There is a reason this album is titled Waiting For The Call. The title refers to the act of dying and the inevitability of kicking the proverbial bucket. A fave cartoon loved by all the DeFacto Brothers shows a hapless pedestrian, whistling a merry tune while mindlessly standing on a street corner. Behind him, an enormous heavenly hand is poised

There is a reason this album is titled Waiting For The Call. The title refers to the act of dying and the inevitability of kicking the proverbial bucket. A fave cartoon loved by all the DeFacto Brothers shows a hapless pedestrian, whistling a merry tune while mindlessly standing on a street corner. Behind him, an enormous heavenly hand is poised to flick him in the back of the head. There it is - death. It’s coming for us all. Fall of 2019. Covid was but a creeping darkness. The Be Good To Yourself project - then a proposed 10-song benefit album by and for North Carolina musicians - was three strong songs toward completion. Everybody was thrilled. Then came a phone call from Chris Garges, our co-producer and drummer. He had cancer - again.
The rumbling minor chord was deafening. Chris was the project’s linchpin. We were recording at his Old House Studio in Charlotte. He was one of the three producers (Rob Slater and Ed Bumgardner rounded the trio). He was the wildly gifted recording engineer and drummer extraordinaire.
But most important, he was our dear friend, someone whom we respected and loved. Garges stressed that he had beaten cancer once before, so there was no reason he would not do so again. So we continued - just as Covid shut down the world. For the next 1 1/2 years, work slowly proceeded with full health precautions in place. Chris went from cancer treatment to treatment. When one treatment stopped working, another was quickly adopted. The treatments brought him new “problems,” some of which left us reeling.
We never showed it. We simply offered support, and laughed with him at the challenges and predicaments that defined each new treatment. Chris never complained. We kept him smiling. We were among a very select group of people whom he had told about his illness. To make it public would change the way people perceived him. He didn’t want that. He would talk to them when he beat it. Not if he beat it, but when. Chris Garges died at home in February of 2022. He answered The Call with the same grace and dignity that defined the way he lived his life. This album, Waiting For The Call, is our tribute to Chris. It was recorded at Old House Studios, and engineered with skill and creativity by Daniel Collins Hodges, whom Chris had chosen to be his successor. Chris played drums or percussion on four tracks, and he engineered and mixed six songs.
As was the case with Be Good To Yourself, the 13 songs on Waiting For The Call were curated to tell a story. The first six songs, and the last song, speak to Chris, his wife Carrie (a tower of love, strength, and compassion) and the many people who have struggled with his passing. Chris believed in the healing power of music. We hope this helps all of you as much as it has helped us.