What makes you tick?
…and by ‘you’ I mean ‘me’. I mean, after all, this is MY journal. So the question being proposed this time around is ‘Steve, what goes on in that pretty little head of yours?’ (bonus points if you remember that song lyric, and even more if you know the co-writers – Shawn, you can’t play). Answer below…
It doesn’t take much digging to know that I am a history buff, I like the heck out of some coffee, and airplanes make me stop in my tracks. That’s the easy stuff. Since you probably came here to because of music, let’s talk music for a little bit.
If you are like the other 5 billion people around the world, you have watched a few minutes of the Peter Jackson Beatles documentary ‘Get Back’. What a remarkable gem of a production. It’s hard to watch if you aren’t a fan or a musician, but here’s a little insight. Scope and scale of money/popularity not withstanding, that’s what it’s like to be in a band. You fight, you love, you create, you build up, you tear down, and you do it all again for the sake of the music.
And it made me miss my old band. A lot. We were no Beatles, but we had all the things I mentioned above, and we played a lot of shows, and sadly no rooftop performances, I don’t think. If I could go back in time to change anything, I’d don’t think I would. Really. First, if I went back in time and tried to play a show, the old me would laugh the new me out of the building because I don’t remember the songs. But everything happens the way it is supposed to happen, you know? Everything. Even bad wardrobe choices, which continue for me to this day.
But one thing about our band is although we didn’t always agree, we always pushed each other musically. We came from the public schools where school band was a big part of our lives, and then eventually marching band and drum corps alumni, so that ‘precision’ had a lot to do with our training as well. I was, by far, the least talented member of the group.
Riding in the van we used to (for the most part) shun the tunes of the radio, unless it was Dave Matthews Band. We wore out Edwin McCain, James Taylor, Sting, regional bands whose CD’s we’d pick up after doing shows together. It’s funny because I think we eventually morphed into headphones and listened as a group less. Dan was listening to Coltrane, I was listening to Frank Sinatra and Jaco, and talk radio filled the air on late night drives.
Fast forward to now, and I’m being flooded with the ‘feels’ about the past which takes my listening ear to various spots in my life. It’s amazing how a song can transport you to a point in your life, and silly us, we didn’t know how simple and cool life really was at the time. And as crazy and adult as life is for some of us, it’s still a pretty amazing time.
So if I am waxing nostalgic, I will let my past dictate my present music choice, which is good for a boost while I clean the kitchen or engage in a similar non-thinking activity. Agent Orange takes me back to care-free days in Virginia Beach, as does Steel Pulse, Peter Tosh, and English Beat. I’ll also go with jazz icons like Miles Davis or Lionel Hampton or The Meters or Steely Dan or any of a bunch of other artists.
I will listen to K’s Choice fondly, remembering a really fun tour we did with them what seems like 100 years ago. I hear The Replacements and think of my good friend Ed Toth. I listen to ‘No, No, No’ by Dawn Penn and all is right with the world, right Dave? I could go on for a few thousand more words – music has solidified so many of my friendships, and for that I am grateful.
Is there anything you won’t find on my playlist? The Eagles. And that’s all I have to say about that.
And in case you are wondering, no, country doesn’t make my top 5 either. Not that I don’t appreciate it, however, my soul finds different genres, like, well, soul.
There’s something really interesting about one particular band, however, that seems to keep coming back around in my life. That band is Sister Hazel.
The band was one of those bands in the 90’s that gave our band hope for a brighter future. Sister Hazel was a college band in Gainesville, wrote some great songs, and the rest is history. We were booked to play a sorority party in Atlanta, and oddly enough Sister Hazel played the same party a year earlier. At that point they were in a bus and playing big rooms. And then, as if life were calling out to us, the band was staying at the same hotel as the party location, so we left them one of our CDs at the front desk for them. Knowing how that approach seldom works, we were floored when we played the same festival down the road and Ken took some time to talk with us.
From then on a series of events happened, which always seemed to offer hope, and not in the ways one would think. It seems that whenever I needed a personal boost, I’d hear one of their songs in random places (Luckily Home Depot plays them on an endless loop). My band broke up, but then Sister Hazel asked if I would fill in with theirs from time to time. Then I started working on videos with them, editing and shooting all kinds of material for them. The work continues with them, with an upcoming Christmas tour in a couple of weeks.
Through Sister Hazel I also met the producer/drummer Ben Jackson, with whom I’ve been fortunate to work on a number of ventures, from video work to music production to the guidance for my record. To say he’s been important to my life is an understatement.
There’s a long list of amazing people I’ve met in working with the Sister Hazel camp, and meeting those people has only strengthened my affirmation that there are still honorable and respectable people in this business we call music.
I started this entry with some thoughts on what makes me tick. I’m not hard to figure out, really. Music drives me in many ways, reminds me of the past, and gives me hope for the future. The funny thing about my life (and maybe yours as well), is that nothing has gone the way I ‘planned’. (Side note-maybe planned is a strong word. Planning didn’t enter my vocabulary until, well, has it?)
My point is that life will take you down roads you didn’t expect. And your definition of ‘success’ may not have been reached, however, look around you. Look how far you’ve come, and the company you keep. These paths are not an accident. You are always right where you are supposed to be.
I hope you enjoy the day, and hopefully you are all coming out for the Christmas shows next week!
See you on the road!
