September
September is an emotional time of year in everyone's life here in the U.S., as we are reminded of the day we were attacked by terrorists in New York City and Washington D.C., and our world was forever changed. It's a sad time. My good friend Steve Chopek was on tour drumming with Charlie Hunter at the time and on that very day he was standing at his terminal, waiting for a flight at the airport in Newark, NJ, where the NYC skyline is clearly visible to the eye and he watched the entire thing unfold. He was visibly shaken when I saw him after that and I can't even imagine what it must have been like, then and now, for those who were even closer or had friends or loved one's that perished. My heart goes out to them, the many.For me personally, this month is also about remembering the hurricane season and at this time five years ago, September 0f 2005, I was at the end of a month long tour with JJ Grey & MOFRO. Katrina had already blown through the Gulf and New Orleans, where I had recently relocated, was flooded. I had befriended a local guitarist and teacher, Brian Seeger, who owned a beautiful house there in Mid City that had a studio apartment in the back where he'd let me move into in early March. Such a killer spot and centrally located to City Park and tons of restaurants. Great neighborhood. Five days before the storm, I left to go out on the road with the band and was in Seattle when Katrina hit. Bummer. It was next to impossible to get anyone on the phone and as the days rolled on and I watched the daily reports and images of the flooding and devastation on CNN, I would look for my house when the news helicopter's flew over the city and my heart would sink. I just knew my stuff was gone, clothes, family heirlooms, photos, furniture, drums, everything gone. At least that was what my gut told me, but I was wrong because two weeks later, I found out through a good friend of Brian's that the house actually was just high enough off the ground that not one drop of water ever made it inside, which meant we were dry. Wow, total elation! I could not believe that news. When it was all over, the water was gone and our zip code was allowed back into the city (early October) when I got to my house and walked in the front door, it was hard to believe that we'd been spared.
Luckily, we came out of it better than most, with the majority of our possessions in-tact and we only found one little spot of mold in the house in one of the bedroom closets. Whew. I lost an '88 Toyota pickup truck that I'd driven out from California, but hell, it had three hundred thousand miles on it and was near it's end anyhow, so no great loss there. It was a great little truck that serviced me for a good ten years. But sadly, a lot of our family and friends didn't fare as well as us and it was a long road back for them. Bless their hearts.On September 23rd, another hurricane, Rita, was blasting through South Texas and destroying everything in it's path. MOFRO were about to play the Austin City Limits Festival that day and we all thought they might be shutting it down due to the powerful winds, but Rita lost steam and the show went on. I was feeling pretty good as the band took the stage for our last show of the tour and you can see the wind is blowing pretty strong in this video. There was a stage technician running around like crazy with a roll of duct tape, taping the legs of my cymbal stands to the drum riser. Very funny.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMbbYLYMJsA]Much love to those who have suffered in September and may we never forget.
Family
I had Sunday totally off and just rested the entire day cause Monday was coming and the beginning of two weeks at the casinos in Tunica. Yessir, the things we do to make the rent. My dad and step-mom were in town yesterday though to see my niece's newborn baby, Olivia Rose, and hangin with all of them was great. I need to spend more time with my family.
Whirlwind Weekend
Crazy times. I've got this pinched nerve thing still going on, yet I'm working my butt off doing a ton of gigs and there's no sign things are gonna slow down. It's good to be working, but I'm a little nervous. This weekend was totally nuts. After my massage on Wednesday, I came home, iced down my neck and shoulders for several hours and hopped into bed pretty early. Next day, same thing...totally chillin, then the phone rings and my friend on the other end is offering me a gig that starts at 7pm. Shit. Man, I need the bread, but I wanna stay home and continue chillin/healing cause I'm leaving town in the early morn with the Champs. Screw it, I'll do it. I got up, threw my suit on and went to work. Senior's dance. Had a total blast with a cat named Vernon Yarborough and his trio. Good stuff. Friday morning I got up, drove over the Al's place, picked him up then headed over to Joe's. He was running late, so we didn't get out of town till nearly 10am for New Orleans. Rolled-in around 4:30, picked up my GMC Jimmy that's been down there for a month getting repaired, headed to WWOZ for the Champs 5pm interview with Vin Chary's jazz show, then over to Scott Borne's (program director) for some killer jambalaya with he and his beautiful gal, Robin. Made it to dba around 9ish, set-up and started our first set at 10:20. Wrists were a little sore and I was doing okay, but was super stoked to see some fellow beat makers come into the club. My good friend Eric Bolivar (Anders Osborne) showed up, as did Al's buddy and my new friend Chad Gilmore (Marc Broussard's drummer), who are both fantastic players and eager to join the already cookin set we had going. Thanks fellas. The 30 min rest was appreciated and you both kicked some serious ass. It's funny, but when Chad got up to play, I didn't realize that he's a lefty and he turned the kit completely around, which was really hilarious, but watching him play was amazing. Such a nice feel and Eric, too. Two baddasses!Afterward, we packed up, people went home (or to another bar, which in NOLA is more the norm) and the Champs headed back over to Scott and Robin's for the evening. I however, was on my way to play a music festival in Rhode Island with Bonerama and needed a shower in the worst way, which is tough to do quietly at 4am in a house where people are sleeping. Knowing myself and how much I love to sleep, I figured that if I were to try and catch an hour or two before going to the airport would prove to be a bad idea, I bit the bullet and hi-tailed it over to Louis Armstrong International for my 7:30am plane. It was only 5. Ugh. Sitting around waiting, tired and sore as hell. I'm thinking to myself, how in the hell am I going to pull off an hour set with one of the hottest New Orleans funk bands with this pain in my wrists? No idea, but I'm hoping Lady Luck is on my side.Fast forward to Providence...I've already been on two flights and rode in a van for 38 miles to this shindig, Rhythm & Roots Festival all without any sleep. I'm exhausted but the show must go on and it did. What a great time. Steve Riley was killin, as was Marcia Ball and her terrific band. Her drummer Damien Llanes, is from Austin and I used to go see him play at the Continental Club with Barfield. Great player. The next morning we all met in the lobby at 6:30 and headed over the airport for the early flight out to Charlotte, then on to NOLA. When we landed at noon, I said goodbye to the fellas, thanked them for an amazing 24 hrs, got in my newly repaired car and headed home. 6-hr drive back, dropped into bed like a sack of potatoes. The sleep was so good and although my hands and wrists were sore I felt elated that I'd hung in there and made it through.
OUCH!
So, my good friend John C. loaned me this gorgeous GT road bike a couple of weeks ago cause I was going on about how I needed to get back into shape and bike riding is great exercise. Here I am spinning around midtown like I'm Lance Armstrong or something, going from sitting in front of my computer for hours on end, to full-on 20-30 minute jaunts without any warm-up and WHAM-O! Pinched a dang nerve in the back of my neck and can't even play a frickin press roll. Tendonitis. What a pisser. Luckily, I found a lady named Myra who does some amazing physio and says she can get me back to 100% in just a few visits. Wish me luck. I've got 24 gigs this month!
Down Time
In my spare time, I work for Memphis Drum Shop, recording video/demos of many of their products that are sold online at memphisdrumshop.com and mycymbal.com. It's fun, challenging and oftentimes very rewarding. Many folks have discovered my playing through these videos and that's a good thing. If you're in Memphis, you gotta go see 'em.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfX0fKjrxNc]
A Night To Remember
Several years ago, I had the honor of being invited to participate in a gig with some heavyweights, playing soul music at Preservation Hall Jazz Club in New Orleans. It was called Fog Fest, a celebration put together by Dan Prothero of Fog City Records for their 10-year anniversary and featured JJ Grey from MOFRO, Robert Walter, Papa Mali and myself. The evening paid tribute to Southern songwriters like, Allen Toussaint & Dan Penn, with each of the featured artists contributing songs from their own personal catalog, as well. It was so much fun. We played two shows that night, both were sold-out and there was a three-camera film/sound crew that documented the entire night. Here's a video...[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgbrviX4WRg]
The Great Roland Janes
This afternoon, my buddy Joe Restivo and I met Roland Janes, the great rock-a-billy guitarist and famed recording engineer, right here at Sam Phillips' recording studio on Madison Avenue. What a treat. This guy was a house session guitarist at Sun and played with Jerry Lee Lewis on two of his biggest hits, ("Great Balls of Fire" & "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"). He was sitting at the front desk when we walked in the door. "Hi fellas. What can I do for you?" We were stunned. After the introductions, he asked us to have a seat and we just talked to him for a while. He let us take a walk through those amazing, historic rooms that are still in operation and can be yours for the low low price of just $65. per hour. Wow. All analog, no ProTools, nothing digital, just the real deal Holyfield. We saw numerous vintage tube gear, Neumann mics hanging (uncovered) on stands, killer old Hammond organ, tube amps everywhere, the vibe was incredible and I got goose bumps right away. I can't believe that place isn't packed on a daily basis with rock stars. I guess it used to be, but not anymore and today was just a glimpse into a world that is truly fading fast. Growing up here, I had only a vague knowledge of the music this town has produced and even now I'm still learning new things, but what a place. For all of it's faults, intricacies, racism and tremendous poverty, Memphis is still one hell of a city and I'm proud to be from here.
Just Be
Mantras. Do you have one? Do you say it? Does it work?Through the years, I've used them and sometimes they work, while depending on the circumstances, other times they are only words. I have had serious battles with depression on occasion and when it's been really bad, I'll say to myself, Everything is gonna be alright and it seems to help, at least a little. Or, I'll think about someone I know who is much worse off than me and the thought immediately pops into my head, Stop complaining...You've got it pretty good (and) At least you're not..., then I fill in the blank. It helps most of the time.Many years ago, when I had had enough of Memphis and the music scene here, I decided to head West to San Diego in search of greener pastures. I was 23. Two days on a Greyhound bus and there I was in sunny So Cal. Life seemed pretty sweet, but after a few weeks, I started to get a little homesick and began to question my decision. My former drum teacher back in Memphis called one day to see how I was doing and after telling him how bad I missed home, my family, friends, gigs were in short supply, finances were dwindling, etc., he reminded me of why I'd decided to make the move in the first place, that it was the right thing to do and suggested I try using a daily mantra to lift me out of the funk. I had never used one before, but was more than willing to give it a shot and began saying, I want to be a great musician. I even wrote it down on a piece of paper and put it on the front page of my planner, which I opened every morning to see what my day was looking like. There it was. I want to be great musician. The words however simple, smacked me in the face and I repeated them to myself, over and over again, till I was sick of saying them. A few weeks went by and before long, I started getting good jobs with great bands and my confidence grew. Maybe the mantra was working, or maybe it helped to change my attitude that life was a pile of shit and I was a terrible drummer. Whatever it was, I was starting to feel pretty good about myself.Then I met a woman and for a short time, everything changed. She was beautiful. A cross between Audrey Hepburn and Winona Ryder. Jesus, I fell in love pretty quick. I felt like I had arrived at some magical place and was never going to have to live the life of a struggling artist again. I'd found my true love and together we were going to rule the world. But I was wrong. What I mistook for happiness was actually a false sense of self and I became lost. Always a people pleaser, her beliefs became my beliefs. Her friends became mine. My friends, for the most part, disappeared. She was working on a Masters in public health and I felt like I needed to step up. Even though we'd met in a bar and she liked the fact that I was chasing my dream, I decided I needed to go back to school and get my degree. Once I was out of the scene, gigs ended and band leaders no longer called. Out of sight, out of mind. Many folks thought that I'd moved out of town and were surprised when they learned I hadn't. I strayed from the path, stopped practicing the drums, or looking for new work, was no longer saying my mantra every day and things got dark. After only two semesters, I gave up college and to support us, I took jobs in restaurants, record stores, coffee shops and hotels and played only on the rare occasion. I felt very sad inside. We were together three years, married for a few months, then divorced soon after. An ex-boyfriend suddenly came back into the picture and she made her decision. It was over between us. More darkness crept in, and soon, a deep depression. No mantras or uplifting words could pull me up out of the murk that I'd descended into and for nearly a year, I sulked.A phone call one day got me involved in a recording session with a group of musicians that (to this day) will go down in the chapters of my life as some of the greatest I've ever had the pleasure of playing with. They called themselves, the cat Mary and once we played together the first time, all three of us knew immediately that we'd stumbled onto something very special. They loved my drumming, complimented me on the fact that I actually cared about making a song groove and that was a big change from a lot of the negative groups that I'd been with before. For me, it was the kick in the pants I needed so badly. We got a record deal, I moved to Los Angeles and things began to get better. I even brought back the mantra, but this time with a slight variation...I am a great drummer, which felt so much better to say and I started to believe in myself again. Together we made two records, toured around the country and spent the better part of three years making a go of it. A time I will never forget. It's been a while since we've seen one another, but we still keep in touch and the lessons I learned with those cats, taught me to just be who and what I am and that everything else will fall into place.