The debut album from The Kevins, released in 1998. Since we're at the beginning, a thumbnail history is in order.

The advent of affordable home recording equipment in the early 1980s opened the door for many wannabe musical types. The ability to create near-studio quality recordings - outside the traditional studio at a fraction of industry costs - rapidly accelerated the spread of what's become known as "outsider" music.

The acquisition of one of these early home recorders - a mammoth four-track cassette machine - gave birth to one of those outside bands: Rank Amateurs (1985-1988). The appropriately named Rank was a songwriting/recording duo consisting of myself and the multi-talented Andrew Bergey. Three albums of songs that will always have a place in my heart were released on cassette. You can hear the entire Rank catalogue at Mr. Bergey's authoritative web site, The History Of Rank Amateurs: home.comcast.net/~a.bergey/rankamateurshistory.htm

Even while RA was working, Slowfist (1985-1997) emerged as a recording entity. Under that nom de plume, several cassette albums were issued to a miniscule yet unenthusiastic audience.

In the middle 1990s I had a two-year stint in a garage/basement-based cover band named As Is. That was a great learning experience - playing live, irregular rehearsing, egos rising. Validated were some theories on audiences and how to cover a hit tune. Yet the band was a dead end creatively, and it was time to move on.

As the digital age arrived for home recording, so did The Kevins. The debut album Looking For An Answer was assembled from several years of four-track tape productions and digitally mastered at a much nicer home studio.

The original 18-track album is presented here in an abridged form. It's better this way, trust me. The Kevins debut is definitely outside the norm (as in below par) sonically. The performances vary wildly and the packaging bears all the marks of a mediocre high school art project. But there are some good songs - the best ones have been recorded a couple of times.

It would take until the third Kevins album, Blue Hand, before the band discovered a consistent voice. But, like most debuts, Looking For An Answer was years in the making. The best songs made the cut, especially in this leaner, meaner version.

Click on individual songs for lyrics/info/writing credits.