| During
the mid 80’s, when hair-metal ruled, Steve, Eric and Kenny attended Lakeville
High School and all dreamed of one day becoming famous rock and roll stars,
following in the footsteps of bands like Van Halen, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin,
to name a few. They jammed together or with others over the course of many
years in basements and garages, but never caught their “big break”.
After many years and many changes in their lives, a coincidental meeting
at LaVonne’s Music in Savage by Steve and Eric got the ball rolling of
them deciding to form a band. Along with Steve Olson on bass, in the late
summer of 2003, they started practicing and learning songs spanning from
the late 70's up through what's played today.
In
March of 2004, they made their debut at a party in Lakeville for a group
of friends that numbered around 30. They went by multiple names that
night (Jiggle The Handle, Rhymes With Purple, Alien Style Show, to name
a few) but hadn't come up with anything permanent. They performed
about 35-40 songs that night and everyone there seemed to enjoy what they
were playing. The night was viewed as a success. But, about a week after
the party, Steve announced he had to quit the band! After the initial
shock and disappointment, “Where do we go from here?” was the question
on everyone’s mind. They took about a month off and Bill Calhoun was found
on the internet (no lie!) on a musicians wanted web site. After a few conversations
with him and finding out their music interests were similar, they decided
to see how things would work between the 4 of them as a band. After
2 rehearsals, it was a no brainer to add Bill on bass and come up with
a permanent name. Neptune Cocktail was "officially" formed in May
of 2004.
Things
were looking pretty good for Neptune Cocktail until February of 2006 when
they received some news from Bill that he and his wife were moving to Washington,
D.C. Spinal Tap comes to mind when comparing how they felt hearing this
news (the Tap lost drummers and NC was losing bass players!). Once again,
they had to search for a new bass player. A coincidental meeting at a funeral
with Steve brought Corey Hvidsten to the band. Corey had been playing with
a band named the Lost Dogs (remember, from the party?) that had broken
up and left him without a band. Again, after a few rehearsals it was a
no brainer to have Corey join the band and in the summer of 2006 he made
his inaugural performance at Fire Rescue Day in New Market, MN. Even though
the weather tried to put a damper on the night, they still played and had
a great time (so did everyone who ventured out after the tornados and pouring
rain!). |
