In 1984 I was a cook at the downtown deli D.B. Kaplan's, working with a revolving cast of characters that played in bands such as Safety Last, the Neglecters, Borrowed Time, Information Society, Late Night Fish Sticks, the Altared Boys, and Bwana Devil, to name a few. As we survived breakfast and lunch rushes together, we talked about what we were doing and creating at night. That summer, with my band Laughing Stock, I tried to capture the moment by writing and recording a song called "The Local Bands" that concluded: Twenty years from now At kitchen tables we'll tell...