Bryce had a tour bus from his former days as Thunder Canyon drummer, and the decision was made to purchase said bus.
In 99, they added multi instrumentalist/ singer, Bryce Niemiller to the group, and the wheels were beginning to turn, literally. As a power trio, they quickly gained attention, and became a “must see act”.Īs John puts it, “We were playing 6 nights a week back then…every night was a different bar, and that went on for a year”. It was not to be, as they met local drummer, Dale Hieb, and after playing a couple songs together, they made the decision to plant roots, and formed John Scalia & The Dirty Word. Louisiana born (frontman/bassist) John Scalia and (guitarist) Robert “Burnin” Merlin had been touring North America for 3 years prior to landing in Bismarck ND in 1998, where they were only scheduled to perform for 4 nights, then on to the next town.