IT STARTED OUT IN THE EARLY 70'S. MY MOTHER WAS REALLY INTO DAVID CASSIDY AND OTHER POP BANDS. SHE HAD ALL THE POSTERS, PUZZLES, 45'S, POOKA SHELL NECKLACES, SO I GREW UP WITH THAT MUSIC. (I TO THIS DAY OWN THE CD'S, DVD'S OF THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY. WHEN I WAS 5 YEARS OLD MY FATHER THOUGHT THAT IF HE LEARNED HOW TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT MAYBE MY MOM WOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO HIM, SO HE WENT DOWN TO FLORES MUSIC STORE, PICKED HIM UP A FENDER P BASS AND AN AMP AND TRIED TO LEARN TO PLAY... HE GAVE UP WITHIN A WEEK.
THE NEXT WEEK HE TRADED THE BASS GEAR FOR A LUDWIG BLUE SPARKLE 5 PIECE DRUMSET. I HEARD HIM BEAT THEM ONLY ONCE. THERE THEY SAT IN THE BASEMENT CALLING ME! I WAS TOLD TO NEVER TOUCH THEM OR I WOULD GET A BEATING, YEAH I SAID BEATING. GUESS WHAT I DID NEXT... EVERY DAY AFTER SCHOOL I BEAT ON THOSE DRUMS, THEN BEFORE 5 O'CLOCK I WOULD STRATEGICALLY PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN ORDER. MY MOM NEVER TOLD HIM. DURING THE DAY IN KINDERGARTEN I MET WHO WOULD BE MY BEST FRIEND UNTIL HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE 12 YEARS LATER.
HE WAS A VERY STRANGE KID THAT WORE GLOVES EVERYDAY BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS BATMAN. ONE DAY HE SHOWED ME A RECORD THAT HIS BROTHER HAD 4 GUYS WITH MAKEUP ON THE COVER! THAT TOTALLY BLEW ME AWAY. KISS WAS MY BAND AND I BECAME A HUGE PETER CRISS FAN I LEARNED ALL OF HIS SHUFFLE BEATS AND KNEW EVERY KISS SONG THERE WAS. FROM AGE 5 TO 10 ALL I DID WAS LISTEN TO KISS AND AM RADIO (THE LOOP IN CHICAGO). THAT IS WHEN I DISCOVERED A BAND CALLED CHEAP TRICK AND SINCE THEY TOURED WITH KISS THEY WERE OKAY TO LISTEN TO ALSO. MY PARENTS HAD SPLIT BY THEN.
I FORMED MY FIRST BAND WITH MY BEST FRIEND, MY 2 BROTHERS AND
MY MOTHERS BOYFRIENDS SON. IT WAS DURING LUNCH IN 5TH GRADE FOR ME WHERE WE PERFORMED IN KISS OUTFITS AND PLAYED ORIGINAL SONGS, PROBABLY ABOUT KISS!!! I ALSO SANG FOR THE FIRST TIME. I SANG "BETH" AND PRETTY MUCH AFTER THAT DAY NEVER REALLY HAD A PROBLEM GETTING A DATE. FAST FORWARD TO AGE 13, I JOINED A BAND OF 30 YEAR OLDS IN A CLUB BAND CALLED TOSS UP. WE PLAYED TOGETHER FOR 2 YEARS BUT ONLY PLAYED OUT 3 TIMES, AND I WAS DOING THINGS THAT NO 13 YEAR OLD SHOULD BE DOING. WHEN WE LOST OUR SINGER I BECAME THE SINGER BY DEFAULT. GOING THROUGH PUBERTY AND GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST I WANTED MORE SO I TRADED MY THEN WATERLOGGED DRUMSET (BASEMENT FLOODED) FOR A BMX TIRE AND SAMMY HAGAR'S 3 LOCK BOX RECORD. I DETASSLED CORN (MIDWEST GOLD) ONE SUMMER SO I COULD BUY A MIC AND STAND FROM A RADIO SHACK CATALOG AND STARTED A BAND CALLED RAZOR SHARP WHICH BROKE UP AND STARTED BLACK DIAMOND (WHICH BY THE WAY INCLUDED GREG TRIBBETT OF MUDVAYNE ON BASS). WE CHANGED NAMES AND OUR GUITAR PLAYER ABOUT EVERY 6 MONTHS UNTIL GREG TRIBBETT AND MYSELF DECIDED TO MOVE TO LOS ANGELES TO BE ROCK STARS! WE ENDED UP IN WICHITA KANSAS WITH ABOUT $200 BETWEEN US. SO WHAT DID WE DO... WENT TO THE MALL AND BOUGHT BON JOVI AND WHITE LION CD'S!(YES GREG WAS ONCE GLAM) AFTER 2 MONTHS IT WAS BACK TO PEKIN ILLINOIS WITH OUR TAILS BETWEEN OUR LEGS. I WAS APPROACHED BY DD EHRLICH (SLIPNOT, CREAMATOREUM OTHER PRODUCTION CREDITS) AND ASKED TO JOIN HIS BAND IN BILOXI MS. I HAD NOTHING ELSE GOING ON AND WENT FOR IT. WICKED JESTER CONSISTED OF DD, MYSELF, KENNY KWEENS(BEAUTIFUL CREATURES) AND ROB WOOD. WE DID SO MUCH IN THE 4 YEARS. WE WERE TOGETHER, TOURING, PARTYING. IT WAS CRAZY, DOING INSTORE SIGNINGS, AUTOGRAPHS IN THE MALL, PEOPLE TATTOOING OUR LOGO ON THEM. THIS WAS CRAZY FOR ME ESPECIALLY, BECAUSE I HAD JUST TURNED 19 WHEN I STARTED WITH THEM AND HERE WE WERE OUTSELLING GUNS AND ROSES AT ALL THE LOCAL RECORD CHAIN STORES. OUTGROWING BILOXI, WE MOVED TO HOLLYWOOD AND SOLD OUT OUR FIRST 2 SHOWS AT GAZZARRIS. EVERYTHING WAS GOING GREAT EXCEPT I WANTED TO WRITE MORE POP SONGS AND NOT BE SO GLAM ANYMORE (AND NIRVANA HAD RUINED GLAM ROCK BY THAT TIME). WE PARTED WAYS AND I BASICALLY TRIED TO FIND MYSELF. I DIDN'T, BUT I DID FIND A DRINKING PARTNER AND STARTED NEEDLE DAMAGE DONE. I WAS NOW A POWER/PUNK/POWER DRINKING ROCKER AND GOT ROB WOOD BACK IN THE FOLD WITH ME. ALOT OF SHOWS AND ALCOHOL LATER, I SOBERED UP AND STARTED CHANGING MY LIFE AROUND. NEEDLE DAMAGE DONE BECAME NDD AND STARTED TO BECOME A POP BAND. AT THE TIME MY BROTHER SHANNON WAS IN THE BAND ALSO, THAT LEAD TO PROBLEMS AND OUR DEMISE. WITH SHANNON GONE WE HAD A REVOLVING DOOR OF GUITAR PLAYERS. THAT SUMMER THE BULLS WERE WINNING THEIR LAST BEST OF SEVEN SERIES AND I TOOK THE NAME FOR MY BAND,AND EVENTUALLY LANDED A DEAL WITH UNION ENTERTAINMENT(NICKLEBACK,SALIVA,DEFAULT) AND THOUGHT EVERTHING WAS ON IT'S WAY. ALOT OF BALL DROPPING AND BAD ADVICE LATER THAT VERSION BROKE UP AND I MOVED BACK TO ILLINOIS LOST. I WAS BACK IN CALI WITHIN A YEAR AND REFORMED WITH A COUPLE OF NEW MEMBERS AND ROB ONLY TO END IN 2006. NOW I WANT TO CONCENTRATE ON MY SOLO WORK, I HAVE A PUBLISHING DEAL WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC AND AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE! I WROTE THE THEME TO "TWO GUYS DRINKING AT A BAR" WHICH STARS CHRIS FARLEYS BROTHER KEVIN FARLEY AND PAUL PRESTON. LOOK FOR IT ONLINE. I ALSO WROTE THE OUTRO SONG FOR MICHIGANS WIRK RADIO SHOW "THE JASON LEE SHOW", SO TECHNICALLY I AM ON THE RADIO EVERYDAY!!!!WHO KNOWS... MAYBE DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!
Two Guys Drinking At A Bar - Episode 1
Hey Shane, found your solo CD on iTunes by accident. You should promote it more...it rocks...don't be ashamed ;-) Wife says you sound just like JBJ! Cool you're selling your demos here. Not a big Snocap fan though (putting it nicely). Love the new BO7 songs!
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