Mad Season: The Combination of Former Members of Three Bands

The history of this band began when Mike McCready, Barrett Martin and John Baker Saunders organized informal jam sessions and began to write songs. They wrote “River of Deceit” and “Wake Up.” Mike McCready called Layne Staley and asked him to join the band as the lead singer; Staley accepted the proposition. In October 1994, the band played at the Crocodile Cafe; at that time, they did not even have a name or a complete song but they managed to come through with a great show. They had two more gigs at that place. They called themselves the Gacy Bunch after a fusion of the names of John Wayne Gacy, a notorious serial killer of Chicago and of the 1970’s television series called The Brady Bunch. On March 15, 1995, their only album was released; they also changed their name to Mad Season, an English term that is used to describe the time of the year when the psilocybin mushrooms are in full bloom.

In 1999, John Baker Saunders died of a heroin overdose. Layne Staley died on April 5, 2002, it is believed that he committed suicide. Mark Lanegan has a successful career as a solo artist and Mike McCready is still a member of Pearl Jam.