Emerald

Emerald was formed in December of 1977 by guitarist Dave Enos. The original lineup consisted of a few friends from high school but soon included Dave's brother-in-law Larry Philips, after Enos heard Philips sing along with 'Victim Of Changes' from Judas Priest.
The next few years would see many lineup changes before settling on the classic recording lineup (Kyle Morrett on drums, Roger Dale Martin on bass, Dave Enos on guitar, and Larry Philips on vocals). This is the lineup for 'Armed For Battle'.
The total cost to record, master and print 'Armed For Battle' was over $10,000.00, which was Emerald's whole budget. They never got a record deal and only received limited distribution in parts of western and eastern Europe as well as some countries in Asia. At that point, Morrett decided to leave the band. Emerald added drummer Todd Norris to the roster, who played with the band for about a year (Even recording drums on two songs for the 'California Metal II album) before handing the sticks over to drummer Rob Reilly.
Emerald continued to play locally and throughout the western states, but never received a break. The popular style coming out of Hollywood was glam metal and Emerald wasn't even close to that. Eventually their frustration finally got the best of them. In November of 1988, the members of Emerald decided to go their separate ways.