Medusa Stone - History

History

Medusa Stone started out as a band called Catfish Lane in 2002 while Justin Fox was just 16 years old. His father Terry Fox played bass while his cousin Jeremy Summers drove two hours once a week to practice with them doing mostly blues covers and a few original songs. At this time the line-up consisted of Justin Fox, Jeremy Summers and Justin's father Terry Fox. In early 2002 the band was asked to move to Wilmington, North Carolina by Strategic Artists, a management company started by Bruce Henderson and Mark Schulman that had started working with the band. Henderson wanted the band to be closer to his office and also felt that Wilmington's music scene was perfect for the young band. After a few local shows a "buzz" about the trio started to surface. Most of the "buzz" however was about Justin's young age and this created much tension for him. "I feel like I am more of a spectacle than an artist. I wish our audience could look past my age and listen to the band as a whole" said Justin in a 2002 interview with Rock 104.5. They toured well into 2003 mainly on the east coast with a relentless schedule, sometimes doing five "bar" gigs in a row playing from 10 pm to 2 am. Sometime in 2003 they recorded a ten-track demo called "Pocket Change" with six original songs and four live covers. Once again the fan response was biased, only wanting to hear covers of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Tension began to mount between Henderson and the band; Justin was frustrated with his reputation and wanted to change his entire image. He felt that Henderson played too heavily on his age when representing the band. Jeremy was also becoming agitated with Henderson's management and the two often argued over the direction of the band. All the while Terry's home life was suffering due to his touring schedule; he left the band in late 2003 to spend more time with his wife and younger son. Shortly after Dave Morse was offered Terry's position and opted to leave Redwood, his band at the time. Soon after Dave's entry into the band they nullified their contract with Bruce Henderson. While on tour in the U.S. Virgin Islands playing many venues and even opening for Hubert Sumlin music promoter and radio personality Bryan Hollenbaugh put the band in contact with Damon Johnson (of Brother Cane, Whiskey Falls) who had started a recording studio in his Alabama home. Shortly after the band traveled to Alabama and recorded what would become Medusa Stone's debut album.