- - January 21st, 2001
Rick Barse, the founder, leader, composer and keyboardist of the very first
Washington, DC area progressive rock band, GRITS, died on Sunday, January
21st. 2001. He had cancer.

While not very well known outside of DC, even now, due to the fact that the
band never released any recordings during the band's 10 year lifespan
(1970-80), Grits was tremendously popular locally during the early to mid
1970s, and actually earned a living (meagre as it was) as musicians. This
despite the fact that to *earn* that living, they mostly played at bars &
nightclubs - yet were somehow able to transcend the fact that they played all
original music of EXTREMELY high musical quality and sophistication. They
played wonderful music - and people actually listened and responded to them!

If not for the inspiration provided by the music of Grits and The Muffins
(whose leader, Dave Newhouse, has gone on record that Rick's work with Grits
were a tremendous source of inspiration to him), I would not be here in my
office typing these words. There would be no Cuneiform Records and no Wayside
Music.

I didn't know Rick particularly well - when I began to gently pester him in
the mid 80's about the possibility of releasing some of the old Grits
material on Cuneiform, he *might* have recognized me as "that kid who was
often in the audience, staring with his mouth open in disbelief"! When he
finally *did* allow me to release some of the material, I got to know him a
little better, but he was always rather a private person to me - I think that
even though he was rightfully proud of his musical work, the pain of all
those years of struggle never left him, and he was of two minds about their
release: both extremely proud that they *finally* came out, but still pained
by the years of work that were ultimately for naught - at least as far as a
"career" inelt I owed Rick's memory and inspiration these few moments.

Thank you for your indulgence.

Sincerely,

Steve Feigenbaum