by Steve Ruff
Brian was 15 years old when he first met Michael Knott. They have a long personal and musical relationship. I talked to Brian about reconnecting with Michael and about their upcoming projects. This is what he said, “Mike and I just ran into each other a few months back. He asked what I had been doing, I asked what he had been up to. I told him I had 3 months sober at that point, he couldn’t believe it but he said that was great! He told me he was still doing solo records and L.S.U. records, and I said, ‘That’s great man, who the hell is in L.S.U. (laughter).’ Mike told me that he had got a bunch of guys together and that they were recording right now and he said, “Why don’t you come in and do some guitar work.” I told him that if it was alright with the other guys in his band that I would be honored to come in and play… so I went in, played and it sounded really good and I was happy with it. Ya know, it was really fun, and I thought ‘Ahhhhh, this is how it’s supposed to be.’
“Mike’s also doing this solo record, Even Star, and I’m doing bass on that, already recorded a couple of tracks and it came out really good.” I asked Brian if he was going to be playing on the new Lifesavers record and he said, “He hasn’t said anything to me about it, I know the main thing we’re trying to finish up right now is the L.S.U. record, and then I think next is the Even Star record, but I’m sure if he does a Lifesavers thing… I think that’s the more ‘pop’ part of the whole deal he does… I haven’t talked to him about it, but I would be happy to play on anything that he does if I can help out in anyway.” Brian and I started talking about the last time he played with Michael and he reminisced, “The last L.S.U. record that I played on was Grace Shaker, and I’m really proud of that record, but I don’t think people got that one either. Then we brought in the Aunt Betty’s guys for the harder stuff on that record and it came out really well… but now, the new L.S.U. record, that thing is heavy! I thought, wow, L.S.U. has really changed while I was gone. It was cool, I was able to blend in a little bit and throw the old Doidge sound in there, but it was a lot heavier than I expected.”
When I told Brian how cool I thought it was that he and Michael were back in touch and making music together again he said, “Yeah, it’s kind of odd how things happen. I reconnected through sobriety and the program. I reconnected with God and He’s back in my life on a regular basis, and I’m sure that has a lot to do with it ya know. I just pray, God, what am I supposed to do now, I didn’t die so why am I here? These doors just start opening ya know… it’s the weirdest thing. It’s been fun, I didn’t think I would ever play again, and now it looks like it might be part of the future.”
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