Pier and Aug. 15, 1997 at the Showbox at the Market. Other early venues were Gibson's Bar and Grill, Dutch Ned's Saloon, Doc Maynards, the Tractor Tavern, Bellingham's KISM’s Locals Only radio program, the Crystal Ballroom (Portland, Oregon) and Magnuson Park in Seattle. Perry, who was a year behind the others at Blanchet, wasn't able to legally hang around before and after the band's bar performances until an Aug. 28, 1999 show at The Crocodile Café. He turned 21 that week. Seattle radio success John Fisher, a disc jockey on KMTT in Seattle, had seen the band before their debut CD was complete and put "Reason For a Rake" in the stations regular rotation after receiving the completed track in 1996. Seely wrote what became the song's lyrics as part of a University of Washington poetry class. By fall 1997, the song had reached No. 5 on the KMTT listeners' request list. "We get a lot of calls from people (who) have just heard us talking about them and have wanted to hear more," Fisher said that September. Also in 1997, KNDD disc jockey Marco Collins played "End of May" on his show. Collins, who helped launch Beck to national prominence, liked both Willis and the effect of a clock ticking in the background of the song, the sole rhythmic element in the original recording. In summer 1997, Willis took second place in a Late Night with Conan O'Brien college band search. The prize was a form letter and four sweatshirts, sizes small and medium. Manager Brad Hole sent a request to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman, which was denied, but the band received T-shirts in adult sizes as a consolation. In Aug. 1998, Willis played Fiddlestock III at the Fiddler's Inn in Wedgwood, a North Seattle neighborhood. Their set, which began with then-unreleased “Testimony,” included a cover of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton." National exposure Capitol Records contract The band signed a six-record deal with Capitol Records in 1997. "We decided on Dennis Herring because we have a good chemistry with this guy and we thought he worked well with the band," Seely said in Dec. 1997. Herring also has been a producer for Counting Crows, Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, and Ben Folds. Willis was featured on the soundtrack to Never Been Kissed, a 1999 film starring Drew Barrymore. Their song “Standing By,” written years earlier but