Three years ago today, a benefit was held at Maxwell’s to generate money and support for Danny Amis, better known perhaps by his nom du wrestling mask, Daddy-O Grande. Before relocating to Nashville, Danny was Georgia and my roommate in Hoboken; it was Danny who soundproofed our basement (not sure that would be the word our neighbors would choose), hoping to convince his band the Raybeats to rehearse there. They declined that offer, but that’s where Georgia and I practiced, both in our pre-Yo La Tengo days and for the first three years of the band. The benefit was a special night. Jon Klages flew in from Los Angeles so that the Individuals could take part, and we invited him to sing “Now You’ll Never Know” with us, our first time playing that together since the release of Jon’s In a Dream ep (Georgia and my first recording). The Schramms were on the bill, so I played with them and Dave played with us on a few songs, including the Barbarians’ “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl” (which we once coerced Danny into singing with us in our basement). We closed our set with one more guest, Jody Harris of the Raybeats, on “The Kid with the Replaceable Head” and a mindblowing “Pass the Hatchet I Think I’m Goodkind.”
