“We had a lot of time to hang out in front of the theatre. We did see the band and a few girls go in, but there were hardly any other people waiting in line. At this time, GENESIS wasn’t especially popular in the United States.  They didn’t become popular until Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins, the drummer, became the lead singer, which was kind of weird, but I guess that’s how stuff works. 

The side door of the theatre was open and we could hear the band doing their sound check. I walked over and looked in and I could see Phil Collins playing his drums. I heard a voice behind me say, “Phil sounds good tonight, doesn’t he?” I turned around to see one of the best looking guys I’d ever seen. He was my height (6’3” or 6’4”), with shoulder length, curly, brownish-blonde hair. He looked like a musician, and he was, I just didn’t know it then. 

I said “yeah” or something equally clever, and we continued watching and listening for a minute, until someone inside closed the door, and we both walked back to the ticket window. Phil and Alan were still at the front of what had become something of a line by now, and the guy with the hair went toward the back of it, and that was that.” 

That’s my description, from my book “That World- My Life in a Band Called FACE  DANCER” of the first time I met Carey Kress. He made an impression on me then just like he did with nearly everyone he came in contact with and unlike most of us, the first impressions he made were good ones. In the band’s early days, when we all lived together and rode to gigs and events in the same vehicle- which Carey usually drove- it was inevitable that, long after the gig was over and the place was closing and it was late, and we were tired and ready to go home, Carey would find ONE MORE PERSON to talk to, to smooze with, to explain high end frequencies on cymbals or if the Redskins DID beat the Giants, who they might face in the playoffs. We jokingly called him ‘The Congressman” and I don’t doubt that if he’d had any interest in politics at all, he could’ve gotten somewhere, especially on the local level. But he never expressed an interest in that, to me anyway. 

He was the kind of person people liked and WANTED to like and while he had friends everywhere, he did have a circle of very close friends, friendships that he made and kept for a very long time which is pretty much a skill, I think, one that a lot of us don’t have. Carey and I were very close in the “FACE DANCER” world we created, but he developed interests outside of music which probably enabled him to maintain his friendships and keep his life on a more even keel than say, me. 

After both his parents passed away a few years ago, my mom became kind of a “surrogate” mother to him, and he probably served the function of “older brother” to me and to her. She’d just lost someone very special to her when I got to tell her the news that Carey had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but I think the talks she had later with Carey did them both some good. 

Just like in the old days, Carey didn’t want to leave this life, this gig. I knew if anyone could beat the disease, it would be Carey, but I also knew that really, it couldn’t be done. He kind of fooled us, because for a long time it seemed as if the cancer was just an inconvenience to him, like a telemarketer’s call at dinner time or a flat tire when you’re going to work in the morning. He’d deal with it and go on about his life. He and his wife Lynn were able to travel and take advantage of his “health” while they could which, when you think about it, we all should try and do things with our loved ones while we are still able. Anyway, I guess subconsciously we all started to think maybe he COULD beat that cancer damn thing. 

When I last saw him, and we talked about his days in FACE DANCER, he joked that he “got the job, not because he was the best singer, but because he was the best dancer.” But he got “the job” because he was supposed to. He was meant to perform and entertain and he did it with a style and flair and passion that very few others have. He was the “Face” to FACE DANCER’s music. I think we all wonder at times, how we will be remembered or what kind of meaning our lives have. People who knew Carey or who just met him only briefly, or who only known him through his music, I’m pretty sure they think good things about him and when you get right down to it, that’s about all anyone can hope for. To be remembered fondly by others, to know that people were glad you were in their life in some way. 

Carey, I know I speak for all of us when I say I’m glad- I’m thankful- that you were in our lives. 

Now get going.    I know there’s somebody waiting to talk with you. 

Scott McGinn

April 16^th, 2009

Lynn and Carey Kress November2008		Carey and Jeff Adams
BJ Weigman, Billy Trainor, Carey Kress, David Bell		Carey Kress
Carey Kress at the Paragon College Park, MD
Scott McGinn with Best Man Carey Kress		Carey Kress with Carrie Kim Lockner