Jax 'n' Jive
Jax 'n' Jive released Welcome To Planet Jive in 1999. Recording members include Brian Dobbs, Lee Cain, John Osborne and Michael Tony Scoglio. All were students at Southern High School in Harwood, Maryland. The band's history is documented below.
Here is me (center), Lee (top center) and Josh (top right corner, face half obscured) at our choir performance at the school.
Eventually Lee, Josh and I started meeting in the music room before class started every morning to all jam on the classical guitars. Lee would get there first and have our guitars tuned and ready to go. Lee was a true singer songwriter. He joined our band, and immediately became the driving, creative force that really propelled us into our next phase of being a real band.
Band practice was every Friday at my parents' basement. There's a small chalkboard that hangs in the stairwell (pictured to the right). My Mom wrote us a little note, and some time later my cousin Alison signed it too.
The chalkboard is still there today.
We would all meet there, jam, order pizza, jam some more, and make a late night out of it. It was our life. Lee had a problem playing on beat, but eventually he got it sorted out. I remember giving him a hard time about it.
Sorry Lee.
We still needed a bass player. Lee was lifelong friends with Matt Dosberg, but Matt went to different school, and was already in a different band. The band's name was Tenth Planet. They were very talented. I wish I had some of their recordings. I think they had a song called "Boy Scout Car Wash." Matt was a year older than me, and seemed way too cool for school. He reminded me of a cross between John Lennon and Jim Morrison. Chill. He filled in here and there for a few gigs, but never joined officially. Matt always played a five-string bass.
I also became closer to Matt Frazier, another drummer. Thanks Matt for always challenging me to do better.
1996
Here's a video of myself, Lee Cain and my cousin Alison making some noise in my parents' basement over the Easter weekend.
Josh and I moved up to Sophomores and Lee was now a Junior. My friends kept telling me I should join the marching band because I knew how to play drums. For some absurd reason, I listened to them. What a terrible idea. I didn't know how to read music. Why did Mr. Thayer let me join? So bizarre. But it was there that I met John Osborne.
John Osborne was a year younger, a Freshman. He was part of the marching band and also part of the concert band. He played electric bass for the marching band and upright bass for the concert band. I made friends with John, and discovered his true talent was the electric guitar.
Josh and I moved up to Sophomores and Lee was now a Junior. My friends kept telling me I should join the marching band because I knew how to play drums. For some absurd reason, I listened to them. What a terrible idea. I didn't know how to read music. Why did Mr. Thayer let me join? So bizarre. But it was there that I met John Osborne.
John Osborne was a year younger, a Freshman. He was part of the marching band and also part of the concert band. He played electric bass for the marching band and upright bass for the concert band. I made friends with John, and discovered his true talent was the electric guitar.
Pictured to the right is John and me at a Southern High School football game.
I had John meet Lee and Josh, and we asked him to be in our band. John really wanted to join, but said he couldn't because his Dad wouldn't let him until his grades improved. We kept asking and he finally joined.
1997
Here's a video of me, Josh and John jamming in my parent's basement.
We were a band of three guitars and a drummer. We needed a full-time bass player. We wouldn't get one until a year later. In the meantime, Matt Dosberg filled in on bass for a multicultural assembly one day at school. The band played Glory, Lee's signature song. The local paper actually covered the event and took our photo (still trying to locate it). While the band had no official name, Matt told the photographer our name was Release. So for a short while, that was our name.
We played a benefit show on April 27, 1997 (flyer pictured to the right). Notice Lee and Matt also played a separate set.
Soon after, we somehow landed on Jackson Jive.
Lee booked us an Independence Day gig at a boat yard, where he worked at the time.
A.J. Cusato, a member of the Southern High School football team, was diagnosed with cancer. We played at a fundraiser (flyer pictured to the left).
We asked Aaron Booth to fill in as a bass player for our Southern High School Homecoming Dance gig. He was the son of Mrs. Booth, an English teacher at Southern. That was the only time Aaron played with us. After that gig, Josh quit, which was fine, because Lee didn't feel like playing with Josh anymore.
John would carpool into school with Lee in the morning, always listening to G3 (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson).
Michael "Tony" Scoglio joined John in the concert band, and studied the upright bass right along with John. He tried out for the band with his own electric bass, and was hired immediately. He auditioned playing Plush, by Stone Temple Pilots. Definitely an advanced bass line. Tony eventually settled on becoming one of the best slap-bass players.
My Dad, George Dobbs, helped us by recording a few songs on a four-track recording device. My Dad also let us borrow a lot of equipment and fixed all of our instruments. He was definitely the wizard technician keeping us all up-and-running over the years. He also gets credit for all the video footage recorded of the band. My Mom, Karen Dobbs, would feed us.
Thanks Mom and Dad.
My sister would put up with the noise. Sorry Kim.
1998
Finally, a full line-up. Vocalist, drummer, bassist and two lead guitars.
We made T-shirts.
We changed our name to Jax 'n' Jive.
Here are some odd ceramics I made. I was really into the band (pictured to the right).
We wrote nine songs and played a few gigs. We made some money. And here's where I credit Ryan "Mark" Behneman for some great advice I'll never forget. We had a ceramics class together.
Every band ultimately is faced with a decision. Do we buy our own PA system, or do we record our music? Ryan was in a death-metal band himself, and told me he would rather have something tangible he could look back on and be proud of and that he could show people for the rest of his life. Thank you Ryan Behneman.
Pictured to the left is Ryan.
While Lee technically was still a band member, he left for Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He came back down during Christmas break, and we booked four days of studio time to record our nine-song album at Jazzmo Studios in Odenton, Maryland.
This was our disc artwork.
This was our liner note insert.
This was back cover.
Ryan Behneman recommended Jazzmo to us, as that is where his band Lavidity recorded. Here's their EP on cassette that I purchased from Ryan.
Here is John Osborne playing bass at Skipper's Pier in Deale, Maryland. John's Dad is in the front row, with the ponytail. My sister Kim is in front left on violin.
John practiced the upright bass night after night. His end goal was to earn a full-paid scholarship to a music university.
John wasn't fond of practicing, but I believe he understood its importance. He would get so mad just thinking about practicing the bass. It got so bad that he punched a wall and broke his hand. He had to wear a cast, but could thankfully still hold a pick in his fingers.
1999
Here's a still-sealed envelope acting as our poor-man's copyright to the music. It's dated February 26, 1999.
I was featured in Southern High School's student paper.
I had some senior portraits taken with John and Tony while Lee was away at college.
Here's a jamming session with myself, Tony and Vinnie Scoglio, John Osborne, Joe Belvedere and Joey Tichnell.
Lee also came back down for the Southern High School Battle Of The Bands, which we won.
Each high school in the area had their own BOTB, of which the winners were invited to perform at the 1st Annual Anne Arundel County Battle Of The Bands.
But they wouldn't let Lee play, as he was in college. So Vinnie Scoglio, Tony's brother, filled in on vocals. The competition was the day after Prom night. I remember going to Prom, going to the after party, borrowing some pants from Chris Gabus (I didn't bring a change of clothes) and wearing those same pants to the competition the next day. Thanks Chris.
Thanks to our good friend Joe Belvedere for helping us out with additional guitar for this performance.
We played some originals and Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. We were disqualified because we went over the allotted 15 minute time limit, but we managed to win the award for Best Guitar thanks to John.
2000 And Beyond
We were dissatisfied with the sound of our album, so we had it remixed and remastered, in addition to updating the album artwork.
Silly, but better.
Better.
Much better.
Also much better.