History
The Beginning
1992-1998
Fretless’ roots go back to the early ‘90s, when work buddies Bill and Dan began recording music in Dan’s basement apartment in Folsom, California. They used their most professional instruments at the time, a nylon string classical guitar, a hollow body electric, and a four-track cassette tape recorder. They played real classics, like “Knights In White Satin” (Moody Blues) and “Save a Prayer” (Duran Duran). They recorded an ‘album’ of covers they titled with the only name they could think of at the time, Gleek – The Wonder Monkey Sessions (a nod to Saturday morning cartoons).
The Early Duo Years
1999-2003
After a few years of basement recordings, Bill and Dan decided to expand to live music. A friend, Tim D, played acoustic guitar and sang in the area. Tim invited Bill and Dan to play covers during his breaks. When they were ready to do more, they formed a band with another of Tim’s sit-in friends, Maria.
Gleek – The Wonder Monkey Sessions (1997)
Side note: It is not recommended for one to put out a list of potential band names on that new Internet thing. You might get an angry email from an Australian punk band telling you that the “Vas Deferens” name is already taken. Just some advice, in case that situation arises.
Early Band Identity (2004)
Fretless (The First Trio)
2003-2006
The new trio developed a setlist featuring covers by artists including Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, Nelly Furtado, Natalie Imbruglia, and Eva Cassidy. A better band name was clearly needed – something that hinted at their acoustic guitar playing – as “Gleek” wasn’t cutting it. Bill was a fan of R.E.M., and at the time was listening to some of the band's outtakes and rarities. One track name had a good ring to it: “Fretless.” In 2004, the newly christened Fretless began playing around town.
Fretless’ first show was opening for a pair of plays at the Roseville Polish American Community Hall. Then it was onto a small Roseville neighborhood coffee house, before graduating to bars in the area. In 2006, after a short but good run, Maria left the band.
Side note: Musicians typically have plenty of frets (worries)… and also frets (lengths of wire on the guitar’s fretboard), so we thought it was a funny name. For a while, anyway...
Meanwhile…
2000-2011
The band Azuar was established on Tax Day 2000 (some good things do happen on Tax Day!). Azuar was an eight-piece outfit that performed full arrangements of rock and pop songs. The band played at bars, private functions, and community events, and was at one point voted the top band in Folsom. Serafin co-fronted Azuar as a singer and multi-instrumentalist until he left it in 2011. Bill knew Serafin as his mild-mannered day job colleague. Dan saw him on occasion, obliviously listening to podcasts through headphones during lunch break walks around their tech firm campus. Over time they became aware of their shared musical interests, opening the door to collaboration.
Azuar (2010)
Fretless Duo (2008)
Fretless Duo (2017)