I have been reflecting back on a particular chapter in my life and the weight it had in really shifting my life to where I am today.
In 2001, I was in college at LSU. On a whim, we decided to try out a new bar. This bar was more than a bar. They had a band. And the band they had was a new three piece playing to an empty room. Little did I know, there was a change in my direction that started at that moment.
These three guys became best friends of mine. I quickly found myself obsessed with this world. Upon further reflection, I made a group of friends in middle school outside of the athletic crowd I typically spent time with. They were the metal head kids playing music. I would watch them play terrible covers for hours. How do I know they were terrible? Because we were in middle school.
It was fucking awesome.
There was an energy that came from being in the presence of something being made. I was drawn immediately back to this sense of wonder with Meriwether. I had to be near it.
I helped everywhere I could and went to shows (without being too much of a creep; this is a skill; learn how to be cool). Eventually, I was helping with their merch and shirt sales ( NO SHIT! Still doing the same thing). It then led to being asked to go on tour and help anyway I can. Tour manager sounds so much fancier than the reality.
I was a 24 year old lunatic, making almost $800 a month from my failing bike shop and the tour managing job, but luckily I still DJ’d at the strip club which allows me to live. Today, I still have like 9 jobs and I’m aware of how attracted I am to managing chaos (important info about self to store away).
Back to the point if there ever really is one. Drew and the other guys from Meriwether have been close friends of mine for the last 20 years. I owe these guys a tremendous amount of thanks for being some of the first people I got to meet that were chasing a dream. They were not attracted to beige houses and the bullshit idea of success and comfort we are sold. They were betting on them and only playing by their rules.
I got to see a lot of the good and bad of it. It’s fucking hard to chase your dreams. It’s even harder when your dreams have to be run through the music industry machine at that time. I got to watch the power of doing whatever you want go poorly.
We were all overconfident kids making mistakes by the dozens. Yet here I am at nearing 40, still selling Tshirts, still driving a van around the country, and still hanging out in rooms full of neon.
It’s always interesting to look back at what the compass swings back to during my happiest chapters. I still love the chaos of managing lots of things. I love the reward of getting it right. I’m willing to fuck it all up in pursuit of the things that bring me the most joy.
Creating, inspiring, traveling, experiencing, and activities that require 100% of my attention.
