The Story Of Sherlock's Butlers
It was a snowy night in the tiny Seattle ‘burb of Bothell. The streets were getting slick and traffic on the infamous I-5 Freeway was slowing to an uneasy crawl as various cars and numerous trucks found themselves doing involuntary 180 degree turns that frequently ended in full circles resulting in slow motion collisions and the familiar flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Chaos reigned supreme and only fools and drug addled dare devils ventured out.
Naturally several carloads of musicians had already filled the side streets of the tiny block that held Cafe Ladro and its once a week open mic. Despite all, business was good and those who had survived the ordeal of travel seemed glad of the warmth and the espresso. The crowd talked and mingled, the musicians tuned up, the baristas were sweating bullets and cursing Saturday nights.
Into this winter scene came two guitar players who plopped down on two chairs and began to play. One performed witty songs that got a few laughs and big applause and the other played a mean slide guitar on top. They captured the crowd’s attention and seemed to be a hit.
So it was that the stranger who walked in and began shouting gibberish at the top of his lungs had at first gone unnoticed. Crowd noise and amplification overwhelmed him but he continued unabated, repeating such things as: “…left us there to die! MI6 was depending on you! You left me in that hell hole with nothing!”
The slide player stood and looked as though he was ready to reply when several members of the crowd seized the intruder and wrestled him out the door and into the small parking lot. To the surprise of us all, the stranger quickly rallied and with an amazing display of martial ability threw off his attackers and stomped off in to the night.
A casual observer, another performer waiting his turn to play, stood by the stage and looked at the slide player.
“What was all that about?”
“I know this sounds like a joke, but trust me when I say; if I tell you I’ll have to kill you.”
And so it was that Gary and Dave met for the first time. It would be another few years before they joined forces and began writing and recording together and even now their meeting remains shrouded in mystery and unspoken explanations. Some things are best left unexamined, like married women or abandoned wells. Curiosity has killed more than one cat so wiggle those whiskers at your own risk.
Gary recorded one of Dave’s songs, Hippie Sunrise; a classic if ever there was one. From there Dave decided, ‘two can play at this game’ and produced an album of his own material. It’s an amazing album, well written and well recorded with only a passing reference to British Intelligence.
After some time and discussion and gentle evasions regarding the above mentioned evening, the two joined forces and began writing songs together; a process they embraced with all the gusto of a puppy playing frisbee.
All of this, of course, required a name. Dave and Gary didn’t cut it and Gary and Dave was even worse. They settled, at first, on The Dingles but as it happened there was a group in Britain with that name. And with good reason, their last names were Dingle.
The search began again.
We won’t go into the many cross roads and dead ends that lead to Sherlock’s Butlers but it was a happy landing as far as traffic control was concerned and no guitars were harmed in the making of the band. To the contrary, they seemed to proliferate at an astounding rate. But that’s another story.
It has been some time since any bears strolled leisurely through Dave’s back yard but he has put the berry seeking beast free time to good use and built Redmond Ridge studios, where the two SB members currently record, rehearse and carry out the occasional bear emergency drill in the event of a return.
Now many of you, no doubt, expected the usual band bio with the list of the members many previous accomplishments and adventures. To those of you with such questions we have to say; have you never heard of the Official Secrets Act?
Listen, buy, enjoy our album and we’ll tell you more later. For the moment, wonder and be entertained. It’s quite the story, not that we actually know it.
