The Band

Even though Alliance's first live performance will be on March 5th, 2010, Alliance's story began 25 years ago. Gary Pihl and David Lauser, after years as bandmates in the Sammy Hagar band for the first half of the 1980s, with powerhouse hits such as I Can't Drive 55 and Heavy Metal, were looking to form a new band after Sammy Hagar accepted the invitation for the lead spot in Van Halen.

 

Geffen A/R guru John Kalodner gave them a tape of Robert Berry, a new artist being groomed by Geffen. Phone calls were exchanged, tapes were traded, and David traveled to see Berry's band perform. But as with most things timing is everything. They didn't get that first chance to play together. Gary Pihl joined Boston, Robert Berry was off to England to work with Steve Howe in GTR and David Lauser was touring non-stop and recording with Hagar. For the next few years history ran its course.

 

But Pihl and Lauser still had the desire to do something of their own - something original. Early in 1993 Berry again received a call from David Lauser. They wanted to try again and form this new band and had recruited Alan (Fitz) Fitzgerald. Alan's band Night Ranger had just broken up and he to was looking for something new. The timing was finally right. David, Gary, Robert and Fitz gathered together at Hagar's basement studio in Mill Valley and plowed through a few tunes.

 

The vibe was powerful. Everybody in the room could feel it. They immediatly knew that there was a common thread that would feed the demand for creativity in this new band. A bond between their musical styles and their background. So it all began. Initially recording demos at Sammy's house and then on to Boston to work in Pihl's studio. The band was searching for a style and musical unity that most bands get from growing up together or playing in rival bands. Though this band was spread geographically throughout the country, with Pihl in Boston, Fitz in Texas, Lauser in Northern California and Berry in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, they were commited to this long distance, sonic relationship. To complicate things even further, Pihl was still working with Boston, Fitz was the behind the scenes keyboard player for Van Halen, Lauser was still touring with several bands and helping Hagar with his "Unboxed" release, and Berry, after finishing an album and tour with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer (in the band 3) was busy producing other artists as well as keeping his solo career rolling writing and releaseing several Cds.

 

Over the next four years they continued to build their long distance affair by sending each other tapes and ideas and meeting at Berry's Soundtek Studio to write and record together. The first album simply titled "Alliance" is the sum of those four years. Some songs are the original demos from Hagar's basement and Pihl's studio. Some are from the band's 1996 Japanese release "Bond of Union". With the success of their first album in Europe, and the desire to keep creating new music, they immediately started to write and record their next CD. The scheduling was still an obstacle to overcome but the musical standard had been set and they wanted to acceed their first release.

 

The second album "Missing Piece" would turn out to be the total fusion of these four musical talents. It shows the incredible growth and maturity the band was searching for. They broke new ground with the combined debth of lyrics and musical arrangements. The third CD, "Road To Heaven," has been released. Their schedules haven't slowed one bit. Gary remains a key member of Boston; in 1997, after Sammy Hagar's tenure with Van Halen ran its course, Sammy tapped David again to serve as his drummer; Fitz is on tour as Bruce Springstein"s keyboard player and road manager; and Robert has been touring with the band Ambrosia. We hope you enjoy what started as a phone call almost 25 years ago.

 

Right now there is another CD in the mail. Tomorrow there will be more long distance phone calls and more late nights in the studio. All juggled around the busy musical schedule of the band called "Alliance."