Bob

"Bob goes to church every Sunday, Every Sunday that the fish ain't biting
Bob never has to have dinner with the preacher,
cause Bob never bothered getting married
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over

Bob takes care of his mama, she's the only one he lets call him Robert
She don't drive anymore so he takes her to the store
and keeps her yard looking just like she wants it
Every week at the beauty shop Bob's mama hears
of another woman made another man disappear
Robert ain't exactly scared of women, he's just got his own way of living

Bob's still got an antenna on a pole
two channels come in, two more come and go
He used to watch the news but he don't anymore,
ain't none of it new it's the same as before
He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping every bored
till there ain't nobody like Bob anymore

Bob takes care of his mama
she's a mess but he feels like he oughta
How big a mess today? Ask Bob he'll say,
“She's a big one and she's gonna be a lotta”
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over"



We all know Bob. We all know that we need more people like Bob. Sadly, the simple people like Bob just aren't as prevalent in our society anymore. You might notice a trend in my posts about people who are are only focused on themselves and not worried about other people in their society. People like Bob are the sort of people we need. We need people focused on taking care of those who can't take care of themselves.

Rocking Horse

"Hard living be the death of me
Yes, lead me to an early grave
To die in the saddle, must be my destiny
But to ride this rocking horse I must be crazed"
Warren Haynes and Gregg Allman

Being a musician, one of my goals in life is to someday go on tour. What may separate me from the preconceived notion of a touring musician is that it wouldn't take a huge bus and selling out arenas to satisfy my goals. I would be perfectly content with sleeping in a 15 passenger van, showering in truck-stops, eating truck-stop food, and playing clubs and small theatres. I realize this is a hard life, but every musician has to get their start somewhere. This whole life after highschool thing is somewhat intimidating, but I want to go at it full force. I know for a fact that it's not going to be easy and there will be setbacks every now-and-again. Some people may call me crazy for wanting to spend months at a time in the back of a gross smelly van with a bunch of gross smelly friends eating gross smelly food playing music in front of gross smelly fans for next to nothing in return, but I want to experience what some of my heroes experienced as they made their way through the lower realms of the music industry. I feel like I would be doing a disservice to the musicians who came before me playing the style of music that influenced me if I wasn't to go through trials and troubles to get to the point that they are. This will most definitely involve riding the proverbial "rocking horse" that is life on the road and I will have to spend life in the saddle, but I know a love for music will bring me through whatever troubling times come my way.

Just another Drive-by Truckers song

"I'm never goin' back to buttholeville."
Patterson Hood



While waiting to see the second night of a two night run of Gov't Mule shows, my posse and I were perusing the streets of Cincinnati for a decent eatery to quench our hunger that had been growing ever since around the outskirts of Louisville as we had reached I-71. I am going to start off by mentioning how bitterly cold it was (only to be made worse by the wind-tunnel effect of the large buildings) as we walked up and down West 5th Street. I had spotted a Brazilian steak house as we had driven up which I thought might have worthy of checking out, but as we walked up to it we realized it was much to ritzy for us lowly hippies to eat at, then out of the corner of my eye I spotted/smelled what could possibly have been heaven incarnate. What we happened to stumbleupon (no, it's not a typo...google it and let your mind be blown) was Cincy's own Rock Bottom Brewery and Grill. Bill, Billy, Wayne, and I all thought our hunger saviour had been found. We walked through the revolving doors only to find ourselves among huddled masses attempting to shelter themselves and loved ones from the cold. We humbly walked up to the hostess table and patiently waited for an elderly couple to place their names on the waiting list for a table in the crowded eatery. As we approached the kind lady who appeared to be beyond stressed, I was rudely interrupted by the shoulder (which came to my waist) of what I can guess was a 3-5 year old child, followed by another 3-5 year old child, followed by another 3-5 year old child, followed by a lady in her mid-30's pushing a stroller letting everyone in her path know that she was "coming through!"

I was raised as a child to be polite to everyone, no matter what situation has befallen you at the time. I know to hold the door for anyone, not just the poor old ladies. I know to say sir and ma'am to anyone I assume to be older than me that I don't already know as a friend. And I definitely know to say excuse me if someone is obstructing my path as I'm trying to move. I may be stereotyping but this lady and her husband looked that they could have easily made six to seven figure salaries. They also looked like they had enough common sense in them to have the common courtesy to say excuse me when moving past me. This concerns me not only because it was a nuisance to me at the time but it is something I am seeing more and more often throughout the youth (sometimes adults as well) of America. People are only worried about themselves and capitalizing on the downfalls of others.

The point of this post was not to pigeonhole the citizens of Cincinnati as "buttholes" or the town itself as "buttholeville", I was only hoping to point out that people need to look back on their lives and open their eyes to the people around them. A simple "excuse me" would have put me in a much better mood for the wait before the show (Mule covered that up in a hurry, but that's another story for another time).