Dave Schramm relinquished the lead guitar chair at the end of August 1986. We knew it was coming, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t sting. We did one Dave-Who? five-song set as a trio at NYC’s Pyramid Club (performing “The Story of Jazz” for the first time) and then went back to being a quartet; sometimes Dave Rick played lead, sometimes Chris Stamey. Right before a show, we’d have a practice with Dave or Chris, but more often than not, we rehearsed as a three-piece, in our basement on Garden Street in Hoboken, where the ceiling was too low for Stephan to stand. It got to the point where we’d accept a date, and then see who was free to play it. Finally, on this day in 1987, booked into Albany’s QE2, the answer was no one, and we did the show as a trio. How much of that was by design? I can’t recall, but I know the three of us were definitely feeling more confident in the basement, where I’d do my imitations of Dave, Chris and Dave. We did one more show with Chris and one more with Dave Schramm, and then became a trio full-time.
