"A" Train

by Bradley Torreano Favorites of the North Louisiana scene throughout the early '80s, A-Train produced several notable studio musicians without gaining much national recognition while still together. Formed around the core of Buddy and Bruce Flett, as well as vocalist Miki Honeycutt, A-Train started in 1979 with the intention of performing bluesy rock & roll. Teaming with keyboardists David Egan and Chris McCaa, saxophonist John Howe, and drummer Paul Griffith, the seven musicians quickly became one of the bigger live acts of the area upon their debut in 1979. Releasing four albums during the next six years, the lack of forward momentum left them no choice but to break up despite a major-label record contract sitting on their desk by the fall of 1985. The band split apart and made great progress independently of one another, only occasionally reuniting for live performances in the late '90s. All of their studio albums were collected into two volumes and released in 2002.