Musicians you've met

[tunaman]

In this thread I talked about my conflicted feelings about meeting a band I saw live recently. I feel like now that I'm 40 I shouldn't act like a teenager around bands and ask for autographs and pictures, but instead just shake their hand and say "good show"... like an adult!

But it wasn't always this way. To wit:

Shortly after high school, I got a job near Little Five Points\Ponce in Atlanta. The city's record chain at the time was called Turtle's, and the location in the nearby Plaza Shopping Center (where The Majestic diner is) was where "alternative" bands did their meet and greets. I'd only had my job for a couple of weeks, and heard that Nitzer Ebb was going to be at Turtle's. I snuck off to get a 12" single signed by them. They were nice (if a little too drunk for 2 in the afternoon). I can't believe I risked my job over a band that few remember, and even fewer care about.

I met Maria McKee (sister of Love's Bryan MacLean and founder of 80s two-hit wonder Lone Justice) at the same Turtle's a year or so later. She was totally high and seemed lost. She was playing an acoustic guitar, and at one point one of the GIGANTIC silver rings she was wearing flew off her finger and hit a fan square in the face. She giggled and said "Oh... woooow, man!". Smoke weed much, Maria? While waiting, I stood in line with a guy who had tracked down and bought one of her high school yearbooks (well, not HER yearbook, but one featuring her), which seemed really creepy in the pre-Internet age.

I had a friend named Jamie who could talk his way into (or out of) any place he wanted. We saw Front 242 at Center Stage, and talked our way into the after-party next door. I got totally lit off free beer and was standing at the bar ordering another when lead singer Jean-Luc De Meyer walked up. We drank a beer, then another - just chatting - when I said "ya know... I'd.. I'd... I'd really, like, want your, uh, autograph, man". A Sharpie was located, but I couldn't find good scrap of paper, so I had him sign my jeans. Other band members thought this was funny, so they came over and signed my jeans too. De Mayer started aimlessly doodling on the jeans, and soon everything but my crotch was covered in Front 242 autographs, scribbles and doodles. Oh, and we drank more beer. Good times!

Before the Buckhead Theatre became a soulless, corporate-approved music venue, it was known as the Buckhead Cinema and Drafthouse. I guess the "cinema and drafthouse" bit weren't that profitable, because in 1985 they started having concerts there. The third show was Love and Rockets. I went with an older neighbor\friend, who bought me beer. I got so tanked that I couldn't stand up, so I crawled up on stage and sat with my back against one of the amps. Just to show you show slack the place was, a stage hand started to walk towards me, but as soon as he saw that I was just sitting there - two feet away from David J - he turned and walked back. I had brought my camera with me, and after the show my friend was somehow able to convince the guard at the back door that I (a drunk 14 year-old) was a photographer for Creative Loafing, the city's alternative weekly. He let us in, and we hung out and drank with the band... and even followed them back to their "tour bus" (actually an RV). I found a marker and started to draw the band's "bubblehead" mascot on the side of the RV. Daniel Ash poked his head out the window and demanded to know what I was doing. I showed him, and he snatched the marker from me and started doodling himself. All the other band members and fans started drawing on the RV, and it soon looked like the van had been attacked by especially artistic graffiti artists. Somewhere, in all my stuff, there are some fuzzy, out-of-focus B&W prints the evening.

I also met Bryan Ferry at the same venue (the tour buses\limos had to park on the street behind the venue, so there's no mystery were they would come out). Ferry was a total class act - he stood there, in the cold, for at least 45 minutes, taking to each person individually and signing everything people put in front of him.

Also met Henry Rollins at the same venue. I've always thought that HR was a bit too full of himself, and this only re-enforced that notion. He was surrounded by younger fans who practically worshipped him - which is fine if you're talking about music, but this was his spoken word tour. I'd just seen him talk for almost three hours about foreign policy, technology, and other things that HR perhaps isn't the most informed person about. And the whole time he had that "yeah, I'm cool" smirk on his face.

I tried to meet the Cocteau Twins at the same venue, but their manager came out and loudly announced that Elizabeth Frazier was sick and wouldn't be meeting anyone that night. Fine. But then a pack of six burly bodyguards pushed everyone out of the way (like, literally, as if they were Secret Service agents clearing the way for the president) to let Frazier (and Robin Guthrie, who wasn't sick) through the small crowd. And then the tour bus sat there for at least thirty minutes before I left. I guess she was too sick to meet people, but not sick enough to rush back to the hotel.

I didn't really "meet" them, but I saw Duran Duran when they came through Atlanta on their 2003? 2004? "reunion" tour. It was slightly surreal for me. When I first started liking the band, few in Atlanta had heard of them. But then they became one of the biggest bands on the planet, with bulletproof limos taking them from private jet to the venue, where thousands of screaming fans awaited them. But that night they'd played The Tabernacle, which Wiki says has a capacity of 2,600. There were maybe 60 people waiting for them after the show - a lot for the small space between the back door and the tour bus (no more private jet, eh?). But each member stopped and signed sometime from every person. I guess they're kind of humbled a bit, going from playing arenas to small venues. But they still know that their fans have loved them for years, so they signed everything and looked at every person and thanked them for coming to the show, which was nice.

Lastly, my ex sat next to Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries on a flight once. My ex said that she was so small (not just short, but rail-thin) that she looked sick. She was also surprised that O'Riordan could afford a first-class ticket, and wondered if Delta perhaps gave her a free upgrade*.

How about YOU? Any good stories about meeting a musician?

* - Are The Cranberries one of those "huge in Europe, one-hit wonder in the US" bands? This was in 1998 or 1999.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by tunaman

Lastly, my ex sat next to Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries on a flight once. My ex said that she was so small (not just short, but rail-thin) that she looked sick. She was also surprised that O'Riordan could afford a first-class ticket, and wondered if Delta perhaps gave her a free upgrade*.

* - Are The Cranberries one of those "huge in Europe, one-hit wonder in the US" bands? This was in 1998 or 1999.

I don't have any musician stories, (I tended to meet actors when I lived in London), but I can tell you that The Cranberries were absolutely gigantic with the proto-hipster crowd in the mid '90s. Without looking them up, the two hits I can think of were "Zombie" and "Linger".

[tunaman]

Yeah, I asked because in the early 2000s I saw a list of the "10 Richest Musicians in Britain" and was surprised to see Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) and Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) on the list. I knew Simple Minds were much more popular in Europe than the US, and knew that every (OK, most) English girl born between 1955 and 1980 owned all the Simply Red albums... but I had no idea they were worth around £60m each. It seemed like gigantic money at the time.

[Dragonlady]

Joan Baez used to drink in bar I worked in, in the SF Bay area. I talked to her casually several times and I've heard her sing with the house band more than once.
There was some semi famous Blues guy that used to come in every once in a while. Old, large black man. Always with an entourage, usually several young girls with. Cant remember his name.... I'll see if I can find it somewhere and report back. He was a bit of a self important dick.

ETA: Johnny Lee Hooker
Cant say I spent any time talking to him. Waited on him a couple times. Arrogant.

[Muskrat Love]

My dad was friends with country singer Collin Raye, and he introduced us both to Willie Nelson when he was in town. That was pretty awesome.

I went to high school with MercyMe singer Bart Millard, but I don't recall ever talking to him. I also went to school with Heidi Kweller, the big sister of Ben Kweller, singer for Radish, and I met him once when they were starting out and playing at a local pool hall.

[Khampelf]

Does anyone remember a one hit wonder band from the 80s called Timbuk 3? There one hit was "Future so Bright (I gotta wear shades). I met them after a show, bought the singer a beer and hung out with him and their roadie a while.

I met The Damned the same way, well Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies. Dave Vanian was too good to hang out with us plebes, I guess. We hung out a long while, and the Capt. wasn't even too put out when I spilled a beer on him.

[Wolf Larsen]

Captain Sensible would be worth meeting. "He said Captain, I said wot" indeed.

[squarepeg]

I met Noel Paul Stookey (i may have spelled it wrong) ... Paul of Peter Paul and Mary.

[Darmund]

My son is friends with the son of Valerie Day and John Smith, who used to be in the band Nu Shooz. Apparently they were kinda big for a while in the 80's but I don't recall ever hearing one of their songs. She's pretty hot though.

I also got to light the cigarette of Teresa Nervosa of the Butthole Surfers after a show once, but I don't suppose that counts as actually meeting her.

ETA: A bunch of my friend from high school also became more-or-less professional musicians, but probably nobody you've heard of.

[Clothahump]

In 1965-66, there was a local band in Houston called Neal Ford and the Fanatics. They were good enough to knock the Beatles out of the number one spot on the local rock station Top 40 lists. I used to run into them off and on at some of the local music spots; I was in a band of my own at the time.

And I spent an absolutely fascinating 20 minutes talking about guitars and music with the late Michael Hedges when he played one of his gigs at the old Rockefeller's in Houston back in the 90s.

[Glazer]

When I was a kid my Dad knew Jimmy Buffet, he came over to the house for BBQ a couple of times. In the '80^s wile stationed in Texas I had a job as barback in a rock club. I got to meet several bands such as Pantera, Fogat, Headeast, Foreigner and others I can't think of at the moment. One time my roommate had a friend crash on our couch who went to school with Lenny Kravitz and he got us back stage passes and we partied on the bus after the show. I have also done work in the homes of Chris Robinson, Whitney and Bobby as well as Lil Kim. And just last week a couple of the guys from Mastodon came in to Johnny's Pizza and sat at the counter with me and we chated for a wile.

[Salambo]

Originally Posted by Darmund

My son is friends with the son of Valerie Day and John Smith, who used to be in the band Nu Shooz. Apparently they were kinda big for a while in the 80's but I don't recall ever hearing one of their songs. She's pretty hot though.

Heh. I have their one big hit (I Can't Wait) on my mp3 player.


I've met Jerry Only, Tom Shear, Marshall Crenshaw... I've met some other famous people, but they're not musicians... but I feel like I'm forgetting someone... eh, it'll come back to me.

[bufftabby]

I met Thurston Moore at a secret show he played at a dive bar after a Sonic Youth show. He has huge hands and is super-duper nice. I posted our pic somewhere here when it happened. I met Vaden Todd Lewis (Toadies) and Taz Bentley (Reverend Horton Heat) after a Burden Brothers show. Todd was super nice and chatted with me for a bit, and they were all more than happy to autograph their set-list, which I'd grabbed.

[Hunter Hawk]

Helios Creed once asked me to keep an eye on Tommy Grenas to keep him from drinking too much prior to a set.

Years ago, Moe's (club on Capitol Hill, now the site of Neumo's) had a beat-up old upright piano in the lobby. Once, while waiting for a Nik Turner show to start, an old scruffy guy who basically looked like some drunk-ass homeless dude (long ratty hair, sloppy clothes, wife-beater) wandered over to me and asked me in a thick English accent, "So, do yeh know how to play the pianah?" I replied in the negative, and he proceeded to slump down at the keyboard...and then started playing gorgeous ambient music. Turns out it was Del Dettmar.

A couple years prior to that, I once had a table with a good sightline to the stage at RCKCNDY where Nik Turner was doing the Seattle show on the "Space Ritual 1994" tour. The folks from Sky Cries Mary joined me and basically spent the duration of the show muttering "My god--I wish we could do this..." (FTR, Anisa Romero is incredibly beautiful in person.)

I once spent the duration of a Psychic TV show (the PTV3 incarnation) standing behind Carla Torgerson (of the Walkabouts) to keep her from getting crushed by the crowd (she's really petite). After the show, Lady Jaye (RIP--Genesis P-Orridge's wife) gave me a souvenir drumstick.

I've bought drinks for Jesse Sykes a couple of times after shows while she was manning the merch table. She's a sweetie.

Similarly, I've briefly chatted with any number of other local Seattle musicians.

I hung out with Len Del Rio in the Crocodile Cafe prior to the set where he was one of the backing musicians for Damo Suzuki.

Rachel Flotard (of Visqueen) (she is awesome) once gave me a discount at Sonic Boom Records because I happened to be wearing a Visqueen t-shirt and she was working there that day.

Robert Roth once sold me a bunch of '60s Turkish music as well as a copy of one of his own CDs.

I chatted with Brandon and Benjamin Curtis a couple of times after Secret Machines shows. They were both really nice, especially Benjamin (who asked me for recommendations of music he should check out), but Josh Garza was pretty full of himself.

I chatted with Brian and Amanda of the Dresden Dolls after their first Seattle show (after running into them in the men's room of the Croc as they were applying makeup prior to the set). Amanda was mobbed by teenage goth girls, so Brian and I just hung out for a while as we waited for the crowd to thin out. At one point, one of the teenage goth girls approached him, but was kinda tongue-tied, so I suggested that he provide a couple of recommendations for other music she should check out. In the same breath, he suggested some hardcore punk band and Hoagie Carmichael.

I once spent the evening dancing with Mary Lou Lord during a Wayne Hancock set. She's short and very cute.

[Doyle]

Originally Posted by Darmund

My son is friends with the son of Valerie Day and John Smith, who used to be in the band Nu Shooz.

I'd never heard of them, but the next thing you know, I hear a song of theirs on Sirius/XM's 80s station.

I've me Aaron Neville a couple of times.

[The Futility of Nihilism]

How much of a meeting counts? When I was a teenager Victor Borge (who was not only a good musician but also a good comedian) came to town and I was part of the event "staff". To be honest I don't remember anymore how that came about. Anyways, I got to shake his hand and that was the extent of our "meeting".

[RedRosesForMe]

I've met Nathen Maxwell from Flogging Molly twice- once when he was searching the alleys looking for a guy who had assaulted the singer of another band they were touring with (who, as it turned out, was a friend of mine who had decked the guy for making out with his girlfriend- awkward!) and another time he and Dennis Casey hung out at the pub next door to the venue with all of us. Dennis bought us all a round.

I've also met a handful of punk rockers- Mickey Fitz from The Business and Spicy McHaggis from Dropkick. Total Chaos went to Denny's with us after a show and one of the guys was asking the girls for makeup advice. That was weird.

Oh, forgot about how I recently walked KMFDM to their hotel because they were lost and possibly too fucked up (or at least a couple of the group) to follow my directions. I had no idea who it was, just knew it was a band that was playing the venue near my house, until we saw the marquee and confirmed the band's appearance with a friend who is a fan.

[Revs]

I met Gordon Gano, singer from the Violent Femmes at a show in Chicago, turns out he's slightly agoraphobic and I scared him away. While I was at Bonarroo I hung out with Toots Hibbert From Toots & The Maytals for a while. I didn't even know it was him, just thought he was a really cool Jamaican guy. I've met members of various punk and ska bands and a bunch of folk musicians.

According to my friends I have met Darcy from Smashing Pumpkins. She grew up in the same town I did and her mom still lives there and Darcy has a place a few towns over. I don't remember meeting her but I've been informed that I have.

Does Eric Idle count as a musician? I met him after a performance of Spamalot, very nice guy.

[Mako]

I can't believe I forgot this. About 15 years ago, I had lunch with Mick Fleetwood. Not because we knew each other, but because we had friends in common (in a Kevin Bacon way) and he was in London at the time.

He's a really lovely guy.

[RedRosesForMe]

Originally Posted by Revs

While I was at Bonarroo I hung out with Toots Hibbert From Toots & The Maytals for a while. I didn't even know it was him, just thought he was a really cool Jamaican guy.

I hate you.

[Revs]

Originally Posted by RedRosesForMe

I hate you.

How do you think I felt when I saw him come out on stage and finally realized who exactly it was I had been chilling with.

[backyard]

I met and spent time with (over a period of about a week) Joe Perry from Aerosmith...but the details of that have to remain confidential, unfortunately, because it's a great story.

I met Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart- aka the Eurythmics at LAX in the 80s, waiting for a flight to Indianapolis...I was in the 8th grade. Got the autographs, but have since lost them.

Recently, I got to meet G Love (sans Special Sauce) and I thought that I might just fall over because I love him so much. However, the hubs was standing next to me and I didn't want to be TOO obvious about the swooning . Hi todd!

If my husband were to answer this one, his list would go on for days. He's in the radio business and he's had the great fortune to meet many famous people. And some of them are actually cool.

[Colonel Plink]

Eddie Money, Eddie Rabbitt, NGDB (Dirt Band), Doobie Brothers, bunches of up-and-coming Country artists playing at the LoCo Fair whose names escape me. I'm not much of a Country fan.

[Hockey Monkey]

I had lunch at a barbecue with Charlie Daniels when I was 9 or 10. He lists his hometown as Wilmington, NC, but it's not. He grew up in my very tiny home town and went to high school with my Mom. He was coming close by on a tour and wanted to stop and see one of his good friends who lives across the street from my Mom. Said friend organized a barbecue and invited the whole town. Charlie and his band rolled in on a huge tour bus and everybody had a fine time.

[Wolf Larsen]

Ate dinner with The Swinging Madisons (new wave band) back in the 80's. A friend's boyfriend had an Industrial Malt Shop in LA across from a music venue. Mrs. Larsen and I used to go there regularly, they had the best onion rings on the planet. We were sitting at the counter and talking with Diz and Ron and the other folks we knew when these four guys sat down next to us. The malt shop was a really friendly place, so we started talking with them. Turned out they were the headliners that night and were having something to eat before the first set. They offered to comp us in, but we had an obligation we had to go to.

There are times when I really miss LA.

[Jay Tea]

I've inadvertently met a few artists in my time, usually as a by-product of ligging at festivals or knowing the odd roadie here and there. I've never really gone out of my way to meet musicians or whatever but that doesn't seem to put a stop to them nicking my stuff!

John Martyn had it away with my pint at a venue in the nineties, Thom Yorke nicked my pen my girlfriend had handed to him for an autograph - cunt told me to fuck off when I demanded it back

The bassist from Mayhem once smoked all my pot and the lead singer from Nightwish not only polished off the bottle of Hendricks i'd been closely guarding but had the temerity to puke it all back up not so long after - that's good gin dammit!!

Oh and I once spend 20 minutes talking to Bruce Dickinson about aircraft. he did eat half of my bagel but it was an honour :o

[Colonel Plink]

Originally Posted by backyard

If my husband were to answer this one, his list would go on for days. He's in the radio business and he's had the great fortune to meet many famous people. And some of them are actually cool.

Well git his ass over here so he can share!

That's a small bummer about small/medium market. One's opportunity to rub elbows with the Truly Famous is pretty limited.

[Wolf Larsen]

Don't sell your town short Plink, the band Leftover Codcakes is famous all the way out to Crandall's Corner!

[backyard]

Originally Posted by Colonel Plink

Well git his ass over here so he can share!

That's a small bummer about small/medium market. One's opportunity to rub elbows with the Truly Famous is pretty limited.

Paging todd33rpm!

He's around. He doesn't post much and when he does it's usually in this forum.
I'm not sure what market size his station is considered, but his station covers the Indianapolis, IN area.

And BTW, don't all gun slingers like country music? Joking, Plink, joking.

[Revs]

I just remembered another one, Johnny Lee (the Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places guy) and his band came into my liquor store while I was working. First the backing band came in, all cowboy hats and wrangler jeans. They got a cartload of whiskey. Later on after the performance Johnny Lee came in to check out where his boys got all their hooch from. Johnny had a diamond ring on with a rock the size of a big marble.

Great guy, he shot the shit with my boss and I for almost 45 minutes after he made his purchases. (more whiskey)

[todd33rpm]

Originally Posted by Colonel Plink

Well git his ass over here so he can share!

That's a small bummer about small/medium market. One's opportunity to rub elbows with the Truly Famous is pretty limited.

Alright, memory's a little fuzzy, so I'll do my best to recall who I've met here:

Queensryche (a long sordid story).

John Mayer - super nice guy.

Cracker.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

David Crosby - I had him sign my reissue CD of The Notorious Byrd Brothers because it had one of my favorite Crosby compositions, "Triad" in the bonus tracks. At first he was insulted (he's represented by the jackass in the barn on the front cover), then realized what was up. Someone on our staff had offered him some lemonade that I'd made that was in the fridge, but it was my grandma's recipe, which is to say LOADED with sugar. I'm surprised it didn't kill him.

The original lineup of Son Volt (ca. 3rd album).

Warren Haynes, in an airport after a phone interview a few months prior.

Amos Lee, multiple times (including cohosting my Sunday show once).

Robert Randolph, multiple times.

G. Love, twice. Including a special Sunday recording session in which he threatened (jokingly) to not play music and do the interview if his team lost to the Pacers (we were watching the game while he was setting up; I think it was the Celtics). They did. He played anyway.

John Hiatt, twice.

Death Cab for Cutie (having done phone interviews with Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla).

Levon Helm. (A personal idol, and another long sordid story here.)

Sara Bareilles, an interview in which she revealed that she wrote the hit "Love Song" specifically to shut her record label up about writing on demand. (Read the lyrics sometime - she's not addressing a lover, she's telling her record label to piss up a rope.)

The "band" Aqualung. (Which is to say the Hales brothers.)

Matt Nathanson. He cohosted my show, actually, and was a riot.

Los Lobos.

Jennie DeVoe, local singer-songwriter, who's cohosted my Christmas show at least a half-dozen times now, maybe more.

Bruce Cockburn, 40 minutes of music and talk, including a song that was left off a 70s album and has, as far as I know, never been issued commercially in any form.

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, twice.



For phone interviews:

An hourlong chat with Bill Cosby, very gracious.

Bruce Hornsby for a half-hour chat. Also very gracious.

Rosanne Cash, another very generous soul. (My general manager said we sounded like we'd be getting together for Thanksgiving by the end of it.)

Beck. This was a case where we were limited to 15 minutes, and he was JUST starting to really open up at minute 12. (I'd asked him about heredity vs. environment in terms of artistic tendencies - considering that he had parents and grandparents involved in the arts - and it was a question you could tell no one had asked him before.)

Mike Nelson and Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 - these were my McCartney moments, I was absolutely awestruck. Hodgson's big reveal was that Frank Zappa was a fan of MST3K, and had called to tell them a few months prior to his passing.

Glen Campbell.

Indigo Girls (Amy Ray a couple of times solo, the pair once).

Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers.

I'm sure I'll think of some others after I close up shop here, of course.

[Colonel Plink]

That's some good stuff, todd. Some of my faves among them and not a one I wouldn't kill to score in this market.

[woodstockbirdybird]

The Replacements and Bob Mould. A bunch of less well-known punk bands.

[todd33rpm]

Originally Posted by Colonel Plink

That's some good stuff, todd. Some of my faves among them and not a one I wouldn't kill to score in this market.

Thanks, Plink!

Now, I should be completely fair here. Those are the good ones that I remember - I also have a few totally appalling ones that I still am horrified by, mostly because their handlers were complete idiots or their atittudes were basically "I'm Mick FUCKING Jagger" when the talent wasn't there to support the ego. Or both.

One was the son of a famous musician, heading out on his own career, whose handler was irate because we were in a broadcast-grade studio that had no DI boxes. *GASP* I was suffieciently unimpressed enough that said younger musician has rarely appeared in any of my playlists since - and, bless their hearts, my bosses have had no problem with that.

Another was a Canadian band, not a major one but well-known in its circle of influence, that showed up three hours late and sporting a 'tude. And then their roadie, sans headphones and therefore unable to hear the mix, decided to touch my board, WHILE we were broadcasting from it, making the performance to tape virtually unusable for later broadcast or CD release. ("Touch my board" is not a metaphor for anything, BTW.) This is another band that I kinda liked, that I swore never to play another thing from them, ever again. (Bear in mind that I do overnights during the week, so "three hours late" translates into "not nearly enough sleep to put up with this crap." Again, very supportive management on my side, thank God.)

But yeah, the good ones were very, very good.

[MissJeanLouise]

Dee Dee, Johnny and Joey Ramone.

I hung out in high school and thereafter with the guys who went on to become the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I don't think of them as famous musicians, really. I mean, obviously they are, but when I think of them individually, I think of the person, not the band.

[Clayton_e]

I called my local radio station to request a song back in 200...2? and was told "congrats, you're caller 9!"

Uh, what?

Turns out I'd won tickets to go see Our Lady Peace in the recording studio. It was an awesome time, was able to talk and discuss music with the whole band.


And last fall I kinda punked Stephen Page (formerly of the Barenaked Ladies). A small opera house in Vermont had him do his "solo" show (solo in quotation marks because it was him and several other people, but it was called his solo show). Great show, he did a ton of BNL stuff, and after he was in the lobby for anyone to chat and get stuff signed.

I gave my camera to someone and went up to him as one of the last few people there. Everyone else had stood next to him while he was sitting at a table when they were getting photos with him. I asked if I could pull up a chair (there were a couple folding chairs at another table not far away). He went.. "Uh.. sure." so I grabbed one and sat down. I always carry a sharpie marker on me so I pulled it out of my shirt pocket and asked the crowd "So, while I'm here, anyone want me to sign anything?"

The girl I gave the camera to snapped the shot at that exact moment. Stephen page holding a sharpie looking at me holding a sharpie while he has a face on like "Uh, what the fuck you just say?"

Right after I said "Just kidding, I really love your work, thanks." and he signed my ticket.

[Euryphaessa]

Our Lady Peace was the very first concert I went to, way back in January of 1998. Lucky you!

[Revs]

Originally Posted by todd33rpm

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, twice.

Oh yeah, I've met those guys a few times too. Did the singer turn into jerk or did I just catch him on a bad day the last time I talked to him?




two bottles of wine!

[todd33rpm]

Originally Posted by Revs

Oh yeah, I've met those guys a few times too. Did the singer turn into jerk or did I just catch him on a bad day the last time I talked to him?

two bottles of wine!

I'm gonna say bad day - he's been a peach with us at the station, and around the people he interacts with that I've seen. However, he's also been known to be somewhat tactiturn, too.

He is a trick to record. Basically, it's like the interaction with a bear - the "don't look them in the eye" part? With him, you can't quite put a broadcast microphone directly on him because his voice will overload it; on the last session we did, I decided to use only the guitar mic, with much better results because he wasn't singing RIGHT into it. (Same with Robert Randolph. Our broadcast mics couldn't handle him, either.)

The persona is not a put on, either; he and his wife (the rubboard player) geniunely live out in the middle of nowhere in a cabin. Our morning show host wrote him a letter to get him to come do a session with us, instead of e-mail, because we weren't sure how often he checked his account.

[sturmhauke]

I've talked to some people from the 90s punk rock scene, like the Groovie Ghoulies, AFI before they got all emo, Lagwagon, some other bands I can't remember. Mostly they played at little shithole clubs, and a lot of the guys would hang out with the audience when they weren't on stage, probably because there wasn't much of a backstage area generally. They were usually pretty cool dudes.

[sturmhauke]

Oh I also used to work with guys from Karate High School and Dredg; Ray Bautista from KHS was my boss at Sony, and Gavin Hayes was a tester at EA at the same time as me. Both of them quit their jobs once their bands started getting bigger.

[Chefguy]

I had a nice talk with Dave Brubeck in about 1988, when he was playing a gig in Moscow. We chatted about his old group and what they were doing (Paul Desmond was dead by then, Joe Morello was still alive and teaching drums, Gene Wright was actually still gigging with Brubeck in Moscow).

[Doyle]

Remember Zebra from the 80s? I saw them all the time before they had a few hits. They were a New Orleans band and I knew the guitar players step-brother.

[todd33rpm]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I had a nice talk with Dave Brubeck in about 1988, when he was playing a gig in Moscow. We chatted about his old group and what they were doing (Paul Desmond was dead by then, Joe Morello was still alive and teaching drums, Gene Wright was actually still gigging with Brubeck in Moscow).

Color me green with envy. I would have loved to meet any of them, anywhere, anytime. How did you happen to be in Russia?

[Revs]

Originally Posted by todd33rpm

I'm gonna say bad day - he's been a peach with us at the station, and around the people he interacts with that I've seen. However, he's also been known to be somewhat tactiturn, too.

He is a trick to record. Basically, it's like the interaction with a bear - the "don't look them in the eye" part? With him, you can't quite put a broadcast microphone directly on him because his voice will overload it; on the last session we did, I decided to use only the guitar mic, with much better results because he wasn't singing RIGHT into it. (Same with Robert Randolph. Our broadcast mics couldn't handle him, either.)

The persona is not a put on, either; he and his wife (the rubboard player) geniunely live out in the middle of nowhere in a cabin. Our morning show host wrote him a letter to get him to come do a session with us, instead of e-mail, because we weren't sure how often he checked his account.

Playing Orlando would probably piss off the nicest musicians. I know the lifestyle is for real, a friend of mine plays with them a lot. The way he described them I was ready to see them play before I had ever heard them.

Anyone ever hear of Andru Bemis? He's a folk musician that gigs around all over the country. I'm always surprised to meet people that have seen him before?

[stormie]

I met a couple artists I really like While I had a small musician child with me. Ha! Perfect cover! We would buy a CD and the musicians would think it charming when the child came up to have it signed. I would be standing there trying not to drool.

For myself, a member of the orchestra brought me over to meet a conductor I admired. He was limping and I apologized for bothering him when he didn't feel well. He said it was fine and reached to sign my program, which I immediately dropped. Fortunately I had another.

[Khampelf]

I remembered another, I sort of met Mojo Nixon, back around '89. It was really more like I was hanging around the college radio station while he was doing an interview there, but he did make eye contact and nod at me laughing at one of his stories.

Skid Roper didn't say a single word all the time I was there.

[maplekiwi]

These wont be known outside Australasia.

I went to school with Lez White from Th'Dudes. & I met 2 guys from Mi Sex. I can't remember anything about them (including their names) other than they were arrogant & unpleasant.

[Anacanapuna]

Originally Posted by Colonel Plink

Eddie Money, Eddie Rabbitt, NGDB (Dirt Band), Doobie Brothers, bunches of up-and-coming Country artists playing at the LoCo Fair whose names escape me. I'm not much of a Country fan.

Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, Sawyer Brown, Miranda Lambert, and way, way back when he was just big enough to draw a county fair crowd, an up-and-comer named Garth Brooks. And those are just the ones I remember you interviewing.

[Knee]

I met a couple of guys from Slipknot once, by accident. They were total assholes, but that didn't actually surprise me.

Originally Posted by Revs

I just remembered another one, Johnny Lee (the Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places guy) and his band came into my liquor store while I was working.

What about Mustard Plug, didn't meet those guys a couple of times? I'm asking because I met "Mustard Plug's original bassist's wife's friend" yesterday, lol.