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January 30, 2003
January 20, 2003
I think it was the irrepressible Tonya King that said it best:
PBTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's mostly directed at me for not keeping up with this so-called "column" of mine that I have been given charge of to channel some of the useless information that I stockpile in this Grade AA size melon of mine!
Anyhoo…
Well I know its a day late and a dollar short but "Happy New Year" to all you Reckers!
To quote Mr. Steve Earle, "If you think last year was weird, this year is going to be weirder… mark my words."
I had thought about making this a 2002 year end wrap-up but it feels so "last year" already, so I think I'll let those "kicky rags" Rolling Stone and Tigerbeat (remind me again... what's the difference between these two magazines?)
Ahem... where was I? Oh yeah…
I'll let them handle it unless, of course, the Everlovin' readership demands to know where Christina got her last piercing or when the new Creed Unplugged is going to be released, or whether or not Fred Durst and Britney are currently riding the hobby horse! (BTW, if you really do care about these things... well, more power to you but, uh… what the hell are you doing on this website?)
Then again how come ol' Fanboy knows so much about all this in the 1st place? Mmm-hmm...makes you wonder doesn't it?
Probably not.
I think I've pretty much concretized my place in Dorkdom. This particular installment feels like it's going to be a continuation of my last which treaded a little heavily on the whole "Texas Music Revolution" issue (yea, that’s right, I said "issue"...)
It struck me kind of funny that about a month after I posted that literary gem our good friend Mr. Pat Green got nominated for a pair of Grammys.
It seems like the "Patman" signal (look...you think that's hard to read? Try typing it!) went up over Gotham – AKA "Club Millican" and the hounds were released!
Anyone who even remotely knows me was probably waiting for me to hit the board with both guns blazing and stir up a whole mess of Grassy Knoll conspiracy theories (back and to the left… back and to the left…) over this so called "proof" that the Grammys are a travesty and that Pat got all “Nash-Vegased” and sold out and blah, blah, blah… Trust me it was hard to leave it alone.
Ya'll remember a little group called Metallica? Yeah, those guys... Used to have one of the most fearsome bass players on the planet named Jason Newsted playing for them… I like that guy... he never said much but when he did, it counted. I think when it comes to calling Pat Green a sellout, he had a really good rebuttal when Metallica was called the same thing. I think it applies here.
He said: "Sellout? Yeah we sell out… everywhere we play, every night we play, anywhere we play.”
If memory serves me, our hero sold out the Astrodome in the 2nd fastest time in the history of the HLS&R.
Hmmm..... that seems like an awful lot of butts in seats - Can 40? 50? 60,000 Texas music fans be wrong? Might be… might not.
Tell you what… I wasn't there.
I had no intention of being there. It's just not my thing.
Now, have I been to a PG show? Hell yeah!
Was I rummier than a Baker’s dozen of Braun Bros. like ya read about?
I refuse to say I grew up (my immaturity and irresponsibility don’t allow for that) and Pat's music didn't, but to quote the wise old sage Andy Bertelsen, "Pat's music hasn't changed, my preferences have evolved.” Well put my son.
In all the hoopla surrounding "PatgreenGate", we have to look at the facts surrounding his "rise." Pat Green released his 1st independent record in 1995 - which means he's been at this for just shy of 10 years.
He has sold well over 200,000 CD’s independently and even made it on to Letterman! He recently performed on Austin City Limits and has recorded with and performed songs by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Django Walker, Willie and Radney Foster. He cut his teeth performing songs by Guy Clark, Stevie Ray, Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff, etc. In living rooms and fraternity houses and private parties and on side stages at festivals from here to BFE and I always am reminded of the shot of him and Cory Morrow tuning up before they played together for the 1st time in Lubbock. It sure seems familiar lately…
But then again I'm telling ya'll stuff you already know...
At press time I do not have all the facts as far as how many times Radney Foster has been nominated for a Grammy for his songwriting. But, he DID co-write "3 Days" with PG and I will stand on a whole stack of Reckless Kelly CD's and hoot and holler and clap my arms off if that song wins a Grammy just because Radney Foster is one of the best songwriters around and has slaved just as hard as anyone in Texas OR "Nashvegas" for a long time and consistently puts out some of the best music on the planet. I bet Pat stands back and looks at where he was 1, 2, or 3 years ago and just about falls out.
Do you have Radney Foster's phone #?
I bet Pat does...
I don’t.
It would be really great if I did… I bet Radney has forgotten more about writing a great song than Pat Green or I or whoever will ever come to know!
I recently followed up on a dream that I have been too lazy or scared OR something to pursue and have been playing some open mics - singing and playing my own music. When, and if I...(God willing and the creek don’t rise) decide to kick it into overdrive and pursue this as a way of life, and the likes of Willy or Micky Braun, Beaver Nelson or Micheal Fracasso or even Pat Green himself called me up and says: " I heard one of your songs the other night… I'd like to write with you or record your song or however that happens...” I believe they call that "going to the Show." Trust me - this is beyond hypothetical.
Would I be stoked?
Big fat duh…
I don't think I would be selling out would I?
I know I’m getting dangerously close to the "walk a mile in his shoes" angle, with this line of thinking... and for lack of a better angle, I think that’s the ticket.
What are we gonna do when RK releases their Joshua Tree? or their VH1 Storytellers - "Live at Stubbs 10 years After", or The ESPN X-Games theme song is done by RK?
Next thing you know, if you don’t have $25 dollars for the cover, you get to hear about how great the show at Gruene Hall was BOTH NIGHTS… because they sold out the 1st night in 23 minutes?
You think this can't /won't happen? Hell I bet about 227 (and counting) of us are losing sleep over the possibility that every RK show from mid-July on will be "18 and up" and some friggin’ sparkly chick and 15 cookie cutter clones of herself are standing in front of my crusty old self, and who only know one thing for sure... she has to elbow her way past me and the rest of the Reckin Crue (good luck by the way...) and that “the lead singer is named Willy or Billy or some thing and is soooooo hot.”
"Omigod sing that AC/DC song! Woooooo!!!!!"
"Oops I think the bouncer saw me scrub off my X's"
"Zima is so good! Mmmmm..."
Sounds familiar huh? Like the last Pat Green show you went to?
Except replace the chick with some A&F wearing 20-something with a gold card and a big ol’ dip of Copenhagen screamin’ "Southbound 35" at the top of his lungs… you get the picture?
Now you multiply that by 1 CD and one koozie and a hat to the tune of around 35.00 -40.00 dollars per fan AFTER they buy a ticket and AFTER they buy a beer or 6...
If you are a smart cutting edge record label like Universal you see one thing...
CHA-CHING!
Just a note to reiterate what "The Innate 1" touched on, Universal (Pat Green's label), also is the home of such "Nashville Legends" as: Elton John, Van Morrison, Robert Plant, Godsmack, Master P (for shizzle my nizzle) and our very own good ol' ex mr Bullock...
Bob Shitbox… (Thanks Micky, that kills me every time...) I mean Schnieder or how ever you spell it. (I love his CD Lonelyland for the record... so quit clicking your tongue and snorting and huffing and puffing and rolling your eyes at me… you know who you are...)
If my calculations are correct, that's a pretty good little chunk of the music world. I don’t think I saw one major CMT rotation artist in there… hmmmm, nope. In fact, not even really that many artists you'd hear on ol’ Clear Channel stations come to think of it.
So now that Reckless Kelly has the distribution, marketing, and eventually video budget of a major label like Sugar Hill behind them, do you think they should say: "Please don't help us sell records! We want to remain relatively unknown and have to play 250-300 dates a year to make a living!"
I don't know - I ain’t them.
But I think that the idea of RK refusing the opportunity to reach thousands of more fans and maybe touring overseas is a bit unrealistic.
Hey, I kinda want to keep them a secret too… in a big brother kind of way. Just so that this little ragtag band I care about doesn't ever have to go through the circus-like existence out there in MTV-ville. I swear to God if there ever is an RK celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament - 1) I better be invited and 2) It better be at night with glow in the dark golf balls and ALOT of mushroom tea* (* - Ed. note: We do not condone the use of illicit substances to improve your golf game).
But then again… I am writing this on the fan site... so that kind of screws up that theory.
Hey what do I know? I don’t even own a car.
So I don’t even listen to the radio - but I bet the 1st time Pat, RK or any artist hear their music on the radio there isn’t enough money, sponsorship, girls, booze, drugs, sex or Grammys to replace the feeling they had when that happened.
what a mystic sound...
Go to my links page for more great music!
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Posted by reh at January 30, 2003 10:33 PM