ADAM STEMPLE: 3 Solid Blows to the Head A lyrical mix of folk, rock, blues, and music that defies categorization by world music veteran and fantasy novelist, Adam Stemple

I have been playing music since the age of 6. I started on cello, moved to piano when I hit my teens, then switched to guitar at fourteen when I cut the tip of my right index finger off with a broken beer bottle. (Kids, don't do this.)

I played in a couple of garage bands--as I lived in the country, one was actually a barn band--before moving to Minnesota in 1987 to form Cats Laughing with my friend Steven Brust.Cats Laughing was an adventurous band, and our ideas inevitably outreached our talent level. But we kept trying, and I learned a great deal in the few years we were together. Steve and I lived in the same household during that time, and we spent many a long evening crafting songs together. We recorded many of them with Cats; I recorded some with Boiled in Lead and on my solo album. A cycle of songs we titled, "The Gypsy Suite," he eventually turned into the novel, The Gypsy, with author, Megan Lindholm.

Cats Laughing broke up. Fractiously, as many bands do. After Steve ground a cigarette out in my palm, and I put him in a choke hold, we all decided that we'd rather stay friends then continue on as a band. I went gigless for a while, then answered an ad in the City Pages and joined the ill-fated Poetic Justice. A hard rock cover band known more for its drunkenness than its material, Poetic Justice played every strip joint and dive bar from Minneapolis to Las Vegas before breaking up on a boozy night in Rochester, MN after roughly four years together.

Then I joined Boiled in Lead. Lasted twelve years. The first two gigs were great.

Shortly after Cats Laughing broke up, Steve decided to record a solo album and called me in to produce it. I found that I loved working in the studio, and set about learning as much as I could about it. The Flash Girls provided me with some excellent on the job learning opportunities, asking me to produce all three of their albums. In all, I think I've produced roughly a dozen cds, and been called on to assist in the mixing of maybe a half-dozen more. I've won several Minnesota Music Awards, garnered almost unanimously good reviews, and even saw one cd on CNN headline news. Most of them are available through Fabulous Records, the record company my wife and I bought from the Fabulous Lorraine.

When my good friend, John Sjogren, called me in to produce the first album of his new band, I didn't hesitate. However, I did hesitate when he later asked me to join the band. I was loathe to work with friends after my vast experience of horrendous interpersonal relations among band members. I valued John's friendship too highly to risk it over work.

But I sure needed the work. Boiled in Lead was being booked by a retarded monkey. We had to block out large amounts of time to ensure that we could go on crappy tours for half the days we set aside and make $30 a day. And John's band was ready made for me: they had fun material, a few gigs, a good crowd, and lacked only a stand-out soloist to take them to the next level. Fearing for our friendship, I joined The Tim Malloys.

Best decision I ever made.

From making $30 a day and spending months away from home in a van with people I hated, I was suddenly working 3-4 weekends a month in town, where I could spend time with my wife and new child. And I was making a lot more money to boot.

The Tim Malloys are still going strong. The line-up has changed a little over the years, but John and I are still in it. And still friends. I started a folk duo with a wonderful singer, Elizabeth Hall, and I'm going into the studio soon to produce an album by Lorraine a Malena, the Fabulous Lorraine's latest band.