While I was working at that Hellhole whose name shall not be uttered (go back 1-year on this blog), I became acquainted with one Mr. Chris Moore, a part-time helper there who was, well there's no better word for it, Chris was cool. We're talkin' wrap-around shades, the latest in hair-spikage, mod clothes, and a rave-club pallor. Young Chris had an air about him, that is for sure. Didn't take long for me to find out that the kid was funny, too, in a dry, ascerbic way. Smart kid, Chris Moore.
Because he was sort of the lone hipster among a bunch of long-toothed rockers, he caught more than his share of ribbing from the gang. But he laughed right along with everybody and returned the abuse in-kind. All the while, Chris was learning audio engineering and live sound. Turns out he was a singer and was beginning the process of getting a demo together. Chris was even planning a trip to Cali to track and mix with a very well-known veteran producer/mixologist. Yep, that Chris was on his way up in life. He had big plans. Big dreams. He was on the launchpad. He was ready to ignite. He was on the Road....
...to Nowhere.
Or, more accurately, he was on the Rotary to Nowhere. For those of you who don't live in Massachusetts, a Rotary is a traffic circle. They're all over the place up here, and they're scary as-hell. Where three or four or more roads converge/intersect, instead of a traffic light, there's a rotary. You enter the one-way mixmaster, circling until the road you want comes up and then you exit. And it's not just one lane, either. There can be two, sometimes three cars side-by-side. So all these vehicles are getting on and off and going 'round and 'round. What sometimes happens is, you might be in the outside lane, and the car on the INSIDE lane (to your left) decides to exit (to your right). This was the unlucky position Chris found himself in last summer. He was on the notorious Fresh Pond Rotary in Cambridge, one of the busiest and craziest in the area.
CCRRASSSHHH!
In an instant, Chris's life changed, and not in a good way. He didn't have health insurance and ended up with a bad doctor. The story goes down hill from there. But I'll let Chris tell it himself. Instead of Hollywood, he's out in the middle of Cow-cake Ohio, surrounded by a sea of mud, trying desperately to get back to civilization through his laptop. So, check out his site, TheQuarterProject, watch his video, and maybe flip a couple Washingtons his way...
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Feelin' it With Joe Ely
Ely Tellin' Texas Tales as Tall as a Ten-Gallon Hat
One of the best gigs I ever had with the Derangers was in 1997 at Mama Kin on Landsdowne, when we opened for the great Texas Balladeer, Joe Ely. Joe Ely Homepage
We got to hang with him back stage and got his autograph. He signed my (vinyl 12") copy of Lord of The Highway, writing, "Beware of El Tarantula!" Bern and I had recounted to him the story of how we had just moved to a new apartment, and how I had gotten produce boxes from a local grocery store, and how when I opened the banana box, now containing CDs, there was a giant hairy tarantula in there. Ely was like, "Didja keep 'im? What didja name 'im?"
Times They Were a-Twangin' with The Derangers and My 1961 Stratocaster!
The best part was, we were to play first of three bands, but the middle band didn't show up, so we got bumped up to right before Ely. By the time we went on, like ten-ish, the place had filled up with Ely fans, who really dug what we were doing. We were at the top of our game by that point, so that was a really good night for us.
And Ely and his band were amazing, of course.
Labels:
Derangers,
Drew's Gigs,
Drew's influences,
Joe Ely,
Texas Music
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