Rick Perry and Mitt Romney both name Scott Holt their favorite guitar player!

Driving home from the gym today, I took a route that I don’t usually drive on. It got me to thinking about the fact that when you live in a town (wether it’s all your life or just for a couple of years) you tend to “learn your way around”. You learn the fastest routes, the best routes for red lights or traffic and even the route that allows you to do all of your errands in order!

 As a traveling musician, there’s a similar thing that happens from being on the road. The more you travel on certain roads, the more you learn about the area. Whenever we get a new person in the bus with us, they comment on how we seem to know where every Starbucks on the interstate. We also are pretty good at remembering where we left the Red Robins, Chipotles, Five Guys and every bbq joint we’ve ever been too. 

 Lately, we’ve been running the same route through St. Louis, just about every week. It goes like this; Nashville to Paducah, KY on I-24. Then through Metropolis, IL., Mount Vernon, IL., East St. Louis and then St. Louis. From there we might go north or west. Funny how we always manage to hit St. Louis at lunch time and Zia’s is always “on the way”!

 Between Nashville and Paducah, there are only two Starbucks. Both in Paducah; one’s at Lourdes Hospital (always fun to stop at the hospital with a new guy and tell him we’re going in for a quick blood transfusion!) and one’s in the mall. Depends on what time we’re blowing through town and just how fast we’re rolling as to which one we stop at. Coming out of Nashville on I-24 there’s a big hill that you have to drive over and it has two big cell towers on the south side of the interstate. If you’re rolling before daybreak and especially if it’s foggy, the flashing lights on top of the cell towers look just like police blue lights. Always a great way to get the heart rate up for driving! Passing through Clarksville I always think of Jimi Hendrix and his time there with the 101’st Airborne and gigging there and later in Nashville with Billy Cox. Metropolis; I look for the water tank with Superman on it. There’s also a Exxon gas station on I-24 that sells BBQ’ed fried baloney sandwiches! I’m pretty sure there not that good for you. Mostly because they taste soooo good! Carbondale is the next place for Starbucks and they also have a Steak and Shake right across the street. Good place to re-fuel at the Flying J too. On I-64, especially coming home, I see the signs for Nashville, IL and it always feels like a cruel joke knowing that we’ve still got some miles to go. Crossing those rivers; the Tennessee, the Ohio and especially the Mississippi still excites me. I never get used to the magnitude of those big rivers. 

 Then of course there’s the soundtrack. When you’re driving, it’s important that you’ve got good music to listen to. Also, it’s important that you have the right music to listen to. Usually, we leave Nashville and it’s been a couple of days since we’ve seen each other. It’s usually about a half-hour to an hour of what’s been going on at home and general chit-chat before everyone settles into “long-drive” mode. Some sleep (I’ve been in too many wrecks for that ever really work for me), some read and everyone pops the little white ear plugs that Apple kindly gave us (for a nominal fee of course) and for the next 5-6 hours it’s dead silence. Somebody will get a phone call or maybe need to stop for something but for the most part an entire CD can play through before you stop. You need music that keeps you engaged and alert, not soothing stuff, no matter how much you enjoy it. Depending on my mood and what I’m into at the time anything can go either way. Lately “good” driving music has been; Jimi Hendrix, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, BB King, Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle. “Not good” music is usually instrumental music. Bach can get you killed if you’re not careful! If the ‘drowseys’ start to set in, just wake somebody up and get them talking. Sometimes that’s as good as a cup of coffee for getting you back on point. As I read back through this ramble, I realize that the person writing it could very well be a truck driver or a traveling salesman. The only thing that makes what we do different is the gig at the end of the trip. Thank God for the gig!

Nude photos of Karl Rove

Today is Saturday, August 16, 2008. This is the 31st anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. When I found out about Elvis dying, I was at home, after school, watching Gilligan’s Island on television. In the old days, TV stations only ran a scroll across the bottom of the screen when something really momentous was happening; like a man walking on the moon, or to announce the death of the King of Rock and Roll. (Yeah that’s right I said the King!) These days, it seems like every channel has a scroll going 24/7. Looks kind of like:…AP/Senator John McCain says he will reduce taxes by 1,000% in his first six months as President…AP/ Senator Barak Obama has 2 eggs for breakfast…AP/Filmmaker Oliver Stone has not died today, he was just napping…AP/ AAA predicts gas prices will level off as we near November…AP/ “The Dark Knight is the greatest movie of all time, or at least 2008!”, says guitarist Scott Holt… We live in a world of 24 hour a day information overload. Look at Fox or CNN and you see at least one or two talking heads, a scroll across the bottom of the screen, text to the left or right of the screen recapping whatever you missed while you were trying to read the stuff at the bottom, and you’re still not sure exactly what the hell’s going on. When I was a kid, my dad would come home from work, read the evening papers (we had two; The Nashville Banner and the Daily Herald) and watch the news at 6:00pm and 10:00pm. And that was it! Anything else that might happen just had to wait for the one morning paper, (The Tennessean) to come out. I think it’s good to have a 24 hour news channel when something major happens, like war or some crisis that we need to be made aware of, but a couple of days ago in the hotel room we had CNN on and at least 6 hours that it was on were devoted to John Edwards affair. Not exactly the same in my book as the war in Iraq, Oil prices, the election, Darfur or the Russian/Georgia conflict! I don’t agree with people having affairs, but I really think that’s between him, his mistress, his wife and the very large fancy couch that I’m sure he’s sleeping on now! They only had about 45 seconds on about the Bigfoot those guys killed in Georgia. I knew that was a bunch of crap. If it had really been a Bigfoot, why would they kill it? They could just make friends with it and get their own reality show. I believe in Bigfoot. Why not? It could happen. I also believe in the Loch Ness Monster, Yeti’s, I believe that aliens created the pyramids in Egypt, and the animal drawings in Central America. I believe Oswald was framed and Jim Morrison faked his death. Why not? If none of that stuff is true, it doesn’t hurt anybody, so who cares?

Dispatch: Portland and the way things go

So the July run to Canada is now officially in the books, (thank you Canadian fans! You guys are awesome!!) But not without one last gasp of drama and intrigue. I usually don’t like to show the downside of what we do, but this story is an example of what musicians sometimes have to go through to do what they love. In short, this is what we get paid for. The last date of the tour was to be a charity event, benefiting battered women. As a side note it was to pay us a fairly substantial amount of money, not big money, but in the course of the way this particular tour was laid out, the money was going to be needed to get us home. Not that someone needs to pay me to be against hurting women, but it’s just how the business end of this particular show worked out. Anyway, the gig was in Portland ME. Stop reading this now, open another window, go to Rand-McNally.com and type in the distance from Nashville to Portland. Figure time and fuel and you’ll see that a gig has to be fairly lucrative to justify that kind of distance. Granted, we were in Addison NY (awesome gig!!) the night before the Portland gig, but it was a 20 hour drive home staring us in the face, with all that that entails.
To continue, unbeknownst to us, the “money man” for the Portland gig disappears about 2 weeks before the show. Why we weren’t notified of this earlier is just one of the many mysteries that fall into place in this narrative. We are under contract to perform and we are warriors, so not showing up isn’t really an option, but the knowledge that suddenly the financial bottom is falling out of the gig does give one pause. From Addison to Portland was a 9 hour drive, so we played Addison and then drove overnight to Portland arriving sometime around 10:00 am. The hotel has rooms for us under the “money man’s” name, but since they haven’t been paid for, we have to pay for the rooms if we want to get into them. We’ve been in constant contact with a nice lady who we’ll call “the coordinator” who after many calls in which she stresses her non-liability and the fact the she’s just “the coordinator” (even though her name and signature are on the contract, but we’ll get to that in a minute), agrees to call the hotel for us. After her call, we then call her back (which we did most of the day as no one seemed to want to call us first!) whereupon she tells us that under advice of LEGAL COUNSEL, she’s not going to put any money out of her own pocket lest she appear liable. The fact that “the coordinator” has sought legal counsel, doesn’t escape me on the warning meter.
Let’s pause for a moment and sum up; We are 9 hours further from home (20 hours total), with no money, no hotel, an uncertain gig (scheduled for 11:00 pm) and no one wanting to take responsibility for this fast sinking ship that only the SHB seems to be riding on. It’s pointed out to me by various people involved that if we don’t play, we void the contract and have no recourse to pursue legal action to get our money back. As I said before, we never really think of not playing because we are warriors and we don’t bend or back-up. Nevertheless, it’s quite a quandary when you think about it, which is really all I’m able to do since I, a) Have no hotel room to sleep or shower in, b) can’t start for home.
So it falls like this. “The coordinator” and a companion meet us and lead us to the gig for load-in at 1:00pm. She then agrees (I suppose against the advice of legal counsel) to pay for our hotel rooms so we can at least have a place to shower and sleep. She does also arrange with the folks at Chili’s to give us a discount for a meal. (Thanks to Chili’s!)We show up at 9:30 as we would for any other gig. We’re 5th on the bill and headlining. One act, a friend of “the money man” is a no show…hmmmm. We play a great set. My boys are bad no matter what the circumstances. We pack up and leave. No one thanks us for being professional and keeping up our end of the deal. No one commiserates our plight, offers us a hand loading out, or throws us some gas money, just the old after show disappearing act. They do, however, record our show (without permission) play it back over the loud speakers while we pack up and then tell us that they can’t give us a copy because they have to leave the venue and don’t have time, but we’re welcome to track them down and they’ll send us a copy when they have a chance.
So what have I learned? I remain staunchly against any form of abuse and I still think that anyone who would hurt a woman is a punkass bitch. I think that our life will go on much as before (albeit, with more conversations with attorneys in my near future.) I’m sorry for what we went through but I’m glad we played. We were professionals. We dedicated a song to Tammy Faye Baker who passed away the previous night. I would love to come back to Portland and play a regular gig. We had some great fans that came out to support us and it was awesome to see some friendly faces in the middle of the siege. “Moneyman” if you read this, I don’t hate you or bear you ill will. I am, however, going to hunt you down and you should pray that the only thing I do is sue the shit out of you.

Dispatch: Buffalo

Buffalo last night, night off tonight and then two more shows and home! Gigs have been going great. The band sounds ferocious (when they’re allowed to…hmmmm). Our gear still limps along battered and bruised but refusing to bow. Much like the SHB. We won’t stop. I’m so excited about the new record. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. Some of our friends have heard it and they say they like it. These are people that I trust to tell me the truth. It’s much like the time I spent in the Congo working with the Peace Corps. Once I woke before the rest of the team and in the still quiet of the morning in the rain forest, I looked out of my tent and saw a huge silver back gorilla just feet from the campsite. We looked at each other for what felt like an eternity before he stood to his full height and beat his chest. He then disappeared back into the jungle and it was then that I realized what true silence sounded like. Even the birds were still. I smelled something. I was standing in a large pile of gorilla feces. I forgave the gorilla immediately, but I’ll never stand barefoot near one again!
William Shatner is brilliant!

Legend's (last time?)

Just got back from playing at Buddy Guy’s in Chicago. Since the club is supposed to move this year, it might be the last time we get a chance to play there. I’ve had a lot of great times at that place, (I actually slept there on a couple of nights!) met a lot of cool people, got to play with some amazing musicians and spent a lot of time learning. It was great to be surrounded by our friends and play loud! Our best friends from back home Keith & Jen were there, Randy Z (official gourmet chef of the SHB) was there, Tim O’Brien came in from Minneapolis to jam, even Superfan Mike was there in the front row, (thanks Mike!). If Buffy had been there, it would have been perfect. Chicago is one of our favorite cities, and I can’t wait to get back there soon and see our friends. Thanks to Harvey, Rich and everybody at the club for making it so special to be there.

My Band

I have a great band. I’m not saying that lightly, or trying to create truth out of nothing. I have a great band. Richard and Tom are truly two of the finest musicians I have ever played with. Being in a great band, however, doesn’t stop at talent. While they are great, creative, fluid musicians, who have devoted much of their lives to their craft, they are amazing human beings. They love their wives, they are loyal, and they genuinely care for others. They are truly good people. We’re not very different from any other band. We work hard. Sometimes we drive hundreds or thousands of miles to play to empty houses, people that don’t know us and don’t care, we play with all kinds of variables that should distract us and at times make us throw in the towel, but the mark of committed professional musicians doesn’t allow for giving up. To quote one of my favorite songs, “the show must go on”. We’re never too sick; the equipment is never too broken, there are never too few people or too little money. I see these things for what they are. I live under the philosophy that ‘that which does not kill us, make us stronger.’ and we are strong! But I’m just one guy. Just the guitar player. By myself, it isn’t much of a show. Tom and Richard are my brothers. They go through everything I go through. They make every mile of every drive. They eat all the same food, sleep (or don’t sleep) in the same motels, deal with the same problems and they do it all with the same positive, never say die attitude that I have. More so than me, they put their faith in me. They trust me. They protect me and look out for me. They hold me up. They take the music that I try to make and they create a beautiful foundation to put it on. I stand in front of them and I feel like we are the best band in the world. I stand in front of them night after night and I’m continually amazed and surprised at their endless talent, their endless enthusiasm, their constant ability to rise to the occasion, to never give in, show weakness or appear less than what I know them to be, which is to say they carry themselves as the excellent human beings that they are.
So why am I saying all of this now, in this forum? Many reasons. We’ve been rolling hard for the last 8 weeks. In that time, we’ve dealt with equipment issues that threatened to derail the entire show, personnel issues that threatened our sanity, business issues that threatened our livelihood, and through it all, I see Richard and Tom right there, not giving in, not collapsing under the strain, not allowing whatever clouds are around us to get in the way of what we have to do. I see them not only surviving, but getting stronger, and it makes me stronger. We have a new record coming out and it’s the first record that we’ve ever done, that will be toured and supported by the musicians that played on it. It’s right because these are the guys that are supposed to be here. I’m blessed. As a Christian, I believe that God guides and has a plan for my life. Music is ingrained in my life and these are the people that I feel closest to when I am creating that gift that God has given me. I’m also a part of their gift, because as God has seen fit to put me here, now, he’s placed me in their lives as well, and I am honored beyond description. In the van, it’s the 3 of us. Sometimes, we have others in the circle, but at the end of the day, I consider myself blessed and honored to be part of this trio and a member of what I truly believe to be the absolute greatest band in the world. Thank you Richard, my friend, for allowing me to share the stage and the studio with you. Thank you Tom, my friend, for allowing me to share the stage and the studio with you. I am better for knowing both of you. I am better for what I’ve learned from each of you. The world is better for every person who comes in contact with either of you.

The Science of Abstract Theory Conception as it applies to earth and other planets

Listening to John Coltrane is like eavesdropping on someones prayers. Old people deserve more respect than we give them. Better to be poor and happy than rich and sad. Of course it's probably better to be rich and happy, I'll let you know if I find out! Politicians are not supposed to solve the world's problems, citizens are. Besides many politicians are really old and out of shape, so what the hell could they do for us anyway? It is never okay to hate. It is, however, okay to wish a severe skin rash on someone who has wronged you or disagreed with you in the hope that they will realize that the skin rash is a direct result of their inconsiderate behavior and change their ways. Hot sauce should be on every table. Everything should be open 24 hours a day. Kids are smarter than you think! In the 60's, music unified people and stopped a war, what does music do today except sell cars and electronic toys? If Mozart were alive today, he'd be really, really, really old! I'd still go see him though, if he gigged somewhere close by. I read a book recently about Henry VIII and they had this thing called the "sweating sickness" that historians have yet to be able to definitely identify! That had to suck! You start sweating and if you went to sleep within the first 24 hours, you die! No thanks! Elvis was really cool and that's just a fact, so if you disagree, look out for a skin rash! Guns don't kill people, it's the bullets in them that actually kill you. Aren't "energy bars" really just crappy tasting candy bars? Beverly Hills Cop is a great movie! Good workout music: Motorhead, Sex Pistols, AC/DC, Van Halen, Living Colour, Bad Brains, Billy Idol, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Bad workout music: Mozart, Buck Owens, Annie Lennox, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, The Beatles (sorry Richard). My motto is Don't Try. Music contains the secret to human existence and the molecules that are constantly being rearranged by the movement of various notes cast into the air is the forward motion of time and the expansion of energy and light. Good Loud is good, remember it was a Big Bang not a barely audible sigh. What's Good Loud you ask? Guitars, joyful screaming, Rock and Roll, any good music, fast cars, etc. Bad Loud? hand grenades, angry screaming, bad music of any kind, land mines, Kenny Chesney. How come we have smart people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Stephen Hawking and various scientists and business moguls and we can't stop global warming, our addiction to oil, stop genocide, feed the hungry, cure the sick or come up with a suitable answer to how to keep both sides of the pillow cool all night? I'm just asking...

¡Se hace el viaje de la costa oeste!

The West Coast tour is finally in the history books, and after everybody has a chance to take a little vacation, we get right back at it in Louisville on June 1 & 2. What a trip the last month has been! My Uncle Wayne is always kidding me about the fact that we take out 3 guitar amps with us when we tour. I finally had a chance to call him and tell him that, this time, 3 wasn't enough! I got my guitar back from the repair shop yesterday (Thanks Mike Lennon @ The Apprentice Shop!!) and Tim (Obrien) tells me that my red amp is fixed and ready to go. Still have to fix the 100 watt Obrien and my emergency back up amp. Maybe I should start taking 4 amps out with me! The new record is ready to come out on June 26 and we are playing the songs live every night in the show, so come check 'em out live! The June 17 gig at Buddy Guy's will be a special night for us since the record will be out a few days later. We are trying to figure out if we'll be able to sell copies of the record at the show or not. (fingers crossed!)
A lot of people asked me after everything that happened on the last leg of the tour, how I'm staying so up and positive? Even though I'm not really a negative person to begin with, I really think it's because I believe that 2007 is going to be the biggest, most amazing year yet for the SHB. We are sitting on the best record we've ever made, we have an amazing group of people supporting us and musically this band is the best I've ever been in. Just watch what happens!

The SHB and The Legend of the Lost Chord (or How Richard got online)

A harsh desert wind blew across the horizon in front of the group, burning their skin and robbing their vision. The trail curved first one way and then another. "This is worse than a pig trail!", said Tom. The equipment wagon rocked to and fro from the rocky terrain as Chris tried valiantly to hold the reins and steer. In the cloud of dust that surrounded the boys, only Tom, Richard and Chris could be seen. "Where's Scott?" Richard wondered, "Did he fall off a cliff? Was he lay ed upon by highwaymen? Did he find a record store?" Just then Tom noticed that the whine of the wind was growing louder and more pronounced. "What the hell is that?" wondered Tom, "It sounds like...like...FEEDBACK!"
Suddenly, right in front of the boys, a large silver ship descended from the sky. As it landed in the middle of the trail, 2 O'Brien 4X12 cabinets extended from either side of the craft and Scott's voice came booming out at 120db, "HEY GUYS! I FOUND THIS SPACESHIP IN THE DESERT BACK THERE. IT'S GOT ROOM FOR OUR HORSES AND A JACK TO PLUG MY GUITAR INTO!" With that, the air was filled with a flurry of notes that crashed into a whammy bar dive and the door to the ship opened. There was Scott, sitting on a large sofa playing his guitar. As the boys led their horses and the equipment onto the ship, Tom was struck in the back of the head by a cellphone. "Let's get out of here!", exclaimed Tom, "it's agents trying to change dates on our tour and they've got club owners and old people who just want to have dinner and not have to listen to music with them!"
"I'm trying to get us out of here, but the door's stuck!", said Richard, as another cellphone and a rock with a request for Sweet Home Alabama tied to it struck him in the forehead. Chris began to sob uncontrollably, "We're doomed! Doomed!" Scott grabbed his guitar and said, "Don't fret little bear, I have an idea."...

TO BE CONTINUED

Western Tour '07 / Our story so far...

Blew up amp #1. Blew up amp#2. Blew up amp #3. Broke the headstock on my #1 guitar. Broke headlight dimmer switch. Broke trailer taillight. Lost 3 socks. Tom has dysentery. Have only 2 high "E" strings left. Can't find parts to fix amps. Paid amp repair man in Seattle to fix amps...didn't fix amps...Tom yelled at them and got half our money back. Tom threw up. It was very cold, now it's very hot. Motel 6 doesn't have Internet...they do have a Denney's in the parking lot...I hate Denney's. Borrowed amp (thanks Kyle). Richard says he's having a glorious day...I agree.

Leaving for Ridgecrest, CA

Its just one of those things that come with the road. We gotta leave the gorgeous town of San Diego and beaches and all of it, and we are off to Ridgecrest, CA. The great thing we are all working well together. We are all really rested and feel good about this, so were off. Even if we cannot focus a camera to save our lives.


One significant thing about the above photo, look at Tom's sunglasses. The rumor is that Tom burns through sunglasses like I burn through headphones for my iPod. We got those as a 2 for 1, so there is a back up...but lets see how long they make it.

So its the van, about three hours, and the desert here in California. Totally bypassing my former hometown of LA. But that is a good thing...

See you in a few hours in Ridgecrest.