It started around the year 1997. Tom and Tim began making "music" in Tom’s basement with two pair of earphones, a cassette tape player and very limited musical knowledge. "More Than A Feeling" was one of the first songs that came out of this duo. Tom taught a mutual friend of ours, John Edmonson, how to play the bass guitar. The three of us played together and worked up a small catalog of songs to play. Tom then worked on convincing his brother, Jeff, to sing a couple of songs each day we practiced. It took a lot of persuasion, but Jeff gave in and sung along with the guitar, bass, and drums. Tony had just returned from his four-year odyssey from college around the year 1999 and then convinced us we needed a keyboard player. He sat in and completed the sound of the band. And so there were 5.

After a couple of years playing songs, drinking, partying, drinking, practicing, and drinking, we got collectively better at making recognizable music. Tim worked with a kid by the name of Mike Abrams who claimed to be the best guitar player of all time. Well, not really, but he was pretty good. He sat in on our practices from time to time and played our eighties rock music even though he was a child of the nineties with influences like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam. He accompanied us a couple of times and took a break. He came back a couple of months later, after the original 5 had been practicing, to join our merry band. And so, we were a 6 piece group.

We played our friend’s parties here and there and got a lot of compliments about how good we sounded. We felt we were ready to go out and see what kind of gigs we could get playing only cover songs. Then we hit a bump in the road. John decided to put more of his time into working with the Navy and somewhat disassociated himself with the band while keeping in touch as a friend. With an empty spot in the lineup, we were looking to fill that void.

We needed a bass player to complete the full sound that we wanted. We were getting better and wanted to see where we could go with it. Jeff knew a lot of hook-ups being a bartender and an extremely extroverted social butterfly. A friend of most of the band members, Jerry Berg, said that he played bass and wouldn’t mind jamming with us. We practiced with him and we felt like we were ready to play out somewhere. We got our first gig at a restaurant/bar in Owings Mills, MD. Things were falling into place. Suddenly, tragedy struck.

Two weeks before our first real gig, around late 2002, Jerry didn’t show up for practice. The band called Jerry and he informed us that he didn’t want to be in the band anymore. This was only two weeks before our gig. We didn’t want to call off the show because of the collective exhilaration and excitement we had to play in front of a paying crowd. Different scenarios were tossed around which involved playing without a bass player. None of them were going to work. Before we left practice on that bittersweet day, Tim had an idea.

A bloke named Chris Thomas was a friend of most of the band and he was a musician. He could play the drums, guitar, and the bass. After Tim called and explained the situation, Chris was more than thrilled with the opportunity he was presented. The next weekend, Chris joined our group. After one grueling eight plus hour day of practice, Chris had learned all the songs that were to be played at the show and we, to this day, highly respect and thank him for saving our asses and keeping our dream of playing out alive.

We had a couple of shows here and there. We didn’t make a lot of money, but we were having fun. Little did we know, another member would decide to take his instrument and leave. Only this time, it was announced and was professionally handled. Mike decided to move on in July of 2004 and pursue his dreams of going to a recording school, working in gay porn (not really), and working with another group on original music. We were left without a lead guitarist, but with a local fan base that was rapidly growing. Tom decided to give a friend from high school a call.

Jason Trayer, the final perfect piece to our puzzle, came into the picture and settled right in. We were finally a fully functional group of musicians that was comfortable with each other’s playing styles and got along better than any of us thought possible.

We had had the name Number 1 Cause for a couple of years before Chris and Jason joined the band, but we weren’t officially a group until these two were united with Tom, Tony, Tim, and Jeff. Since being together, we have played bars, parties, rock shows, and venues all over our county and beyond. Our group is one that can communicate with one another honestly, and if you see us, you will be able to see and feel the connection we share. We have had our share of obstacles, miscommunications and arguments, but we are strong enough to have overcome anything that has been thrown our way. We were all friends first, band mates second. This helped our musical communication and trust grow into one of the tightest bands you will ever see. Don’t believe me? Come see us and let us prove you wrong. If you do believe me, come see us anyway, we love a big crowd.