Behind the Music
Bare Wires was founded in the early 1990's. Consisting of Markus Barth on bass and vocals, Jim Keegan on guitar and vocals and original founding member Dave DeSantis on drums, the band entertained audiences with their exciting performances and dynamic presence. During their 13 years of touring, Bare Wires played many intense and emotional shows. Markus acted as frontman, Dave pounded his awe-inspiring, ornamental drum kit and Jim thrashed himself and his guitar to within an inch of their lives.
In the mid 90's, disguised as The All Zeros Band, the boys recorded and performed with Jersey's own Nick Clemons (son of E Street Band sax player & Red Bank Rocker, Clarence Clemons.) This stint included three summers of opening for The Big Man himself on his East Coast tours, recording Nick’s debut CD at South Jersey’s Ocean Studios and continuing to perform as Bare Wires!
In 1997, the band set their sights upon designing the ultimate recording studio complex. Their dream became a reality with the completion of Granite Alps Recording Studio in Wayne, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Barth and DeSantis, Granite Alps was the perfect place for the band to rehearse and record. As development of Granite Alps progressed, they recorded many of their favorite songs in order to fine-tune the studio. “Bite The Wire”, their first release in 1998, featured the remixed tracks from earlier recording sessions as well as the All Zeros tracks with Nick and his dad. In addition to helping Nick develop his sound, the band contributed to a nationally released Paul Revere & the Raiders tribute CD with their Hendrix-inspired interpretation of the number one hit – “Just Like Me” featuring Nick on lead vocals.
Artistic differences led to Nick moving on to a solo career, so Bare Wires returned to Granite Alps to record more of their best tracks. The result was a 2 CD compilation entitled “The Great Cover Caper”, which was the result of 100's of studio hours, countless engineers and the mixing and mastering talents of Granite Alps' chief engineer, Kostadin "Mozart" Kamcev, who now has his own pro recording studio in Clifton, NJ (www.studiomozart.com). Additional bonus tracks on the CD included 4 originals featuring Nick plus guest performances from his dad on Sax.“The Great Cover Caper” provided a glimpse into the warped, eclectic mix that was Bare Wires.
During mid 1999, Markus moved to London on business and was only able to return stateside for a dozen or so gigs in 2000 and 2001. With Markus so far away, touring became increasingly difficult, so the band called it quits. Bare Wires’ last performance was on November 23, 2001 in Towson, MD, which was an intimate show put together for friends and fans of 70's cult band Crack The Sky, who had a show the following night.
In May of 2006, Markus returned to his home in the States and set his sights on returning to the sheer enjoyment that had been Bare Wires. Original founding drummer Dave DeSantis had moved on and was not available, so Markus and Jim began the search for a new drummer. After numerous auditions, they came upon the perfect replacement – Doug McGuire, who had over 20 years experience as a blues/rock/jazz drummer in the NY metropolitan area. Doug brought his unique input and perspective to Bare Wires’ repertoire and restored the band’s drive and enthusiasm. Bare Wires was back with a new energy and focus. As rehearsals progressed, Markus, Jim and Doug formed a new dynamic which was to become the new Bare Wires.
