EXHORDER Frontman Pays Tribute To Fallen Bassist

Vocalist Kyle Thomas of legendary New Orleans metallers EXHORDER has penned the following tribute to the band's bassist, Frankie Sparcello, who passed away on March 22, 2011:

"When Frankie joined EXHORDER back in 1990, I believe, it just so happened to be amid some of our darkest days as a band. We were struggling to find a good tour that everyone in the band could actually participate in and had to come up with the successor of our debut album.

"I knew Frankie beforehand, but only casually from hanging out at Last Stop. My earliest memory was him kicking my ass in pool in a random game. He was so polite about it, though; he didn't gloat once.

"When he joined the band, he immediately got settled in and clowned around as if he had always belonged. This, of course, rubbed me wrong. I was so unhappy with many things in my life at that time and somehow I managed to channel it onto him sometimes. He tried to make friends with me, but I wasn't having it. Don't get me wrong — we got along okay, but anyone that knows me knows that I'm particular about my closest circle and I can make things difficult when I choose to.

"We toured together across the U.S. and Europe, and all the while just kind of coexisted. The state of the band really just put an exclamation point on the whole thing. It wasn't until we had broken up and reformed in 2001 that I finally softened up to him.

"I bumped into Frankie at Pat's Pub one night shortly after Katrina. Very few people were home yet, and since Pat's was one of the only bars open, it was always busy. We got to talking and after we told each other our horror stories about the hurricane, I told him how great it was to see him and invited him over to the house. He suddenly stopped and looked at me with an incredulous look on his face and simply said, 'Really?' I affirmed my offer and when I asked him why he asked he said bluntly, 'I didn't even think you liked me.' Boy, did I feel about an inch tall at that moment! Immediately I sat down with him, ordered us a couple of drinks and bared my soul to him.

"Truly, I did not harbor any ill will or dislike for him, it was again just bad timing for him when he joined. EXHORDER was a band in turmoil and everything that went on internally back then was usually not without issue or friction.

"Ever since that night I have made sure that I hugged Frankie when I saw him, we told each other we love each other upon ending a conversation — not every single time, but enough.

"Frankie was welcome in my home, and never behaved disrespectfully to my wife or children.

"Although our friendship was not deeply rooted as many of his other friendships were, it was genuine. I only wish I could tell him all of this again.

"Frankie was never a guy that we really had to wonder where he was. If we were jamming, he was there.

"I am a decent bass player, but Frankie was easily one of the best of his kind. Take that from me, I know what it takes and he had it. We have had some very talented bass players come through over the years and try to win the job, but he just made it look easy where they struggled. The dude flat-out ripped.

"It will be tough to step on the stage without him, but I know Frankie would want us to keep going.

"I have a feeling that we are going to have some tough moments in the upcoming shows.

"To Bobbi, her children, Frankie's children and his family, my words will never take away the pain that we all share in the loss of such a great guy. Still, I express to each and every one of you that my heart is with you all in this awful tragedy. Frankie belonged to all of us at some point and we should all cherish the gift of him that we shared. May we all find comfort in one another and keep the good memories of Frankie alive. It's what he would have wanted, I am quite sure. He always managed to get us laughing when the road got hard for EXHORDER. I can only imagine how it was in his everyday life outside of the band.

"Frankie, I love you, I miss you and I hope you are jamming out hard with Randy Rhoads somewhere."