The first release for the D. J. Lauria Band, “Barn Owl” took its title from a famous (well, infamous) episode on the Late Night with David Letterman show. Writing a song about anything 80s after Nirvana put out Nevermind probably seems pointless, but as it happened many areas of the country didn’t take notice for a good five years that big hair was now out. Anyway, we thought it was funny. The band wasn’t quite a band, yet; John A. was just helping out on the recording session, and John S. hadn’t moved back to RI from Vegas. There were so many terrible gigs, yet to be played…
Releasing these songs on the cassette single (cassingle!) format was kind of an innovation. Records had fallen out of favor and CDs were very expensive to produce, so most local bands opted for full-length cassettes of at least ten songs. Our idea was to save money by releasing only a couple songs at a time, on a throwaway format, with all of our contact information right on the package. We either sold them for a dollar a piece, or used them as business cards, to drum up interest in the band. Then we would go play at the blues clubs in Providence, or the punk clubs in NYC, where we utterly DID NOT fit in, and no one wanted them anyway. Always leave them scratching their heads, I say.
Originally released in 1994 on cassette single. C&D Records catalog #44-126. Currently unavailable.
