Gambler's Tune

Destiny's Deal is the title of the second album by Electric Range, but it's also Destiny's Deal that any album ever got recorded by this talented trio.

Billy Darnell, John Alden, and Peter Bradstreet were all living and working in music in Los Angeles in the early 1970's.

In 1971, they formed a band called Starbuck, signed with Clean Records, a label partially owned by Atlantic Records (Delbert & Glen also recorded for Clean), and began work on what would be their debut album which was being produced by Don Everly.

More than halfway into the recording all work on the album abruptly stopped. When an impasse was reached with the band and the label, everybody went their separate ways, including members of the band.

The music that they recorded remains locked away in a vault somewhere in the confines of Atlantic Records, never to be heard.

Following the demise of the recording project, the three principals remained friends and drifted in and out of various musical aggregations with each other.

Billy and Peter recorded with Dewey Martin on his first solo album, and Billy joined in with the brief rebirth of the Buffalo Springfield aptly titled Buffalo Springfield Again.

Both Peter and Billy also served a short stint in Doug Kershaw's band. John Alden moved back to his home state of Ohio, and while continuing to write songs, joined up with Peter in a band called The Dayton-Yellow Springs Band, also known as DYS.

Billy later went on to record and tour with Dr. John, Moby Grape, Hoyt Axton, and the Byrds, among others.

At the urging of mutual friends, Billy, John, and Peter reunited in 1995, rehearsed a little, worked on new songs together, and played a few gigs.

Destiny's deal was finally playing it's hand in 1996 as the three entered the recording studio with Randy Meisner, an original member of the Eagles, as producer.

The result being their long-awaited (25 years in the making) first full-length, self-titled CD released on Smokehouse Records.

The album's twelve songs garnered excellent reviews from newspapers and music magazines all across North America and Europe.

The group toured in support of their debut disc, playing a variety of venues throughout the country.

Armed with a passel of new songs predominantly written by John Alden - with some help from Peter and Billy - Electric Range began work on "Destiny's Deal", this time produced by Allen Day and Billy Darnell.

The new album continues the band's commitment to lyric-driven songs that may have once been called Country Rock, but now carries the moniker Americana.

Whatever you want to call it, however, Electric Range were destined to make their music, even if it took them 27 years for them to discover Destiny's Deal.