If you didn't know that actor Joe Mantegna played in a garage band called the Apocryphals in high school and college, you're not alone. I had the privilege of getting the story from the man himself, and as far as I'm aware, what you're about to read is the most detailed account of the group's history published anywhere.

Mantegna was born in Chicago to Italian immigrants on November 13, 1947, and as a kid he regularly attended his older brother's accordion recitals. He didn't initially have much interest in making music himself—he got an earlier start as an actor, playing a dog and a pixie in hospital shows while being treated for rheumatic fever at age eight.