Starting my First Band

Creating KouseFly and becoming a real band in Bend, Oregon

I call him “Bird” by his request but he is the first music collaborator I worked with. We teamed up to create the local band KouseFly.

I went over to Bird's place, and we sat down to introduce ourselves. I learned that Bird is from Georgia. He came from a very rich local music scene and had tons of experience playing live music. He also had a friend who was making it big in the national country music scene.

He had a computer with a professional microphone and a mixer in his studio and had an arrangement of guitars with a bass and its amps. Bird told me that his goal was to be a producer, to record and create a really good album from his studio. He asked me what my goal was, and I said, "well… I want to be a musician.”

 “You are a musician Brian,” he said, “it’s just going to take some time.”

 He is such a kind man and was really a guiding light and mentor for me.  He suggested that we each write two original songs, and then I suggested he will take these songs and hammer them out live at M&J Tavern on Greenwood during their new open mic.

That sounded like a good deal, so we decided to choose some cover songs and made it a four-song set. As we were recording the music in the studio and perfecting the songs, we'd rehearse them and then end up going over to M&J Tavern, playing the songs live.

Since we were playing live, I suggested that we have a project name, and Bird pulled out a list of names he was logging. I spotted KouseFly, and he said it was a play-off to the Pink Floyd when-pigs-fly thing. "You know, when cows fly," he said. It was a winner for me.

 The first couple of songs we recorded didn't make it on the album. They were "Bluhai Flower,” which was cut by Bird, and "Around the Bend," (which was my song but sang by Bird). We recorded them as our test tracks. The process was like a, “how are we going to get this thing started and rolling?” It was great.

 So, we said, “hey, we're going to release a full album, record it here and we're going to do it all ourselves.” I wanted to have enough songs to play live and a gig.

We just kept to our rhythm. We were very productive from the collaboration, and some of the stuff that we were coming up with was amazing. Bird has a brit-pop-psychedelia influence, and as for me, I have a folk-rock influence. We kind of mixed those two genres together, and we came up with a unique sound, especially for our area. 

At first, it was a full-on charge to rock and roll dreams, but it's kind of slowed down. Life gets in the way. I have to say at the very beginning of the project, I had visions that we're going to be touring and performing, that we were going to be real-life rock stars, like Wilco, who were really starting to get known around the world.

We were going to be out there making a living just like those guys, with our music and… well that could have been true, but life got in the way - in a good way.  My wife and I, we just got into our first home, and I was bouncing between jobs, some better, some not-so-good, also; we were expecting our firstborn. So, those visions of becoming a professional musician really kind of slipped away, but the goal of still doing a really good album and being a local musician was there stronger than ever.

 It was just a slowdown, and it gave us time to hone-in on skills. I really focused on the craft of delivery, how to engage a crowd, how to sing within my range, and what the do's and don'ts when setting up a gig. I also focused on how to be a local performer, and that was satisfying.