In 1988, when playing in the band became too much, Phil Cimino came to us and said "I can't take it any more, but I'll give you my little brother. Don't worry, he knows all the songs." We didn't even let Vin rehearse, he just practiced with tapes and showed up at Dakota Rose on a Thursday night. He has been in the band ever since. Vin's playing is inventive, yet rock solid. It is Vin who counts off the tempo to every song we play. His sense of tempo is such that on live tapes of the same song, recorded almost 20 years apart, the length of the songs are almost exactly the same. His ability to make massive drops in dynamics while keeping the tempo steady has been refined over years of interaction with the other musicians in the band. He and Mike have the ability to move the downbeat at will, to accomodate the twists and turns of extended solos played by John or Rick. Vin also has the best late nite craziness stories. He has so far, survived being in the Jim Small Band his entire adult life.