CAROLINE BLUE originally started out as the brainchild of Wayne W. Johnson."I was in
other bands at the time and they would start out great.But then they'd stop progressing and things would
become stagnant. I wanted to try a different approach-cause the same old one wasn't working."
Wayne continued working on his project while working with other bands."If the band I was in
was going good,this would be a side project.If things were bad,this would be a solo project.I've had
this idea in my head since 1993-and with each year,the vision became more and more focused."
That vision would start to become a reality on Feb.9th,2000."I was juggling the idea of my solo
project and a cover band-plus 3 others.It was ridiculous! I was talking to my friend Randy Gray and he
was interested in the cover band and the solo project.When I got to his place,I started things w/ the
cover band and he,bluntly,told me to drop it and play my original stuff.I did and he joined right on
the spot! Very shortly after we hooked up with Dave Victory and that was the 1st version of CAROLINE
BLUE."
It's interesting to note how Wayne came up with the name CAROLINE BLUE:"I
came up with it years ago-around 1995-96..I worked for KMart for 15 long years and CAROLINE BLUE was
one of their announcement codes.It meant "medical emergency"-but that's not why I picked it.I
just liked the sound of it and it's not one of those names that boxes you in.Most of our stuff is what
I would call "Classic Hard Rock," but if we want to do something heavier,more modern,a ballad,etc....we
can.Kinda hard to do a ballad with a name like Cannibal Corpse."
The 1st lineup,however,had
problems."It was interesting.Things were going ok,but then it got harder for us to get together.It
didn't help that everyone lived in different cities.Also at that time I got married and-although my wife(ex)
was very supportive of my music,-I still couldn't put all my time in it.So eventually,it just became
getting ready for studio work and hoping that we'd all have more time after the CD was done."
It was not meant to be."The 1st few months of 2001,me,Dave,and Randy were also involved in
trying to get a 1-off reunion show going-and that was going ok.Then Randy injured his back and that was
pretty much it.unfortunatly.Later on that year he got married and moved out of state.We still keep in
touch-although not as much as I'd like.I wish him the best though."
In June of 2001,the
next lineup for CAROLINE BLUE began to take shape."Out of the ruins of another bad reunion,I took the
opportunity to get CAROLINE BLUE going again.This time I had Scott Coon (AKA Da Scooner) on bass and
Dave on drums.Jim Lewis would fill in on bass whenever Scooner couldn't make it."
By
October 2001,though,Scooner had to leave due to time constraints.It was also around this time that
Wayne came up with the "Hired Gun" idea."I figured,until I get the lineup stabilized,why not
just hire people to fill positions for gigs? Eventually,I'll have a set lineup,but until then,this is
the next best thing."
It was also around this time that Roy St. James entered the
picture.With Roy,Wayne,and Dave,CAROLINE BLUE had it's most stable lineup to date.But it hasn't been
all smooth sailing."Roy St. James missed a show-and I had to hire Da Scooner to fill in.Roy and
Dave are still members of the band-but they're also now hired guns.
However,all good
things must come to an end: "Roy eventually had to go cause he couldn't make time for CAROLINE
BLUE.Considering all he had on his plate,I'm surprised he made it as far as he did.Plus he really wanted
to do his own thing and far be it from me from letting someone do that.Jamie Criscione came in for alittle
while,which helped.But then Dave decided he didn't want to play anymore-and I don't want people involved
in the band who don't want to be there.I basically decided right there to kill the "hired gun" thing
cause it didn't work and I wanted to take things to the next level. So I basically put that lineup down
and started trying to find to find some permanent members."
After a lengthy process,CAROLINE
BLUE finally gets a permanent bassist in Brian "HAM" Hamilton.
"I went thru
several auditions for both bassists and drummers.Some were fine,but alot of them were just awful. Lane
Pieroni came in and,with Marv,help shoot the video for "I'm No Angel."Then,by chance,I ran into HAM at
a CD convention-which I wasn't even going to go to originally.We exchanged info,got together,and in a
short time,he joined CAROLINE BLUE."
With the help of temp. drummer Marv Hill,CAROLINE
BLUE rises again.
"Marv has been a big help,but we really need a permanent drummer.Someone
who can really be with the band.
Ask and ye shall receive.
"Marv was great
for awhile,but he wanted to do his own thing with a band that's been on the backburner for awhile.So
we once again went thru auditions.This time we weren't gonna resurface until we found the right guy.And
then Kenny Thunder called me,we all got together,and things just fell into place.
But....
"It wasn't meant to be unfortunately. Initially things felt great-but in a short amount of
time, problems arose. Anyone who knows Kenny knows how hard it can be for him to stay in a band and why.
We managed to get thru 1 show and a video shoot ("Mine,Mine,Mine") but by then tensions in the band were
getting so thick that a choice had to be made almost immediately-the effects of which would hurt the
band in the months to come. So Kenny was fired-while there were still several shows booked.
Luck was on their side this time....
"We were very fortunate in that we found
someone to temp. replace Kenny for the shows. That person was Eric "Small"-a little guy with a huge drumming
talent. We played our 1st show with only a week of rehearsal and people were telling us it was the best
they'd ever seen the band! We got thru all the shows that we had booked when Kenny was in the band-which
ended with our Tribute to KISS show at Bleachers on 10/31/2003."
But then the luck ran
out.....
"Things seemed to be going good. One big problem though was Eric was only a
temp. He was already in another band called Leaphole-which played a heavier style of music that he liked.
It didn't help that he didn't like KISS very much either-which our music is similar in style.. And then,
at the start of 2004, Ham became "unavailable" for anything that had to do with the band for the next
6 months so basically, CAROLINE BLUE-from January 2004 to June 2004-was just me."
Good things come to those who wait.....
"For those 6 months, it was basically me
trying to do everything I could to keep the band alive. I had alot of back-up material which kept things
moving forward for awhile-but it was running out. I auditioned a few people but with no luck. Then, during
our 2nd wave of ads thru the Syracuse New Times, I got this call from this totally crazed individual
who is now known as Metal J. This guy was like a breath of fresh air. Here was someone who was more into
this than I am-we were totally on the same wavelength on almost all things relating to the band and he
fit right into the band easily. Ham became available again and it seemed like we could really move forward
and take things to the next level."
But an old problem became worse....
"The rotating drummer problem had been fixed-Metal J really fits this band like a glove.
However, out the 3 pieces of the puzzle, one still didn't fit right-and that was Ham. His unavailablitiy
was present as far back as when Kenny was in the band and I've lost track of how many shows we had to
refuse because of it. In addition, Ham wanted to play & rehearse on a very light schedual and would probably
have been happier if CAROLINE BLUE was a cover band. With me & Metal J wanting to push forward w/ intensity,
it didn't take long for there to be problems. Tensions & frustrations were rising at an alarming rate
and it was just a matter of time before Ham was out of the band. "
Lady Luck finds CAROLINE
BLUE once again....
"So here me & Metal J were with all the frustrations building up
from turning down shows, not moving forward, and some petty stuff that really should never have even
been brought up in the 1st place. Add to that the ordeal of auditions and you could almost feel like
exploding at times. Luckily, the bass auditions were very short cause Billy Pierce saw our ad and, after
a relatively quick audition , we knew we'd found the missing piece of the puzzle."
Well....
"Things were going great for quite awhile. 2005 saw the band set
new benchmarks in several areas-mostly notably the number of shows we were playing. We played more shows
in 2005 than all the other years of the band's existence put together! We made several new videos for
UVTV and even had some CDs out with some music, as well as shirts, for sale. Things were moving upward.
Unfortunately, due to rising gas prices and responsibilities in his personal life, Billy was starting
to become less & less involved with the band towards the end of 2005. There were even shows where we
had a temp in his place because he couldn't perform. His 1st responsibility was to his kids-as it should
be. However, with Billy hardly being around, we couldn't just wait in limbo-not after all the hard work
that had been done to take the band this far. It just so happens that we didn't have to look far. The
man who had filled in for Billy during a few shows was Azriel Mordecai-bassist for Zadoc...& the Nightmare.
At the time, we just planned on having him be a temp until Billy was able to come back. But eventually
Az expressed the idea of joining and with the outlook of Billy rejoining the band permanently being bleak,
we took him in and continued moving forward."
"We're all on the
same mindset and all on the same track-which is awesome! I want to take this as far as I can and I
will do whatever I have to do to keep this going.If I have to do all the work-fine.If I have to drive
to 3 different cities in 1 day-fine.If I have to keep retaining lawyers-fine.Not to sound egotistical,but
as long as I'm around,so too will CAROLINE BLUE."
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