Broadside Electric : Interview : Page 4

Ashley D'Andrea talks about meeting the band:

Amy:	When did you first hear of Broadside Electric and what did you think of them?
Ashley:	First time I heard them was on a quadruple bill at the Chameleon Club, Chapman Stick® Night in 1996. Ray Ashley and I were playing together outside of New Jersey for the first time. We played our set, and later on these three crazy people [points to Tom, Jim and Helene] took to the stage, and we were out in the audience and I just totally flipped. I think when I heard "As I Roved Out" – I kind of snapped my head to attention. I was watching all the way through but when I heard that: "What the hell is this?!"
Jim:	That was an agonizing night, because I was nervous enough about playing with these really big Stick players, and then –
Helene:	And there was this assumption that everybody was better than you. That everybody was going to play longer than you.
Jim:	That was my assumption.
Ashley:	You had Greg Howard who, let's face it, is simply phenomenal.
Jim:	Tom had no control over this, but Tom broke two strings that night, and during downtime people would shout out: "Stick solo!" And I'd be "Oh, God …"
Ashley:	I was just too into it, and I know your soundman, Mike Ciul, was there at the time. I didn't know who Mike was, I didn't know he was associated with you at that point. Anyway, we all chatted afterwards, and I think we discovered we all liked Steeleye Span, and we took photos. Somehow, I don't know if I brought it up or somebody brought it up: Horslips. [Horslips is an Irish folk / rock band] Someone said "Hey, we gotta get together and do a Horslips tribute."
Tom:	I don't remember that coming up that night.
Ashley:	Yeah! That came up, and we agreed "we'll have to do that sometime." And that's the last I heard of them for a while. But at the time I was thinking: "Man, I would kill to play drums in that band someday."
Jim:	Who did you kill?
Ashley:	Oh, I meant that metaphorically.
Helene:	And deep down we were thinking: "Wow, a drummer who likes Steeleye Span. This must be who we've been looking for all this time. Too bad he lives so far away. It'll never happen."
Ashley:	That's what I thought: "I'm just too far away to do anything useful." So I pretty much thought it was a nice pipe dream and eventually forgot about it.

Forming the Band | Helene Joins | From 1991-1997 | Ashley Meets B.E. | Amy Meets B.E. | Ashley and Amy Join | The Philadelphia Folk Festival | It's New All Over Again | Adding Drums | Fun with Woodwinds | Arranging | Traditional Music | Complete Interview
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