It was an epiphany, a true stoned-soul picnic.

"We gotta start a band," Mickey said.

"Yes, we do!" said Andy.

"Fine by me," added Freddie.

Mickey was a fine singer and songwriter, and not too bad on the guitar. Andy could play mandolin and sing some harmonies. Freddie said he'd play drums, shaker, percussion, that sort of thing. Andy said his friend Pernell Meekens was a dynamite harmonica player. He was sure Pernell would join the band.

So they were set. All they needed was a name.

Freddie worked on the Cedar Island Ferry every summer, and he thought they should call themselves the Cedar Ferry Four. But Mickey didn't like it, said it sounded like the name of an old folk-music group.

"We gotta straddle that fence between Little Feat and The Louvin Brothers," he said.

It was quiet for a few minutes, then Andy said, "How 'bout we call ourselves The Cedar Creek Boys?"

They all looked at each other, laughed, and it was a done deal.

For the next 20 years, The Cedar Creek Boys were a mainstay on the local hotel-lounge-and-roadhouse circuit around Lonesome Pines.

Continue to part 3.

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