"Zentry" was originally the incarnation of a bunch of teenagers that had high aspirations of being rock stars, but had no idea what they were in for. The original band started in 1980 as "Hurricane" and included three of the core members that ended in 1985. Dean Polsfut-drums (fresh off his stint as a drummer for a polka band), Kim Whittemore (Emil)-guitar, and Jim Hauf-bass were mainstays throughout the majority of Zentry's run and had their first "real" performance at the 1981 North Dakota State Fair Battle of the Bands (which coincidentally Silver Marshall Band (New Hollywoods) won). Looking back, we knew we were in trouble when we were able to get all of our equipment in the back of a 1972 Buick Riviera (including lights).

Eventually, fellow Max pals Scott Weishaar and Kent Yancey joined on vocals and guitar, respectively. Since we were still in high school, we spent a good amount of the first years of our performance career in party basements, small town community centers and occassionally, the small town bar. Around that same time, Kim's younger sister, Shelly, rounded out the band with the addition of a female vocal.

As time went on, though, something strange happened. Since we played so much and were having so much fun, none of us were really paying attention that we were actually getting . . . . . . better. More gigs started coming and 1983 and 1984 were incredibly busy years as we were playing most weekends (between bars and school dances). In 1984, we got our revenge on the North Dakota State Fair Battle of the Bands by actually winning it and having the prestigious honor of throwing our voices out by playing a gig that same night. Our gig the next week at "Daddy's Money" is something some of us are still in therapy for as laryngitis ran rampant. Continued...