slightest hesitation, I agreed to join them in their new musical endeavor. This was an exciting time in our young lives. We had an outstanding drummer, a live-wire guitarist, plus a lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist all wrapped up. All we were missing was the right bass player. But finding him (or her) proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated.
4:44—Trice After weeks of auditioning local bass players, we had yet to find anyone who met our standards and was a good fit for the band. We were quickly becoming frustrated with the search. In a last-ditch effort to find a bass player, Chuck drove to a local music store and tacked a flyer onto the store’s bulletin board. The flyer contained our contact information, an overview of the band and its members, and a description of exactly the type of bass player we were looking for. Approximately two weeks after Chuck posted the flyer, he received a phone call from an area bass player named Trice Fulbright. Later that same day, Chuck informed L.B. and me about the call. He told us that he’d had a lengthy conversation with Trice and that he had a good feeling about him. Chuck seemed confident that Trice was just the kind of bass player we had been searching for, “just as long as his fingers can back up his bullshit,” Chuck had told us, half-jokingly. As it turned out, Trice’s fingers were more than up for the challenge. Chuck felt that it would be a good idea to 14
The Poem