The story of Thesda begins in the mid-70s, with Eugene Hagburg. Professionally, he was Director of the Management Academy for the United States Postal Service then located in Bethesda, MD. He later became Assistant Postmaster General in charge of Delivery Operations in the US. One of his passions was moonlighting as a music writers and producer. Hagburg and Thomas Crawford led the group in creating two albums released on their private press label IPSI: The Peak Experience's "Crawford" and Thesda's "Spaced Out." "Crawford" was recorded in 1976 in the same studio Linda Ronstad recorded "Heart Like A Wheel." The traditional folk rock sound of "Crawford" belies its complex inspirations; "Oceanic Feeling" was, according to Hagburg, "an early Freudian concept stressing the need to be different and to avoid the lulling motions in society which try to mold you."

Hagburg accumulated enough equipment to record in his home by the time Thesda was recorded in 1979. The group is even named after the town Hagburg lived in: Bethesda. The combination of a controlled location and recording tools offered, as Hagburg says, "more time to experiment with sounds and mixing." They weren't rushed by expensive studio time, but could also record and capture first takes.

Everybody arrived past midnight for the sessions, which ran until 7AM. Music arrived spontaneously from Hagburg's lyrics, with Tom Crawford's guidance. The goal was to capture a "freshness of interpretation" through a group that "simply wanted to express themselves with creative sounds." It was a carefully controlled chaos, with no written notes, but plenty of enthusiasm. The resulting album is sounds at home in the late 70s, and even gracefully embraces disco. It's especially noteworthy due to the talented musicians, who 30 years later have an edge that still sounds contemporary.

Co-producer Tom Crawford, a graduate of Hoagy Carmichael School of Music at University of Indiana, was responsible for assembling the musicians and helping them realize the true sound of the music. A few names carry over from the previous "Crawford" album, such as guitarist Jeff Flemming, but "Spaced Out" is the only album recorded with this talented group as a whole. One voice stands out from the rest, that of Lateefah. Her vocals soar on songs like "Holding Back," belying a young woman with little formal training. Hagburg remembers how she, "would sit huddled in a corner"¦ listening"¦ waiting"¦ and then sing her heart out."

Hagburg says, to sum up the experience, "the trip ended as each participant went down life's many paths, never to create as one again. But the sounds of this clustering are still with us and add to the library of special sounds."