Hearth began when Bob Tripp responded to my card on the co-op board. We met, immediately found some common musical sensibilities, and soon started jamming with some of Bob's network of friends. I was fairly new in Arcata, and was glad to plug in to instant musical community. It was a mostly 20-something collection of misfits, hippies, and friendly folks, communing at Doug's house (where Bob, and soon I, lived), and Dan's warehouse (where I also lived) for musical parties / potlucks / hang sessions. Out of this, a core group emerged by the end of the year, though never quite settling on an "official" lineup. Many passed through the Hearth portal at this time, including Glenn Smith, Bob Tripp, Bo Tucker, Dan Carbonneau, Ian Wulfson, Andrew ?, Linda, Spruce, Kendra, Terri, Shey?, Steve?, Sean?, Lori Davidoff, and eventually Sean Powers, who would become a core member going forward. This early version of Hearth was more string-centric (guitars, saz, dulcimer, balalaika). Thanksgiving 1998 coalesced 2 of my most important musical co-conspirators from the past (Neville Harson & Jonathan Cantwell Traugott) to make a visit at the same time, resulting in another version of the Hearth wheel. Good times which seemed to signal much more to come ...

This was a time of joyous communal creation, with friends joining our household musical explorations and also our first public appearances. After Glenn & Bob birthed Hearth in the Fall of 98, we continued our group jams with many joining in - some of whom would continue playing with us for years, others only briefly. Those who would continue included Glenn & Bob + Sean Powers, Bo Tucker, Ian Wulfson, Brother Tom Becker, and Teri, while others here would be brief visitors to the Hearth, like Andrew, Linda, Spruce, Kendra, Lori, Sarah Nelson, Steve, Shey and Danny Corn.