looked for situations where I would be challenged on stage by players who made me play to the best of my ability. Players who also forced me to push the envelope, and Stingaree certainly accomplished that. It was the best way to improve.” 1970s He began playing professionally in 1967, and then during the 1970s into the early 1980s, young LaBarge toured with various bands as a guitarist/frontman. He enjoyed the thrill of being on the road and especially accomplishing something by reaching out to people in performance. But he'd never wanted to be a rock star, suggesting, “I have an ego, but it goes in another direction. It's more about listen to me as opposed to watch me.” So, the last years of the 1970s saw him start to segue into an area he had always wanted, session and studio work. He recalls that as a kid, while he was learning to play guitar along with records, he thought he'd like to be a session guy. Especially when he listened to best-selling compilation records from K-tel International (based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), which often featured re-recordings of original hits. And, young LaBarge had thought he could do better. His father had been a tape recorder freak, so they had all sorts of equipment in the family basement. LaBarge figured out how to tape songs off the radio, opening up another track and playing along with it: “I wanted to be that session guy playing that great cover, and embellishing the tune like George Harrison did to Beatles tunes. And I ultimately wanted to work with the professionals and get it on tape.” 1980s By 1980, LaBarge was performing with Kearney, King, McBride and LaBarge at the world-famous El Mocambo, where the Rolling Stones and countless others had played. Bernie also logged hundreds of hours at Grant Ave. Studio in Hamilton, Ontario. He began to meet legends and mentors like Domenic Troiano and Long John Baldry, and recorded at internationally famous state-of-the-art Le Studio in Morin Heights, where such acts as Rush, The Police, Chicago, David Bowie, and Cat Stevens had also recorded. So, he decided to get off the road in 1981, watching how a mega-successful band like Steely Dan had chosen to retire from live performances to become a studio-only band, so he looked to do more studio work for himself. He wrote “Dream Away,” produced by Lanois,