Tuesday, June 17, 2008

No Road Story - Hurt Drummer!


Hello ALL,
I said I would get back to the story of our Drummer, Richard.

Our brother is quite hurt. Richard and I work part time for an Audio/Visual company. Two weeks ago he was on a six foot ladder helping me install some ceiling speakers in an office. He leaned forward and put too much body-weight on the ceiling grid. It gave way and he fell. He rolled his left ankle INWARD, not outward like a normal ankle roll. He sustained a COMPOUND FRACTURE on his left ankle. For those of you squeamish folks, yes his bones basically shattered and tried to poke out of his heel. He will be in a cast for over three months. Like most of us musicians, we cannot afford health insurance, so he is in physical and financial pain. We are doing everything we can to help him out.
Now, the good news is that we are hopeful Richard will pull a DEF LEPPARD and continue to drum for us even though he will be not able to use his left leg. (FYI - his left leg is used to work the high-hat cymbals and double kick drum)
Now I am fully aware that Rick Allen lost his arm, but for god sake he was a millionare and had many more resources available to help him. Our local hospitals are treating Richard like shit because he has no money.
So with that said,
Please look forward to some upcoming shows with our crippled but TOUGH and DETERMINED drummer RICHARD!
Please show your love for our brother and give him your support!!!!

You can do it, Rich!

Devan

Friday, June 13, 2008

YNM Road Stories (PART 1)



Hello everyone,

Many fans have asked for stories about the band on the road.
Well, THERE ARE TONS OF ‘EM!
So, I suppose I will start with a recent story and work my way back.


Last Saturday, we played a bar in West Helena, AR called Horses and Harley's. We haven't seen any horses, but a few Harley's showed up along with a few people.

The van had been experiencing mechanical problems over the past few months. It would just die in the middle of driving, and then a few minutes later start right back up again. Ford couldn't find the problem for weeks (they built the damn thing and still couldn't even figure it out). Anyway, we made it to the show just fine, but after we finished and loaded out, the van would not start. We waited the normal few minutes and tried again and again, but with no luck.

Finally, I resorted to calling AAA. After waiting an hour for them to locate a wrecker company to have the balls to drive us 90 miles back to Memphis, we were told a driver was on his way. GREAT! Not great. "How many people are with you", AAA asked. 'Four.' I replied.
Well, AAA only allows two people to ride in the tow vehicle. It's 3:00 o'clock in the f-ing morning. Who the hell are we going to call! Let's wake up any friend at 3am and see how ready they are to drive.
SO, we got clever. Let's hide two of us in the back of the van and keep quiet. we'll make it back and not have to worry anyone. Randy called a quick "Shotgun" to ensure his place next to me. (I'm the one with the AAA membership, so I automatically get a spot.)
Gaff and Steve (a replacement drummer for the night. I'll explain in another blog about Richard. Standby for that story next!)

As I was saying, we rearranged the items in the back of my van so we could hide Gaff and Steve as stowaways! This is totally against the law, but for god's sake, IT'S THREE IN THE MORNING AND WE'RE TIRED! We'll take the chance.

It was funny waiting for the tow truck, because every car that drove by caused a quick panic on trying to stay undetected from view. Finally, the many dress rehearsals paid off, Gaff and Steve successfully loaded themselves in the back and awaited the 90-mile journey back to my house.
Gaff's original idea was to have the tow truck run by his house to drop him off, but without telling the driver. That did not deserve a response, so the revised plan was in action.

The tow driver dude showed up. He was a spitting image of Willie Nelson. No shit! This guy has got to be related in some way. He loaded the van onto his, and without detection, Gaff and Steve were safely on top of a tow truck. So far, so good!
As we were pulling away from the club, the driver, Robert (I remember his name now) He says, "I hope the weigh station is closed." What the F--- matters about a weigh station, I thought. So I asked him what he meant. First of all, we are not allowed to have three people in the cab of a towing vehicle in Mississippi. In Arkansas it's okay. But in order to get home the quickest way, we have to go through Mississippi. He was telling us, that just a few days before, he got pulled over and both vehicles were searched and fined. It took over an hour and cost him several hundred dollars in fines.

Well, what the hell do you think was going to happen to us when they find Gaff and Steve in the back of the van!? There is no telling what they might have in possession that would just make matters WORSE! We are screwed!

Randy and I were basically holding hands in prayer as we crossed the river waiting for the station sign to say "open" or "closed".

The moment arrived and…it was…CLOSED! Breathing a huge sigh of relief and laughing at the now moot point that Gaff and Steve had absolutely NO clue that anything horrible could have happened. Ignorance is bliss? Hardly! This tow truck had a VERY tight suspension. The ride was extremely BUMPY. We were uncomfortable in the cab, so I could only imagine the ride in the back of the van. (Steve told me later that he hit his head several times on the ceiling of the van due to several good bumps in the road.)

Once we got on the four-lane road (Highway 61). I asked the driver if he had any interesting stories about people who were stranded like us. Pandora’s Box just got opened, people!

Not only was he a tow truck driver, owner of a few motor repair shops, a worker for the West Helena D.E.A., but most importantly, he sold PORN! I kid you not. He had movies and small toys in the damn glove box! Yes indeed, Willie Nelson’s long lost Arkansas brother was a porn peddler. He bragged about how he picked up a good lookin’ black girl who was horny as hell. As he was driving, he did not want to tarnish his professionalism, so he offered to sell her a silver bullet. For those of you slow folk, it’s a small vibrator that takes one AA battery to operate. And, by god, he was kind enough to sell batteries too! So, he said that girl pleasured herself all the way from Tunica to Clarksdale. Most of his interesting sex toy stories came from drunken casino gamblers whose cars have died. Several young girls and a few older women all seemed to have had a good time in his cab all because of the mini Wal-Mart of porn in his glove box.

Anyway, he drove all 90 miles going 50 mph and we made it back safely at 5am. Robert dumped the van in the driveway and drove off. Randy and I opened the back of the van to retrieve Gaff and Steve. They were asleep-I guess once we hit the interstate the smooth ride knocked them out.

Randy and I told them about their nearly disastrous encounters, but it didn’t matter. We pulled it off! Well you know curiosity did get the best of me, so I decided to give the van one last crank and what do ya know....it started (go figure)!

Come back for more stories soon.


Take care.


Devan

Monday, March 3, 2008

The great midwest!


Thanks for everyone that came out and saw us in Addison and Arlington, TX as well as Oklahoma City, OK We had a great time and enjoyed meeting new people. We'll have some pic's up soon from those shows so check our site often.

So....I was at Baker's St. Bar in OKC waiting to get a drink from my buddy Rosco when the "American Spirit" women sitting next to me waited about two minutes before she spat out the words "So what's your deal" I was floored. I've never had someone strike up a conversation with me using that opening line. She was referring to all my piercings, eyeliner and fingernail polish. She then said "you must be in the band" all I could say was; you think? I ended up talking to her for about 20 minutes. She was super cool.

Over the past year I've met a few girls two of which are sisters and I talk to them all the time. Well this weekend their mom came out to see us. She to is awesome! At the end of the night we were standing outside of the bar when the mom said to me "just cause you met me now doesn't mean you can start calling me too" does it get any better than that? I love quick witted older women. Both of them made my night. What a great job I have!

For everyone in OKC and surrounding areas, we'll be back at Baker's for St Patty's day and possibly the Sunday night before so come out and see us. It should be a major blow out!!

Thanks to everyone for a great week and I hope to see you all again soon!

Later,
Randy

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Great show in HUNTSVILLE, AL


Our bass player (Gaff) has been recuperating from pneumonia over the past few weeks. To make things worse, he coughed so hard he caused a hairline fracture to his ribs. We almost had to cancel our show last week, but Randy stepped up and played bass for the night. HOLY SH** he was really good! We rocked out a very eager crowd and had an awesome time. Thank you, Station in Huntsville! and THANK YOU, RANDY!

Gaff will be back in action next week ready to scare the young ladies tearing up his four strings.
Our schedule for this week is:
Friday in Columbus, MS for the Tri Delta sorority and
Saturday night in downtown Memphis (Pearl's Oyster House).
Upcoming Shows
We hope to see our Memphis friends Saturday night!

Take care.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Upcoming Shows

Well...this weekend should be interesting. Chris is out with some cracked ribs due to hardcore coughing from being sick so I'll be rockin' the bass this weekend. Luckily we only have one show. It's this Friday in Huntsville, AL. I've played bass before in previous bands so it won't be a big deal. It's been a long time though! Anyway check back in on the blog or subscribe to it cause I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories from the show.

I'm going to do my best at posting often on the new blog with tales from the road so check back often or like I said earlier just subscribe to it!!

Later...