"The Barking Eye"

Every once in a while everyone get's involved with something that in the end, doesn't pan out.  The band "Crossbreed" was one such project for me.   "Crossbreed"  was the brainchld of guitarist/ singer  Mike Kienhoffer (Conan), bassist Bob Hollingshead, and little ole me Glen Thomas back in 2001.    The band was an all original music blues, rock band formed out of various side projects we'd all been in years before like "The 2nd Hand Band", "Big and Tall" and "The Kingtones".   Throughout the bands existence, over 30 songs were written and recorded in various stages of completion.  Everyone contributed to the music of Crossbreed but Mike lead the way in number of song ideas.   The band recorded most of the material on hardrive recorders, mainly off the floor but also a few were done via multitrack.   The unfortunate story of this band is that personal health and tragedy in my own life ended the band but what's even worse is that the best versions of  Crossbreed's music were lost due to equipment failure of the recording device.  Various backups were made throughout the process but not one finished version exists.   What these recordings DON'T show is how tight the band really was.  These versions are basically the test drafts of the writing process as we wrote the material.   There are some really crude recordings done with a single mic that show
 the bands ability to ad lib and come up with ideas also and  I may post those if I can improve the sound.

The band was scheduled to play the local Blues and Jazz Festival back in the early part of 2001 but the promoter of that show ended up sinking his own ship because of  bad business dealings so Crossbreed was sidelined for the show along with many other acts.   Crossbreed continued working on originals in the basement until we were asked to play an outdoor fund raiser.   On this occasion, Crossbreed played it's entire library of original material along with some cover material.   Unfortunately, the show wasn't recorded but the response to the music and the band was a great feeling for all the hard work we had put into the project.

No video or photos exist of the band.  Only these rough demos.  Sometimes you never think of taking pictures of certain things as you figure they'll always be there.   The band garnered much interest back in it's day but then I became ill and the band, it's name and it's music faded from the woodwork.  It took me well over 8 months to get well and all my music projects were retired at the time or in Crossbreeds case, finished altogether. I had thought of regrouping the band for some live shows but with the changes in music tastes  since the band's beginnings and venues not really catering to our style of music, I'm not sure there would be interest.  We'd probably die a fast death. ;-)    Still, with it's vast collection of more than 30 songs sitting in a basement box of tapes, it might be an interesting quest to pursue.  Maybe Crossbreed should breath again.  I'm just not sure. We shall see.

Crossbreed was a great bunch of guys who loved jamming and recording but most of all writing material.  It's sad that my own problems in my life laid the band to rest but maybe it was meant to be.   My only wish is that I had the best versions of the material to showcase.     In the meantime,  I have made a few videos of our songs using the graphic I had designed for the band years ago.    You can now listen to 6 ultra rare songs from the local Sault band, Crossbreed.

Crossbreed is one of many local bands that most people didn't even know existed so enjoy this rare taste of  Crossbreed's long lost music.  If you like what you hear, please pass the music on to your friends with our blessings for listening to it.

Glen "the Freq" Thomas


Crossbreed - I'm On Fire


Crossbreed - Fields of Grey


Crossbreed - Time


Crossbreed - Creole Moon


Crossbreed - Roll On


Crossbreed - The River