Celebs I have met - general discussion

[Bluesberry]

I shook hands with the man, who shook hands with man who shook hands with, THE MAN!! at the jazz cafe in London a fewyearsback.He played well, I don't rember his name  but it was a shame, because the man who shook the hand of THE MAN!! The man who we had come to see had gotton to old to play his guitar and had to leave the other younger fellow in his band to play all the classic rock n roll leads, but at least we saw him although we didn't shake his hand we just shook the mans hand who shookhis hand which had shook the hand of THE MAN!!...............

The freaking MAN........dude........I was in the restroom the other week and was taking a leak beside the MAN.........


But seriously, the closest I ever got to star factor was sitting at a seafood restaurant in Bangor Maine, and Kurt Russell was at the next table.......

[Oldrottenhead]

most of the teenage fanclub have been in duglas t stewarts band the bmx bandits at some time or other.

[Blooby]

I don't know if most people would consider these big stars, but some of them are absolutely huge to me.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono - I didn't meet them, but I ended up being around them for 3-4 days.  As a youngster, my family stayed at the same tiny resort as them in the Virgin Islands.  My parents never had another kind word to say about them as their entourage took over the place.  Very demanding.  My memory of the trip is that a sea urchin's spiny thing broke off in my brother's foot.

Steve Morse (Steve Morse Band, Dixie Dregs, Kansas, Deep Purple, Flying Colors) - I told him I owned his model guitar; he said I had great taste.  Another time, I drove him from an airport to a clinic for 20 minutes or so.  Nice guy.

Carl Verheyen (session work, Carl Verheyen Band, Supertramp) - Saw him in Nashville.  We had a couple beers together over a 45 minute conversation after his soundcheck.  Seymour Duncan walked up for a while as well.  Carl was super nice.  Seymour was tough to get a bead on.

Wayne Krantz (session work, Steely Dan, Wayne Krantz Band) - Met him before a gig.  Nice but pretty quirky.  He would have to be to invent his own musical vocabulary.

Jimmy Herring (Aquarium Rescue Unit, Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Widespread Panic, solo stuff, other projects) - Unbelievably nice guy.  I got tanked at a Derek Trucks gig where he sat in for the whole show.  When I was chatting to him after, he was concerned about me getting home safely.

Derek Trucks (Derek Trucks Band, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Allman Brothers) - I was an idiot.  He was in his late teens or early 20's, and some local University Of Florida women were showing him some attention.  I don't remember what I said, but I'm embarrassed about it to this day.  I think it had something to do with him getting laid.  No wonder Jimmy Herring was concerned for the safety of others on the road that night.  I met him another time when he struck up a conversation with me by a bathroom because I was wearing a Mahavishnu Orchestra t-shirt.

Gov't Mule (Warren Haynes, Matt Abts, Allen Woody, and guitar tech Brian Farmer) - Friend worked for Sabine music, and he was presenting the band with some tuners.  We were on the tour bus, having a beer with guitar tech Brian Farmer when I started to feel like I was encroaching.  As I was leaving the bus, the band walked up, and we exchanged pleasantries.  Warren Haynes was super nice.  Matt Abts I had met before at a festival during a Kool and the Gang set where we talked briefly about The Mahavishnu Orchestra...nice guy.  Allen Woody looked like he wanted me dead.  He didn't say anything but that look...  Egad.

Susan Tedeschi (solo, Tedeschi/Trucks Band) - After a show in Jacksonville, FL, she was signing autographs on the sidewalk.  Once again, I was a tad drunk.  I suggested my girlfriend go up and wrap her leg around her for a picture as a joke.  I guess I had no control over my own dynamics.  Ms. Tedeschi was quickly shepherded away.  Oopsie.

Oteil Burbridge (Aquarium Rescue Unit, solo stuff, Allman Brothers) - Met him at a festival, walking around, enjoying the scene.  Shot the bull for several minutes about band politics.  Nice guy.

Bobby Lee Rodgers (solo stuff, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz instructor at Berklee in Boston) - Saw an odd outside show where the stage was on a rail-less pontoon boat on a trailer.  How the musicians got amps (and in this case, a Leslie speaker) up there, I don't know.  I was eating when Bobby Lee walked by.  I asked him if there was any chance of him playing a couple of specific songs.  He said, "Oh man, I can't believe you know those."  I said, "Well, I'm a fan...  I'm not a fanatic but a fan.  By the way, I'll give you $200 for your underwear."  He left shortly thereafter.  I was not drunk, and I still think it's one of the funniest one-liners I have ever uttered.  My girlfriend uses this story as ammunition when she's trying to convince others I am strange.

Jack Pearson (solo stuff, Lee Roy Parnell, session work, Allman Brothers) - Drove 1,000 miles round trip or so to see him in Nashville.  When I told him, he blessed me.  Unfortunately, this act has not affected my guitar playing.

Billy Cobham (fusion drummer, most notably The Mahavishnu Orchestra and his solo stuff) - Met him at a clinic.  I pissed him off by asking if there were any plans to play with John McLaughlin again.  He stated rather emphatically, "I shall never work with that man again!"  Oopsie.

Keith Carlock (session drummer, Steely Dan) - Couldn't get a bead on him.  He was trying to get through to somebody on his cell phone while we were chatting.  I walked away and gave him his space.

Mike Landau (Session guitarist for Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and 100's of others, various solo projects and band projects) - Seem humbled that anybody would take the time to talk to him.  Super nice.  

Rob Dehrak (bass player for moe.) - We talked restaurants I think.  Seemed nice.

Steve Vai - Met him at a meet and greet in a music store just before Passion and Warfare came out.  Didn't get much face time with him, but he seemed nice.

Zakir Hussain (solo stuff, Shakti with John McLaughlin, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead) - He was watching a concert.  At set break, I went over just to briefly mention how much his music meant to me.  He bowed to me several times.  Very humble.  

Dug Pinnick (King's X) - Just a super nice guy.  We chatted about the night's gig for a bit.

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Rob Lowe - I was walking out of a bar as he was walking in.  We were both looking behind us, and we collided, knocking him on his arse.

David Whitlock (famous fly fisherman and inventor of Dave's Hopper) - As a 10-11 year-old, I was trying to ask him a question in a clinic on tying flies.  He said-and I quote-"What the &uck do you want, kid?"  It was my lesson that we're all just people, and some people are assholes.  Excuse my language.

Blooby

[Speed Demon]

At a wedding reception my band played, one of the guests was Gene Hackman.
It was his niece's wedding. Chatted with him during a break. A really nice guy.

[64Guitars]

Rob Lowe - I was walking out of a bar as he was walking in.  We were both looking behind us, and we collided, knocking him on his arse.

That's great! You should get a t-shirt printed that says "I knocked Rob Lowe on his arse." Of course, it goes without saying that it must be a tie-dyed t-shirt.

[Rata-tat-tat]

Rob Lowe - I was walking out of a bar as he was walking in.  We were both looking behind us, and we collided, knocking him on his arse.

That's great! You should get a t-shirt printed that says "I knocked Rob Lowe on his arse." Of course, it goes without saying that it must be a tie-dyed t-shirt.

I would've liked to knock him on his arse... It musta been karma Blooby... He kept putting the moves on my ex at a Ski Resort in Arizona... I was ready to give him some smashing good looks. He had a whole gaggle of paid wankers with him... I stood no chance of winning that one and left. I probably should've left my ex there with him... they deserved each other. Karma... I love it... I wish I could've been there to see that one!!! Thanks for making my day Blooby!!!

[Speed Demon]

Godzilla.

Scary sapsucker!

[ODH]

When I was 15, my mum took me to see Vice Squad at Alt-yr-Yn technical college.  She got talking to the sound guy and after the whole band came over.  I got talking to Becky Bondage and I got her autograph on a promo poster and she got me the whole of the rest of the band's too.

We don't get a lot of celebs in my unfashionable part of South East Wales.

In 1984 I was stood next to Bjork at a miners benefit concert in Penarth.

My next door neighbor-but-one's sister is engaged to the front man of Goldie Lookin Chain.

[launched]

Like I've said before, George W. Bush gave me a noogie.