My daddy played guitar and sang, so I�ve been around folks playing music ever since I can remember.
About everybody in the band started singing and playing back in their early teens, or maybe even before that.
Playing music has given me opportunities to experience slices of life that I otherwise won�t have. It has introduced me to a wide variety of people of all backgrounds and has started lifelong friendships. (Heck, I even met my wife when I was playing in a club in Elizabeth City.)
I really enjoy performing and playing music, but the friendship thing is much more important to me. The guys in this band are all really close friends (three of us have been together for nearly 30 years). This band is like a family; dysfunctional maybe, but a family nonetheless.
We have a great deal of respect for one another and appreciate the talent each one brings the band. If you go to one of our shows, sometime during the night you�ll most likely see us �high five� one of our fellow band mates after a song when he�s laid down a super lick or we nail a three or four part harmony vocal arrangement that�ll give you goose bumps. I tell everybody that I've got the best seat in the house. We�re having a ball up there on stage, we only hope the audience is too.
I know bands that play great music together on stage, but off stage, they hardly speak to one another; it�s purely a business partnership to them. It�s not like that with Out �n the Cold-- if we didn�t like each other, we wouldn�t play together; simple as that.
Now I�m not saying we agree all the time or that we�re not opinionated; shoot, you get five egos together, you're gonna have about seven different opinions on any given subject.
Years ago, we all agreed that when it got to the point when playing wasn�t fun anymore, we�d quit. Well, so far, we really don�t see any reason to quit �cause we�re still having fun. And thanks to �Oh Brother, Where Art Thou�,and because bluegrass instruments are more prominent in popular country music, our style of music and instrumentation has been rejuvenated and is more popular than ever. I guess if you play something long enough, the trend will come back around to you.
Grand Daddy always said, �Don�t throw away your wide ties, they�ll come back in style one day.� |
