etruscan loveletters
When I first tried writing songs for a band, I had a difficult time knowing how much to have completed and how much to leave empty for collaboration. Maybe I wasn't sure if I had a whole idea, or maybe I was scared that a whole idea would be rejected. So as it turns out, I brought a couple of ideas for my band (The Philtres) to work on, and we had a hard time collaborating (I still hate "King of Pain" because of this whole situation, but it's also because I don't really like Sting's voice all that much. If he would only shut up and play bass!). No one was really sure how much it was OK to "run" with someone else's song, and it was kind of hard, so it was "suggested" that I bring in finished songs.

Then it turned out that I was able to finish a lot more songs than "we" were "interested" in learning. OK, some of them were pretty lousy, but you've got to start somewhere, right? So I started this side project with some friends and we played one gig for the school band's Halloween fundraiser/costume dance in 1986 (which was interesting symmetry with the first Philtres gig). Dale and I had agreed to play together without discussing anything practical, except (a) he would have to sing, since he didn't play anything, and (b) he had already come up with a great name. We didn't really know what we were doing, and didn't really have time to rehearse, and the whole thing drifted apart pretty quickly.

But then the songwriting and performing issues of the Philtres got a little more intrusive, so I resurrected the band with a different drummer (Steve Diogo, a good friend of mine from URI), and myself singing, starting Valentine's day 1988. We played many interesting shows, including opening for The Philtres (by then my "old" band), as well as writing the theme for Middletown High School's production of curiOZity, and being the house band for the MHS production of Godspell in 1989. Also in May of 1989 we were asked to participate in a fundraiser to help keep Newport's Jane Pickens Theater (owned by the wonderful, and now late, Joe Jarvis) in business. He showed midnight rock and roll movies on four consecutive nights, and we had the priviledge of opening for them (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, and the Band). Not bad for a local band with no connections!

The second version lasted a little longer than the first, but it was plain that I didn't have a strong enough voice to carry a night (although I valiantly tried many times). After a year or so we asked a friend named Dave Wall to sing, because he kind of reminded us of Michael Stipe, and he was friends with some guys that opened for us. As it turned out, we were also all getting distracted by other things like job searches and colleges and moving to Arizona, so in late Spring 1990 we played our last gig.

As of this writing, it appears that Jason is playing in a band called Film School in San Francisco (check out all the references on Google), Jon might or might not be playing in a band in New York City (or somewhere else, or not), Steve is sporadically playing in a band in Chicago, and I am playing sporadically with a bunch of co-workers, or with Bob Kendall (and I mean very sporadically!).

Version 1 1986
Dale Sagamang - vocals
Kevin Zahm - guitar, backing vocals
Jonathan Davis - bass, backing vocals
Jason Ruck - keyboards, backing vocals
Larry Gross - drums
etruscan loveletters (happy, 1986)
etruscan loveletters (serious, 1986)
etruscan loveletters (playing, 1986)

Version 2 1988-1989
Kevin Zahm - guitar, vocals
Jonathan Davis - bass, backing vocals
Jason Ruck - keyboards, backing vocals
Steve Diogo - drums

Jon, Kevin, Jason, Steve (1988)
Jason at 3rd beach
Kevin and Jon at 3rd beach
Jason, Tony, and Jon at 3rd beach (Tony played with The Effect, our opening band)
Steve at 3rd beach
etruscan loveletters (1988)
etruscan loveletters and Philtres flyer (07-31-1988)
etruscan loveletters and Philtres flyer (08-1988)
Steve, happy in the park (summer 1988)
etruscan loveletters flyer (10-01-88)
MHS Homecoming Ticket, (10-1988, with etruscan loveletters)
etruscan loveletters flyer (08-30-1988)
etruscan loveletters flyer (08-3-1988)
etruscan loveletters flyer (09-16-1988)
Steve and Jason
etruscan loveletters flyer
Steve Rizzo & Jon in the studio (02-1989)
Galleo Hoop Hoop tape cover Galleo Hoop Hoop was the tape we made in the Winter/Spring of 1989 (with some much appreciated help from Mason Hawes). We recorded it at Steve Rizzo's Stable Sound studios in Portsmouth, RI. Steve is a great guy to work with, and his studio is beautiful and top of the line, and we even played pretty well. But as I said elsewhere, I'm not a very strong singer, plus I got a sinus infection between the music day and the vocals day, so the tape's weakness is my voice. But the songs are way cool, and I still have a few left, so you can buy one off me cheap if you contact me and you want one. They include original hand-painted inserts. ("Galleo Hoop Hoop" comes from a Muppets skit, kept fresh in our memories by my friend Joe Ferreira.)

Version 3 1989-1990
Dave Wall - vocals
Kevin Zahm - guitar, backing vocals
Jonathan Davis - bass, backing vocals
Jason Ruck - keyboards, backing vocals
Steve Diogo - drums

Kevin Jason Dave Steve and Jon at Surf's Up (1989)
etruscan loveletters flyer (early summer 1989)
etruscan loveletters and Precedent flyer (07-31-1989)
etruscan loveletters flyer (08-04-1989)
etruscan loveletters flyer (08-23-1989)
Dave
Jason and Dave at Surf's Up
Kev, Dave, and Jon at Surf's Up
Steve at Surf's Up

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