Hi David
Yes, Howie is great....He brings in a unique (at least to us) perspective....Covers....most of what SAC has always done is to create its own brand of song writing. We were inspired by other artists to be sure, but we were reluctant to do covers. Howie comes from a world where he has made a living playing other peoples music...that's what you do to make a living in the music business if you're not in the one percent that has attained success playing their own music. Howie knows hundreds of songs...especially guitar solo oriented stuff. But he didn't stop there. He delved into music theory to find out where all his favorite players were getting their ideas and abilities. Thusly becoming a student of music. This is why he fits in with us so well. The rest of us are very experimental with our playing and writing. Howie gets it and thrives on it. Left on our own we would probably go totally avant-garde, except for Mark Weitz who came from the world of classical music and would rein us in when we went to far astray. Gene Gunnels also had a more structured musical background, but Steve Bartek, Randy Seol and myself are the wanderers

I was not in the band when they turned down Woodstock.