Ask any musician, and they'll tell ya: one of the hardest thing about this "business" is finding the "right" band members. I can remember being in Velvet Revolver for about 15 minutes or so (about three weeks, actually) and the thing I loved about that experience (working with Duff McKagan especially) is that those guys had at least 30-40 songs on the demo CD Duff gave me, and all of us had one goal in mind: creating some great music.
That's it.
We rehearsed at Mates for five hours at a time. No one asked, "How much am I getting paid to rehearse?" "Who's paying my gas money to write this song?" etc. The subject of money never came up. We rehearsed, wrote songs and hung out together because we loved playing more than anything else, and are happier playing music than doing anything else.
Don't miss Adler's Appetite at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL on July 4 where they will be on the same bill as LA Guns and Lita Ford with Bumblefoot.
June 13 - Las Vegas, NV - Cheyenne Saloon 15 - Colorado Springs, CO - Sodo Niteclub 16 - Oklahoma City, OK - Rock Theater 18 - Tolono, IL - Radmaker’s 19 - Cedar Rapids, IA - Rock 198 KFMW Festival 20 - Shaumburg, IL - Chicago City Limits 21 - Greenville, WI - Route 51 23 - Warren, MI - The Ritz 25 - Harris, WI - The Back Door 26 - Waterloo, IA - Reverb Rock Room 27 - Monroe City, MO - The Dam Rally 28 - St Louis, MO - The Library 30 - New Bedford, MA - New Wave Cafe
July 01 - Rumford, ME - The Shak 02 - Farmingdale, NY - Crazy Donkey 03 - Cinncinati, OH - Riverstar Entertainment Complex 04 - Bridgeville, IL - Toyota Park Festival 05 - St Paul, MN - Taste Of Minnesota (Harriet Island)
August 15 - Lake Elsinore, CA - Storm Stadium Rock Fest 28 - Universal City, CA - City Walk
My family comes to Europe tomorrow, and I am more than excited to see them. Tomorrow in London, Squires and I will play live on the radio to something like eight million listeners. No pressure. Later that day, I will present an award to the Manic Street Preachers at the MOJO Awards (a big British awards show). On Friday, Loaded plays the Download Festival, probably the pinnacle of any rock band's career. I have played it with GN'R, and twice with VR. Next week? We start our European tour with Mötley Crüe. Oh, the stories I could tell . . .
