We were never a very popular band.
the numbers:
12 years.
246 shows.
133 venues.
600+ nights of practice.
20k miles?
5 records.
1 ep.
1 7"
4 drummers?!
500+ sets of guitar strings?
1 amazing photographer
1 amazing photographer
1 van
1 bus
and way too much $ to count.
and way too much $ to count.
We did however get to share in an experience that few people ever get to have: the life of a small, DIY, recording and touring band.
We did not sell 10000 cd's, in fact we probably, over the course of 12 years, only sold or gave away a thousand or two.
We did not write easy songs.
We weren't all that angry and we weren't all that sad.
We did however have an eye for detail, for punch, power, melody, and emotion.
We never compromised on the song as we saw it needed to be. Sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, as not every song is a hit.
We did drive from one end of the country to the other...many many times. Why did we do this?
We did it because it felt like the right thing to do. it was fun. we shared our music with people that liked our music and probably frustrated people that didn't.
We were always tight, unless we we got a bit sloppy in small kansas towns...because we could and because we were loved in those small kansas towns the most.
We all gave as much as we could in how we did things, how we wrote, how we worked with each other, how we drove, and how we stopped.
it was tough going sometimes. long discussions and short glances. grumpy faces and a lot of laughter.
We reached a lot of the mile markers that a small, independent band of the early 2000's needed to hit.
We recorded records to 2" tape..with people we admired and eventually became our friends.
We played venues that we'd always dreamed of playing and a lot that we never wanted to play again....but did anyway.
We saw more sunrises and sunsets from rest stops and truck stops than most people ever will or should.
We convinced an easy going photographer to come out on the road not once, but twice. nearly killing him each time from heat exhaustion.
We convinced an easy going photographer to come out on the road not once, but twice. nearly killing him each time from heat exhaustion.
We slept in places and on floors that are lost to my memory now. it'd be cool to know if they remember us.
We once followed a small black bear around aspen at 1 in the morning.
We ate a lot of eggs and hash browns.
In the end, i could try and summarize what this all means, but i'd most likely get it wrong or miss something.
All i can say is that when i go into the restroom of a rock club and i see all of the gnarly, sticky, old band stickers covering the wall, i know that those folks are my brothers and sisters...and i know, in other shitty bathrooms and green rooms and back stages, there are more than a few Spanish for 100 stickers...and they'll be there for years and decades to come. And that is the only rock and roll hall of fame i ever wanted to be in anyway.
