Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real surfaced in 1984 as one of the more obscure guitar-pop outfits to arise from Athens, Georgia’s thriving mid-eighties music community. Singer and guitarist Barry Marler first crossed paths with bassist Trent Allen and drummer Drew Worsham inside a neighborhood record shop; less than twelve months later the newly formed trio issued its debut single, the psychedelia-tinged “Everywhere Girl.” R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck produced that track and also oversaw the band’s inaugural album, Father’s House, which appeared in 1986. The same year brought a featured role in the documentary Athens, Ga. Inside/Out, after which the group secured a contract with Arista and issued the tougher-sounding Rough Night in Jericho in 1988. Dreams So Real pared its sound down further on 1990’s Gloryline, leaning toward folk-rooted arrangements, yet the album made little headway at radio and prompted the label to drop the act. The trio disbanded shortly afterward, though a limited-edition rarities collection titled Nocturnal Omissions surfaced via the fan club in 1992. Five years later Marler and Allen reconvened inside the project Ether. In 2003 Worsham was fatally shot in the face during what was described as a domestic dispute.