Capital Gains: Origins and History of the Band
Capital Gains was formed in a serendipitous manner. When Don Chance arrived at LSU he was interested in forming a band within the business school. Being the business school and not the noted LSU School of Music, it was difficult to locate musical talent. B-school professors are not typically singing, playing instruments, or promoting their musical abilities as they discuss the latest accounting rules, marketing strategies, and financial products. In comparison to the music school and perhaps the more artistic departments of a large university, musical talent in a business school is, well, perhaps not in such great supply. Hence, forming a business school band was a very slow process, and five years passed before it finally happened in December of 2008.
As it turns out, the business school at LSU is seriously into karaoke (yes, that is hard to be believe and even harder to picture and sometimes even hard to listen to). This obsession with karaoke is largely due to accounting professor Agnes Cheng and the esteemed members of our marketing faculty (do these people sing when they sell?). Agnes attempted to drag Don to a karaoke practice (yes, they actually practice, that's how serious they are) but was unsuccessful until she started trying to convince him to perform by himself. Never having performed solo and never intending to, he refused but after repeated pressure that would make a CIA interrogation specialist envious, he reluctantly gave in, sort of. The condition was that Agnes would have to find someone who would sing the Fleetwood Mac song Landslide while he played it on the acoustic guitar. He was certain Agnes could find no one that foolish, but she was successful in locating several Stevie Nicks-wannabes and a practice was scheduled. Don then recalled that Rudy Hirschheim had mentioned that he was a bass player. Don invited Rudy to the practice, at which he became aware that Rudy had not actually played the bass in approximately 40 years (but who's counting - it's like riding a bike, you never forget; well, sort of). Rudy's classic 1960's Paul McCartney Hofner bass was pretty much stuck to the inside of its case and he had no amp, but that never stops a real musician. Judith Folse and Julie Guidry, two experienced karaoke masters, also came to the practice. The four of them then put together a few tunes and performed at the party a few days later with Judith doing the Landslide honors. Realizing they sounded decent on some songs and sucked on others, they resolved to work at it, that is, practice on a regular basis and see if they could possibly get better or at least good enough to fool anybody who doesn't have a tin ear. Judith was in the process of learning guitar and had recently acquired an outstanding instrument (a Martin acoustic), so she was pretty much good to go. Julie had played drums in high school and owned a tambourine and cowbell, a much-needed device for a song the band was to someday do. Rudy then had to acquire a bass and an amp, so he bought one of each. And then another. And then another. ... And so on. It is rumored that economists in the U. S. Department of Commerce were aware of the stimulative effect of Rudy's equipment purchases on the sluggish U. S. economy, and attempted to convince Congress to grant Rudy a special medal for his heroic efforts during those tough economic times. But alas, no such honor had ever been bestowed so the idea was squelched by some bureaucrat.
With Folse, Guidry, and Hirschheim combining practices with the fine art of winetasting, the band continued to make progress. It then realized that it needed a name. With Folse and Guidry being specialists in marketing, the band undertook a considerable amount of band-name research, which is similar to but not to be confused with brand-name research. Band-name research is not covered in marketing theory courses, but the foursome sounded out numerous friends and relatives for their opinions on a name. Wanting a name with a business ring, the members somehow came up with Capital Gains. This was a miracle in itself inasmuch as at that time (roughly February-March, 2009), there were no investment accounts on the planet that actually had any capital gains, and the word was so forgotten it was about to be removed from Webster's Dictionary. Chapter 11 was Don's personal favorite choice for a name, reflecting his view that the band should make fun of itself since others might some day do so, but the ladies applying their knowledge of marketing theory convinced the men to go for something more positive. Perhaps it was fate, but the band's name was adopted at almost precisely the time the market began turning upward. We are seriously not kidding. What an awesome coincidence!
Anyway, Capital Gains started playing at a few parties whereupon the guests actually thought that it sounded pretty good. Whether that was true or not is unclear, party guests being notoriously tone-deaf and often not fully sober, it was clear that the band was getting progressively better. Nonetheless, lacking a drummer, it remained in a rhythmic stalemate. In August 2009, the band invited MBA student Micah Blouin to join. Micah had taken Don's class in financial management, became aware of the band, and had offered his services. The other members couldn't figure out why Micah, who was a legitimate professionally trained musician, would want to play with this bunch of amateurs. He did not need any brownie points from the other members because he was not taking a course from any of them. The reason remains a mystery, but it made all the difference in the world, as Micah elevated the music to a much higher level. Besides providing the badly needed percussion element and some outstanding harmonies, Micah's knowledge of music brought some structure and theory to Capital Gains. The four professors are always talking about structure and theory in their classes and in their research, but their music is largely unstructured and untheoretical, though still somehow effective.
In the summer of 2010, Capital Gains entered a new era in its short but exciting history. Don Chance and Judith Folse wrote a couple of songs, brought them to the band members, and miraculously found that their comrades liked the songs. The band then learned the songs and forever became a band that could do something besides mimic other bands. The first of these two songs, Pull Me Under, was inspired by the last scene of Titanic in which Leonardo DiCaprio, undoubtedly sick of that interminable and needlessly maudlin flick, would like to have said to Kate Winslett, "PULL ME UNDER. NOW". OK, that is totally not true but it sounded good. The second song, Long Lost Journey, has no inspiration. Actually, neither does the other song. In the fall of 2010, Chance, being inspired by the woes of the U. S. financial crisis, penned Capital Gains Blues, with which the band officially dipped its toes into the melancholy world of blues music. Chance and Folse plan to continue writing songs but at a slow pace, as they are mindful of the fact that most people like to hear songs they're familiar with.
In the summer of 2010, the band lost two members, who left to concentrate their time on family and work. Banding is, after all, very time consuming. Micah, our drummer, left in June, 2010 and was replaced by Sam Roubique, a former student of Don's in the LSU MBA program. Julie Guidry, one of our founding members, also left the band. Both are missed very much. September of 2010, Carol Carter from the Department of Management (and another former professor of Sam's) joined the band as a vocalist.
Capital Gains has greatly benefitted from the support of Dean Eli Jones of the E. J. Ourso College of Business and its faculty and staff. Many of them are our groupies and some serve as unofficial roadies, carrying our equipment out after a performance. We thank them wholeheartedly and secretly believe they would like us even if we weren't their friends and co-workers. We are also especially grateful to our families who generously allow us to put in so many hours of practice although for all we know, perhaps they are just relieved to get us our of their hair for awhile.
Anyway, that's how Capital Gains got where it is.
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Last updated: February 17, 2011