Some Welcome News

After the gig in East Hartford had ended, I experienced an uncomfortable awareness that if something really positive didn't happen soon, the increasingly erratic behavior Charles was starting to exhibit could put Avalanche in real jeopardy. I knew Charles was the most fragile guy in the band. He was easily frustrated, and had a short fuse, especially if he had a few drinks in him. Fortunately, the call I needed to get, came a few days later, from Annie in New York City. She was calling to let me know that she had just had a conversation with Tony Oteda, the personal manager and mastermind behind the success of the band Foghat, who had business dealings with Annie, and A.T.I. He had told her that he had heard Avalanche's record, and that he loved the band. He felt we had incredible potential, but we needed an experienced manager. It was his intention to be that manager. He had told Annie that it would be about 90 days before he would be able to meet with me, to discuss signing a management deal, because he was totally involved with finishing the construction of a quarter million dollar recording studio that he was building for Foghat. And shortly thereafter, it was his intention to bring us into that new studio to record. He believed after we had done that, shopping the finished recordings and getting us signed to a major recording contract would happen very quickly. Annie passed along a message from him..just hang on for 90 days more. I was quiet for a moment as I let the words sink in. And I realized..this was it. All we had to do was what we had been doing anyway for the past two years... for 90 days more... and everything we had been working towards would finally happen, and every problem that I had been responsible for fixing could finally be handed off to a person with far greater experience in those areas, and I would be able to concentrate on just playing in and leading this band. A great sense of relief flooded over me, and for the first time, I realized the exhausting load and responsibility I had been carrying for so long would soon be over. I thanked Annie, told her I'd be in touch, and hung up. It felt like a great burden had been lifted...and for quite a while I just sat there...