Barry Goudreau - Before Boston

Before Boston

Goudreau had developed a musical interest at an early age and got his first guitar, an acoustic which he borrowed from a friend, at age 11. He began taking lessons and by age 13, joined his first band, the "Tornadoes". At age 15, he joined another band with future Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They would often play at night clubs, sometimes seven times a week. Later, he met up with Brad Delp and Fran Sheehan, both future members of Boston. He auditioned for Delp's band, but didn't make the cut as he explains here:

It was around this time that I met Fran Sheehan and Brad Delp. Fran's house was the place musicians went to and jam. We had some great times there, refining our chops until the wee hours. I'm sure the neighbors didn't appreciate it as much as we did. I met Brad when I auditioned for his band. The guitar player had decided to leave and brought me there as his replacement. Brad sang Led Zeppelin's “Communication Breakdown”. I had never heard anybody sing like that before, I will never forget it. Unfortunately, I did not get the gig.

When he went to college at Boston University, he sought to get a degree in Geology. He tried to put music aside to focus on school, but he soon met up with Tom Scholz who was right across the river at MIT.