The Load

Columbus, OH-based progressive rock and roll trio the strain was formed in March 1973 by Dave Hessler and Sterling Smith, who also previously teamed in the hard rock and roll combo Osiris. Drummer Tom Smith finished the lineup, with Hessler and Sterling both playing keyboards in the group’s initial incarnation; with time, nevertheless, the former constructed himself a double-necked acoustic guitar and the second option obtained a Minimoog synthesizer, permitting him to change from bass to synth. THE STRAIN regularly gigged round the Midwest and in 1976 released Praise the strain, their debut LP, on Owl Intermedia. The trio after that relocated to LA, briefly backing Meats Loaf and documenting an album to get Baron Stewart. Another album, Load Possess Mercy, was finished but didn’t see official launch until it made an appearance on Compact disc in 1996; the strain disbanded in 1978, with Sterling staying in L.A. to are a program musician, and Hessler and Tom time for Columbus to create the risk Brothers.