Craving

The events that surround the genesis of Craving are equal parts fortune and mishap. And while the band may currently lack the notoriety enough to land them on VH-1's Behind the Music, they certainly have the stories.

Although it's every kid's dream to evolve from the tennis racket-strumming lip-synching-to-KISS days into the real thing, the fact of the matter is that few of us ever really have the opportunity to do it for real.

Mastering, nay learning, the "music-producing" awkward angular hunks of wood and metal is daunting enough, but doing it in public with the naïve hopes of entertaining people is an invitation to dependence on psychotropic medicine.

Thankfully, the members of Craving had cut their teeth on other musical projects before converging in on the New Hampshire Seacoast music scene.

Becky Agen was once a classically trained opera singer and member of local choirs. But in 1998, when fledgling Dover band 69 Franklin needed some powerful lungs to carry them through a weekly booze-cruise gig in Hampton Beach, Becky bid adieu to respectability and embraced the excess-laden world of alternative rock full on.

"This was our first paid gig and the singer we had at the time could not commit to it." Said Tim. "At the time I was asking every girl I knew if they could sing and ironically every single one of them said 'yes'. We quickly learned that this was not true. However, when we first heard Becky belt out a few lines of an old Cranberries tune, we knew we had found our singer. She saved our collective asses."

Tim Deal had founded 69 Franklin with Tom Ferry (now in Smoke Up Johnny), and with the addition of Becky, and under Brian Wiseman's enthusiastic management, the band made its rounds around the New Hampshire Seacoast.

Around the same time, Troy DeRego, a NH native, had gone west and had played his way up and down the Californian Coast in the kind of coffee-houses that soul-patched introspective-people frequent. He even cut his own CD, after playing every god-forsaken instrument on it.

Over the next four years, 69 Franklin suffered a string of Spinal Tap-esque drummer explosions, a bass-player exodus, and a complete change in format from the safe-harbor of cover songs to the tremulous world of originals.

Then in the Fall of 2001, 69 Franklin called it quits with the departure of Tom Ferry.

Tim and Becky immediately reorganized into Craving, and set to work writing a batch of new songs intended to capture and convey the new direction of the band. Brian Wiseman hopped on board as bass player, and after an extensive search for a drummer, they located and hoodwinked talented April Gerrish into joining.

"Craving was more of an evolution than a decision." Brian recollects. "I had always been around the band through the years as it evolved over the course of 4 years. I had helped them out whenever possible as a roadie, a promoter, a booking agent and a songwriter. Yes, even as a Beer B*tch. One night at practice the band decided they needed a bass player. I had never played bass before so the logical decision was to make me the bassist. The rest is musical history."

Armed with a brand new set list, a new sound, and a handful of contacts, Craving hit the Seacoast music community with passion. The band quickly became the house band at Biddy Mulligan's Irish Pub In Dover, and booked gigs throughout Dover, Portsmouth, Durham, and Cambridge.

It would seem that 2002 would be an unforgettable debut year for Craving. Then in June, Tim received a FedEx that would threaten to send everything they worked for into desperate downward spiral.

Tim had been called back into the United States Army to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom- the Global War on Terrorism. He had less than 30 days to get his life in order and report for duty.

Tim was crushed. Craving, or more accurately, the members within it, was his life. The band had been through so much already, yet fate had continued to conspire against them.

And then came Troy.

The gang had met Troy early in the summer through a filmmaking group they were involved in. While the band knew Troy was a talented artist, designer, and filmmaker, they did not know that Troy was an avid musician and songwriter.

Troy attended a couple Craving gigs, liked the sound, and suggested that they all get together sometime and "jam".

They jammed and it was obvious that Troy carried more talent than he was letting on. At that point, the band entertained the secret hope that Troy would throw them the much-needed life preserver they needed to go on.

They played a couple gigs with Troy and it worked out better than they could have imagined. So they popped the proverbial question.

Would Troy take over for Tim while he was gone?

He said "yes". (Of course he did!)

"The leader of my first band," Explained Troy, "who had been in many bands himself once told me, 'you realize that you are hooked now? Wherev