Face Dancer

..Most FACEDANCER photos listed on this MySpace page are copyrighted and taken by Teri Murphy-McGinn. Use or reproduction is prohibited without proper written consent. ********************************************************* ************************************************************ ********************************************** In mid-1974, Carey Kress was attending college at the University of Rhode Island while playing drums in a local band called JACK. Her met DJ Long who was playing keyboards in SHADOWFAX. It wasn't long before both bands merged and became FACEDANCER. DJ's brother, who was also band manager, relocated to Washington, DC and it wasn't long before the band followed. At this point in time, Face Dancer was a progressive band, very much in the vein of King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis. They found their niche with the university crowd, playing some interesting covers and some unique originals. It was while playing at American University that the band met Scott McGinn who would soon be recruited to the fill the role of bass player for the band. Scott soon became the major creative force in the band, writing original songs and leading them into a new direction.The originals began to overtake the covers and soon Face Dancer started becoming more popular. In 1975, Billy Trainor started working for the band as a sound tech, but it wasn’t long before they decided to put Carey out front to showcase his amazing talent as front man, and Billy took over the drums. The metamorphosis from progressive to rock took a major step forward with the addition of Jeff Adams on lead. It was around this time period that Face Dancer hired a new sound tech by the name of David Utter. Since they had a history of promoting from within, it wasn’t long before David was on rhythm guitar and the This World lineup was complete.Within a short period of time, the band was generating some record company interest, had new management in place, and a deal with Capitol Records was on the horizon. The band ventured to LA to record their first album, This World and it was released in 1979.Carey Kress and David Utter departed the band in 1980. This heralded the arrival of keyboardist and singer, Michael Milsap from Atlanta, GA. This time the band traveled to England to record their second release, About Face. The more pop sound of this album didn’t go over as well with the audiences. The band continued on despite internal pressures. Sometime in 1982, Face Dancer was released from Capital, and Michael and Jeff left to pursue other ventures. Carey Kress and DJ Long rejoined the band and with the addition of Timi Tanner on lead guitar, and Face Dancer tried to continue on. But unfortunately, they could not recapture the Face Dancer magic as in the past and the band dissolved.Or so they thought … interest in the band, particularly in the Baltimore, MD area, continued to live on and the idea of reunion concerts came into being. The problem was that Jeff now lived in Florida and sometimes couldn’t make it to the shows. So the band enlisted the services of David Bell to play lead guitar, Scott switched to rhythm, and BJ Weigman to played bass. Carey continued on vocals and Billy on drums. As the momentum grew, Midnite Raid was recorded from material that never made it on to the first two albums. The band continued to headline reunion concerts until their last appearance at the Rechers Theater Show in December 2004.Rock Candy Records has remastered "This World" and has released it in the UK as an import CD.What happens next? Stay tuned for more info!