Departures Only

About Departures Only

During the sunny, California summer months of 2001, the musical group Departures Only formed when Reggie Freeman and John Kirby were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. The friend's name is worth mentioning here... quite interesting, Karma Spore. Both Freeman and Kirby had been involved in successful music projects in the past, but at the time neither of them was engaged in any musical endeavors. They did, however realize that they both wanted to get back into doing what they loved to do most, creating music. Soon they both began to realize that they each had something to offer the other. Freeman - lead guitar virtuoso and engineering wiz, was fully ready to go with an American made Strat, Pro Tools and a loaded G5. Kirby - songwriter extraordinaire with songs so original and hook-ey Freeman nicknamed Kirby 'The Hook' , had just come off writing a set of brand new songs. So, off they went. ~ We need just a little bit of history here though:
Reggie Freeman cut his teeth playing in the Boulder, Colorado club circuit for a few years. Then, after moving to San Anselmo, a very cool, small city in Marin County, California he got involved in engineering, mixing and performing in Marin venues and various recording studios. He was associate producer and engineer on Shauna Morrison's (Van's daughter, also from San Anselmo) first album. He also did sound for numerous downtown San Rafael clubs and night spots. From these roots Freefall Arts studio was born. Freeman created his own unique multi-track studio located in an old railroad ticket building in the heart of San Anselmo.
After the life and death of two noteworthy, local independent San Francisco bands in the 1990's, (Vavoom, Ritalin Kids) singer/songwriter John Kirby's original songs had already been established and were popular. Over the course of a couple of years he had compiled two long sets of well thought-out, totally original and melodic acoustic guitar bred songs. After playing solo in various SF clubs for just under a year, John wanted to put a band together again. He moved north across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. This is where Kirby and Freeman met. John was eager to get back into the studio again, and soon became drawn into Freeman's Freefall Arts studio recording experience. And soon after Reggie heard John's original songs, he realized they were too good not to start making a record and immediately proposed a partnership. John's previous drummer, Oakland resident Lliam Hart (Vavoom, Minus 1, Black Balloon, Ritalin Kids, Information Society, World Party) and the highly sought after local Marin studio genius bassist Lliam Hanrahan formed the rhythm section of the band and soon the Departures Only project took off.
Fast forward to the present!
The group's latest incarnation sounds better than ever. Kirby's acoustic guitar and crafty songwriting sculpted with synergy and finesse along with the expertise of Freeman's studio production and gifted lead guitar have made this group's sound hard to categorize and one-of-a-kind. Also the energy watching them live on two acoustics is super sonic. Departures Only now makes it's home in Portland, Oregon and the band's live show is not to be missed.

--R. Reed ~ STANZA Literary Arts Magazine 2012