Cambridge band Heavy Light at The Delta intersection , at Dundas Street and Hespeler Road. From left to right: Mark Legere, Randy Trussler, and Bill Ivany.

CAMBRIDGE -- After 25 years making music in hometown Galt, Mark Legere finally wrote song about the place.

From memories of watching floodwaters rise in 1974 while standing in front of the long-gone Iroquois Hotel, to ordering Chinese food by the number at George's Restaurant to trains jamming Hespeler Road traffic at the Delta, Legere shares affection for what's now fast-growing Cambridge.

“I wrote it as tongue-in-cheek. It's my hometown,” he said, as his new band Heavy Lights prepares for release of its first CD

“People who've seen (the video) say, ‘I know where that is, I've been there.' ”

Legere, Randy Trussler and Bill Ivany grew up together in west Galt. They played sports together at Blair Road public school.

At night, they had permission from Trussler's parents to jam in the basement of the Leslie Street house. That's where the band Metaphor was born, in a decade of big hair and onstage flash.

“I'm sure after a while (Trussler's parents) just hated Ozzy Osbourne. We just killed it,” Legere said.

Their first paying gig was at the Forum roller rink on Hespeler Road, when they were all 14 and 15. They stuck together another seven years or so, playing bars and small concerts around the area, until mundane realities of work and family forced the band to fade.

Their friendship never waned, however, as Legere kept singing and writing songs when not roofing houses, or entering Cambridge fall fair singing competitions year after year. Or taking the stage in Tim McGraw tribute shows.

Drummer Ivany never took a full-time job outside music, doing everything from pitching tents to playing on stage, to a bit of concert promotion.

Trussler, a tool and die maker by day, also kept busy playing in bands over the years

Three years ago, time started catching up to Legere. Would he ever make it big in a band? After two decades of performing cover versions of someone else's songs, who would hear the 100 songs — and counting — he's written over the years?

“This thing happened because I just turned 40 years old and wondered if I should? What if I didn't?”

Trussler and Ivany were in. Bass guitarist Randy Vanee joined as Heavy Lights started planning to release its first album.

“This is definitely something new. As kids, we never did anything original. We should try it and see if it works and see if we can make few bucks. It's not about the money.”

A CD release party is set for Aug. 22 at Wabana's Sports Bar on Main Street, starting at 10 p.m.

While made up of guys who started making music the 1980s, when albums and star-making record companies were king, Heavy Lights has embraced the internet as friends pitched in to help make the album reality. Like Steve Rollins, who produced the Hometown video and Carly Conliffe, who created the album artwork.

For the last month, Legere and crew have started planning seeds in cyberspace. The Hometown video is on YouTube. A Facebook fan page directs people to 2xtunes.com., a local independent music site.

There, songs are available for a listen, but not yet for purchase. Downloading starts the night of the CD party.

Legere is content to be free of record companies. For years, the only way to get publicity on radio was to have a record contract. Now, the internet cuts out that step, spreading the word with a click of a mouse.

“I'd rather have my friends and fans at the centre and have them tell their friends and fans about us,” Legere said.

“It's hard work but how else can you get 700-plus fans on Facebook?”

kswayze@cambridgereporter.com