20th Century Rock Trio

Run 21 was a popular touring rock trio based in New England, USA, which Douglas joined in 1982, and played with up until 1995 or so. The trio logged over 1,500 live dates and many recorded releases including Flat Blank Parts(1985, ind.) and Allergic To Reality(1992 ind.). Formed by bassist/vocalist Jimmy Carter as the Jimmy Carter Show in the late '70's, the reformed Run 21 initially included Stet Howland on drums, who'd later leave for Los Angeles, CA to play with Chris Impelliterri, and then Blackie Lawless. Originally performing a combination of a theatrical originals set and powerful covers sets, the trio went 'all-original' in 1985 with its first release, and grew to become a force in the Boston original live rock scene, performing many times with the then-unsigned Extreme among others.

Following Howland's departure, the group entered its most prolific phase, recording constantly and placing singles on many 'compilation' CD's. Several drummers were used in studio and onstage, but the group found their match in an eccentric and musical drummer/vocalist named Matt Franklin. Blair's musical growth was especially elevated, with many of the custom guitars, effects rigs and other developments of this time eventually culminating in auditions for Doro Pesch(in NYC) and W.A.S.P.(in LA), as well as later with signal2noise. He also worked diligently in the studio, producing the cuts found
here, in which can be heard an emerging lead style complete with early use of the Sustainiac Sustainers for long and harmonized feedback, momentary cut-off switches(long before Buckethead), echo effects, and synthesizers. Check out the lead breaks in 'High Wire Walk,' 'You're The Only One,' 'Let The Angels Scream,' and the heavy synth. treatments in 'I Got Love' and 'You Don't Know What Love Is.' The first prototype Blair Mutant Twin was debuted at Boston's Axis nightclub in May, 1990, used live to perform 'Let The Angels Scream,' coincidentally right about the time Slash was debuting his new Guild double neck of the same acoustic/electric design(The Crossroads Double E) with Guns'n'Roses. Blair's Mutant later earned him a spot in the 1992 W.A.S.P. touring group, due to its ability to bring to life the acoustic sections of the Crimson Idol Epic.

Run 21 was truly the vehicle from which Blair derived the freedom to experiment and grow, benefitting from the cumulative experience of his own and of his extremely talented and innovative bandmates. It prepared him for both the regimen of working and flourishing within an established international group, as well as the open freedom of writing and creating within an experimental outfit. Bassist Carter remains a close friend, with Franklin lost in LA, while the relationship with Howland has been strained by typical business and politics of the industry(Howland left W.A.S.P. just as Blair re-joined). The original line-up's last show was in Cape Cod, MA in the summer of 2009.

2019 update: Stet Howland has kept busy in music, most recently with the legendary metal outfit Metal Chruch. Jimmy 'Oxo' Carter remains an in-demand player in Burlington, VT's vibrant and diverse college-driven music scene, and recently re-united the pre-Blair/Howland line-up of Run 21 -- actually called The Jimmy Carter Show -- for some hair-raising New England(US) shows.

Also newsworthy however, is Matt Franklin(aka Matt Starr)'s recent involvement touring with the 80s rock supergroup Mr. Big.