I’m starting to type this week’s entry while riding in the van on the
way to Chicago. Usually I’m sitting in a
hotel room writing where it is quiet and there’s no motion from being in a
vehicle, so I guess we’ll see if I’m able to focus enough on this while rolling
down the highway.
A friend of mine was reading last week’s ‘journal entry’ about Josh’s hand
injury and told me it reminded him of another injury to a band member several
years ago. We were laughing about it
together remembering the story, and I joked that maybe I’d just have to tell
that story on here too. Then after
thinking about it, I decided that yeah, it would be a great story to share with
you from the past. So here’s a band
injury story from several years ago:
A little set up is needed here.
I think this was maybe 2006 (or somewhere around there) and I was living
in Nashville at the time. We got hooked
up with WSM and ended up on the bill with Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson at
the 2nd Annual UFO Festival in Roswell, NM. Lacy J. Dalton was also on that show –
very cool woman, and amazingly talented; I hope to get to work with her again
someday. Back to the story though: We flew out to Roswell for the show,
performed our set, and then got to enjoy the rest of the bands that night. One of my musicians (Chip) was also into
photography and brought his camera with him to the show. While Hag was on stage, Chip thought it would
be cool to get some good close up shots from down front, so he was going to
just crawl under the stage to the front where there was this little area
blocked off where he could get some great photos. But as he was crawling under the stage to get
there he got caught up somehow on one of the cross bars and tripped and
fell. As he was falling he tried to
catch himself and somehow ended up separating his shoulder – while under the
stage. What I don’t know is how he got
out from under the stage. What I do know
is that someone came running up to me telling me that Chip injured himself and
needed to go to the hospital. Here’s the
problem with being in my early 20’s and having my first taste of the big time:
I was so young and excited to be in that moment that I didn’t care enough about
the issue at hand. And I don’t mean that
I didn’t care that my band member was injured, but I was immature at that point
and was so excited that I was sharing the stage with Merle and Willie that
Chip’s injury wasn’t more of a priority than seeing them play. Looking back I realize how selfish it was of
me, and if something like that happened now I would like to think that I would
immediately leave and go with my guy to the hospital. But at the time, I wasn’t leaving the
show. The funny thing is no one else
wanted to go with him either; we all looked at each other like, ‘I’m not going,
are you going go?’ We were all looking
forward to Willie coming on stage in just a bit, as well as enjoying the rest
of Hag’s set. I actually don’t remember
who ended up going to the hospital with him, but I’m pretty sure someone finally
did. I just remember that the next
morning as we left the hotel for the airport Chip was in a sling with a
separated shoulder and lots of painkillers.
That trip back to Nashville had to be hell for him. Wow, thinking about that day brings back all
sorts of other memories too. Maybe I’ll
write about all the other experiences from that day on here sometime. I used to refer to it as ‘my favorite music
day of all time’.
It is amazing how often we injure ourselves out on the road. I thought this was supposed to be an easy job where we just
got to play music and party. Guess I was
way off. Thinking more about it now,
injuries are pretty common (at least in this band). Let’s see, we have Josh’s hand (which could
have been a lot worse); last spring I smashed a finger and tore the nail
completely out of the nail bed; Kevin pretty much broke his tailbone last year,
just to name a few. Mostly we get hand
injuries, which sucks since our hands are the most important body part for
playing our instruments. I’m trying to
think of other ones though. Let’s see, I
pulled a back muscle lifting gear improperly, dropped a speaker on my foot, oh and
a couple weeks ago I hit myself in the face with my guitar and bled all over the place
(that was me just being clumsy though).
Well, enough about injuries, I’m starting to hurt just thinking about
all of them.
So, I have a few notable comments from fans at some of our recent shows
that I wanted to share:
1.
1. A guy told me, “you sing better than Michael
Bolton”. This one I must disagree with;
although I really do appreciate that he enjoyed my singing that much. It is a huge compliment. I am very critical of the way I sing (and my
limitations), and know I’m not one of the timeless singers out there. But it was really cool for someone to take
the time to compliment my singing. But
let me be the first one to say I do not think I sing better than, or anywhere
close to Michael Bolton.
2.
2. “Thanks for the CD’s. I can’t wait to bump these
in my tractor”. No explanation needed
here, that’s just bad ass and I wanted to share it. Nothing wrong with some dude rockin’ out to
some MDB out in the fields.
3.
3. “The four songs I’ve heard you do so far off
your album are the best songs I’ve heard you play all night”. This one is my favorite, and easily meant the
most to me. I always have a dilemma at
live shows, especially if it is not a place where we are established and well
known – do I play all the music off of our albums and just throw it out there,
or do I play less original music to make sure I keep people there? The reason it is a dilemma is this: some
people are interested and want to hear the music we’ve created, while others
just want to hear what they know. It is
always a struggle to be able to accurately read the crowd and know what I’m
able to get away with. I have seen dance
floors empty b/c people don’t recognize the song that we’re playing. So do I try to just keep them happy with
stuff they know, or do I push our music on them and hope they like it enough to
stick around? The answer is this: the
only reason I’m on the road touring is to further my career and play my music –
so if I’m not playing music off our albums I’m wasting my time. And I hate to be so blunt about it, but
that’s the truth. A million people can
play an Eric Church song for you, but only I will play an MDB tune. And if people have been honest with us so far
about the songs off of this new album, then the feedback suggests we should
take the chance and play our music. So
that’s what we’re going to continue to do I guess: play more of our music. If we lose some people in the process, that’s
okay. I won’t be happy to lose people,
but that happens with art sometimes – not everyone likes every piece of art out
there, so I expect some people to not want to hear our music. But if there are others that enjoy our music
and want to hear more of it, then it is worth it to continue performing our
songs each night throughout the show. So
that is why that person’s comment meant so much; it was kind of like validation
for what we’re trying to do out here on the road.
For those of you that have been following this, for the past several
weeks I have been adding the lyrics to each song off the new album at the end
of the entry. This week the lyrics are
for the song “Just A Drink”. This song
is different because it is the first song I’ve ever recorded that I didn’t
write (or at least co-write). I say that
and then immediately take it back: I reworked and recorded an old Merle Haggard
song for a demo I did when I was working with his manager, but this is the
first time I’ve recorded someone else’s song for an album I’ve released to the
public. Rarely have I listened to
another independent artist’s music and liked a song so much that I even thought
about recording it. But when I was
listening to Eldon Huff’s album and heard this song, I instantly fell in love
with it. I was blown away by the content
and writing. You really need to listen
to the song a few times to catch everything going on throughout. I know I had to listen to it several times to
understand everything and get the full meaning.
I listen to a lot of other artists’ music, and there is a lot of amazing
stuff out there, but this song really hit home for me. Alcoholism in general has directly impacted
my life (no, not me being an alcoholic or anything like that), and more
specifically drunk driving fatalities have completely scarred me personally (as
referenced in a line from ‘The Memory’).
I’m sure almost all of us have felt the negative effects of alcohol and
alcoholism somehow in our lives or with our families or friends. That
is why this song is so important for me, and why I wanted to record it. The message is universal, and so well stated
throughout the lyric content of this song.
I appreciate that Eldon was cool with me cutting the song. Even knowing that we are a small time touring
band and that he wasn’t going to get major radio exposure or any other
substantial benefits from it, he still allowed us to record the song. So let this be my public forum to say ‘thank
you’ to Eldon Huff for allowing me to share his great song with our fan base. I encourage everyone reading this to look him
up and check out his music. You will not
be disappointed with what you find.
So, I finished this entry Thursday as we were entering Chicago, and
planned on posting it that evening. At
this point I finished the writing by talking about having some big shows coming
up, and enjoying getting to play in Chicago where I had some old college
friends who were coming out to see the show.
I wrote about how I was really looking forward to seeing them, but how
it also makes me nervous to perform in front of my old friends that have known
me for so long. Then we pulled up to the
venue right as another band was pulling up.
We both had been booked to play the same venue on the same night, which
presents a huge problem. We call it
getting double booked; unfortunately it happens, but not very often. Obviously our contract says we’re supposed to
be there that night, and theirs does too.
We’ve been out here touring a long time; we understand that things like
this sometimes do happen. It sucks for
someone when it does though. So, being
the old road dogs, we stepped back and told them to take the show. As much as we were looking forward to playing
in Chicago that night, we understood that mistakes happen, and in the grand
scheme of things it is not really that big of a deal. So we let them have the show and we headed up
to the next stop on our tour. The cool
thing here is that the venue realized that they made a mistake, and completely
owned up to it and were very apologetic about the entire thing. They even honored the contract, which was
very impressive. For me, accountability
is a huge deal. You make a mistake, be
accountable for it. I respect that so
much. And this venue was
accountable. That goes a long way with
me.
So, all is well I guess. And we
are scheduled to be back in Chicago in July, which we are all looking forward
to.
As always, I will wrap this up with my usual self-promotion. If you don't already receive email notification for these 'journal entries', go back up to the top of the page and submit your email address and you will get an email each week as soon as this is posted. Make sure you check out our website www.themichaeldband.com for news and
a list of all our upcoming shows. If
you’re not already, make sure you ‘Like’ our FACEBOOK page, and be sure to
‘Follow’ us on TWITTER. If you don’t
have our latest album “Back In Town” make sure you go pick it up on I-TUNES. Here are the lyrics for Eldon Huff’s Song
“Just A Drink”.
Be safe out there, and have a great weekend!
“Just A Drink”
Everybody knows that I’m no good for you
But you run to me when you’re running from the truth
What makes me drive you crazy, what makes you have to crave me
What makes you want me more than her
Cause I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
Can you live with the choice you’re making
Cause that’s a hell of a heart your breaking
It’s way more than a sip you’re taking your chances every time
Pushing her right across that line out the door
I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
All she’s ever got for giving you her love
Is just a front row view for helping you self destruct
Oh you treat me like I’m your best friend but I’m where your problems
start and end
And I’ll wreck what’s left of you if you lose her
Cause I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
Can you live with the choice you’re making
Cause that’s a hell of a heart your breaking
It’s way more than a sip you’re taking you chances every time
Pushing her right across that line out the door
I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
You’re gonna crash and burn
And this life you got will be a pile of ashes by the time you learn
Can you live with the choice you’re making
Cause that’s a hell of a heart you’re breaking
It’s way more than a sip you’re taking your chances every time
Pushing her right across that line out the door
I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
Oh I’m just a drink, but man she’s your world
She’s your world
Everybody knows that I’m no good for you
But still you run to me when you’re running from the truth
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