Published on February 4th, 2010

Musical family brews a Premium Blend

By TAMMY JUDD

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MISTY NIELSEN/FOR THE BRISTOL BAY TIMES, , Alaska Newspapers

Premium Blend members Pat Lind on bass, Joe Lind on lead guitar, Mike Fuller on rhythm guitar and Eric Baldwin, not seen, bring in the new year at The Willow Tree in Dillingham. The Lind brothers are originally come from Chignik Lake. The band has written the names of each town where it has played on the banner that hangs on the wall.

Music has been percolating through Joe Lind's blood most of his life. He and brothers, Pat and Ricky, started playing music when they were youngsters. All of them live in different towns now, but recently the three joined together for a musical reunion in Dillingham.

Joe Lind, 47, who was born at Chignik Lake and now lives in Anchorage, is the lead singer and guitar player for the band Premium Blend. Pat Lind, 48, an artist who resides in Homer, plays bass in the band. Ricky lives in Dillingham. The three brothers, back in the 1980s, played music together in a band called Creation Band.

As children the family moved around between Chignik Lake, Kodiak, Anchorage and various Bristol Bay communities such as Pilot Point and Naknek, but the three wound up in Anchorage as young men.

Joe, who graduated from Naknek High School in 1980, was set to go study music at Berkeley in California. First he stopped in Anchorage. Pat and Rick were already in town. One day, he and his brothers were approached by a cousin and asked if they could play for a wedding. They all had their guitars but said they needed more equipment. The cousin told them he'd rent it for them if they could do the gig.

"So we sat around for a week and came up with about 25 songs, and we played for this," Joe said.

After the gig, the cousin came up and handed Joe some cash. When Joe asked what it was for, the cousin said that the band did great.

"And so I got a wad of money in my left hand and college on my right. So you know what I did?" he laughs. "I just kept playing!"

The brothers called themselves Creation Band and they played clubs in Anchorage for about 10 to 12 years, Joe said. Then they all got busy with day jobs and would sometimes play together on weekends.

Eventually Joe retired from playing music while he focused on his family - he's married with two kids - and attended college in Anchorage. During his last couple semesters of classes, he was awoken from his musical slumber by drummer Jacob Luevano who convinced Joe to start jamming with him and Mike Fuller who plays rhythm guitar. Eventually they were joined by Mike Fuller who plays rhythm guitar. When they decided they needed a bass player, Joe suggested his brother, Pat.

The group put together about 20 songs and one of them came up with a gig.

"I'm, hey, we can't do a gig without a band name, and we're sitting there in the practice place drinking coffee, and I looked over and there was a coffee can says 'premium blend,'" Joe explains.

Traveling since 1992

Premium Blend has been traveling throughout Alaska playing a variety of music including classic rock, pop, country and country rock since 1992. The group also has a handful of original tunes which it released on CD a couple years ago. Originally the CD titled, "Six More," had six songs. But, fans so persistently asked for the Creation Band's 1985 single, "Staying True to the Heart," that it reissued the CD including the older tune. Premium Blend brings the CD, "Six More Plus One," when it plays on the road.

Premium Blend's original drummer was with the band for 16-1/2 years. His replacement, Marvin Adams, also retired recently. So when the band came to Dillingham to help bring in the New Year it sported a fill-in drummer Eric Baldwin. The band played two nights at The Willow Tree. On New Year's Eve, Joe's brother, Ricky, came up and sat in with the band playing guitar and then bass. The second night he played guitar and drums.

The band isn't on the road as much now as it once was since the band members work day jobs and Pat has to travel from Homer to play.

However, another musical family reunion with the three Lind brothers may be brewing. Joe said he'd been contacted by Charlene Lopez, who arranged The Willow Tree gigs, about the possibility of bringing Premium Blend back for Beaver Round Up in March.

The Dillingham Arts Council is looking at March 5 to hold a community dance.

Tammy Judd can be reached at tammy@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2438 or 800-770-9830, ext. 438

 

Copyright 2010

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