L to R: Pat, Scott, Kevin, John, Travis

Salem Spade

Pat Stjernquist: Guitars, Kevin Emerson: Guitars, John Secrest: Vocals, Travis LeRoy: Bass, Scott Davies: Drums

After my previous band Sweet Rage broke up, I decided to spend some serious time developing my bass skills. I would spend up to fourteen hours a day practicing my bass. When I was sixteen years old, I joined one of the bigger rock bands in Colorado. We were called Salem Spade. The band was started by Pat and Rickard Stjernquist, two brothers from Sweden. Soon after, Rickard left to join Jag Panzer. In his place, Salem Spade hired the incredible drummer Scott Davies.

Salem Spade was a "technical metal band" in the same style as Fates Warning, Iron Maiden and early Queensryche. Our songs were sometimes self indulgent but always well written, thanks mostly to our amazing guitar players Pat and Kevin.

When I joined the band, we were doing well in Colorado, but we wanted Salem Spade break in to the international underground metal scene. This was an exciting time for bands like us. Lots of demos being traded and many fanzines dedicated to the type of music we played. I sent our promotional package to a magazine called "Metal Maniacs". They reviewed our music, printed our picture and listed our address. Soon after, we started getting fan mail from all over the world and our name started spreading quickly. Of course, we received mail from people in the US, but we were also getting mail from people in Japan, Europe and even Russia. Our music was getting played around the world. I still have a box with all of those letters.

I remember in the span of two weeks we got to open up for Great White and Helix. Not exactly our style, but they were signed bands and I was a junior in high school. The night we played with Great White was classic. Their song "Rock Me" had just topped the charts. They were just starting to get huge and the show was easily sold out. The only downside was that my parents only gave me permission to stay out until midnight. Here I am playing to a packed crowd with one of the most popular rock bands in the country and I have to worry about getting grounded if I broke curfew :)

We reached a lot of people but never quite got to the next level. We were really young. Kevin and I were 15 when we joined the band in 1986. Scott was 17. Pat was 21 and John was 23.

In 2007, Steel Legacy Records out of Athens, Greece released our entire catalog. The band got together for a practice. It sounded really good and we considered doing some reunion shows. Sadly, our singer John passed away shortly after that. Fast forward to 2024: guitarist Kevin Emerson reached out to the surviving members of Salem Spade with a bold proposal—reunite and record again. The response was unanimous. With everyone on board, the band is now back in the studio. You can visit www.salemspade.com for more information.