected to open for South Side Johnny and Johnny Winter in July and November of this year at Toad’s Place, one of the premier rock clubs in the Northeast. Time will tell what’s in store next for Lost Forty Fives, but there probably won’t be much time spent looking in the rear view mirror.

Member Since:

August 19, 2007

Members:

Bob - Vocals & Guitar, Mike - Bass, Rick - Drums, Tim - Keyboards & Brass, Tom - Vocals & Guitar

Influences:

From a Review by Gary Vollano / Indpendisc.com - You know when an LP such as Faith and Glory starts with a “1, 2 ah, 1, 2, 3, 4” count off, that what you are going to get is a flowing pop sound. One that harkens back to an era defined by blues fueled guitar solos and chiming, high-strung, rhythm guitar work. Fed through amps that produce an intoxicating “dirty” sound (a la` The Standells), it mixes with a bass and drum backbeat that is just that: a Backbeat. A backbeat so pronounced that it gallops the sound straight through the entire LP and lets us run with the folly of genuine bliss. It’s easy to see that Lost Forty Fives’ record collections contained the 45s of the golden garage era. The influence of Al Anderson’s pre-NRBQ group The Wildweeds is unbelievably present (I’m Ready, A Day Without You), as well as early Brian Jones era Rolling Stones (Walking All Alone Today) and Buddy Holly-esque rave ups (Listen To Me, Faith and Glory). There are also countless reflections both instrumentally and vocally to such greats as The Young Rascals, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Turtles, The Grass Roots, The Guess Who, Buffalo Springfield, The Hollies, Paul Revere and The Raiders and if you wanted to break out the “Nuggets” box set, the list can go on and on. Whether you are 45 or 17 and Lost, whether you are in your mom & dads basement, or in your own garage - grab the little plastic thingie that goes into the middle of the record and grab Faith and Glory. It offers the reprieve in life that we all seek. Get out those Lost Forty Fives and let’s rock-n-roll down the road of life.

Record Label:

Unsigned