"....You're Adrian!"

The title of this posting is part of what Barry Tashian said when I snuck up on him and asked "Excuse me, are The Outskirts playing here tonight?" The first part of his exclamation ("Holy s---,) is unprintable in its truest form. To find out the story behind his shocked response, read on......

Monday, October 26 2009, was the evening of a magical event when I got to re-unite with two old musical friends that I hadn't seen in over 28 years. It was also the occasion for me, as a recovering alcoholic (26 years) to do my required ninth step and offer to make amends to these people for the problems I had caused them with my drinking. They were extremely loving and gracious and not only accepted my apology but offered much-needed forgiveness as well. This was an important step in my recovery even after all these years of sobriety. Praise God!

The venue was the Sarasota Sailing Squadron facility on Sarasota Harbor on an open-air pavilion. The weather was almost perfect (just a tad, bit much humidity). The occasion being Barry and Holly Tashian on tour, making their one-nighter here in little old Sarasota (SRQ) so I just had to go see them.

I first met B&H in 1976 when I answered a newspaper ad for a bass player for a country band. I tried out and got the job. From there we formed The Outskirts doing country and vintage Rock music. The original lineup had Barry playing drums, Holly on rythm guitar, Charlie Gillen lead guitar, and yours truly on bass. For our first few months we also had an excellent pedal-steel guitarist, Tony Prior, but he left for some reason I don't remember. Except for Tony, we all sang and all did harmonies and lead vocals. Our first gig was at Levitt Pavilion on June 5, 1976. The show started with Barry's other band, The Schemers doing vintage rock-n-roll followed by The Outskirts with the sound of country and more rock-n-roll. The band went through one minor personnel change for a while when Barry decided to devote his energies to The Schemers so we ended up with a different drummer. He didn't last too long and finally Barry came back and brought the drummer from The Schemers, Peter "Pico" Rankin, so Barry took over lead guitar duties. This was the band lineup until I eventually moved on in 1978 after getting an offer to play guitar, which was my first love, for Nashville Express, another local band in the Southwestern CT area. I still stayed active with The Outskirts on a part-time basis, working with them on off-nights (meaning, not Friday and Saturday) as they needed me for club gigs.

Eventually they stopped playing for a long spell and we basically just drifted apart completely, I think in late 1979. They ended-up heading for the bright lights of NYC where things really started to happen and, long story short, Barry got a gig playing with Emmylou Harris as part of her Hot Band throughout most of the '80s. He had known Emmylou very well in the '60s when they all lived in California and all were involved with Gram Parsons and his various musical endeavours. Barry was an early member of the seminal International Submarine Band, and later his very well-known, Boston-based band, The Remains, was the opening band for The Beatles on their 1966 American tour. The Outskirts' move off to NYC in the early '80s is about the time we lost touch but I followed their musical career as much as possible and later via the internet.

When I saw this SRQ concert date listed on their tour schedule I just had to go. It was fantastic to catch up on news and events and try to cram as much as possible into basically just a half hour. They were totally surprised and shocked to see me, especially here in SRQ. I told them that they have a standing invitation to get together any time they come here, especially if they can budget enough time to 'do' lunch or dinner.

I know in my deepest heart that God allowed this to happen at just the right time. I know it because it felt right and all came together effortlessly. I sincerely hope that there will be more opportunities to see them again. Life is getting shorter and I sure hope we can squeeze in a few more good times.

If you read this guys, it was absolutely fantastic to see you again...you really haven't changed so very much and the music is totally awesome. I really hope we can do it again!

See more of Barry & Holly, read about them, listen to choice album cuts, buy their CDs and follow their tour dates on their web site. You can also get a copy of Barry's book, Ticket to Ride, which chronicles the adventures of his tour with The Beatles. Their web site link is in my 'Interesting links" on the sidebar at left. If you like top quality country and a bit o' bluegrass music you'll enjoy getting to know these two veteran performers.