MHP Music Publishing Group

MHP Music Publishing Group
Orlando, FL 32824
United States

High Gear

High Gear was a Salem, New Hampshire-USA based band, which performed in the Boston,Massachusetts Local Music Scene in 1988-1990. Original member's were: Steve Ciarcia (Salem, NH): Lead Vocals and Guitar; Michael Hughes (North Andover, MA): Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals; Bob Vernon (North Andover, MA): Drums and Kurt Federow (Derry, NH): Keyboards and Backing Vocals. The band received outstanding reviews on their demo release, which contained the songs: "Take Me Home", "Breakin' My Heart" and "Plastic Lover". The band performed at several venues including “The Channel” in Boston, MA; “Edible Rex” in Billerica, MA; “Jumbo’s” in Somerville, MA and many others.

In March 1998, a party for Steve was arranged and a 1-night "reunion" of HIGH GEAR was put together. However, not able to locate Bob V. and Kurt for this event, this 1-night “reunion” consisted of: Steve and Michael along with long time friends Bob Harnden (Voyager, Zalla) on Guitars and Jeff Bishop (Moving Pictures - A Tribute to Rush) on Drums. This performance was recorded and in 2001 the CD, HIGH GEAR - "268 Main Street", was made available (along with the original three songs from the 1989 demo and a 1987 demo of “Take It Away” with Mike Bistany on Drums). Those who knew the band can guess where "268 Main Street" came from and all the good time's we all had there. A second “reunion” party was arranged and held on September 21, 2001 with the same line up from 1998 with the addition of Zach Rhey on guitar.

High Gear 2009 CD - "REINVENTED"
NOW AVAILABLE!!! Go to the Order CD's Page to get your copy.
For 2009, all High Gear tunes have been re-recorded and a brand new CD will be coming soon titled "Reinvented". 2009 will mark a 20 year anniversary of High Gear. Performing on the CD is:
Michael Hughes; Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals and Backing Vocals.
Jeff Bishop; Drums.
Michael Demers; Guitars.
Phil Vincent; Vocals.
Trish Dovidio; Vocals on "Breaking My Heart".
High Gear "Reinvented" CD Samples
Click HERE to go to our MP3 Gallery for samples.
High Gear "268 Main Street" CD Review

A review by Gabor Kleinbloesem from Strutter’zine on High Gear’s “268 Main Street” CD - www.strutter.8m.com/

The past few months I reviewed some CD’s of multi-instrumentalist MICHAEL HUGHES PROJECT, but before he went solo, he played in a local band called HIGH GEAR who were settled in the Boston area. They released a demo back in 1989 (3 songs) and together with a recording of a live performance and a few ‘unreleased’ demo tracks; this CD is the total collection of HIGH GEAR’s material. I have to say that the songs are quite good and pure 80’s AOR/Melodic Rock, but it’s the sound quality that isn’t always impressive, except for the first 3 original demo cuts. “Take Me Home” for instance is a great typical 80’s typed uptempo AOR/Radiorocker a la AIRRACE, PREVIEW, AVIATOR and has a catchy chorus. The AOR ballad “Breakin’ My Heart” even has some trace of SHERIFF.

The rest of the CD is all a bit the same style and moves into an up-tempo 80’s orientated melodic pop rock territory we used to hear from bands like LOVERBOY, AIRRACE and VIRGINIA WOLF. Its good music, but not sensational. I guess with a bigger production budget, it would all have sounded much better.

So just imagine a big production budget and you have something special. For now it’s just nice to hear once, let’s hope they will re-record it with a bigger budget, because it’s really worth it. Maybe they will re-record them in the future and add some new songs, which would be pretty interesting to see. Nevertheless, check it out for yourself.
(7.5/10)
Extended High Gear Family
HIGH GEAR @ The Channel, Boston, MA 2009
Steve Ciarcia: Vocals and Guitarist
Bob Vernon: Drums

Kurt Federow: Keyboards

Bobby Harnden: Guitarist

Zach Rhey: Guitarist

Michael Bistany: Drums