• Dave Heilman- lead & backing vocals, acoustic & electric rhythm guitars, harmonica, bass and slide guitar
• Zach Bailey- piano, organ & other keyboards, acoustic & electric lead guitars, bass, banjo, alto saxophone and drums
• Scott Frenchek- bass
• Brian Schrom- drums
• Terry Gayhart- lead guitar
• Al Homicz- alto saxophone
• Keith Myers- backing vocals

Production:

• Engineers- Chris Johnson, Zach Bailey & Dave Heilman
• Producers- Chris Johnson, Keith Myers, Zach Bailey & Dave Heilman
• CD package manufactured by Downtown Sound, Lemoyne, PA
• Cover photo taken by Dave Heilman, thanks to Jules Packman.  Liner notes, background photo, taken by Dave Heilman  
• All black & white photographs taken by Natalie Bachman

Personal Profiles:

• NATALIE BACHMAN- Natalie is a freelance photographer, she and I met at Cedar Crest High School, where we were in a lot of the same classes together.  Natalie was "Goth", way before everybody else jumped the bandwagon and made Goth "cool".  She and Monique Malone were the original "Girlscouts From Hell".  After graduation, she was taking photography classes at HACC, we were good friends, and she needed a subject for her art.  I was happy to do it.  Really...have you ever known a musician to shy away from a camera lense?  She shot the photo I was originally going to use for the cover, and one of her early works can be seen on the "Ballad In Plain Dave" page of this website.  I hadn't seen her in years, but when I needed a photographer for this project, she was the the first one I called.  We set up a photo session, and all the black & white photography on the site and in the CD is Natalie's, all done on one overcast afternoon.  Beautiful work.

• ZACH BAILEY- I met Zach one night at Deja Vu, when he came in with a string quartet backing him.  He played a couple of Beatle songs, an original ("If Tomorrow Doesn't Come", which you can listen to on his mp3 site www.mp3.com/Zach_Bailey ) and "Bob Dylan's Dream", which really made my night, and I thought this guy's alright.  After he was finished with his set, we talked Dylan for what must have been a couple of hours, and in April of 2002,  I took a few of my songs, some old, some new, to his studio, and we began work on Onus A.  As a fine engineer/musician, Zach has been instrumental in creating the unique sound of this album, and for his double duty work, I am eternally grateful.  On "Defecting From The Union", except for my vocal...it's aaallll Zach.

• SCOTT FRENCHEK- Scott, Scooch, Lenny, whatever you wanna call him on any given night, came to me through Zach.  We met one night when Zach and I went to play at M.J.'s Coffee House, in Annville, PA, I think the three of us played together that night...Rockabilly kinda stuff.  After the place closed, we talked about all kind of stuff, from The Simpsons to songwriting...a real great B.S. session.  Scott, Zach and another guy were the first ones to ever hear the lyrics to "Playing Solitaire".  I remember Scott really loving the metaphors and innuendo I used in the song.  He's got a sharp wit, and I think he got it right away.  I've loved his bass playing from the first time I heard him, and when we decided to do a full band version of the song, I wanted him to play on it.  Scott is also a songwriter, and has a great song (one of many) called "Fatty Chan", which I always request whenever I see him play live. 

• TERRY GAYHART- What can you say about Terry, I've admired his songwriting and guitar work for years.  My favorite, of his songs, has always been "Little Man In The Land Of Giants".  He sings and plays guitar in Shift 7, my favorite band I know.  If I ever go on tour, these guys are gonna be my "Hawks".  I've known Terry since my days at Marty's Music Store, in Lebanon, PA, and have become friends with him, since my days at Deja Vu.  Of all the lead guitar players I know, he is, bar none, the best, most versatile and tastefully quick fingered of them all.  I can come in with a new song, play it live with him, and no matter how wierd it is, he plays it like he was there when I wrote it.  I knew I wanted him on the record, and I knew I wanted him to play on "Solitaire".  The line-up you hear in the studio, Terry, Scott and Brian, is the exact line-up that played the most poweful and on point version of that song I have ever played.  If we had a recording of that live performance, I'm tellin' ya', it would be on the album.  Terry wailed!!!  You can listen to a sampling of his songwriting at http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/135/tlg_project.html, where you can also link to the Shift 7 site, his Garage band.com site and the Peace Train site, another band he plays in.  As you can see, he's an extremely busy guy, and I am proud he was able to take the time to record with me.

• AL HOMICZ- I also met Al at Marty's, where he was teaching saxophone in the evenings.  He played in a seven piece band I got together for a one night gig at the Lebanon Community Theatre, for their Summer Concert Series, where we sold out and packed the house.  He was originally slated to play alto sax, but a hernia forced him onto the piano bench.  Travis Spurley, a friend of his, on very short notice, took over the sax duties for the night in his place.  The recording you hear of Al on this album, was actually recorded about eight years ago, on analog, 4-track tape.  Studio magic has brought him to us, beautifully, in the year 2003.

• CHRIS & JANET JOHNSON-  I met Chris and his wife Janet for the first time at a Shift 7 show.  Chris was the one in the furry pants, filling out the bottom end of that unmistakable Shift 7 sound.  Janet was the starry eyed one, staring at those furry pants.  Together, they own and operate Rugburn Studios, in Lebanon, PA (Chris is the engineer, and Janet is his supervisor and takes care of  the business end of things), where we recorded "Playing Solitaire", "So Long", Sweet Nymph And Open Sea" and "Five Days".  We've made some great music at Rugburn, Studio A, and Chris, from behind the double paned glass, manning the controls, is hugely responsible for that.  Incidently, The voices heard, in the background on "Five Days", are that of Janet, Keith and his girlfriend Alexis and myself, and Janet is the one with the dirty mouth...beeeeep.  Love ya' Janet!  Thanks to both of you.

• KEITH MYERS- Another guy I met years ago at Marty's, and reconnected with at Deja Vu.  Keith also plays guitar and sings with Shift 7, and of course, has BOFA DEE's RECORDS, and evidently, saw something in my songwriting and live performance.  I've sat in numerous times with the band at Deja and Chicks, in Hummelstown, PA, and have loved every moment of it.  When Keith first heard me play "So Long" in the studio, he said it sounded familiar.  As a songwriter, this immediately worried me, as it does anytime anybody says those dreaded words.  He said the verses reminded him of the theme song to the old Underdog cartoons.  That put my mind at ease, because there's no way in hell that slipped into my sub-conscience...Good cartoon, but definitely not a musical influence.  Keith is singing the low harmony part on that song..."So Long", not Underdog.  Jimmy Musser's favorite "Keith Song", with Shift 7, is "Basketball Jones"...I kinda dig it myself!  Thanks Keith!

• JULES PACKMAN- Jules is an amazing singer, guitar player, songwriter and close friend & confidant.  She's the Joan to my Bobby.  We've recorded and sung live together many times.  When she sings, if I close my eyes, I can swear it's Janis standing next to me, sharing a microphone...but she's definitely her own person in every way.  I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for the album cover for about two weeks, milling it around, and arranging it in my head.  On the afternoon of August 15th, 2002, I called Jules and Asked her if she had a red dress.  She said no, but she did  have "the perfect dress"... she was right, and that dress set the tone for the color scheme for the album, and everything connected with it.   In a couple of hours, we took about a dozen photos, and couldn't believe the results.  We were amazed...everything just fell into place so easily.  We immediately printed out an 8X10, and headed up to Deja Vu for a celebration dinner, and to give the thursday night crowd a preview.  Jules was much more cooperative than my cat Sara, and I thank her for that.  I love you Julie!

• BRIAN SCHROM- I originally met Brian through his parents, Jim & Peg.  They live down the road from me, and would come out to see me play at the Washington House, in Annville.  One night they invited me down for a few beers around the campfire.  We had a good ol' time talking and listening to music...and that's how I got to know Brian...the truck drivin'ist, Harley ridin'ist, solid human metronome with a flare for tasteful, perfectly executed drumming I've ever heard in my life.  To me, "Playing Solitaire" is my masterpiece, and it was essential that Brian be the backbone to this epic tale of the lonely eccentric.  We did two live takes, the second of which is the one that appears on the album, and he played beautifully on both.  Never a show off (And believe me, he could if he wasn't so moddest), he knew exactly what to do to drive, and accent a 9 1/2 minute, 4/4 time signature.  Just listen to the snare roll after the words "...royal regime"...Perfect, and quite royal!  Brian is now the permanent drummer for one of my favorite blues bands, The Middleton Brothers.  Luckily, I got a hold of him first!