"Vocal
expression from behind the drums (where I came from) has changed dramatically
with the move to percussions.
I love singing out front and connecting with the crowd.
Our fans give us a world of energy!"
Michael
Tibbs began
his musical indulgence at age five on piano.
He was constantly getting in trouble for knocking, thumping and banging
on anything that sounded interesting to him as a boy.
He picked up a guitar at age nine, turned it on its back and
thumped on it too. Becoming
more in tune with his abilities he settled into drumming during high school
while also playing the Sousaphone. "Rhythms
and bass was where it was at for me and I quickly became a self taught drummer
and began playing in the garage band scene."
Steve would actually drag his equipment over to Michael's house in a
little red wagon. They were too
young to drive.
Lampert
and Tibbs continued working together in several early bands like Aftershock and
Mirage. Tibbs also played drums for
Spellbound and the Joe Silva Blues Band. "Playing
with Joe was like going to school, man. We
stayed busy and learning all the time."
Stage band, sessions sit-ins helped him to develop strict timekeeping
habits that have served him well.
Lampert
and Tibbs reunited in 1988 with bassist Larry Lafferty to form the original
three piece lineup of Hourglass. "Our
first gig was in front of fifteen thousand hometown fans opening for The
Fabulous Thunderbirds. It was
exciting and it was on! We were
booked six months in advance for the next five years."
"Just as we got started, in 1990, I had wrist surgery and had a year
of recovery. Steve's friend,
drummer Mike Cooper came in for that year and did a great job. (Big Bam Boom
award recipient in 1990). "After
I recovered, we continued on as a three piece band until we were ready for a
break in 1994. Our last show was at
the Laundry Bar, little club, great sound, great crowd.
We knew we were taking at least a year off and we blew it all out that
night."
"We
put the new lineup together with renewed energy in 1996, having veteran Michael
Cooper on the drums and Bland Cromwell on keyboards, and more bold steps, I
moved to something I always have loved and wanted to do with this band, play
Latin and African percussions, timbales, congas, bells, blocks, the whole nine
yards and use my new skills with vocals out front that I picked up while recovering
from wrist surgery. I was pumped
about partnering up with Cooper, it's like synergy."
"
As
a new challenge, Latin Percussions has allowed me to compliment the rhythm
section and add character to the music...this has worked well within the
framework of the time keeping aspects of our music."
Adding
the expansion team proved to be a great decision.
Five pieces adds much more dynamics and capabilities and has expanded the
depth and breadth of Hourglass' music. "It
gives us all we need to put down the sound we're after.
It added exciting new dimensions to our original music and the
covers." "After all these
years playing, writing and singing together, Steve and I are really excited to
look forward to our best year and best performances ever."
Everything
in life is rhythm.
The clicking of the windshield wiper, the machines around us, our bodies
in motion as we dance, the turning world, the beating of our hearts.
It is both modern and primal, something all people share at the very core
of who we are, where we came from and what we are to be.
Rhythm is a gift from God as sure as there is music in the heavens.
