Last week marked the Five Year Anniversary of when
this band went from being a regional band in Kentucky to being a nationally
touring band; June 16th to be exact.
I can’t believe I’ve been touring for this long already. It doesn’t seem like it. It’s gone by pretty quickly, and a lot of it
seems like a blur. But it has been a fun
time so far, with lots of crazy moments and great memories, meeting lots of
interesting and amazing people along the way.
I thought I’d make this week’s entry all about the past five years; the
different band members, a few funny stories, and whatever else comes to
mind. Right now I’m sitting here
thinking about all the places I’ve been able to see by being in this band;
places that I would have probably never went to on my own. We went to the Grand Canyon, saw Mt. Rushmore
(twice), snorkeled off the coast of Key West, driven up the Pacific Coast
Highway through the Redwood Forest, hiked up the rocky mountains, stood on the
Canadian border, and saw Old Faithful erupt, to name a few.
I remember thinking on our first trip how far it was
going to be to get to these shows, and how I didn’t think I’d ever be able to
sit in a vehicle that long. The country
sure has gotten a lot smaller since then.
Now I can pretty much tell you how far it is from one place to the next,
or how many hours it will take us to get there.
I’ve learned to read on those long drives (and have gotten over that
motion sickness thing I thought I had when riding in the back of vehicles for
long periods of time). The long drives
are just part of everyday life now; they don’t really bother me too much.
We’ve also done a lot of shows with other acts, and
met lots of other incredible bands and musicians along the way. I remember thinking after doing the show with
Joe Nichols that he was such a nice guy, and that his voice was even more
incredible live than what I had heard on the radio. And even just the mutual respect we’ve
received over the years from other touring musicians has been incredible.
We’ve done a lot so far: played big cities –
Chicago, Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver; to small towns you’ve never heard of –
Dubois, WY / Jump River, WI / Torrey, UT / Caspar, CA. We played bars, clubs, casinos, fairs,
festivals, weddings, private parties, charity events, street dances, opened for
others, been the headliner, played in front of thousands of people, played to
no one. I’ve both loved it and hated it
at times.
People seem to think what we do is always so
glamorous, and at times it is I guess. But
for me it has just been a means to moving forward with my career; paying your
dues if you will, building a fan base one show at a time. We’ve had a lot of fun along the way, but
also have put in a ton of hard work and have had a lot of frustrating moments
and failures as well. I hope most of the
people who have seen or heard us have liked what we’ve done. I’m sure not everyone has, but we’ve seen a
lot of people come back to our shows over the years, so hopefully we’re at
least heading in the right direction. As
I write this I can’t help but think about all the things we haven’t done yet;
all the accomplishments yet to be had, all the songs yet to be written, all the
experiences yet to be had. But I also
can’t help but smile thinking about everyone who has been a part of this
journey so far as well; from band members, to family we’ve left at home, to the
staff at all the clubs that have treated us so well, to each and every person
who has ever heard us play a song. I
hope we’ve touched a lot of people out there so far. I know they’ve somehow touched me. So I’d like to take the rest of this entry to
tell you a few stories from our past five years touring the country.
Let’s start with the musicians that have been a part
of this band since we hit the road.
KENT
MUSSLEMAN
Kent was in the band for a grand total of three
weeks. When we decided to go on the
road, the drummer I had been playing with had family obligations and the timing
wasn’t right for him to tour, so we hastily searched for a replacement. Every person we called couldn’t leave on that
short notice (the tour was already booked and we were leaving in less than a
week). We finally found Kent about 2
days before we left. Let me try to
describe Kent for you: short, skinny guy, about 55 years old, and always looked
and sounded stoned (and probably was).
Like I said, he was in the band for 3 weeks, b/c that’s how long we were
out until we got back home. The main
problem was this: he didn’t know anything about country music, hadn’t heard
most of the songs, and couldn’t play a country shuffle. Good rock drummer, but horrible country
drummer. We knew immediately that while
he was a quick fix to our immediate problem, he was definitely not our long
term guy; and I think he agreed with that as well.
Kent’s nicknames: although only being in the band 3
weeks, somehow he has earned the title of having the most nicknames. On stage one night I introduced him as
‘Blue’, b/c he looked like the character from the Movie “Old School”. He also told us his nickname was ‘Wizbang’,
and somehow we went from that all the way to calling him “Wizzle Jizzle”. I’d rather not repeat the steps and names we
had in between those. Anyway, now we have
no idea where Kent is, or how to get a hold of him. But from time to time we still tell funny
stories about ol’ Wizbang from his one tour with the band.
(Kent is on the far Right)
ZACH PRESTON
Zach became Kent’s replacement and our next
drummer. He was young, mid 20’s, and
pretty fresh out of music school at Lawrence University. When we auditioned guys, he was clearly the
one with the most promise and potential.
He didn’t know country music too well, but was young and hungry and
willing to learn. He had better timing
than the other guys we auditioned, and we could just tell he would be the most
suited for what we were trying to do.
Zach was a vegetarian, which made stopping for food a little more
difficult; our fast food choices were pretty much limited to Subway (veggie
sandwich) or Taco Bell (bean burrito).
We tried really hard to accommodate his vegetarian needs; until the day
we caught him eating some pulled pork. Trust
me, we didn’t let him live that one down.
Quick funny story:
we went to Nashville for a gig, and were there a night early, so Zach
went out with me to meet up with some old friends down on Broadway. I didn’t stay out too late, but he stayed out
and partied with a couple of my friends.
I have no idea how late they were out, where they went, or what they
did, but I do know when I woke up in the morning he was curled up in the fetal
position naked in front of the bathroom door.
Never the first sight you want to see in the morning. I had to actually step over him to get to the
bathroom. He must have had a blast the
night before.
Anyway, Zach was with us for about 6 months. We had to eventually part ways with him b/c
he was just not able to produce what we needed him to on the kit; he had a laid
back drumming style and we needed someone much more aggressive and a hard
hitter. Plus, he was not really a fan of
the music we were playing, so the shows weren’t really that fun for him; and
I’ve always been a firm believer that you should be having fun if you’re
playing music.
(Zach - on the left - hanging with Kevin)
BRENT JOHNSON
Brent joined the band the Christmas night in
2009. I had never met him before, and we
hired him solely on Kevin’s recommendation.
I distinctly remember my first meeting with Brent: it was at the Subway in
Indianapolis off of exit 4 on Interstate 465.
That’s where I met the band to leave for our tour on Christmas night. We spent the rest of that night driving in
the van getting to know each other a bit.
Brent was in the band for 3 years, and my roommate that entire time
too. I spent more time with him than
anyone else those 3 years, including my wife.
He and I became pretty close. We
had a lot of very personal and private conversations in hotel rooms over the
years. I think that’s what I remember
the most about him – how close we were and how open I could be with him. I also really liked that Brent looked
forward; he would always be thinking about what we needed to do to move
forward. That was probably another
reason we got along so well; we both had similar visions in that respect. Brent would also do whatever he could to help
out. He was not a strong harmony singer,
but worked hard and stepped up to learn a ton of harmony parts. He would always ask what he could do to help
with marketing and promotion too; whether it be to go print out posters, or
order new shirts, or whatever. I always
really appreciated that about him, that he was so willing to help out with the
off stage stuff.
Brent is from Wisconsin, and we got to know his
parents pretty well, since we had played up there quite a bit. They are the nicest people, and always let us
stay with them if we were passing through.
Didn’t matter what time it would be, they’d have the door open for us
waiting. And his mother always made sure
we were well fed. They were so
hospitable. I hope we thanked them
enough and let them know how much we appreciated being able to crash there from
time to time. I actually think Brent’s mom
occasionally reads these posts. (So if
she is reading this one: we miss you guys out at the shows, and definitely miss
the home cooked meals as we passed through.
Hope you both are doing well.
Thanks for all you did for us).
Like I said, Brent was in the band for just over 3
years, and decided to leave the band to get off the road and move to Nashville
to pursue his career as a drummer there.
I must admit that I was really sad to see my friend leave. I understood why he needed to, but still I
was losing a close friend and roommate.
But he was doing what was best for him, and I completely respected that decision. I hate to admit that I haven’t kept in
contact with him as well as I should have since his move. But he seems to be doing well and thriving
down in Music City.
(Brent Johnson)
STEVE
RICHMOND
Steve replaced Brent and is our current
drummer. He has been in the band a
little over a year now. I feel like most
of you reading this knows our current members pretty well, so I won’t go into
too much detail here. One note about
Steve though: he was the drummer and vocalist for the band Exile for 10 years
before joining MDB, and toured the world with them. When he joined our group, we instantly became
tighter onstage instrumentally and vocally; Steve has a rock solid pocket he
plays in, and is an incredible vocalist.
I have been continuously impressed with what he is capable of doing
vocally. He has made our harmony stand
out even more than we had in the past.
(Steve Richmond)
AARON FRANCIS
I’m finding myself struggling with where to start when
discussing Aaron. I guess I’ll go way
back: Aaron and I played together for two years regionally before we took this
band out on the road. He was then in the
group for the first three years that we toured nationally. Aaron and Kevin knew each other from way back
when, and Kevin was actually the one that called Aaron about us all getting
together and hitting the road. Having Aaron
in the band was great: he is an incredible bass player – wonderful technique
and so smooth. And he could pick up
songs so easily. He just knew structure and
theory so well. It would frustrate the
hell out of us: we’d be learning a new song, and I’d spend days figuring out
the progression and learning the words, but Aaron would just have to hear the song
once or twice and he pretty much had it down.
Aaron was also a pretty good harmony singer, which helped us out a
lot. Aaron eventually had to leave the
band because his dad became ill, and he wanted to be home to spend more time
with his family. I have always said that
family comes first, so we all completely understood his want and need to spend
more time with his family. Aaron left
the band the appropriate way, and under good conditions, which I have always
appreciated. We still keep in contact as
much as we can, and he comes out to our shows when we play around the Lexington
area. For all of you out there that knew
and remember Aaron (and are curious about how he is doing), he seems to be
thriving back home. He seems really
happy back with his family, and is pretty active in the local music scene. It’s funny, Aaron seems to be one of those unforgettable
characters in life: as we continue to travel, I get more people asking about
how he is doing than anyone else. He
must have touched a lot of people’s lives out there on the road.
(Aaron Francis)
JOSH WATSON
Josh replaced Aaron and is our current bass
player. When Aaron left, we auditioned a
couple guys for the job, including Josh.
He wasn’t as familiar with country music as I would have liked him to be
at the time, but we loved his personality and desire, so we knew he was the
best person for us. He has been in the
band for just over 2 years now, and if you’ve met him, you know what I mean
when I say we loved his personality. Everyone
that meets Josh likes him. And his laugh
is hilarious; tell him a good joke sometime to hear him laugh – it’s
great. Again, like Steve, since Josh is
a current member and most of you know him already, I won’t go into too much
more detail about him. I will give him
this compliment though: Josh is good for this group because he is such a hard
worker. He calls himself our ‘yes-man’,
because anything that needs to be done, just ask and he is willing to do
it. I really appreciate a guy like that;
one that doesn’t complain about things needing to be done, just gets up and
does it. That makes life a little bit
easier for me. Also, fun fact about
Josh: his dad is an Elvis impersonator, which I think is awesome! Oh, and since Josh is the youngest in the
group, we still haze him all the time like he is the new member (although he
has been in the band longer than Steve).
He seems to have a good attitude about it all though, and knows we
wouldn’t haze him so much if we didn’t like him.
(Josh Watson)
(one of Josh and I, just b/c I really like this one)
KEVIN
RAWLINGS
As I mentioned, Kevin is the one that called Aaron
and wanted to hook up with us and take this group out on the road. I still remember the day Aaron hung up the
phone and turned to me and said, “so, we gotta talk. I think you’re going to like this.” So I met up with Kevin a few days later, we
decided this was a good move, and off we went.
Kevin is the only other member besides me that has been in the group
since day one of touring.
A bit about Kevin’s past: he spent the three years
prior to joining MDB touring with the band Skarecrow. Before that he was a guitar tech for John
Michael Montgomery. Kevin has been a
road guy forever. He knows all the ins
and outs of the game. Plus, he knows a
ton about P.A. and guitars and just about everything else musical. He’s our problem solver, our fix-it guy. Having an issue with your guitar: he can fix
it. Something wrong with our gear: he
will track down the issue and solve the problem. He’s just that kind of guy.
I tried to tell Kevin one time that he has this kind
of underground cult following within our fan base, but he didn’t believe
me. It’s true though. He seems to have this mystery about him that
some of our fans really like. He is always
cordial and polite with our fan base, but doesn’t make himself overly available
to them (which just adds to the charm I guess).
He just goes up onstage and does his thing, plays like a rock star, then
leaves the stage like it wasn’t any big deal.
I think our fans really like that about him; he is just a normal down to
earth guy that happens to be really good at playing the guitar.
Kevin and I have this really weird relationship that
sometimes freaks me out a little bit. We’ve
gotten really close over the past five years, and I think understand each other
pretty well. We both know what we’re
looking for out of this band, and I think have a mutual respect for each
other. Since we both have been in the group
the longest, and it is my name on the marquee and all his equipment, we are
kind of the de facto leaders of the group.
I think what gets me about our relationship is that we have to have both
a personal relationship (since we spend so much time together) and a
professional relationship (since we both have to work side by side to ensure
that this band survives and moves forward).
It’s always tough when you have to mix those two types of relationships,
but somehow Kevin and I make it work. A lot
of times we have different ideas or opinions professionally, but have been able
to maintain the personal relationship through all that. I think there’s a lot to be said for
that. I have a lot of respect for Kevin
for that reason (along with plenty of other ones).
Out of all the member changes and turnover we’ve had
throughout the years, Kevin is the one constant for me. I know he’s not going anywhere – and would be
shocked if he did. He’s in this band to
play music and build a career; this project is his baby as well.
(Kevin Rawlings)
OUR FIRST
SHOW:
Our very first show was at the Lonesome Dove in
Mandan, ND. We drove all through the
night to get up there, and arrived in town about 5am the day of the show. After a few hours of sleep we went to the bar
and set up and sound checked. The 4 of
us had never played a show together; we had no rehearsal, we were exhausted,
and our drummer didn’t know most of the songs.
To say our first show was bad would be about the biggest understatement
of all time. It was absolutely the worst
show I had ever been a part of. We were
sloppy, didn’t know how to start or end any of the songs, and more times than not
we just fell apart right in the middle of a song. It was probably the most embarrassing thing I
have ever been involved with. The good
news was that it could only get better from there.
BRENT GETS
ROOFIED:
Okay, I should start this story by saying we don’t
actually know that Brent got roofied, but that was the only possible conclusion
we could come up with. Here’s what
happened: We were on stage toward the
end of the show and Brent was singing ‘Chickenfried’, but was really screwing
it up; really badly, like sang the same verse twice and skipped half the
chorus. This was very unlike him, but we
all have moments like that sometimes, so we didn’t think too much about
it. But then a few minutes later we kicked
off the intro to ‘The Authority Song’ by John Mellencamp (a song we had played
before) and Brent just out of nowhere starts playing a strange drum beat and
singing the lyrics to ‘Chatahoochie’. At
this point we all turned around to him with bewildered looks on our faces. I end up stopping the song, asking, “are you
f-ing drunk or something?” To which he
looked at me with this really puzzled expression for a minute and replied, “uh,
maybe. Yeah, I think I am.” Here’s the problem with that though: he only
had one beer, plus a shot that some girl had brought up to the stage for
him. It was definitely not enough to get
him hammered drunk, but that’s how he seemed.
We wrapped up the show quickly after that, and as we were tearing down
we could tell that he was pretty out of it.
Our only conclusion was that the girl had drugged the shot that was
brought to him. But why? Are girls really drugging guys now? That is actually really scary for us; people
bring us drinks and shots all the time.
It’s actually a really cool benefit to what we do; people bring us free
drinks. Ever since I’ve been really
leery of drinks brought up to the stage.
I really shouldn’t drink them.
But damn it is so tough to pass up free drinks. So let this be our plea: if you’re bringing
shots or drinks for the band, please don’t drug them.
KEVIN’S
FAMOUS VEGAS STORY:
Let’s start with all the trouble we had on the way
out to Vegas. We start by getting pulled
over for speeding in Texas. There was
nothing significant about it, except it was the first time we had been pulled
over, and I remember thinking “four guys in a van loaded down with band gear,
yeah we’re getting searched for sure”.
We got a ridiculously expensive ticket, but fortunately the officer did
not waste our entire day by searching the van.
We kept driving, made it through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and
pulled up to the Hoover Dam (which we all wanted to see since we were going to
be so close). We pulled up to the Hoover
Dam checkpoint station and the guard there took one look in our van and told us
there was no way we were going to be able to cross the Dam and that we would
have to turn around find another way into Vegas. WHAT??? Here was the problem with the guard’s
plan: to go back and go another way would have taken us another 4 hours, when
our destination was less than thirty minutes away. We were not happy about this idea. Apparently he thought we might be carrying a
bomb or something, hiding it in our van full of band gear intending to blow up
the Dam. Of course we tried to plead our
case and explain to him that we just wanted to get into Vegas to play for the
PBR World Championship, but he was young and new to the job, and there was no
way he was going to budge on this one.
As the rookie guard is having us turn around, a second, older and more
experienced guard came over and took over.
The veteran guard understood our plea and had us pull over to the side
and take a few things out of the back of the van to prove that it was just our
gear and that we weren’t hiding any bombs.
He looked in a couple cases and sent us on our way. Actually, the veteran guard was also a bull
riding fan, which helped our cause a bit.
He even came to one of the events that week, and came up to the stage
and said hello to us as we were performing.
So, those were the things that happened on the way
to Vegas.
(The 'veteran guard' at the Hoover Dam)
Now for Kevin’s story.
We were invited to a PBR after party at Mandalay Bay
one night with some VIP passes, and decided to go. The night started pretty casually with some
gambling at the Tropicana. Kevin actually
won enough money playing blackjack to pay for the speeding ticket we got in
Texas; so it was a great start to our evening.
One of the nice things about gambling in Vegas, as long as you’re
sitting at the tables playing, they’ll bring you free drinks. That also might be a bad thing, but I’ll get
to that in a moment. Anyway, we were at
the Tropicana just long enough to get a couple drinks in us before heading over
to Mandalay Bay. From the Tropicana, you
can see Mandalay Bay. It is just right
down the street. The problem was, although
we could see it and it was just down the street, everything is so big there and
spaced out that it was actually pretty far away. But we set off walking anyway. Again, we already had a couple drinks in us,
and it looked like a short walk, but by the time we got in front of the Luxor
(the giant pyramid, and only about half way there by the way) Kevin had to pee
so bad he couldn’t hold it anymore; the free drinks had caught up to him. So, while I kept a look out, Kevin headed
over to the bushes in front of the Luxor and pissed right on the side of the
Vegas Strip. I wish I could accurately
describe just how awkward it was when people would walk by on the sidewalk and
I would just have to nod and smile as they watched Kevin relieving himself and
start laughing and pointing. But, no
cops showed up, and he felt much better, so we continued to Mandalay Bay. We got there and found out that the after
party was on the top floor, in a bar with a balcony that overlooks the
strip. It was actually a really magnificent
view of the Las Vegas Boulevard. So we
were at this party with the bull riders, the PBR reps, the sponsors, and some
other people. It was a cash bar (which
wasn’t that cool), but every time Kevin ordered a drink he would just take it
and walk away without paying. I think he
assumed it was an open bar since it was a private party. It became comical; he would walk up, order a
drink, get the drink, and then walk away while the bartender was standing there
waiting to be paid. He actually did this
several times, and kept getting away with it.
Hilarious. So at this point in
the evening Kevin has pissed on the Vegas Strip and stolen beers at a private
after party. But the story doesn’t end
there. We all ended up getting pretty
lit at that party and losing each other, and I just headed back to the hotel
room and called it a night. The rest of
the story I didn’t witness first hand, and will do my best to tell accurately;
although I think he will dispute at least one point with me now.
So Kevin left the party and decided to go back to
the Tropicana to see if he could continue his lucky streak with more
gambling. The story goes that he sat
down at a table and started winning again, but was sitting out on some hands
and playing others. Another person at
the table made a comment that Kev was messing up the cards for the rest of the
players. Kevin said he got up and walked
over to the guy and politely asked him what he meant by that comment. I’m not sure if exactly the truth
though. There was some sort of
confrontation, enough so that security came over and escorted Kevin out of the
building. We’ll never know what actually
happened, just that Kevin was kicked out.
So at this point in the evening he had pissed on the strip, stolen beers
from the private party, and been kicked out of a casino. That should be enough, right? Nope, not for our hero. He heads back to the hotel though to wind
down for the evening. He and I were
sharing a suite, but I had already gone to bed, so couldn’t tell you what time
he finally made it back to the hotel.
Apparently he couldn’t find his key though, so he started banging on our
door for me to get up and let him in.
Finally the door opened and it wasn’t me at the door, but some random
guy. Realizing that he had the wrong
room, Kevin apologizes and walked around the hotel until he found the right
room. Again pounding on the door for me
to get up and let him in, the door opens and the SAME GUY is standing there
staring at him. Kevin had wondered
around and found the same room and started pounding on the door again. I guess the guy was pretty cool about it b/c
he never kicked Kevin’s ass or anything, but still, that had to suck. Kevin eventually found his room key and the
correct door, but still couldn’t get in; he couldn’t get the key to work. After trying for several minutes Aaron
miraculously showed up and asked Kevin what the hell he was doing. Aaron quickly took the key, turned it around
so it was facing the right way, and opened the door, finally getting Kevin into
the right room. Here’s the total damage
for the night: he pissed on the strip, stole beers from a private after party,
got tossed from a casino, and went to the wrong hotel room – twice. I guess it was just another night in Vegas
for some though.
THE JAGER
BOMB BOOBS STORY:
Okay, this is not the finest moment for me. We have this song called ‘Jager-bomb Boobs’. I know some of you have heard it over the
years. It’s actually a pretty funny
song, which it was meant to be; one of those songs I really should pitch to
Rodney Carrington or someone like that.
We joke that it is our ‘Achy Breaky Heart’; that we’ll be branded as the
band that sings ‘Jager-bomb boobs’ for the rest of our lives. You know, I actually should pitch the song to
Jagermeister. Anyway, here is the story
of how this song came to be.
We were playing in a bar on a slow week night a
couple years ago, and someone brought a note up to the stage that said, “John
Deer Green. Yes Play It. Jager Boom!!”
Reading the note to myself first, I laughed out loud and had to read it
over the speakers so everyone in the bar could hear it. So I did, and Brent, who is half deaf,
thought I said ‘Jager boobs’ instead of ‘Jager boom’. Which we all thought was hilarious. But we moved on and finished out the
set. I guess Aaron really thought Brent’s
mix up was funny, b/c by the end of that set Aaron had come up with a little
jingle and groove going along with the ‘Jager Boob’ idea. Since it was a slow night and we could, we
spent a lot of the rest of the evening coming up with ideas for it, in between
other songs and on breaks. By the end of
the night we had a lot of funny ideas for the song, and had the people in the
bar interested in it too. It was kind of
like a running joke throughout the evening.
At the end of the night I gathered up all these ideas we had come up
with and took them back to the hotel with me.
I joked to the crowd that we’d have a song for them the next night. Well, because it was funny and I was
entertained by the whole thing, the next day I took all those ideas and messed
with them until a song came out of it. I
wrote it down and played it for the guys; we all thought it was so funny that
we had to play it for the crowd that night, since we were back at the same
bar. So we played it for them and got a
great reaction from everyone there; they thought it was hilarious too. The problem we ran into afterward was this:
it was supposed to be just a funny song we play one night for a couple people
then forget about it and move on with our lives. But people kept requesting to hear it, and
not just in that town either. Word kind
of spread (in a limited fashion) to other places around, and it would get
requested some in other towns.
Then, when we were several states away, I made the
mistake one night of telling someone about this funny song we had. Of course they wanted to hear it, so we
played it for them. Same reaction; everyone
thought it was really funny. They
started requesting it there too; every time we were in town. The song has now followed us to a few other
states as well. We either need to embrace
it or let it go and never play it again I guess. Hell, I’d probably make a ton of money off
the thing if we actually went fully public with it. But I just can’t bring myself to do that
right now. It’s funny, yes, but it sure
doesn’t help my credibility as a serious musician.
The interesting thing about the whole situation is
that I thought women would be completely offended by the lyrics, but females
are the ones that have liked and requested the song the most. I just don’t get it.
Anyway, we have this cloud over our head now with
this song that just won’t seem to completely go away. And I’m pretty sure the other guys won’t
admit it, but they all had a hand in writing it. So Kevin, Brent, and Aaron are to blame just
as much.
Oh, I almost forgot; I kept the note that started
the whole thing. Here it is:
(the note that inspired the song)
SUNSET STRIP:
A couple years ago we got to do some shows near Los
Angeles, CA. The previous weekend we
were in northern California in Freemont playing at a great club called ‘The
Saddle Rack’, and our next show was scheduled for Monday night in Hermosa Beach
(somewhere near L.A.), so we decided that we should head down to SoCal early
and party on Sunset Boulevard on that Sunday night – to get more in touch with
the rock history of our past. It was
also convenient that my good friend Mitch and his rock band ‘Whiskey Circus’ (now
the band Wayland) were playing around there at the time and had a show
scheduled for Sunday night. That was
actually my motivation for getting down there early, and partying on the strip
was just a bonus for me. (Okay, all the
80’s hair band lovers will appreciate and enjoy the rest of this story).
So we get to L.A. Sunday evening, find a cheap hotel
on Sunset Blvd. and find our way to my friend’s show. Whiskey Circus put on an awesome show at the
Cat Club. It was incredible to see them
play; just straight forward loud guitar rock and roll. It was a great way to start our night. From there we went next door to the Whiskey A
Go-Go. You could literally feel this
vibe when you walked in from all the rock legends that have played there. I can’t imagine what it would have been like
to walk in there in the mid-80’s and hear Motley Crue on stage at the
Whiskey. Anyway, it was a Sunday night
and not much was going on there, so we had a beer and walked back outside. As we were leaving the bar the duo that was playing
finished up and was loading out, and wouldn’t you know it Aaron started up a
conversation with them. They thought it
was awesome that we were a country band from the Midwest playing out in L.A. so
they invited us to go have drinks with them at the Rainbow Room. Somehow on the way to the RR one of the guys
strapped on his acoustic guitar and started singing “Plush” from Stone Temple
Pilots, and at some point Kevin and I jump in with the harmony. I would have loved to have seen this moment
from an outside perspective: some rock guys and country guys walking down
Sunset Strip singing an STP song as loud as we could as we made our way from
The Whiskey to the Rainbow Room.
Priceless.
So, we get to the Rainbow Room, and as we are
standing outside Phil from L.A. Guns walks by.
Kevin’s jaw dropped; just had to meet him, so he walked up to Phil to
introduce himself. At first Phil kind of
blew him off, but about a minute later he came back out and apologized, telling
Kevin that he had lost his phone in the club and was going back in to find
it. Phil was totally cool and spent a
couple minutes talking to us before he headed home (or wherever he was
going). It totally made Kevin’s
night. We went inside the bar and they
showed us around, including taking us upstairs and showing us the room where
Joe DiMaggio nailed Marilyn Monroe. We
had a couple drinks back downstairs at the bar, and then left to continue down
the strip.
The only other bar I really wanted to check out was
the Viper room, but it was closed that night for a private party. But all in all it was an awesome Sunday night
off on the Sunset Strip: seeing my friend’s rock band play at the Cat Club,
hanging out at the Whiskey, seeing Phil from LA Guns at the Rainbow Room; Great
Night!
THE $100 BET:
I’m not too proud of this story, but what the
heck. You want to know about our time on
the road, and I’ve tried not to sensor too much, so I might as well include
this one too. I’ll try to tell the short
version though. We were scheduled to
play some club, and got into town a day early (it seems like a lot of my
stories start with getting in town early – we should quit doing that). We went to the bar to introduce ourselves in
the afternoon, and the owners ended up offering us some drinks. We proceeded to stay there the rest of the
afternoon and evening and got pretty tore up (well, I know I did anyway). So we ended up with the owners of the club
hanging out outside at some cabin by a river, and I asked if people swam in the
river. From that simple question it somehow
(I have no idea how) escalated to me agreeing to jump in the river naked for a
hundred bucks. The money was quickly
raised (again, I have no idea how) and before I knew it there was one hundred
dollars in front of me. I handed the
money to Aaron, because for some reason he seemed like the most responsible one
there at the time, and before I knew what was going on I was running nude
toward the river, jumping off the dock right out into the middle. I had to thank Aaron for several things he
did during my time of poor judgment: apparently while I was waiting for the
money to be raised he had moved the dock into the water (b/c it was mostly out
and I would have done a cannonball into two feet of water); he also brought a
towel down to me as I was getting out so I wouldn’t have to make that
humiliating walk back up to where my clothes were; and he held the money for
me. So yes, I did jump in the river
naked for $100. Not sure I’d do it
again though. Well, okay maybe I
would.
Competing
with KISS:
Here’s a rule: don’t try to compete with KISS. We were playing at the N.D. State Fair a few
years ago, and the Saturday night concert was KISS. We were scheduled to play after them in the
beer garden. Well, of course the KISS
show started late, and we were under the impression that we would start after
they were finished, since the beer garden kind of served as the ‘after-party’
spot for everyone leaving the concert.
But right in the middle of the KISS show the promoter lets us know that
it is time for us to start playing in the beer garden. Oh, I guess I should describe the location
for you: the beer garden is literally RIGHT NEXT to the stadium. We could plainly hear them from our
stage. So, the promoter wants us to
start playing while KISS is still playing.
I might add that the P.A. system we had there was pretty beefy; it got
pretty loud. There were lots of people
hanging in the beer garden listening to the KISS show (for free) and enjoying
it. Translation: I was about to become
the most hated man there. So, we got up
onstage and looked out at all the people listening to KISS, got their attention
and apologized, explaining to them that we were being forced to start our
show. To our surprise everyone went
crazy (in a good way) and were ready to party with us. So caught the sound man’s eye and gave him
the ‘drop the hammer’ signal, he cranked up the volume to full concert level,
and we started our show, thereby competing (in volume) with KISS.
I was told later by several people that in between
KISS songs they could plainly hear us playing over in the beer garden. AWESOME!!!
For the next several months I waited for Gene Simmons to bitch about us
on his show ‘Family Jewels’. I could
just imagine him saying right into the camera, “So we were playing this state
fair and right in the middle of our show some asshole starts playing his music
too loud in the distance. Who the hell
is Michael D. anyway?” But that never
happened. Now I kind of wish it would
have bothered him and he would have made a big fuss about it. That would have been great publicity for
me.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Like I said at the beginning of this extremely long
entry, as I reflect on the past I can’t help but look ahead as well. While this journey has been fun so far, I’m
hoping it is just the tip of the iceberg for us. I have so much more I want to accomplish with
my music and songs; so many more lofty goals I want to meet. Kevin and I sat down several weeks ago and
made a list of what we are trying to accomplish, and how to get there. It was good to just write it all down, and talk
it out so we both were on the same page about where we wanted this thing to
go. We set the limits pretty high, and
have enough faith in what we’re trying to do to make it happen. So here is my hope for the future: we want to be a band that everyone knows;
that millions of people recognize by our music.
We want to play stadiums, become a headlining act, have songs
continuously on the radio and topping the charts, all of it. So what do we need to do to make it all
happen? What should you expect from us
in the future? Well, our first step will
be to continue to broaden our fan base; to try to reach more and more
people. Which is why when I say things
like ‘spread the word’ or ‘tell your friends about us’, I am serious because
really is that important for us to have people out there sharing our music with
other people. From there we hope to be
able to get songs on the radio and charting, along with hooking up with the
right record label and agency to allow us to play bigger shows in more places
to more people. We have a plan to make
it all happen, but I don’t really want to bore you with all those details. Just know that we are thinking about what’s
next for us, and what it will take to get there. We look forward to the future of this group,
and hope you all do to, and want to come along for the ride.
To conclude I want to simply say this: these past
five years have been crazy for me. We’ve
seen and done things most people will never get to do. It’s been a blast. I know we all want to thank everyone who’s
played any role in our success over the past half-decade. We really do appreciate everyone out there
who has come to our shows, listened to our music, purchased our albums,
etc. No matter how large or small of a
contribution you have made to help get us to where we are right now, it has
been noted and means the world to us. For your support, I say Thank You! And lastly, to the ones back home that let us
go out on the road and do our thing, who continue to support us even though we are
never around to support them; you are the reason we always want to come back
home. Thank you for letting us do what
we do.
Well, as always, I want to finish with giving you
all the pertinent information for finding us online until we are there in
person. Check out our website www.themichaeldband.com for upcoming
tour dates and much more. Be sure to ‘follow’
us on TWITTER, and ‘like’ our FACEBOOK Fan Page as well. And if you have a minute, tell other people
about us too. Invite your friends to ‘like’
or ‘follow’ us. If you don’t have our
music yet, you can get digital copies on I-TUNES, but we also have both of our
albums available at all our shows too.
Oh, if you don’t already get email updates about this blog, go back up
to the top of the page and sign up so we can notify you each time I write a new
entry. Lastly, if you have anything you’d
like to know more about or read more about in this blog, EMAIL me and tell me
about it. Below are a few song quotes I felt
were applicable to this week’s writings.
I hope you agree.
Be safe out there.
We hope to see you at a show soon!
“People I’ve loved, I have no regrets. Some I remember, some I forget. Some of them living, some of them dead” – Foo
Fighters; ‘Home’
“So When you sing along to the songs I write, you
want an encore at the end of the night; I’m glad I get to be, with friends like
these” – MDB; ‘Friends Like These’
"Cause someday I was dreamin' that a song that I was singin' takes me down the road to where I want to go. Now I know, it's a long hard road" - Nitty Gritty Dirty Band; 'Long Hard Road'
