Before leaving Milwaukee for Los Angeles, Howie Epstein recorded a batch of demos, some of them finally issued on this CD. Epstein was a more-than-capable songwriter in several genres, as shown by the tuneful power pop of “Everything I Could Want,” the country-rock of “Fool to Care” and the Buddy Holly-esque “Close to You.” His sensibility was well suited for the place he would occupy in rock-music history as bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Several of these tracks, if they had been recorded professionally, would have had promise in their day for radio play. Left raw as they are, they become a reminder of one of the talented songwriters who emerged from Milwaukee in the late ’70s.
