Skydragster

The Skydragster story features some of Cleveland's often forgotten but great rock alumni. Full of highs and lows and a boatload of hook laden guitar rock. In the early 90's, Bill Stone, Kurt Maracz and Tom Dannery formed up Medicine Men (later Medicine Show). They shared a love of Big Star, the Posies, Teenage Fanclub and everything that those bands laid their foundations on. They played a lot of shows, garnered a catalog brimming with guitar jangle, and then, like bands do, simply spun themselves apart. Bill Stone and Kurt Maracz, along with the Rick McBrien of Detroit, and John E Midnight (late of WRUW's Dig Baby Dig fame) formed the successful and legendary Paranoid Lovesick. For a time they had all the labels in frenzy and fueled it's mystique by recording but not releasing two full lengths. Cleveland Ohio's answer to the Replacements, called up to the big game, then back down to double AA ball. It all crashed for good with the sudden and unexpected death of Rick McBrien. Devastated, Stone, Maracz and Midnight chose to bow out gracefully in honor of their late friend. During most of Paranoid Lovesick's high water mark, Maracz was keeping ties with Dannery and the Medicine Show. Like Paranoid Lovesick, Medicine Show was stumbling, recording amazing tracks which never saw the light of day. Enter Pat Kirchner in 2006. A school friend of Dannery and Maracz. Pat played with the Snyders of Berlin way back when Pat's in the Flats was the place to be. A persistent Kirchner managed to bring together Stone, Dannery and Maracz again. This time they were armed with years of experience and a dictionary sized song catalog. Maracz, who's experienced a renaissance with his writing, mostly pens the latest batch of songs. With a nod to their past, the band still plays select Paranoid Lovesick and Medicine Show songs. This time, with nothing holding it all together other than the sheer love of music, there's a much better vibe with the Dragster. Gone is everything that can screw up the fragile thing that is a rock band. In exchange is a bag of hard learned tricks that combined cook up some great guitar hook laden rock. An elite SWAT team of rock, ready to make pinpoint surgical rock strikes whenever they feel the urge to exit the basement (which isn't often).