Tom Shaw describes his friendship with Jerry Chapman

From Facebook:

Some 38 years ago, I walked into a dank basement on Arbor Rd., in Winston-Salem, NC to try out as a bass player in a band called Low Budget. The group was led by two 17 year old brothers, Jerry and Johnny Chapman. I muddled my way through some Kinks songs (the irony) and Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla," before Johnny said, "Do you know what you're doing?" I replied, "Not really. I just borrowed this equipment and am feeling my way around the bass. I'm actually a guitar player." Jerry asked, "Then, where's your guitar?" I didn't have an electric guitar yet.

That rainy day practice was the only time this 16 year old would play in Low Budget. I was informed that my services weren't needed. But, Jerry and I built up a strong friendship at RJ Reynolds high school. We shared a love for all things music and all things that rocked, spending our free time analyzing the genius of Alice Cooper or questioning the shtick laden laughs in Styx's, "Queen of Spades." More importantly, we set to work forming the nucleus of what would become our first real band, Two Pound Planet.

It turned out that Jerry is a phenomenal bass player. I always place him within my Top Five Bassists of All Time list. Entwistle, McCartney, Pastorius? Chapman is in there too. In fact, he continues to be one of the most accomplished rock musicians I know of. His musicianship and and infectious personality are why people ask him to be part of whatever project they have going on, and why nobody turns Jerry down when he asks them to work on one of his musical endeavors.

The shared experience of trying to take a power pop band from obscurity in North Carolina to the airwaves across the country and never ending road trips in pursuit of our dream is something only Jerry, the others, and I remember all too well. Let's just say that Spinal Tap is true. It's painfully true.

Still, Jerry and I have remained close friends through all of the ladders and snakes of living life. Those are personal experiences between us, not to be shared here. He's always been there for me as I have for him.

Even as we sweat out our current project to get funding for all of the Two Pound Planet and Urban Edge recordings, we painstakingly created, onto vinyl in a final tribute/memorial, we are reminded why we became good friends to begin with. It simply was to ROCK!