Seattle PI:
If you think Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band sounds like a name conjured up inside the brain of a 13-year-old boy, well, you’d be right. The band’s drummer, Marshall Verdoes, thought up the peculiar moniker for the local buzz band when he was 13. Benjamin Verdoes, MSHVB’s singer, guitarist and Marshall’s legal guardian, recalled how Marshall got involved with the group and how he earned naming rights. “When he was learning drums, I told him ‘If you work hard at this I will start a band with you,’ ” Verdoes said. After becoming good enough to be in a band, Verdoes let Marshall, who is now 14, choose the name.