360 Redux : A Tribute to Daryl Wren

In the fall of 1984 guitarist/keyboardist Bill Bechtel and drummer Paul Moroz formed the foundation of what was to become one of Tampa Bay's most adventurous post-wave original bands, "360". By April of 1985 vocalist Daryl Wren and bassist Robert Wegmann were brought into the fold and the new lineup began to play shows in Tampa, demonstrating dedicated 1960's pop songcrafting smarts coupled with sophisticated jazz harmony and an energetic delivery that often bordered on wild abandon. Within weeks the new band had signed with the Paramount Agency and the lads began a series of tours which took them across Florida and (inadvertantly) southern Georgia. For the next four years "360" played concert venues and clubs in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Miami and the Tampa bay area and opened shows for touring national acts including 10,000 Maniacs, Green On Red, True Believers, and Specimen. The band recorded one single, "Love Story", a bittersweet paen to a rampant, out-of-control consumer lifestyle which appeared on the first "Tampa Smokes!" compilation released by Pop Records in 1986.

By the end of the decade the alternative music circuit that had supported bands like "360" had all but disappeared and the lads parted ways amicably to work on other projects. Though notions of an eventual "360" reunion were always entertained, the untimely death of vocalist Daryl Wren in early 2002 dashed any hope of a regrouping until Daryls' younger brother Greg Wren volunteered to try out for the lead vocal role. An impromptu rehearsal (the first time the band had played together in fifteen years) went exceptionally well, and it was decided to reform the band with Greg Wren assuming his late brothers' vocal role while the band reprised the unique and timeless "360" sound. And so, like the proverbial Native American legend of the phoenix, out of the ashes of the past is reborn the promise of the future. Viva la "360"!

for more information, contact Longview Records