Please remember that you are choosing to read my opinions.

You've probably never heard of the Distorted Penguins, but you should have by now. They've been around for about 11 years, just keeping it real. Call it rock with horns, call it ska, call it whatever you want to. They were into it. What they dubbed Falling Rock was like their mission.

About seven or eight years ago, I looked them up on the advice of a friend. It is hard to say that a band changed my life, but in a way it sort of did. They had these songs, and they were just people like me, just a local band, but they made this great music that I couldn't get enough of. In the day of napster, I obtained most of their songs for their upcoming album before they were even finished. And then tragedy struck the band. The lead singer, *MAGIC* Dave Mussen was gone, sudden, in the prime of life.

The local music scene reacted. Everyone knew him and they all seemed to like him. Even those of us who didn't know him got the impression of a great person through the music he played. Everyone wanted to show their support for the band. It was probably one of the greatest nights for music in Morgantown, WV. The band kept going, but it was never really the same for me. I didn't get to see Magic Dave front the band, I had just found out about them before he was killed. I went to see them live, though, and it was still fun. They decided to rearrange the band and keep it going. The drummer moved to vocals and they got a new drummer. This was the first in many line-up changes, but they kept going.

Now, seven years later and after over a decade of playing, they are calling it quits. While I didn't follow them for their entire journey, the part of I followed them for was significant for me. Their album, Magic, is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and I dust it off and play it every now and again.

I think I'll do that now. Good luck Distorted Penguins. R.I.P. Dave.

Here is a video that is using a song from *Magic* -- About You

And a myspace page for Magic Dave!