This isn't the story of a band that "made it big." But it is the true story of a band that made it happen and made it fun. The band made good music, made people feel good, it still does.

~ Deborah Delicious

Butch Maxwell and Chris Bontos met in high school where they formed their first band and wrote their first songs together. Bontos, who grew up in Chicago and Athens, Greece, learned guitar from his father and longed to form a band when he arrived in a school in Wheeling. It was there that he met Maxwell, a stage performer who also wanted to write and play music. - Editor

Butch Maxwell:
"We both wrote songs, and quickly learned that collaboration was better than competition. And it worked beautifully. We wrote dozens of songs in the first year or so - and a couple of them were good."

Chris Bontos:
"We used to cut classes and sneak into the bathrooms to play harmonica because it sounded great in there."

When they formed their first band, they noticed that all four members were guitarists.

Bontos:
"It didn't sound too good."

Maxwell:
"Chris was the best guitar player, so that was a given. Another guy was actually coordinated enough to move his arms and legs differently at the same time, so - in theory - he could play the drums."

Bontos:
"Yeah, but then he got a drum set."

Maxwell:
"Shot that theories."

Bontos:
"But it was his idea that since Paul McCartney is left handed and plays the bass, so Butch is left-handed and he should play bass."

Maxwell:
"So much for pretending that bass was my destiny."

Bontos:
"No, I thought it sealed the deal."

Bontos & Maxwell had a band in high school that defiantly played original music in a copy music world. Jagged-edged and rough, those early bands played church halls, festivals, steak fries and school dances. Usually only once. They were uncompromising to a fault. They not only played their own songs, but they used theatrical antics to underscore their rebellion. Once, while playing at a wedding reception, Maxwell smashed a dummy onstage.

Those early bands never met with a lot of success. But Bontos and Maxwell kept writing songs and with some maturity learned to gently stretch and audience without putting them into shock. Eventually the two went their separate ways for a while. Bontos stayed in the Ohio Valley, where he played in other bands; Maxwell moved to Columbus where he played in other bands.