Minor fret: Berry (second right) and Mantione (centre) with The Bad Ends
THRASHERPHOTO
ATHENS, Georgia, is the kind of town where two local legends can just bump into each other on the street and start a band. In 2017, REM co-founder and occasional Love Tractor guitarist Bill Berry was minding his own business when he was collared by Five Eight frontman Mike Mantione, who was working on songs for what he thought would be a solo album. “I immediately asked Bill, ‘Would you play on my record?’ I’m sure he thought I was crazy.”