Time is relative.

All our concepts about what has happened to us and when it happened are relative.

So that is why it’s both strange, and wonderful, going back to the memories surrounding these archive recordings.

When I moved to Southern California in 1983 it was fresh on the heels of being in one of the most popular and financially successful bands in the history of my small hometown－Port Townsend, WA－the Sherman Brothers Band. After the collapse of that band, my brother Greg and I decided to keep the momentum going by forming a band in Seattle (where we had relocated) which we called The Drive. This time we’d do it right by concentrating on original material. Something the Sherman Bros had yet to progress to. But alas, The Drive lacked the personal chemistry that had made The Sherm Bros so popular. And we ended up breaking up after only a couple of years. So now what do we do?
jeffreysherman.bandcamp.com/album/complete-original-output-of-the-drive

It looked as though I had avoided the obvious next step as long as I could. It was time to move on. So I packed up my guitar, borrowed a friend's '57 Chevy Bel Air sedan and headed South to what I thought was The Land of Golden Opportunity for musicians: Los Angeles, California. Hollywood! Bright lights, big city and open minds. Never mind that I was nearly 30 years of age with no demonstrable job skills. I had no clue what SoCal life for an up-and-coming entertainer of any kind was going to be like. I mean you read success stories about the Tom Pettys coming to LA from Podunk Fla, meeting the right people and getting signed to a record deal almost immediately. Surely the same thing could happen to me? I had no idea at the time that almost every person you meet in LA is a struggling actor or comic or musician looking for their Big Break. You know where you find these people? Next to you in a telemarketing phone room, making $4.00 an hour selling Timeshares. Or printer toner. Or trying to get someone to subscribe to USA Today (that's where I met my wife Beverly for the first time!)

It was a depressing scene that had me living at the Glendale YMCA for a year. And in that year, I when I wasn’t promoting Timeshares I was busy putting together my first LA Band... I re-branded myself as Alan Rench and my band was The ViceGrips!

This album is all about that band. How we struggled. How we did pay-to-play gigs at prestigious venues like The Roxy and The Whisky and yes, The Country Club and The FM Station.
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-12607737

Now listening back to these old live recordings I feel a bit of pride – we were damn good! Our little devoted crowd was always there and yes, the Music Industry execs that promised to show up and see us, well, they never showed. Such is the reality of “making the Big Time” in Hollywood. Thank god my music never let me down.

And it’s still always there for me. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do now listening back to them and knowing there is NO failure if you're following your dream.

It’s all a matter of perspective. And perspective is always - Relative.