One of the things that I have been blessed with over my career has been the ability and the access to play different styles of music. The Rubinoos fits that. They are a Power Pop band that started back in the seventies and had a few hits. One was a cover of the song "I Think We're Alone Now."

The way I got hooked up with this band was through Kevin Gilbert. Jon Rubin, the namesake of the band, was Kevin's manager. The band didn't do very much while Kevin was still alive. They eventually got a small deal with a Japanese label and Spanish label. Jon and I have known each other for years through all my gigs and he had me come play drums and sing on this record. It is a record of all cover songs. I think it is very good. The version of Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" kills. Great horns on that one. I find this kind of music very fun and challenging to play. It may not be technically difficult but you have to try and make it groove and feel good all the way through with out being boring. That can be hard sometimes. Tommy Dunbar is a fantastic musician and guitar player.

What tripped me out the most playing with the Rubinoo's is when we went on the two small tours of Japan and Spainin 2003. There are some serious fans of power pop music. I thought prog fans were hard core. Well, power pop fans are equally into their music as prog heads. They collect like crazy. They go nuts at shows. There were mosh pits at the shows in Japan. Over all a fun record and a fun experience.

There will be a new Rubinoos record out in 2004 that I got to play and sing on also. They brought back the first producer to help out and it turned out really well. I think they are in the mixing stage now. This one is all original music and still very POP