Drummer Nate “Norb” Norbryn, who had been the drummer in the Harley Zucker Band, was all for continuing playing with Morefield, so the two began discussing bass players and singers. At this point Morefield had only dabbled as a vocalist but was willing to give it a try for real. This meant the two only needed to find a bassist and their new project would be ready to start rehearsing.

After years of disappointing involvement with flakey musicians, Morefield proposed asking his father, Dave Morefield, if he’d be interested in jamming with them. An accomplished horn player and long time guitar picker, Nate pointed out to Norb that although his dad would be new to bass guitar, he was an accomplished musician who would take to the instrument quickly and above all else, would be reliable as the day is long.

So in early 1997, the group began rehearsing and played their first gig as Stiletto Rain, in April of 1997.

Stiletto Rain at a charity show in downtown Long Beach - Fall 1998

The group began playing the local club scene shortly there after as well as recording their first CD, the self-titled debut, Stiletto Rain. They continued as a trio for well over a year playing a variety of local clubs, festivals and other events.

In October of ’98, Nate met a vocalist through a mutual work acquaintance named Donna Cattenhead; whose stage name was simply Ms. Donna. Ms. Donna sat in with the group at a work function and the chemistry seemed to work immediately. The two shared vocal duties allowing the band to expand its sound from electric blues/rock to R&B, Soul and even Country.

Around this same time, after Norb left the group for a work opportunity out of the area, Stiletto Rain played with a few different drummers. Nate’s long-time friend Matt Hoard sat in on a few occasions and the group also gigged a few times with Bob Mauck. But by late '98, Tim Pettigrew had filled the slot permanently.

The group continued to play local clubs and do small regional dates, and in mid '99 they turned to recording a new CD with their new drummer and vocalist. In January of 2000, Pawnshop Boogie was released.