Some of you may remember a short-lived band I played drums in (with Jesse Tomaino of Suenteus Po) in '01-'02 called Excuse I. We were a reggae/ska type of affair, 5-piece, and I was by far the oldest geezer in the band. It was a ton of fun. Allen Whitman came up with the name.
Alas, the band imploded in 2002 for any number of reasons, or all the usual reasons, as bands will. They aren't built to last, after all.
Young people, on the other hand, are generally built to last. So I am very sad to have to write that Gilbert Shih, our young trumpet player, took his own life last Thursday. He had booked some time with an instructor at a shooting range in San Rafael, had spent a couple hours shooting at targets, and then just turned the revolver on himself without any warning. He was 28.
We are very sad and shocked, and none of us know any details as to why. I suppose one rarely does. But Jesse and I have put up a little myspace page with the only 4 songs we ever recorded, and we hope you'll go and listen to some of Gilbert's trumpet playing. They were recorded at GetReel Productions by Robert Preston, so you know they sound good.
myspace.com/excusei
He also had his own myspace page.
myspace.com/gilbertshih
Be well, everybody, and hang on tight.
Posted by eric at September 6, 2006 09:28 PM