Thursday, March 7, 2013

Where is My Band? A Rock n Roll Tour



     I think I was 19 when I experienced my first Grateful Dead lot scene.  At that time in my life I was an avid music fan, but quite different than how I am today.  I had no idea of the “local music scene” in Atlanta at that age.  This is pretty weird since two of my favorite bands at the time, Follow for Now and Drivin and Cryin were both Atlanta bands.  Later on in my in that 19th year of life I moved to Athens, Ga.  It was not until then did I truly learn about the local music scene concept.  Twenty years have gone by now since the day I moved to Athens and how I feel about music is the same today, just with a lot more depth.  Today I have spent a good bit of time reflecting on how my love, obsession, understanding, and desire for rock n roll has grown and changed over the years.  The conclusion I came to after all the reflection was that my geographical locations over the years have played a huge part in the relationship I have with music.  This is a brief part of the story of where I have lived and how the music in those times and places have shaped this faithful relationship I have with my one true love.
     I had the wonderful experience of turning twenty one in the beautiful city of Athens, Ga.  I bought my first drink at DT’s Down Under.  This was also the same night I discovered the High Hat Jazz Club.  I can remember seeing bands like Squat and Day by the River there.  I remember Dave Schools use to sit at the door and keep the bouncer company.  This too, was about the same time I was getting into Widespread Panic.  I wish I could remember more of the bands that I use to love to see.  The nights at the Georgia Theatre seeing Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Bloodkin, Five Eight, along with several others were the beginning of my education. This was also my first live experience with Widespread Panic. I can still remember what the River Walk Amphitheater looks like to this day.  1995 was the year I saw the Grateful Dead.  It was the last show the Grateful Dead every played in Atlanta, Jerry died that August.  I even had the pleasure of seeing Merl Saunders play at the Theatre shortly after Jerry died.  Now I was really hooked.  There was no turning back.  I had crossed the line of no return. Side bar: My ex at the time ended up with the tickets to the first Panic show at the Classic Center.   I have yet to see my favorite band in Athens, Ga.
     A few years later after a short stint in the Coast Guard, if found myself working as a chef on Grand Cayman Island. For those of you that do not know, Grand Cayman sits right smack in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.  Surely, I thought to myself this will be a great opportunity to get my fill of the local music.  I was so excited about hearing the reggae, dance hall, and dub bands right on the beach.  Wow, was I sorely mistaken.  Somehow this little twenty seven mile long and nine mile wide island was passed over by such music.  Now to make things even worse, I was the only single person, the youngest person, and the only American at my restaurant.  This meant I was on my own.  No one I worked with was interested in showing me the ropes of the island and where to get what I needed.
      After a few weeks of going straight home after work, I found a little place called XTC.  The crowd was full of people in the service industry and the music that was playing in the bar was good enough.  Well it was not long before I was drinking here every night and learning the ways of Grand Cayman.  This consisted of three things.  There was no live music on the island, well at least not outside of the Hyatt.  The big thing was techno..  DJs!  This plays a very important part of this story I will get to in a minute.  To top it all off Monday nights was the big bar night and they stayed open to 1:00 AM.  I was very confused.  Now, I could have just gave in and gone home or get in where I fit in.  It is amazing what you can learn to love when you live in paradise.  Evidently Grand Cayman is a hot spot on the DJ circuit.  This meant a lot of private parties all over the island.  I have to admit this was pretty cool.  DJs flew in from all over the world to play these parties.  When in Rome is what I thought!  Trance and Techno is really not that bad on a private beach, surrounded by hot women with accents and a head full of Ecstasy.  I got to be a regular in this crowd and became friends with the owners of XTC, who were responsible for bringing in a lot of the talent on the island.  You see if you are white and are a Cayman citizen you are pretty freaking wealthy.  I came to find out later that one of the owners of the bar, Chris, had gone to Miami and ate the love drug once, and immediately came back and opened a bar called XTC a week later.  I will save the rest of this story for another time, but I eventually had enough and came back stateside.  I saw the first New Years Eve Widespread Panic shows at Phillips Arena two weeks later.  The year was 1999!
     Jump forward to 2008, and I have recently moved to Denver, Colorado.  The summer before I saw Widespread Panic on a three night run at Red Rocks and fell in love.  A year later I was where I wanted to be.  Once again, however, I was on my own in a new city, trying to find my way.  The only friend I had in Denver at the time was married with a young daughter and one on the way so she was no help.  I asked where I should go drink in an online Widespread Panic discussion forum.  Someone suggested that I belly up to the bar at the Highland Pacific, and I would be taken care of and find what I was looking for.  This could not be further from the truth.  Looking back, that first night was the spark that lit the fuse in my life with rock n roll.  Soon I was on a first name basis with some of the local Denver heroes.  These guys were not only fantastic musicians but genuine and kind.  They played in bands like Polytoxic, Bloodkin, and Henry Parsons Project.  Just to put things in a local music scene perspective, there are at least fifteen music venues in a ten mile radius.  In the three years I was there, I think I saw well over one hundred shows.  Bands like Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, and the Drive by Truckers, to name a few were there several times a year.  This somehow influenced the local music scene. In 2010 I met a new friend from Nashville, and soon after started an online music magazine called Colfax Radio.  This was a game changer.  I guess the sun and moon were all aligned at that time.  I was working as a door man at Pete’s Monkey Bar, which opened a ton of doors for me and my business partner, Little Mikey Colfax.  Our little pod cast had the pleasure of interviewing musicians such as Tori Pater, Eric Martinez, Damon Wood, The Fox Street All Stars, Dorian Vibe, Eric Hood, Mark Brut, Whiskey Tango, The Longest Day of the Year, HOME and so many more.  There were open mic nights around the city were full of fantastic music on any given night.  The city is had everything from honky tonk, jam bands, metal bluegrass, and everything else under the sun.  Being able to be a part of such great music with so many great people is a time in my life I will never forget.  It is a warm memory that puts a smile on my face a year and a half later.
     Today, I am living back down south, licking my wounds and healing from all those late nights over the years.  When I work on my plan for the next step, I think about these three points in my life.  I think about what I want, what I need, and what I just cannot have, no matter how hard I try.  These past experiences have all played a part in my walk with rock n roll.  And today, I know I cannot be a part of it like I was in Denver, and I don’t ever want to go to see another DJ as long as I live, but I do know that I need my local music.  It is now a part of me and has shaped me forever.  Athens, Ga is starting to sound really good about right now.  Who knows, I will only be able to tell you when I get there.
GO SEE LIVE MUSIC AND PAY YOUR COVER WITH A SMILE AND SOME GRATITUDE!

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