Chicago and den sum

Chicago was a blast as always. Ate at Heaven On Seven!! Official first stop of the SHB. Hung out with Buddy and a pack of my dear friends. Kempf Poole, Randy Z, drummer Chuck (just to establish that it wasn't Chuck M.F. Lanza), Uncle Wayne and, of course, Keith M.F.T. Jamming was great. Mr.CJ Vaughan helped hold it together and even Zekester got in the mix! Always thanks to Harvey and the crew at Legends for making it always feel like home.

I'm a philosopher and I'm okay!

I just saw a story on the Today show (I enjoy the Today show) about how Americans are getting dumber. Not less intelligent, but dumber. For examples they used the footage of that beauty contestant who tried to explain why Americans couldn’t find Iraq on a map. You know the one I’m talking about, she says, “such as” about 9,000 times. Then they showed Kellie Pickler (I think she was an American Idol contestant) on the show Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader…she wasn’t. She didn’t know France was a country! 40% of Americans under 44 didn’t read one book last year! 1 in 4 college students can’t find Iraq on a map. This is the nation that formed the Declaration Of Independence, sent men to the moon, invented sausage gravy, developed the Fender Stratocaster, birthed great minds like Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis and even Albert Einstein! Oh okay, Einstein was actually born in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. The point, however, is that according to this report many Americans would’ve thought that Einstein was born here! Not you kind reader. I know that all of you who read these blogs are among the intellectual elite. I think it was Sir Francis Bacon who said, “Knowledge is power.” Bacon wasn’t only the namesake of a favorite breakfast food, he was also an English philosopher and statesman. He was knighted in 1603,before many of you were even born! Philosopher must be a pretty good gig. Just sit around and think about the questions of the day. Guys like Plato and Descartes must have had plenty of time to just hang out. Can’t you just see their wives coming home from the fields and asking, “How was your day dear?” “Oh pretty good, I thought about ‘Is an idea a true copy of the real thing that it represents?’ and then I thought about ‘How can physical objects such as chairs and tables, or even physiological processes in the brain, give rise to mental items such as ideas?’ then I thought about ‘If all the contents of awareness are ideas, how can we know that anything exists apart from ideas?’” “After that I made a sandwich and watched TV for a while.
I’d like a gig like that! I think another good gig is a theoretician. Or someone who theorizes. I have a theory that theoreticians are just lazy philosophers. The theoretician just hangs out and doesn’t even make a stand, just a theory. If someone comes along and proves something different, he has the perfect out, “well it was just a theory!” “Hi honey how was your day?” “I didn’t do anything but lay on the couch and form a theory that if I don’t eat a sandwhich, I’ll just get hungrier!” How much could that have paid? Do you think that a theorist would get hired by an even lazier person to form a theory for him? “Hey man, I need a theory about why my paper sometimes ends up in shrubs in front of my house instead of on the porch.” Three hours later, the theorist charges $4.79 for a theory that sometimes the paperboy just doesn’t throw the paper as hard. Niccolò Machiavelli was a theorist. He was also Italian. He probably said “Ciao!” a lot, which I think is pretty cool...if you’re Italian. If you’re not Italian and you say ‘Ciao”, you’re just a jackass. Machiavelli was also a musican and he wrote The Prince. In those days, I guess you had to have more than one gig just to stay afloat. Maybe people worked harder then. That’s probably what made them less dumb than we are today. They probably made fun of guys who only had one job. “Here comes Ned, he’s just a blacksmith!” “I’m a blacksmith/philosopher/writer/musician/camp counselor!” Just remember that no matter what your job is, tonight when your wife asks how was your day, just say, “I worked harder than Machiavelli, I’ll tell you that!”

A Love Story

So it's Valentine's day and I shall now tell the story of my valentine. My wife Buffy is the most incredible woman in the world. Not only is she beautiful, smart, funny, challenging and the most truly genuine person I've ever met, but she also likes me! (at least she seems to!)

I met my wife for the first time when I was 16 (I actually sort of met her a few years before at a KOA swimming pool, but we didn't actually meet then, we just bobbed.) She walked into a high school art class (Mrs. Hall!) that I was taking for an easy credit and I fell in love. I don't mean that in a figurative sense, or a poetic sense, but in a literal sense. I fell hopelessly, head over heels in love. The kind of "in love" that has you thinking up funny things to say, days in advance so you'll be ready. The kind of love that has you throwing up everyday in anticipation of seeing her. The kind of love that makes every song on the radio about your life. (thanks Billy Joel). You drive by her house, sit in he parking lot of her job, threaten her boyfriend with some sort of pain, LOVE! She was (and still is) like no one I'd ever seen before. The way she moved, the light in her eyes, her spirit, she was (and is) the most amazing person I'd ever experienced. See also has an incredible backside, but this is a "love" story, not a "lust" story! I'd love (at least my ego would love) to say that the feeling was mutual, but since this is a true story, I have to say that it took me several years to convince her that I wasn't insane,or horribly disfigured, or mentally off, or just generally creepy. I don't blame her for thinking that since I pretty much started telling her that we would marry about a month after I met her, (I thought that was plenty of warning!) I drove my family, my friends, her family, her friends, complete strangers, mall security guards and other people completely crazy. We've been married for 16 years (17 this year). We've known each other for 25 years. The day I married her was the best day of my life, because it was the smartest thing I ever did. Maybe the only smart thing...except for our daughter...who I could and should write a love letter to for her supreme gift of just being in my life. We have been blessed with an almost flawless marriage. I say almost flawless, because I'm not perfect and I've made incredible, legendary, grande, epic, king sized mistakes that if I went into them, you'd also say I was an idiot. I'll save you the trouble...I know I'm an idiot! I do, however, have one small saving grace...I have been blessed with the ablity to learn from my mistakes, and in doing so have learned that, as much as I thought I loved my wife when I married her, I've discovered that I love her more. More than I ever dreamed. More than I would've thought possible. From the birth of our child, to the loss of my father, to the rising and falling and rising of our life fortunes, I've learned that the greatest gift that God gives a man is someone to share his life with and someone to love more than anything. God gave me Buffy. God gave me a friend, lover, companion, confidant, challenger, cheerleader, guide, supporter, fantasy and a smack in the back of the head if I get too "rockstar" around the house! Some of you have met Buffy and I know that you find the same person I see; a loving, caring, senstive, "real" person. When she listens to your story, she hears every word. She thinks about what you've said, and whatever you're going through, you have her prayers. I must admit that I don't talk about my wife very much in this forum. I consider you all friends, but this is a private, special, "just for me" part of my life. On this one day, however, I wanted to "shout from the rooftops" how much I love, cherish, respect, adore, admire, and just generally lust after, my wife Mrs. Buffy Holt. Happy Valentine's Day baby.

Oh Canada...

It is always such a pleasure and honor for us to get a chance to play for our friends in Canada. We had the chance again this weekend, in London, and what a time we had! It's always great to see our friends, especially Denis and Lucy Burns, but everyone there has always been so supportive and welcoming of us that it really feels like a hometown gig in a lot of ways. The audience always has such an energy coming from them that it's impossible for us not to reflect it right back at them. I could have truly played all night! My first Canadian gigs after going solo were in London and Windsor. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to be an audience for a very nervous kid from Tennessee! They'll always have a special place in my heart.
Another cool suprise was seeing some old friends. Lurrie Bell was the headliner, and he has Willie Hayes playing drums for him. Willie and I started together with Buddy Guy way back in 1989! I'm not sure what year Willie left, but I hadn't seen him in several years. His playing always brings a smile to my face and it was great hearing Lurrie and all the guys playing some really great, musically inspirational music.
We got home Sunday in time for me and Buff to catch the Grammy's (we actually Tivo'd them and watched them last night!). I though overall it wasa pretty good show. I've been on a big Sinatra kick lately, so it was cool to have him featured prominently up front in his "duet" with Alicia Keys (a very talented artist in her own right). I wish Prince had performed, but at least he was there. I was glad to see Tina Turner, and I liked her song with Beyonce but is Beyonce going to become the official "duetess" of he Grammys? Last year Prince and now Tina, next year Miley Cyrus! The Time were great as always and I like the Foo Fighters, straight up rock and roll. I was a little confused by the award for Contemporary Blues Album, I love Eric Clapton and JJ Cale is a legend, but "Contemporary Blues"? Betty LaVette should have won. I've only heard rough mixes of Buddy's next record, but I predict next year's grammy will go to BG!
Last time I was talking about James Burton, and a good friend of mine Shannon Dew wrote to remind me that James Burton also played on Merle Haggard's song Working Man Blues. You are correct sir! Did you also know that he played on the following records?
Barbara Mandrell - Moods
Arlo Guthrie - Running Down the Road
Billy Joe Shaver - Gypsy Boy
Bobby Darin - Golden Folk Hits
Buck Owens - Open Up Your Heart
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again
And these artists as well; Carl Perkins, Carlene Carter, Charlie Rich, Dale Hawkins, David Cassidy, Dean Martin, Del Shannon, Delaney & Bonnie, Dennis Weaver, Doug Kershaw, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Glen Campbell, Henry Mancini, Hank Williams Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell,Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, Mae West, The Monkees, The Wiggles, Tina Turner, Kanye West.
Oh ok not Kanye West. I figured you probably wouldn't read the whole list, so I'd just throw that in there. Maybe someday he will play with Kanye. It could be a really cool idea. Kanye could sample some real chicken pickin' guitar and do a cover of Viva Las Vegas. Maybe call it Vegas 2009! Maybe do a record with Kanye, 50 cent and JayZ and call it Vegas 2009: Return of the Pack! Do hip-hop versions of some of those classic Sinatra era songs. Fly Me To The Moon with a sample from Steve Miller's Fly Like An Eagle in it. VH1 could do a reality show about the making of the album...while the three artists share a condo in Vegas!...with Ted Nugent as their producer!
Ahhh Vh1! The ground zero for the decline of western civilization reflected for us as a culture through our television screens! First, my disclaimer. I watch VH1 all the time. I watch Rock Of Love, Flavor Of Love, Scott Baio's 58 and a jackass, My Fair(ly annoying) Brady, and my current favorite show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. If you don't think musicals can be a bad thing, look what Grease did to Jeff Conway! I'm not making light of substance abuse. I have very dear people in my life who have struggled or who are struggling with what I truly believe is a disease. It is most definitley not a funny situation. However, if you put yourself on VH1 in a "reality show" situation, you are fair game for mockery. They shouldmake a new show, combining the elements of some of these shows. Here's my idea; Remember SuperGroup? With Ted Nugent, Scott Ian, Jason Bonham and the guy from BioHazard? How about a show called SuperRealityShow with Scott Baio, Christopher Knight and Jeff Conway, living in a condo (all reality shows should make the participants live in a condo. Not a house, but a condo. It's just better.) together in El Paso TX. Baio and Knight have to keep Conway off drugs while Conway trys to make men out of two poster boys for Men With Vaginas Of America. Special guest Gary Busey could come by and beat the crap out of them periodically. Oh yeah, and the whole thing's in Mandarin Chinese with subtitles! I think all shows should be in Mandarin Chinese. It's just a really cool sounding language. Bruce Lee spoke Mandarin Chinese. George Bush doesn't speak Mandarin Chinese. I think the president should be multilingual. Otherwise, you're just taking some translator's word for what the other person is saying. This election season, I will base my vote for the candidate who speaks the most languages, other than english. That's all I've really got at this point. I've noticed that no matter who we elect, my lot in life rarely changes too much...other than gas prices...and the war...and the other war...and the potential third war...and the fact that we as a nation are fairly disliked around the globe...and no healthcare...and the recession...and gas prices...I know I said gas twice, but it really bothers me!

Storm Clouds On The Horizon...

First of all, on the serious tip, I want to let everybody know that the SHB and all of our families are safe and secure. Our prayers are with all of the people who were affected by the storms that came through our area this week. The footage that they're showing on TV is truly incredible. I thank everyone who called and emailed to check on us. We have amazing friends.
Speaking of amazing friends, special shout out to our buddy Chip from South Carolina. Chip hooked us up with some shrimp for Buffy and my private little Super Bowl party. We had a shrimp boil in the house and almost choked to death, but oh how good that shrimp was! Thanks so much Chip! Then the Giants won and my Super Bowl was completely happy!
If you've been to any of our shows lately, you've seen our latest crew addition, Zeke. Zeke is our new merch guy. If you come to a show and see Zeke sitting behind a table of SHB swag, please go upand talk to him. Don't be afraid...he's big...really big...but he's a really great funny guy that has been a lot of fun to have on the road with us. He doesn't say much. I have had maybe 2 conversations with him in the past month. That's not because he's quiet, I just have nothing to say to him! I'm joking of course!..no really, what would I say to him?..JOKING! it's just jokes!..no seriously we have nothing in common...ah this could go on forever!
Tyler's doing great in his role as drummer. He got him some bigger drums! I'm so proud! Little Tyler wants to be louder! Our boy's growing up! Richard, of course is up to his old crazy tricks, one time I look and he's got 5 strings on his bass, the next time he's got 4! It's like he's some sort of bass playing Houdini! Richard is a smoker, I wonder if he can do any of those "smoker tricks" like blow smoke rings or make smoke come out of his ears. I saw an episode of The Andy Griffith show once where a guy made smoke signals with his hands from a cigar. I always thought that was really cool! So did Opie. What a great show! I think that in the history of television you'd be hard pressed to make an argument against the Andy Griffith Show as one of the very best shows ever. It was (and still is in reruns) a perfect snapshot of the idyllic American South. If the south looked like California (where the exterior shots were filmed) but you can't deny that the characters are memorable and charming. Who else could make alcoholism funny but Otis Campbell? Andy was a bastion of patience and understanding. Who else could have a deputy who was constantly screwing up like Barney (and later Warren, who was the nephew of Floyd the Barber) and not take him out near Myers Lake and hit him in the head with a shovel? Or at least make him eat an entire jar of Aunt Bea's Kerosene Cucumbers? One of my favorite episodes is the one with the guitar player, obviously, Jim Lindsey! He got the gig with Freddie Fleet and His Band with a Beat. He drove that cool little convertible full of guitars...but he never had any girls or played anywhere but in the courthouse with Andy. Kind of like Ricky Nelson on Ozzie and Harriet, he mostly played in the living room, but he did have James Burton playing guitar for him! James Burton is one of my favorite guitar players. He played with Elvis from 1969 until Elvis died in 1977. Before that he played with Ricky Nelson of course, but he also played the guitar solo on the original version of Suzy Q by Dale Hawkins and he was also the house guitarist on the dance show Shindig. The Rolling Stones appeared on Shidig once and brought Howlin' Wolf to be their guest! Big up's to the Stones! Wolf was a big guy too, like Zeke, but he looked a lot more terrifying! You might joke and say that Zeke looks like he might eat you, but Wolf really does look like he's going to eat you! I wonder what all those little rockstars thought when they got to meet their heroes and they really were giants? Clapton hung with Sonny Boy 2, Wolf, Muddy, Freddie King, BB and Buddy. The Stones were hanging with all of them too. I've been next to those guys and not one of 'em is 6 feet tall so it must have been like visiting the Lilliputians! Yes the Lilliputians. Those wee little rascals from that great book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The actual title of the book is: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift published all of his works under pseudonyms — such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier — or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire; the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. That guy was CRAAAAZY! See the picture above. Sort of the Robert Plant of his day. Although it would be remiss of me not to mention that Robert Plant was more influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien. Specifically his book The Hobbit. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien! One of the coolest names in literature! Tolkien was also a philologist, or someone with an affinity toward the learning of the backgrounds as well as the current usages of spoken or written methods of human communication. I think that's awesome! The fact that there's a term for anything you might wonder about. I, for example, am something of a musicologist. I study music. This isn't to be confused with the great Prince record Musicology. A great record, but Prince is the rare artist that sues his fans when they mention his name or show his picture on the internet without his permission. I find this attitude equally disturbing and interesting. On the one hand it's a total slap in the face to your fans who have given you your career and basically paid for everything that you have by purchasing your art and supporting you career. At the same time, however, no matter how much he sues them or threatens them, they don't desert him! He is Prince afterall and even if he's a little crazy (and aren't we all?) he still a tremendous musician. Maybe by suing people for posting his picture, he's really just trying to reach out and make some sort of connection with his fans. I'm certainly a Prince fan. I met him once, but I was so nervous I couldn't even tell him my name! Maybe he's just like you and me, (except for the high heels and lace) maybe he's nervous about meeting people too so he just sues them or threatens to to get their attention. I'd like to meet Prince again and ask him that.

Home

Well we got 2008 started right with 2 weeks of gigs that took us from KC to Vegas and back through Mississippi. The last 2 days of the tour, we were the guests of SHB family member Kempf Poole and his family. This is an amazing family! They opened their home to me and the guys as well as to my Uncle Wayne (the legendary Uncle Wayne!) and Bobby Inman. When I say they opened their home to us, I mean they made us feel absolutely warm and welcome. Kempf's wife Sandra is an incredible cook and, for a guitar player that usually eats about one meal a day on the road, it was like a weekend of Thanksgiving dinners every 3 hours! Not only were we served a multi-course breakfast and an amazing dinner that even had Richard loving cheese grits for the first time in his life, but Kempf also had to hip me to some ribs from a local joint that are now in my top 5 (pending a thorough and stringent consistency test). On top of all of that, we played two nights at Schimmels, the best restaurant in Jackson. The owner Jay, a truly class act, made the best shrimp and grits I've had and the bread pudding was to good to even talk about (I'm drooling on the keyboard as I type this!) All this and sweet potato pie lets me know that trips to Jackson will have to be limited to once a year or else I'll be buying all my clothes in the real fat guitar player section of Sears!
The show Saturday night at the Subway Lounge as awesome! We had a lot of fun and I hope the audience did too. One thing I need to address, for those in attendance, was a derogatory comment I made about Kenny Chesney. Often times when I'm onstage, I'll say something completely outrageous just to get a laugh from the audience. I mean no harm when I say these things, it's just jokes...however...I meant what I said about Kenny Chesney. I do not like him Sam I am! I will not like him on a train, I will not like him on a plane. I do not like the way he sings, I do not like him...anything! Listen to Jimmy Buffet, he first and better! Listen to George Jones, he's way better! Listen to a dentist's drill, it's better! My favorite Kenny Chesney CD is any one that's still in the wrapper, That way it can't hurt anyone! If Satan has a jukebox, I bet it's full of Kenny Chesney. Not that Satan likes him either, it's just good to torture souls with! I shouldn't be so hard on really short people, but as my daughter used to say, "me no yiking him!" I actually hope that Kenny makes tons of money this year...and retires to an island far away. Like maybe where Lost is supposed to take place! Not Hawaii, where they actually film, but somewhere in Micronesia where he can play his ukulele in peace and torment only the cannibals that inhabit the island! Sure, someday I might change my mind and learn to like him, then again, I might learn to like skin rashes and the sound of fingernails on chalkboards.

2008 / Tour Leg Numero Uno!

The holidays behind us and a new years worth of work in front of us. It all started in Kansas City on the 10th and we haven't slowed down or looked back since! I haven't had a lot of Internet so this is the first blog of the new year! Like I said, we started in KC with our traditional trip to Arthur Bryant's (Official SHB Top 10 BBQ). Had a great time at Knuckleheads and can't wait to get back there soon. KC was followed by 2 nights in Topeka hanging out with our friends Jeff and Trina. We were glad to see them as always and here's a shout out to Richard another friend of ours from Topeka and owner of a killer Les Paul! Jake's Roadhouse in Arvada CO was next and we watched some really painful playoff games on the set breaks. 2 nights at another favorite spot of ours followed at the Tugboat in Steamboat Springs CO. Here we found enough snow and cold to last us for the rest of the year! Our old friend JaBeaux was next up in Grand Junction CO where we had an absolute ball playing for the great crowd at the Blue Moon. Then it was on to my favorite city in the universe (top 5 anyway) VEGAS BABY! We had a great time at the Railhead in the Boulder Station Casino. After the gig, Tyler and I headed down to the strip where we spent the night at the crap tables in The Luxor, The Excalibur and The Mandalay Bay before I had probably the best BLT ever at 4:00 am and we made our way back to the guys. A venti Starbucks and I was good to drive for the next 5 1/2 hours, (I did sleep for a couple of hours in the van before we pulled out of Vegas). We made our way to Tucson and the great folks at the Nimbus Brewing Co. makers of some really good micro-brew beer (SHB favors Old Monkeyshines!) get on line and order a case! Next it was on to Prescott AZ and The Bird Cage. We always have a great time here. It such a great town and even though we're coming through"out of season" it still good place to hang and regroup. Tonight we leave for Lubbock TX, then Gruene TX and finally 2 nights with SHB family members Kempf Poole and the legendary duo of Uncle Wayne and Bobby! If you don't have a good road trip planned for this coming weekend, I highly recommend a trip to Jackson MS where we will be blowing it up real good!

Merry Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house, Olivia was in bed, I'm at the computer and Buff's asleep on the couch! The guitars are scattered all over the house and no one's stirring or creeping about! Jeff Beck's on my iTunes playing with care and I can't wait until St. Nick gets here!...oh hell, I could go on for ever with my poetic ramblings!...lost cousin of Dr. Seuss! This has been a weird Christmas for me. I'm usually the biggest kid in the room, but for some reason this year has been all about just getting through it...until tonight. I've decided, at the 11 hour, I know, to remember that this is a time for giving and gratitude...for family and friends. Buff, Olivia and I visited with our best friends tonight and then drove around looking at Christmas Lights. We came home and chilled out until everybody fell asleep and I put Olivia to bed and came in the office to write. If you read this, I'm praying for you tonight. I pray that God blesses you and protects you, that he fills your life with love and joy and that you are able to then express that love and joy in turn to others. Tomorrow's Christmas Eve. '07's only got a week or so left. Let's all be good to each other. Better than we have been. As good as our intentions are when we start the day. Love the people around you and then love the one's just outside that circle and try to keep going, one circle at a time. Forgive the person that cut you off on the road today, then forgive the person that flipped you off today when you did the same thing...and the next one that cuts you off, remember the person that you cut off before you respond!!! We don't have to be perfect, or even close, just better. Better than we were yesterday. Better to the people that we share this world with and better to ourselves. When ever I leave a place, somebody always says "take care", we should do just that; take care of each other and take care of ourselves. It sounds so simple and kind of "tree-huggy", but if we all did just that much, that simple thing, think about how different the world we live in would be. When I was in the first grade, I gave my favorite teacher, Mrs. May, a marble with the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) inscribed on it. I can't lie and say that I've always followed that philosophy, I'm real, real human! I've made the kinds of mistakes that they write movies about, but when I think of how simple that idea is and how hard it is for us to put it into practice, I realize that we're our own wall...our own roadblock. We decide whether we'll be better or worse. No one else gets to make that call for us. We make it for ourselves everyday. Sometimes, it's easier for me to lash out at someone who's wronged me than to forgive them and move on. For a split second, when that person cuts me off in traffic, I think I'll feel better if I get on their tail and give them the finger...every single time I've actually done it, I've haven't felt any better afterwards. In fact, I just feel like the universe was giving me a test and I failed again! Every time I write one of these "preachy" blogs, I feel like I should apologise! I don't mean to be heavy, I'm just feeling the season and the end of the year and a chance to, at least psychologically start fresh in '08 with a clean slate, and I, for one, am tired of war, strife, hunger, hatred, bigotry, disrespect, deceit, greed, terrorism and violence in the name of God ( my God, your God, their God). I'm tired of this politician telling me why I shouldn't vote for that politician, etc...If you know me personally, you know that I'm far from some kind of "holier-than-thou" type person, the sacred and the profane show up in me all too often in equal measures. I pray every night and read my bible everyday, then again, I also use the term M**********r as my symbol of supreme affection, but I also love God and pray to him every night for my family and all of you. Not just those of you that I know, but for the entire world. For the peace that most of us desire. For the love that all of us have within us. My bible tells me that we're all created in the image of God. So I take that mean all of us. Whether you believe in God or not. So if I insult you, I'm insulting the image of God. Now, before you get all hot, I know we live in excruciatingly politically correct times that generally preclude someone from invoking the name of any deity, lest you offend someone!...but then again, I'm not telling you to believe what I believe, all I'm saying is that I'm going to try and love you more and that I wish you would try to love others more. My philosophy is based on this simple principle; " I love you because I see you and I as fellow creations of God. If you don't agree with that, go f**k yourself, I love you anyway!" (see I told you, sacred and profane!)
This is the time of year when many religions have special times. The time when most of us have some sort of celebration that involves gift giving or reflection or something. I wish this time of year to be a time of peace and happiness for you and your love ones. My family says "Merry Christmas". If you're Jewish, just read it as Happy Hanukkah. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, read it as Happy Kwanzaa. Whatever you follow or believe, all I'm giving out is love...can you dig it?

Have A Blues Christmas - Episode III / Return of the Christmas Jedi

Well, the 3rd annual Christmas Benefit is in the books and the level of generosity displayed by everyone in the community and by the SHB friends-at-large never ceases to amaze me! First of all the event was a sellout. We had all 300 tickets sold by Thanksgiving and had the extremely unpleasant task of telling people who wanted to come, "no". As usual, my partner in crime, MF Mafia consigliere, Un-official mayor of Columbia and DJ emeritus of the SHB, Keith MF Throneberry had to say no more than me. He is the work horse of the event every year. He spends more time and energy working on, worrying about and just general doing more than anybody else involved. It's not enough for me to say that I couldn't do this without him, it's more like the event wouldn't exist without him. So much props to KMFT!! Every year, Natalie Stovall and her great band have donated their performance for free and this year was no exception. In this business you sometimes see musicians playing based on the "pay scale" in other words, if there's little or no money, they don't break a sweat. This is never the case with Natalie and her group. They bring it every year and it's an honor and a pleasure to share the stage with them. The Xtreme 4X4 club is the engine of the event. They not only donate their time and energy, but they bring a heavy dose of joy and good will into the room. They move every table, chair, (and person if necessary) and they do it in a flawlessly classy way that always amazes me. Describing them as "just" a 4X4 club sells them very short. They are an example of what we should all be; a group of friends who help each other and work together for a common good without any reservations. I'm lucky to know each and every one of them and can't thank them enough for the amazing job they do every year. This list of gratitude isn't in any order, but I have to shout about my boys, cause they flat brung it again this year! Richard and Tyler have been amazing all along and this night was no exception. They played with the same intensity and passion that they display every night and it's an honor and a privilege to be a member of their band. This year, however, we ramped it up some! The SHB was augmented by a mass of doppelgangers! We had 2 bassists, 2 drummers, 2 guitarists, 2 vocalists! It was the year of 2's!! I enlisted my dear friend Davis Mitchell, an extremely talented singer/songwriter/guitarist/entertainer, to play guitar in the SHB Big Banging Band. This was a real dream come true for me and something that we've needed to do for a long time but this was the right time. He played and sang great as always and gave his own individual energy and flair to the show. He is definitely someone who deserves more attention, and we will definitely be doing more stuff in the future. The next person was bassist/producer Keith Kenyon. Keith played bass for a number of years in the SHB and recorded Angels In Exile with me. After retiring from the road, (yeah riiiiight...), he has gone on to co-produce and engineer Revelator, From Lettsworth To Legend and our next record tentatively titled Sex & Violets! I've never been in a band with 2 bassists, but Keith's ability and style made it sound like the best freakin' idea in the world! He is a truly amazing musician and friend and I'm proud to know him. His beautiful and talented wife Janet lent her amazing voice to the proceedings as did Kellie Wolford. Having these 2 amazing women singing behind me for part of the show was daunting to say the least! Kind of like having Tiger Woods for your caddy! Until of course like Tiger, they both in turn stepped to the front of the stage and reminded me that I'm now and forever a singing guitar player, not a guitar playing singer! On percussion and drums was Derrick Wolford. Derrick has been involved in plenty of SHB shenanigans. In the studio, he played all drums and percussion on Revelator. Live, he's been the go to guy on several occasions early on when our drum chair was "revolving" to say the least! He's an amazing drummer as well as a kind and gracious person. I'm grateful to him for continuing to share his talent with me. Of course, what show would be complete without the madness of Bobby? His cowbell solos are now so legendary that people rarely ask what we're going to play, they just want to know if Bobby's coming (right Kempf??) No only did Bobby donate his cowbell expertise, he also donated 5!!! of his original paintings for our silent auction. Which brings me to the auction. Every year we try and add something new to the proceedings so that this years crowd gets something that they didn't get last year. This year we added a silent auction and once again the generosity flowed! Our MF Mafia Don, Chuck MF Lanza, went into his memorabilia vault and sent a care package of stuff to put in the auction. This included not one, but 2 signed guitars, various signed CDs, posters and handbills. He was still getting stuff signed by some of his legendary friends well into November!If you ever get to meet Chuck, you'll understand why when he says' "here man, sign this" you just do it. Just ask Mitch Mitchell!! We also had a jersey from Major League Baseball star Dan Uggla, and a winch that actually sold TWICE!! the same night!As I mentioned before, Bobby Inman is a very talented artist. His paintings of which I'm lucky enough to have 3! Sold for big money despite the fact that the artist was onstage banging a cowbell! Not only did people spend money at the event, but we had some of our longtime SHB friends send money from Canada (Thanks Denis & Lucy Burns!), Iowa (Thanks Duane and Audora Smith!!) and elsewhere! Because of all of you, this event as the best ever and all the encouragement we needed to begin planning next year's event. So the totals go like this; we had approximately 400 people, played music for 5 hours, served 6 kegs of beer, 700 chicken wings, enough ham and small hot dogs to make an entire village of pigs, and raised a total of $15,000.00 for the children of our community. Thanks to all of you.God bless you and I hope that your holidays are as warm as the one you've given me by your continued friendship and support. Peace,Scott

Yule log! Not that I have a log...in the way you think I meant it...

Here we are in the midst of the holiday season. The season of giving.When the air's filled with a little more love and brotherhood. Except of course at the mall on the day after Thanksgiving when the ravenous packs of glazed eyed bargain hunting shoppers attack the displays with their sharpened credit cards and reinforced shopping carts. Driving through the parking lot like Jeff Gordon so that they can get that great parking spot before you do! The same Playstation that has been on that shelf for the last year is now worth slashing the throat of the person in front of you to get at! Even the mall Santa looks a little worried as he sits paitienly waiting for the youngsters to reveal their Christmas wishes to him. "Did that mother have a sharpened candy cane in her purse? Why's this kid looking at me like I'm a giant turkey leg? Did he just pee on me?" Ah, Christmas! Whatever this season means to you, do you think that our ancestors had this in mind? "Let's create a holiday to celebrate a season of giving and thanks, but let's really make it an orgy of consumption!" Well...maybe the ancient Romans would've come up with that idea, but they probably would have tied sex into it more somehow. The herd of humanity that storm through the Best Buy's and Circuit City's grabbing that flat screen television as though it were the cure for cancer. You can almost hear them muttering, "must have this...must have this now..." as they paw through the aisles searching for that combination video game/food processor that they saw on 60 minutes that simply everyone's getting this year. If you feel this fever overtaking you this holiday season, just remember, on December 26, while you're taking all the boxes and wrappers to the dump, all sated on turkey and dressing, that the person you cut off in line to get that Disco Elmo, still lives in your town and you'll probably cross paths with them again at the returns counter while taking back the corduroy gaucho pants that your Aunt Eloise got you.

Krazy Glue

I love Krazy Glue. It's one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. Yes kiddies, I come from the 20th century. Before the internet and iPods. Before Guitar Hero and Global warming. For video games we had Pong! Pong! the most boring and lame of all video games, but when it was all you had as a child, you played that motherfucker like there was no tomorrow! We bought our music on an "album", made of vinyl, or at least a "cassette". When digital refered to your fingers. When David Lee Roth singing with Van Halen was just the way life was. VCR's were giant things that only really rich families had. I heard about them, but never actually saw one! The first time I heard of "Home Box Office" I thought the people who had it really had a movie theatre and they were just calling it their "Home Box Office"! My first vehicle (1969 GMC pickup truck, yeah!!!) had an 8-track tape player in it! On 8-track, if you wanted to hear "Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special, you had to wait until the end of track 1 and then hit it again! We were poor. We didn't even have MTV, we had Nighttracks on TBS! I saw Elton John's video for "I'm Still Standing" about 1,000 times! I used to like the video of that guy Taco doing "Putting On The Ritz", although it kind of scared me! I've seen Flock Of Seagulls, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Madness videos way too many times to count! I always liked Adam and The Ants doing "Goody Two Shoes". I had a friend who was really into punk. His name is Will and he doesn't read my blogs so I can talk freely about him. He turned me on to Billy Idol, The Go-Go's, and even Prince! He had The J. Geils Band's Love Stinks album. I thought Will was crazy to like the Dead Kennedys and The Sex Pistols, but I was intrigued by his passion for music even if we didn't have the same taste. I was listening to Elvis, Willie Nelson and Hank Willimas Jr. but we met at AC/DC. Back in Black was a favorite of both of ours. When I found the blues, Will was into hip-hop and rap. He liked Whodini and Run-Dmc. I liked Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, but we always managed to meet at Jimi Hendrix and the Doors. That's the cool thing about friends; no matter what you're in to, with a friend, you can always find some common ground. I don't have a lot of friends,maybe I'm not easy to be friends with. Or maybe I have too many expectations of my friends, but I know that the people I call friends are there for me no matter what. My test is to show up at their house at 3:00am with blood on my hands and ask to borrow a shovel. If they ask any questions, we're just aquaintences, but if they just go to the garage, we're friends forever! That's a joke, by the way, I'd never use a shovel. I'm also old enough to have buried friends and that's one of the hardest things I've ever done. I don't keep track of age. I really believe that you're as old as you feel...or something like that, but I know that when you lose a friend, it wakes you up to the fact that we're not guaranteed the next 5 minutes, much less the next 50 years. Somehow, that's made life and friendship more precious and important to me. I really love my friends...even though I don't tell them...I think they know. Friends are like Krazy Glue. I've used Krazy Glue for years. I fix my guitars with it. I repair my finger nails with it. I fix my daughter's toys with it. It's wonderful stuff.

Mr. Larry Lee - Mar. 7, 1943 - Oct. 30, 2007

I was saddened to learn of the death of Mr. Larry Lee tonight. Mr. Lee was a guitarist. As a backing musician, he worked with The Impressions, as well as being a part of the Gypsy, Sun & Rainbows at Woodstock. A group led by none other than Jimi Hendrix. I learned a very valuable lesson from Mr. Lee and never had an opportunity to tell him about it, so I’ll tell it here publicly. When I played with Buddy Guy, we did a New Year’s Eve concert one year with Al Green and Santana. I was thrilled to be on the show, because I’ve always loved and been influenced by Carlos Santana, and I was excited to be seeing Al Green for the first time. We played first, and after we finished, an older gentleman approached me and said he was with Al Green, but didn’t have a guitar, and could he borrow mine. I had had some bad experiences with people using and abusing my guitars in the past (Mr. Adrian Belew!) and I was very gun-shy about putting my guitar into a strangers hands. I was young and inexperienced, and this man’s story didn’t make sense to me. “You play with Al Green and you don’t have a guitar?!” I told him no and said we were leaving before the end of the gig which was just barely true and left him to borrow someone else’s guitar, (I think he actually ended up with one of Carlos’ guitars, but that doesn’t make it better for me.) I learned the next day that the man was Larry Lee and, being the Hendrix fanatic that I am, I was stunned and wished that I’d loaned him my guitar. Then I stopped and studied my reaction and realized that it wasn’t that I regretted not loaning my guitar so much as I regretted not rubbing elbows with someone who knew Jimi Hendrix. Even a young idiot like me realized what a selfish idea this was! This realization made me rethink my entire approach to life. This one event made me realize that regardless of our particular station or situation, at the end of the day, we are all human beings, riding he same big rock through the universe and not only do we need each other, we are intrinsically connected. I have held a regret ever since that I never had the chance to apologize to Mr. Lee and explain the valuable lesson that I learned from him. I don’t know that he would remember or care, but it was a significant event in my life and if I’m a better person for it now, (I’m not saying that I am, I’m just saying if I am.), he is to thank for teaching me that when your brother asks for help, you help. You don’t turn your back and justify your refusal with a bunch of rationalizations. Now, am I perfect now? No! Do I still make the wrong decisions when it comes to my fellow man? All the time! What I do, however, is what I hope we all do; I try harder, to be better. That’s really the mandate that we have to follow. Just try harder to be better. Thank you Mr. Larry Lee and God Bless You. My heart and prayers go to your family.

A Transformative Measurement of Dynamic Change in the 22nd Century

Well it's starting to get cold here. Not cold like Minnesota or Canada, which is the coldest places I've ever been, but cold like Tennesee. Which, if you've never been here, is cold enough for me! We are rehearsing some new material and working on some new sounds for 2008 (you know this year is almost gone!). I'm looking forward to playing out soon. It's funny to play almost everynight for 6 weeks and then just stop for 2 weeks. I mean, I don't stop playing, I play all the time at home,it's just different when you're sitting on your own couch or when you don't even have to finish the song, or when you just play Van Halen covers all night to try and make your wife laugh! Of course, I also dress a little differently when I'm playing "concerts" for my wife..."Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love...I'm trying to get her to hold a lighter up while I play, but she's not even having any of that. It's also kind of strange having internet so close! No Panera Bread! Not even a Starbucks! My wife's coffee is a thousand times better! Plus I get to sleep with the Barista!

September tour in tha' books!

After having a chance to sleep in my own bed for a couple of nights, I'm ready to sum up the last leg of the tour. What a great time we had! It's been a while since we did a 5 week tour in one stretch and in the past, you usually hit the brick wall of despair/anger/frustration/loneliness about 3 weeks into it. This time was different though for a lot of reasons. For one thing we've been going around the country making friends for the last 7 years and now when we go to Des Moines, we look for Duane. When we go to Steamboat Springs, we know we'll see Arnie. When it's Topeka, it's time to see Jeff and Trina. It's so great to have friends in all these areas that come out and support us and welcome us into their towns with open arms. We are truly blessed to have such great friends across the country. Another big big reason for the tour going so comfortable, is the fact that we had several chances to hang with my MF brothers and even JAM!! NYC was Chuck MF Lanza territory and a great sushi dinner with my old friend Arnie G. When we hit Chicago (as usual) all bets are off! Keith MF and Jen Throneberry made the trip with Tyler's mom, Chuck MF a.k.a. Smoke-on-the-MF'n-water! and Lori flew in from NY for his B'day, Randy Z fed us and made the trip up, Superfan was there, and best of all Buddy was there and hanging out with him is something I never get enough of. Keith and I discovered (well he re-discovered) the hottest hot sauce in the universe. This stuff is what hell tastes like <http://www.insanechicken.com/da-bomb-final-answer-hot-sauce.php> You like hot stuff? I mean really hot stuff? Do you like it when tiny men with torches leap on your tounge wearing spiked shoes? Then you'll love The Final Answer! When we got to Minneapolis, it's time to hang with Tim and Susie Obrien and Pappy and the gang. What a beautiful group of people. I am blessed to know them all. We had an amazing oasis in Wisconsin when our man Dino not only put us up at his house, but his supercool mom cooked us an amazing Italian dinner! Dino's friendship is another blessing in my life that I am so grateful for. He's done so much for us as a band with his inspiration and enthusiasm, but it's his friendship that means the most to me. God blessed me with one wonderful brother, Shane, but he's blessed me again with a bigger family of spiritual brothers than I ever dreamed of. And of course, there's my band family. If it wasn't for Richard and Tyler, I'm sure I would have lost my mind many times on this trip. Richard and I have done this for a lot of years, and we're still loving it as much as we did the first time we went out. Watching Tyler grow into this gig has been one of the really fun things about this trip. For 5 weeks, he's gotten better every night. On many occasions, people have been coming up to us telling us how great it is to see us smiling on stage and having fun! I thought we were always having fun, but I'm glad it's showing! It would have been fun to go back to the first nights gig at the end of the tour and see the change. One thing you can't plan for is how people will respond to adversity. You just have to go through it and see what happens. These guys have met every challenge with a positive attitude and a smile. That allowed me to keep my perspective and stay cool when we lost all my cables and my tool box on the interstate in the middle of the night (if anybody in KC finds my roadcase, I'd appreciate it if you could send it back to me!). Every challenge was just an opportunity to get after it and they made it fun for me. We ended up in Louisville at one of our favorite joints Stevie Ray's. My voice, for the first time in 5 weeks, was completely gone the first night thanks to a nasty cold. I'm not a great singer anyway, but when you open your mouth and don't know what's going to come out, it's a scary thing indeed! We got through it with a lot of guitar playing and Richard stepping up with his "Badboy" self! Second night was a little better vocally, but I didn't really get it back until I got home. And that brings me to the best part of any trip, HOME!! My girls are the most important things in my life and I haven't gotten enough hugs and kisses yet, nor have we played enough games of "Princess Monopoly" or Hi Ho Cherrio. My guitars are all put back together and my amps didn't flinch at all this trip. I've got Keith MF lined up to rebuild the trailer, and tonight he and I will take the two most beautiful women in the world to Papa Boudreaux's where we will eat and drink too much and howl at the moon! Man it's good to be home!

3rd Annual Blues Christmas Benefit

It's hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving, but this year has flown by! It's time to start planning the 3rd Annual Blues Christmas Benefit. This is our homecoming show and a chance to help our hometown community. The last two years have raised over $13,000.00 for this charity and we're hoping to double that amount this year. As always, the heavy lifting of the planning and prep work goes to Keith MF Throneberry and Xtreme 4X4. In addition to the devastatingly talented Ms. Natale Stovall and her great band, as well as food and drink, we're planning to have a silent auction with memorabilia from various entertainers, sports figures and celebrities. As always, the SHB will be there and we're planning a special show just for this event, with some friends from the extended SHB family. This is our chance to give back to the community that has been so supportive of me throughout my career and the place that will always be my home. If you're coming in from out of town and want info on tickets and accomidations, or If you can't make it to town, but want to contribute (or get a really cool t-shirt or poster), email us at: scottholtband@gmail.com

Day 31 or How to correctly determine the sex of your new sea monkey

Day 31 of the current tour, and here's the kind of day that you're glad you can make it through; We get up on Sunday morning grab a Starbucks and travel 3 hours through a snow storm and over the Rocky Mtns to an afternoon gig in Arvada, just outside of Denver. We load in and play at 2:00 pm to maybe 10 people who are nonetheless appreciative and make it worth it for us. We load out, then we get in the van and drive to a Chipotle for the first meal of the day at 8:00 pm. We then get back in the van and drive 4 hours to a Wal-Mart parking lot where we sleep for about 5 hours wake up in a freezing wind storm and then grab a cup of Starbucks and travel the remaining 5 hours to Kansas City for our gig tomorrow and Wednesday. We resist the urge to get a picture of Tyler sitting on a gorilla (it's just too freakin' cold!) We checked in to our Hotel and then left immediately for a 2:30 pm lunch, (Arthur Bryant's BBQ!! KC's best)returned to find that the hotel we're staying in for 3 days has a broken TV in our room (there's also 2 extremely large Bull Mastiffs inexplicably chained to a small tree just outside our room and no other cars in the parking lot!). We change rooms (far from the deadly canine guardians of hell), get showers (yes we are clean)and head for Panera Bread to get the first Internet we've seen in about 5 days. The connection's too slow to catch up on The Office or any other TV show that we haven't seen in about 4 weeks. I can't even find the Clapton interview from Larry King! (I did just finish his biography a couple of days ago, great book!) I try to respond to some my space messages, but there's a ton of them and I'm always afraid I won't go back far enough! I do appreciate all the messages though and I will get them answered eventually. I did check out footage of the current Van Halen tour (seems to be the exact same show every night which is kind of a bummer, of course that might be the only way they can keep Eddie and Dave from killing each other! they also are keeping Wolfgang in the shadows).Now the goal is get back to room in time to see Curb Your Enthusiasm, do some laundry (we're clean I told ya!) and change some strings on my guitar before hitting the first bed I've seen in 35 hours! Now you want to hear the really crazy part? I wouldn't trade jobs with anybody on the planet! And now for some random thoughts and observations; As I said earlier, I've been keeping up with the current Van Halen tour and listening to a lot of the shows via the Internet. They are sounding better every night, but you just can't go home again. Actually Wolfgang often sounds the best of the lot! It's sad to see how far Eddie has fallen from where he was at his peak.Just found out about this guy Kimbo Slice on You Tube. Holy crap!! this is like the scariest guy I've ever seen! He looks like Mr.T if he'd done real time. He's some kind of backyard fighter that just beats the crap out of people (except for this one fight where the guy uses a choke hold on him). Went and saw 3:10 to Yuma (great film) We Own The Night (...you also own my $10.00 and I want it back for sitting through that slow moving piece of crap that even a nude Eva Mendez couldn't save!) Now I want to see Into The Wild, Eastern Promises and American Gangster. I started an audio diet of nothing but Eric Clapton last Monday, other than Sunday mornings, which I always reserve for Gospel (this past Sunday was Aretha Franklin!!) I haven't really dug into Clapton for a long time and it's really great to revisit some of the old stuff as well as a bunch of "Internet acquired" live stuff that reaffirms my belief in Clapton's greatness. The tree goes like this;
1.Jimi Hendrix

2.Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck

3.Clapton, Earl Hooker, BB King

4.everybody else from here down is constantly fighting it out for position.

Makes me wish I had my Clapton guitar on the road, of course after 5 weeks, at one time or another, I've wished I had every guitar on the road...except in the mornings when I'm loading the van, then I always think I have too many guitars out here already. Especially since I've been playing #1 almost exclusively for the last several shows. I don't know what it is about that guitar, but it just does whatever I ask of it and never complains. I started reading Where God Was Born this morning, great book. Check it out but have your Bible handy to cross reference. Tomorrow should be good, Einstein Bros. Bagels is a block away, we're playing a gig, I'm one day closer to being home with my girls!!!!, Road Food says there's a place that has great fried chicken (gotta love that yardbird) & I get to make music with two of my dear friends. Life's good.

Don't taze me bro!

Today is the start of the countdown to the end of this tour. What a trip we’ve been on so far! Today is day 2 in Topeka KS and we’re looking forward to playing a new club here. We had a blast in the Minneapolis area and saw a bunch of our old friends. It was great to see everybody and hang out and jam with our buddy, amp building genius, Tim Obrien. So what’s an average day on the road like? Well, today is the 3 “L’s”; load-in, laundry & lunch! We also have to find Tyler some new drum sticks. The first night he was with us, I kidded him that there wasn’t any wood chips under his drums at the end of the night, since then he’s been breaking about 4 sticks per night. That’s much more like the SHB! Beat stuff until it breaks!

Sweet Home Chicago

The SHB's gig Sunday night at Buddy Guy's Legends was maybe the best yet. At least it was the most fun we've had there so far! The only thing missing was Buffy, but the MF Mafia was all present and accounted for and the crowd was awesome. Buddy and I got hang out for a little bit before the show and between sets (in fact it almost got me in trouble because we kept starting late because we were having such a good time hanging out and laughing!) The band played great, Tyler's really making big strides an with his mom in the audience, he broke 7 sticks (Vic Firth my ass!)!!! We all play better when our mom's are in the house! Richard won the prize for coolest shirt, and Keith MF Throneberry and Chuck MF Lanza (who both had their beautiful wives with them) tied for best cover song. Chuck jammed on Smoke On The Water and Keith jammed on a medley of Purple Rain / I Just Want To make Love To You. (We all play better when our wives are there!) Randy Z was invaluable in getting the party started with a great bottle of wine and taking care of the guitars that seemed to be breaking all over the place. Rich made sure it was loud enough and Harvey made sure that one really "joyful" gentleman only danced with ladies who wanted to dance with him! Superfan Mike was in the house, and it was great to see him. We had new friends from the UK and France (thanks to Scott Brittingham for giving them a ride!) Like I said, the only two things that would have made it perfect would have been having my beautiful wife there and if Buddy would have jammed with us, but that's just an excuse for us to do it again! Thanks to the Staff at BG's for making every visit feel like coming home. A big thanks to my MF brothers for keeping the show going! Ya'll make me sound so GoooooD!

Cleveland Rocks!

Well it’s been an interesting couple of days! We played at the R&B Grill in Bethel NY on Friday night and had a ball! What a great bunch of people and a tremendously cool environment. Thanks to the great folks at the bed & breakfast that put us up for the night. What a great place to visit. We got up the next morning and went to the site of the Woodstock festival. I stood in the spot where Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner! I think I could still hear the notes ringing around the field. On to New London CT where we discovered that the club forgot we were coming and booked another band! (We are freakin’ huge in New London CT!!) They were kind enough to pay us not to play and Richard and I headed for Cleveland early. (Tyler had to go home for his sister’s wedding so Andy Began played with us in NY and we put him on a train in CT and rolled away- thanks again Andy!) Last night was Cleveland where Richard and I played an acoustic show as a duo (first time!) It was a lot of fun and hopefully the people dug it. Tonight’s off so its laundry, internet, etc. tomorrow starts an uninterrupted run for 6 days. Looking forward to getting Tyler back with us, and getting to Chicago on Sunday to see some of our home folks. The MF mafia will be in the house!
By the way, recently I wrote a blog that has garnered some unfortunate attention and led to some misunderstanding, so I want clear it up now, once and for all; I don’t care for Dockers, but if you wear them while cooking barbecue, you instantly leap to the front of the cool line in my book (especially when the ribs are as good as the ones I’m referring to). I think that barbecuing in Dockers makes them okay by default and you overcome the negative ness of their very existence by the spiritual art of cooking. So if you wear Dockers, grab some tongs and fire up the grill! You’ll feel better about yourself, I promise!

The road is long and winding...

Day 4 on the road and we’ve got 3 shows under our belt with new drummer Tyler and everything’s going great. Checked out 3:10 To Yuma yesterday, whacking great film! Tomorrow, we get back to work in NYC and then its roll hard until KY. We’ve got a couple of days off sprinkled here and there to do laundry and glue the guitars back together, but the miles start falling hard and fast tomorrow. I hate off days, so I’m glad to get over this hump in the road. Off days are the Wednesdays of the SHB! For those of you in Bethpage and New London, Tyler is flying home to attend the wedding of his sister, so his spot will be filled by the very capable drumming of Mr. Andy Began. Congratulations to the soon to be Mrs. Ashley Johnson (or possibly Mrs. Ashley Crowell – Johnson or maybe even Ms. Ashley Crowell…maybe her new husband will take her name instead…I’m not sure what the current vogue is for newly weds…maybe they take each others name…in which case she’ll be Mrs. Johnson, and he’ll be Mr. Crowell…what a strange thing that would be filling out home loans or job applications…I once knew a woman who not only didn’t take her new husbands name, she made up a new name for the both of them out of a combination of the letters of their respective names. I thought that was pretty cool. They took the first half of her name and the last half of his name. His name was Benson and her’s was Robertson, so they became Mr. & Mrs. Robertson…actually, now that I see that typed, it looks more like they just kept her name…that bitch! She tricked poor old Benson! I guess he should have made her sign some sort of prenuptial agreement concerning the maintenance of his name. Of course, he must be pretty dumb not to see that coming…”Hey honey, let’s just combine our names to make a new name like the ancient Greeks did. Wouldn’t that be fun? You’ll do it for me won’t you?” Oh what a slippery slope! Well, I can’t feel too sorry for him if he’s not any smarter than that. Anyway, congratulations to the happy couple!)
I’m sorry, but I just got distracted by the two guys sitting across from me. (I’m in Panera Bread of course!) They seem to be planning some kind of takeover for the company they both work for. I don’t eavesdrop, but they’re talking really loud. The one guy seems like a real jackass. “You do this, and I’ll do that and we’ll just take over the whole thing…” If I knew what company they worked for, I’d call the CEO right now and alert him that there’s mischief afoot! Then again, as a musician, I am sort of a modern day pirate; so technically, I should be rooting for the mutiny. Still they are wearing Dockers (which always pisses me off!) and they are really annoying. Maybe we should just take their computers and run. I better find Richard. I’ll let you know how it turns out.