The new Fortune CD - 14 years in the making

As I like to joke about my first gig with Fortune, "The Titanic was already at a 45 degree angle when I stepped on board." They were the best band I had ever played with to that point - I practiced down the hall from them in Lynn, MA around 1992, and I cursed them repeatedly as I listened to them going over vocals. They were, in my opinion, the best unsigned band around at that point, and I once joked with their bass player about "doing a Nancy Kerrigan on his elbow" so I could have his gig. Turned out I didn't have to, though it was by accident that I ended up with the gig five years later. I can't say they resembled the same band by the time 1997 came - keyboardist Jeremy Heussi had retired, and the original music scene had all but dried up on the North Shore of Boston. The very thing that had separated Fortune from the rest of the hard rock/metal bands of the area - the ability to play cover songs just like the original recordings - had sucked most of the air out of the balloon. "I think it was one particular gig where we were playing 'Lido Shuffle' that I decided it was time for a break," Jeremy told me in 2005, two years after he reemerged to reclaim his spot in the band. Yes, the lure of money will make you play anything, but the repetition of playing the same songs over and over will lead you to search for different types of stuff to play. No one could ever accuse Fortune of being a one dimensional metal band - Toto, Journey, Boston, Boz Skaggs, The Little River Band, Queensryche - we certainly tried to keep it interesting. I remember driving with Bob up to a show in Manchester, NH, and was telling him how cool it was to finally be in a band of this caliber...he said, "I've been burnt out for so long, I can't even believe I'm still doing this." O...K....I began to notice that "Where are the originals?!?" became the most asked question, once I started running the website and corresponding with people by e-mail. I recall a good friend of mine grabbing me before a show early in 1997 at the Town Line in Malden, MA. He excitedly said, "I was driving by and saw on the sign that you were here tonight! I can't wait to see you guys again." After the first set, his enthusiasm hadn't died down any, but he was now excited for a different reason. "What the ... is this ...!! What's with Toto and the Doobie Brothers?? Where are the originals? Where's the Queensryche?? You guys SUCK!!" Truthfully, we were doing a little bit of writing, but we pretty much abandoned it completely throughout the rest of 1997 and 1998. We actually called it a day at the end of 1998, and probably wouldn't have started playing again so soon if not for the fact that the dissolving of the corporation led us to play a few gigs for tax money. I recall that first gig nine months into 1999 and feeling like the band was really into it, but we pretty much ...ged along right into 2002 as nothing more than a cover band. We still played about 4-5 originals every show, but people still seemed to know the band for the Boston and Journey songs we covered. During Jeremy's absence, we were very lucky to have capable fill-ins. Our friends Brian Maes and Steve Baker, both phenomenal keyboard players, are about as talented as you can possibly get, and they made their presence felt at every show. But there is something to be said for the sounds that an original player makes - in truth, Jeremy is a huge ingredient in the sound of the band that no one was going to be able to replace. He sits back, quiet as a cat, while Bill might be showing us a song he wrote. He'll tinker around with a few things, and then out of nowhere a sound or a part will be added in that underlines and validates his importance. Just like that.In the spring of 1996, I was sitting at a bar on Route 1 in Saugus, MA with Dickie and Jeremy, as we watched Dickie Paris Sr. stretching out his golden vocal chords. I don't know why it came to me like it did, but I asked Jeremy, "Have you been writing anything new?" Within two minutes, Jeremy, Dick, and I had made plans to meet at Bill's house to see what we could work on. Bill, it turns out, had an untold amount of ideas, and Pete started sifting through his tapes as well, while Bob started gathering lyrical ideas. It became an every Tuesday ritual to meet at Bill's house to work on potential songs. Someone usually couldn't make it, but it led to different combinations of us getting together, and it helped shape the songs by working on different parts. So you wonder, "Well, that was 2006 - what the hell have you been doing for four years?" Rome wasn't built in a day...and the new Fortune CD certainly wasn't going to happen right away, either. We just work that way...or don't. We're very excited for the upcoming show at the Blue Ocean Music Hall at Salisbury Beach. With any luck, we should have a handful of new ones to add to the set, including one we've done a few times, "Come Back." As for the CD? Definitely in 2011, but maybe sooner. You'll certainly be hearing the songs at all the upcoming shows, as we write them!