I met Mike Stephenson in the nineties, when his band and my band went head-to-head in a “battle of the bands†in Bristol. We were the third best band in the competition, but we came out as winners, for some reason. Mike’s band, Elijah Strange, was better — and I felt like we all knew it. Mike was a beast on the drums and his brother Chad was a stellar guitarist and front man — they had a great sound and show. Not just talented, but extremely nice and good-hearted folks — the kind of people you really want to see do well and succeed.
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