Ethan Carey: ‘Before I-95, My Dream Was to Be a Rockstar’

It was around this time in 1978 when Mindy and I decided it was time I got a "real" job, and with that, my dreams of becoming a rock star faded into the sunset.

You'd think that after 37 wonderful years of being married to my wife and my radio career, I would stop obsessing about my life as a musician in the 1970s. The reason I can't let it go is because of all the amazing memories we made playing music in the Rochester, NY area. The name of our acoustic trio was Sunup, which included my music partner, Garry Manual and bass player Charlie Castilano, and eventually, Kerry Petersen. I met my wife, Mindy, during the Sunup years because, yes, she was a Sunup groupie!

The reason I wanted to tell you my story is twofold. Garry's son, Marshall, who is also a singer/songwriter and producer, just finished remastering some of Sunup's recordings from '73 through '75, and as soon as the cover art is completed, the album titled, Sunup - Passion & Politics, with 11 of our favorite Sunup tunes will be available. Are you ready for this photo?! It's 1988, baby!

Over the next four weeks, I'll be writing a series of blogs centered around the music Garry and I created from '72 through '78. He and I, along with his wife Mary and my wife Mindy, remain close friends to this day. The following tune, written by Garry, is one of our studio recordings with a full band, titled, "Come On In." When we played out, it was usually just the three of us. Some of those tunes will be appearing in later blogs.

CREDITS  - "COME ON IN"

*Garry - Lead Vocals and Electric Guitars                                                                             *Ethan - Background Vocals & Acoustic Guitar                                                                  *Joey Z - Sax                                                                                                                     * *Tom Christenello - Piano/Keyboards                                                                                   *Bass - Kerry Petersen                                                                                                         *Drums - Benny Grammatico                                                                             *Background Vocals - Dee Carstensen

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.