What is (or was) I.C.U.
ICU was a Christian rock band
my brother Joe and I started in
the eighties. In the
following paragraphs and links
you'll be able to learn about
the band, it's members, and see
(and hear via .mp3) some of
their songs.
MUSIC
(download center)
PHOTOS
FLYERS (historical documents!)
ICU stands for "In Christ
United". ICU began as a
way for my brother Joe Potts and I
(Jeff Potts) to use our talents
more productively. We had
both become Christians and were
looking for ways to use our
talents in more positive
ways. Joe played the guitar
(rhythm and lead) and I played the
drums and tried to sing. Ron
Pack and Paul Wolkersdorfer jumped
into the band shortly after we had
started it. Ron began
playing rhythm and Paul began
playing bass.
I sang while I played drums
primarily so everyone would no
where we were at in the song while
we practiced (since all of us
really lacked any real musical
training). I sang really,
terribly, bad! We recorded
one of our practices after we had
been playing a couple of months
and when I heard myself singing -
man! was I embarrassed. I
was ready to pass the gauntlet -
but all of the guys assured me
that I was getting better (boy,
did I find that hard to
believe). So, I let them
talk me into singing awhile longer
while we looked for a front man
who could REALLY sing.
As the months went on my voice
became a little stronger and a
little better. And we began
to learn that it wasn't easy to
find a vocalist (even in L.A.!) so
I became THE singer as we prepared
to go out into the world and
play. I was still playing
drums as well - so we continued to
look for either a singer or
drummer to join us in our
'adventure'.
The first few gigs we played at
were little church functions with
just a handful of people present -
but, boy! were we nervous.
But, the people responded well
(maybe they were just being nice)
and we kept practicing, and we
continued to improve. After
awhile Paul had to quit the band
to move away for a Youth Pastor
job (at least it was for a good
reason) and Kevin Hoss joined up
with us to play bass. About
the same time as Kevin came on
Dave Moore joined up with us to do
sound (sound guys are totally
underrated and overlooked - just
so you know Dave, you were a
totally important part of
everything we did!).
After Kevin and Dave came aboard we
began to start looking more
actively for places to play and
minister. We played at
places like free speech platforms
at College campuses, and a club in
Hollywood called "The
Oasis". We also
performed at Youth Council events
and etc. We were having a
great time teaching kids about
Christ through music and
testimony. We were having a
great time practicing and hanging
out together. It was an
awesome time!
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