| Hello to everyone! I know this has been a long time coming, and at long last here it is. Your very own site of "NTW" stuff from 1998 when the group formed until now! (2005) -Uncle George
I hope that you will all bare with me as this site will be a work in progress...I will do a little at a time. Please feel free to contact me and let me know if there are any pictures, recordings or other stuff that you would like to have and I will do my best to get it up for you!
Before I go any further, I would like to say thank you to all of the musicians who have made "NTW" possible. I have enjoyed working with all of you, and to me you are all my brothers!
This is how it all began... In 1997 a couple of years after I moved to NC from Springfield, Mo. where I worked in several different Rock/Metal bands. I decided I wanted to pursue a style of music that had no limits, and in no time found my good friend Tim Eason (guitar/vocalist). He had placed an add in the "ESP Soundboard" looking for someone to create "Atmospheric Mood Music". I met with him and we began writing songs together.
After a while we jammed with some drummers, and other musicians until Tim met up with a percussive pair named: Chris Laughlin (drums) & Kent Lovern (vocals/percussion). We jammed a little and things clicked! Tim and I were talking on the phone about the chemistry between the four of us and were toying with the idea of forming a new band! I told Tim that even after living on the road in the Mid-west and eating "Ramen noodles" all three meals of the day because I was too broke to buy a hot dog, that I was going to do it! I said..."I guess I'm None The Wiser!" The name and concept stuck...and we were off.
By Spring of 1998, "NTW" was doing shows in and around Greensboro. The quartet grew together musically and had success in all of the rooms that we played. Personally however, there was a large rift forming within the band. For reasons better left unsaid, Tim Eason was fired in late 1998. NTW recruited the help of our good friends "Bag of Nickels" to helps us record our first album..."Fluid Methodical Notions." The album featured Bag of Nickels bassist "R.C. Lee on guitar", "David McClintock" and keys and organ...and Bag of Nickels front man "John Russell" pulling the engenering duties. We recording the album over a 3-5 day session at Soundport Studios in Greensboro. The album was released to a very welcome and loyal fan base and we began to get the live show going.
Knowing that RC Lee was just filling a void in the bands sound temporarily we began to look for Tim's permanent replacement. In 1999, we found two young and ready guitarists: Justin Fedor and Justin Poindexter. The sound of NTW was about to take a serious turn, and the band was headed to the next level.
Justin and Justin were soon followed by the addition af an Alto Saxophonist named: Kyle Webster. The first album this group recorded "Otherwise" was done at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, NC in 2000. It was a decent Freshman effort for the newly assembled six piece band. It featured songs from me, as well as a few songs written by Fedor. Some that we cranked out together. This lineup played several shows in the area to support of the album, and like our debut, "Fluid Methodical Notions", it received local airplay on 90.0 fm (Thanks Chris and Grady!!!)
People in the area knew the name...or it at least sounded familiar to them. Attendance was great, and we were now packing out rooms like The Blind Tiger, and The Rhino (set attendance record in 2000!) We started to head out on the road. Raleigh, Charlotte, High Point, Winston, etc. and grew as a band. Fedor brought with him a pocket full of Phish and Grateful Dead covers, and they soon became the launching ground for our long and improvisational jams! Also I introduced NTW to "Chip Symonds" (sax/flute/keys/guitar/vocals) form "Life Trip", a group I had done some live shows with while also doing NTW. This guy was a one man show on his own...and with NTW blew the roof off at any show!
We met a guy named Tommy Ryan (keys/flute/fiddle/vocals) and began to work him into the mix further deepening the sound of the band. He brought a lot of room for us to jam on his crazy sounds and variety of instrumentation.
Chris Laughlin and Kyle Webster decided to leave the band in late 2000. Herbie Gimmel (drummer) from "Creamy Velour" covered the drum spot for a few gigs. Shortly after their departure, we also lost our main vocalist Kent Lovern (temporarily) while his wife gave birth to his son.
Not sure of what to do next...Fedor and I began to do shows acoustic as None The Wiser, or sometimes jokingly as "Otherwise". We figured out very quickly that the fans liked this set-up too. Attendance was still great. The songs were a hell of a lot of fun, and we played everywhere! All over Gboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, High Point, Wilmington, etc. We became very tight and our setlist grew! We decided to bring Poindexter along with us, and sometimes Tommy Ryan or Chip from Life Trip.
Ryan Ramirez (drummer) joined the group in 2001. The band was now able to add Latin and Jazz styles to it's jams. With Ryan's rock solid and powerful style the group was exploding with expressionism. Everyone was able to hold the spotlight for a while and knew when to let the next member shine while playing a solid supporting role.
2002 Kent makes a few appearances. Then in October of 2002...Due to great creative and personal differences, all of these members left NTW to peruse other projects.
October 2002!!! (the next day!) Mike Zatwarnytysky (guitar/vocals) Chris Lord (guitar/mandolin/vocals) Josh Tench (drums/vocals) and Jeff Yetter (Keys) joined the next day. We had two days to prepare for a big show...and pulled it off. We wrote, recorded, and toured from Charleston, SC to Philadelphia, PA (and everywhere in between) for two years until ending our 2004 tour on Labor Day at Topsail Island, NC. Be sure to look for more info to come on this line-up and new projects they have going.
Floyd Fest IV (7-29-05) was Jeff, Josh, Chris and Mike's last show with NTW. They all left to peruse other projects!
more coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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