Bait Shop Blues?

We survived the Battle of the Bands on Sunday April 25th.

There were a lot of mixed emotions for me, it was like ‘in with the old and out with the new’. Terri Thunders and Cowtown Joe left the band just before the show. Terri is pretty much a workaholic and wasn’t going to lose a paycheck over a non-paying gig. Joe wanted more creative control than I could afford to give. My newest drummer, John Farrell, and our titular manager, Greg Wood, were no-shows. My co-promoter of our defunct IWA (Independence Wrestling Association), “Mad Max” Anderson and his wife Dorothy showed up to give us moral support and make sure we got our video. My old drummer John Mc Guffin, who played on our Canned Heat video, came in and saved the day onstage.

Strangely enough, only two things really stuck in my mind. I repented for saying the f-word in front of the younger audience. I also felt like we got outmuscled by Operation Fear, a screamo band out of St. Joseph. Of course, they couldn’t get over in front of 95% of the audiences we play, and it was five against two. Still, it’s that Spoiler pride. I don’t like us coming up second best at anything, not even screamo. But, once again we’ve proved we’re the best band out there. Yet once again, I don’t know where we’re going next. There’s no guarantee that John Mac is coming back, and it may well be me and my new drum machine against the world again. Still, we’ve got the new songs on My Space, and they’re screaming at me not to be buried alive. They’re just too good to be threw, as they say.

I’m taking the week off (or so I’m thinking) to recharge my batteries, hit the weights, wait for my new grunge pedal to come in, and tinker with some new recordings. I know I’m nearing the end of my journey and I just want to go out in style, but you just never know where the Lord is going to take you along the long and winding road. Hell, you just want to get there with your head held high and your dignity intact.

At Jerry’s Bait Shop, we had nothing to be ashamed of.