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Bittersweet News from ApologetiX
Mon., Jan. 29. 2001 2:15am EST
Hey, this is Karl from ApologetiX. Hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl.
You probably don't know this, but we had a very special concert in Michigan on Friday. We got to pinch hit for Satellite Soul as headliners of Cabin Fever Fest, so we wound up playing two concerts instead of one. The festival was originally called "Thawfest" - it's good that they changed the name, because Satellite Soul was ICED IN in Missouri and couldn't make it.
Besides being a cool opportunity to play a double set to both old friends and new fans, Friday was special for another reason.
Friday was our last concert with our drummer, Fred "Ben" Behanna, who had played with ApologetiX at 105 concerts and on two CDs. If you've heard "Spoofernatural" and "Biblical Graffiti," you've heard a world-class drummer - Fred did a wonderful job and really raised the bar for us.
Fred played his first concert with ApologetiX as a fill-in in February 1999, and shared duties with Keith Harrold until finally becoming our full-time drummer in June 1999. However, Fred had been playing drums in many bands for a long time before that. He told us several weeks ago that the touring and recording processes were finally starting to wear him out and that he felt he was ready to retire. The news saddened us, but we knew he'd given it a lot of thought and we want him to do what's best for him.
We had a surprise "graduation ceremony" for Fred during our concert, complete with cap and gown, "diploma," and "Pomp and Circumstance." We're happy for him that he's finally going to get to relax, but we will definitely miss him. He has fought the good fight.
We love Fred and wish him the best, and he will always be a close friend of ours. He will continue to receive mail at Fred@apologetiX.com. If you care to, please take a moment to thank him and wish him well.
If you know anything about ApologetiX, you know that we've had many drummers over the years (kind of like Spinal Tap, but our drummers stay alive and remain our friends after they leave the band). Consequently, we DO have several drummers who are willing and able to help us meet our concert commitments. They are old friends and they are professionals. However, we do not yet have a full-time candidate for the position.
Now, I'm turning to you. We decided to keep this quiet until Fred had played his last concert with us. Now, we're counting on God to bring the right person to us. So could you please stop right here and ask God for His help on this?
If you know a good Christian drummer, preferably in the Western Pennsylvania area, have him email me at Karl@apologetiX.com. And if you don't, maybe you could ask your church to put it in the Sunday bulletin, or maybe you could take out an ad in the paper or get a couple Super Bowl commercials. Maybe you or your favorite DJ could say something on the radio. Let me know what you did to try to help us find him. We have some crazy and ingenious friends - I know you'll come up with great ideas!
Thanks for being among the most supportive fans and friends any band has ever had,
Karl
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