Recently we had the chance to interview Greg Robertson

[ co-founder of the band ]

because we were curious about a lot of things ...

"It's been more than ten years now, but I remember as if it were yesterday. By the spring time of 1999, I had found myself in St. John's, Michigan, working at a variety of temporary, part-time jobs. (I heard somebody say once that real musicians have day jobs, although - to me - the opposite should be the maxim). One of these jobs was at the local Wal-Mart, where I was assigned to the same department as Angie, who had been working there for a while already. Inevitably, since we worked in the department which sold music, we each discovered that the other was musically inclined as well.

"Another job I had was at a local dry-cleaner/laundromat where I was the closing clerk. After I closed I would sometimes bring my guitar in and jam/practice for a few hours. Angie got wind of these 'sessions' and asked to stop by and participate. The first night she came by she mostly asked me to play for her but she played a bit. She didn't have a lot of structure but I could see she had at least some latent talent. . . And she knew where to put her fingers. I told her to go home and practice a bit, with the promise that if she had 'something there', that I'd . . . 'Teach you everything I know...' I believe is how I put it.

"I didn't see her for a few weeks, us both having moved on from Wal-Mart by then, and then, out of the blue she called me. She was very excited about having written a song and wanted to know if I 'still did that laundromat thing.' I told her I did and she stopped by that night and played a very nice piece she had written.

"I made good on my promise and for the next, probably, year and a half, the last two or three hours of every day were devoted to me teaching, playing for, playing with, Angie. During this formative time for her I eagerly watched her development into a class-A musician."