Dreams So Real

As a young R.E.M. fan I rented a VHS copy of Athens, GA Inisde/Out from the local Blockbuster video store. Of course I wanted to see the R.E.M. spots in the video, but the other bands, which I didn't know of at the time, also intrigued me: the crazy rock-a-billy of The Flat Duo Jets, the smoothness and mystery of Pylon, the rawness of the Bar-B-Que Killers, and the glossy sound of Dreams So Real. In fact, as I browsed the local record store aisles after seeing the video for the first time, I came across a cassette of the movie's soundtrack and bought it since it had inspired me so much.

A few years later, as I traversed through a Haywood Mall Dollar Store in the early 90's, I came across a bin that had cassette tapes flung in it. As I fumbled through the different titles, I found several copies of Gloryline by Dreams So Real. I bought a copy and listened to the tape over and over for the next few days. It was so good that I went back and bought several more copies to give to friends. The discovery of the cassette made me realize for the first time how many great bands are shunned and should have done very well, but, maybe due to bad timing or a lack of luck, were never given the opportunities they deserved. Now that I am a little bit older I can think of several musical compositions that are wonderful, but seemed to have escaped from the limelight of mass-market appeal: Daylight by Duncan Sheik, Message for the Mess Age by NRBQ, Now It's Overhead by Now It's Overhead, Poovey's Grove by Blightobody, to just name a few.

Despite buying the album for a dollar, Gloryline has remained a constant presence in my life. I have since bought more copies of it on CD and even today, fifteen years later, I like to listen to it on long drives, especially when I head to Athens to eat at The Grit. When I think of Dreams So Real, I remember watching that Athens video and being amazed with the quality of the drummer, Drew Worsham, and the clean, crisp sound they produced as they performed "Golden."

I assumed that the band had maybe broken up since their albums were cruelly being tossed in sale bins, so I decided to look up some info on the band on the internet. As I looked through several websites, I discovered the band had indeed drifted apart, but I also learned some very terrifying news about their drummer whom I have admired for almost 18 years now.

Drew Worsham had moved away from the Athens scene to the Brunswick, GA area and was playing drums for different cover bands and working as a computer technician. He was dating a girl named Dara Jo Wasdin in December 2003 when, early one morning, Wasdin's ex-boyfriend, Joel Chris Blankenship, entered Worsham's home and shot him at close range in the face after they had started arguing. Blankenship then kidnapped Wasdin and drove her to a wooded area a few miles away where he shot her in the head and then shot himself, also in the head. Blankenship died instantly and Wasdin died the next day from her wound.

Drew Worsham amazingly survived the shooting. The bullet that had entered his skull had not reached his brain, but had lodged itself in his eye socket. Worsham lost his vision temporarily, but regained some of it back after a few days in the hospital. Fellow local musicians organized a special concert for Worsham in January 2004 at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta since he was uninsured and needed help with paying his medical bills.

I have never met Drew Worsham or any of the members of Dreams So Real before, but maybe this feeble blog can reveal in a small way the impact their music has had upon my life. Just in case you ever stumble across these words, Drew, I wish you all the best in your recovery.