Bruce Hayes advocates release of
Daniel Pearl’s music
“He
was quite good on violin”
by
Pete Sharp
Former Crested
Butte resident and perpetually popular musician Bruce Hayes
jammed regularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Daniel
Pearl, the former *Wall Street Journal* reporter who recently
was killed by captors in Pakistan. In the name of fund-raising
for his family and to ensure that Pearl’s cause of striving
for the expansion of musical education worldwide continues,
Hayes and some former members of the band “Rich Vibrato and
His Big Behind” would like to see at least one of Pearl’s
recording released.
Hayes, a
resident of Crested Butte from 1992 to 2000, is now living
in Pagosa Springs. He helped produce the first String Cheese
Incident album, and he toured for a while with Acoustic Junction.
But he’s still active in Crested Butte, running the musical
side of things for Arts Fair Weekend in addition to other
public and private appearances locally. But it was back in
the late 1980s in Berkshire, MA, that Hayes said he had the
pleasure of playing music with Pearl, who was working at the
local newspaper—the *Berkshire Eagle.*
“He
was a genuinely positive person,” said Hayes in an interview
Monday, recalling that the talented Pearl always made the
best out of situations in which he played with less-than-accomplished
musicians. “He always had a smile on his face.”
Hayes
said that Pearl was “quite good” on the violin and also proficient
on the mandolin, guitar and bass. So with those abilities
and five other band members, Hayes recorded a seven-song demo.
And that demo was nothing mainstream. Hayes said it was “kind
of new-age rock, cutting-edge, avant-garde.” But unique and
intriguing often goes hand in hand with those descriptions,
as Hayes pointed out.
“It was interesting
stuff,” said Hayes of the informal recording, adding that
they never tried to sell it commercially. “It never went beyond
that night.”
Now
Hayes and a few others would like to release it for its fund-raising
potential. However, Hayes said that some former members of
Rich Vibrato and His Big Behind don’t consider the recording
“worthy of the hoopla.”
While Hayes
agrees that perhaps it is a little too avant-garde to be released
on its own, he feels a compilation would be a good alternative.
“I could see it released as part of a collection,” said Hayes.
“It would be nice to get it out.”
Hayes
has contacted local resident Rene DeFourneaux of Electric
Snake Productions to help get the word out.
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