3RDEGREE Bio (source: 3rdegreeonline.com) :3RDegree began when founder/bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Robert James Pashman met
with drummer Rob Durham in December of 1990 with a common love of the progressive
rock bands they had grown up with & in hopes of picking up where Pashman’s last band had
left off. A six month union with a guitarist didn’t pan out until new guitarist Pat Kliesch was
added in the summer of 1991 & the band played its first show that November. Kliesch’s hard
driving off-kilter riffs & juxtaposed melodic acoustic writing gelled with Pashman’s soaring
hooks within strange meter: all this thrown in with the most capable Durham who reveled in
the challenge of holding it all together. This would be the band’s mantra to the present day:
create challenging music to play but always with a memorable, singable calling card. The first
chapter would be THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE-a 10 song collection which was played all
over New Jersey & New York City in rock venues from 1992 through 1995 alongside the
much more interesting & refined tracks that would be its epic follow-up. The band would be
included on a Todd Rundgren tribute CD & Pashman would moonlight with metal band
POWER (featuring Alan Tecchio of Watchtower & Hades) on a tour of Germany & the ViaRock
festival in Belgium in ’95.
But one piece of the puzzle would be imperative to getting the band more noticed than ever
before: a world-class lead vocalist. George Dobbs, who would be added in the summer of ’95
would be that man. Also a keyboardist and bassist, the band’s live shows would be a much
fuller affair & the studio album a much more polished & diverse one. HUMAN INTEREST
STORY was released & well received in April of 1996, but frustration with the band’s inabilities
to find its market niche & fan base in a pre-internet age would make a January 1997
CBGB’s performance its last. Pashman would go on to work with Spiraling’s Tom Brislin who
toured with Yes on their 2001 Symphonic Tour and with Camel at Nearfest 2003.
In December of 2005, the three original members of the band met in a NYC bar with the idea
of reforming. Demos were made of new & old songs left on the cutting room floor that the
band had always thought were their strongest. Their singer would be found by July & the backing
tracks for a new album recorded by October. April of 2007, would see the band playing
their first live shows in over ten years at NJ Proghouse-a venue that would definitely have
saved the band from its earlier demise. The event & previous night’s acoustic show would be
captured in high definition & later released on DVD & double CD. The internet would also figure
largely into 3RDegree redux finding new fans & even re-connecting with the original ones
so that by summer 2008 when the band were ready with NARROW-CASTER-it wouldn’t fall
on deaf ears at its Nearfest (Bethlehem, PA progressive rock festival) debut. The reviews of
this CD would herald that it was nothing short of the band’s ”masterwork” & possibly even
worth the wait! A new plastic-less “Eco-Wallet” version is out December 2, 2008.
3RDegree plan on writing & recording new material in early 2009.
Our new CD NARROW-CASTER is getting great reviews at:
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Come see our latest video HERE (click on "watch in high quality"):
If you go to these sites, please add us or be our friend:
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3RDEGREE: January 2009 PA Featured Artist
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