When I was in high school, some friends and I started a garage band. We called it "Luddan," because our lead singer, Jonny, and drummer, Mark, were brothers, that was their last name, it sounded like a cool band name and it was their garage we jammed in. I was the bass player and also sang back-up. Occasionally, I took the lead singing role, when we wanted the lead vocals to be sung by a female. I also occasionally played the guitar. We had kind of a hard-edge, alternative rock sound. We became very popular locally and started playing school dances, weddings and bar- and bat-mitzvahs. Our fans had even taken on a name for themselves, much like Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads. Our loyal fans called themselves Luddanites.
By the time we all went to college, we were playing gigs at local venues every weekend and getting some radio playtime on the rock stations that sometimes featured music by local artists. Luckily we had all ended up going to various schools right around where we grew up in Charleston, SC, so we didn't have to break up the band at what we thought was the height of its success. We decided to book some studio time and put together an album to sell at our gigs and in the local music shops. We were so thankful for our apparent success, that we called the title track "Thanksgiving to the Gods."
That's my Weimaraner on the album cover. His name was Mr. Bojangles.
Luddan caught it's big break one day when a record executive was in Charleston for some sort of convention and heard one of our songs on the radio. He contacted us to sign for his label. Unfortunately, the day before the contracts were to be finalized and signed, the band's lead singer ate some Mentos and then (this was before anyone knew any better) drank a Coke. His stomach ruptured, and the stomach acid ate him from the inside out. The rest of us just couldn't continue after that tragic end to our lead singer, and the band broke up.
About a year later, I decided to use some of my old contacts around town to see if I could book some local gigs as a solo artist. On my own, I had adopted a more mellow sound, much like Joni Mitchell. It better suited my personality as a solo artist. An old hippie friend of mine came up with my stage name, "Zephyr Teachout." I became sought out for local gigs, and went back to the studio where Luddan had made its one and only album, and made what I hoped would be my debut solo album, to be followed by many more. I had written a song after Jonny Luddan had died, using words from his will, in which he stated that his friends were his estate. I found that quite moving, and decided that that song would be the title track for my debut album. I dedicated the album to Jonny.
I became an overnight success. My independent little album took the nation by storm, and then the world. Record companies were banging down my door to sign me, and movie producers were begging me to write songs for their films. It became overwhelming. Though I had hoped to produce multiple albums, the side effects of fame, especially the unrelenting hounding of the paparazzi, became too much to handle. I went into seclusion for about two years. Long enough for the public to forget the name Zephyr Teachout.
Upon my quiet and unannounced reemergence back into the real world, I decided that I loved making music too much to give it up entirely. Being in a band was more my speed, since public scrutiny would then be divided amongst the band's members. I contacted a couple of my old Luddan bandmates, and we put together a new band called Hazelhead Station. Our sound this time was something akin to Bob Dylan, By this point, we were all in our late 20s to early 30s, we had started families and other careers and were making music on the side. Once again, local success followed us, and we were in high demand in the clubs around town. We played many nights of the week and every weekend. The rest of the weekends we slept. Our families and jobs suffered. We decided to put together one last album with the original songs we had played but never recorded. We also wrote one last song to use as the title track, and titled it, appropriately, "Know When You're Finished." We knew, and we were.
None of the above is actually true. This is, in fact, a really cool album cover meme I saw over on Chicky Chicky Baby. The rules are:
1. The first title on this page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album. Click the "New Random Quotations" button for more.
3. The third picture on this page will be your album cover. You then take the photo and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your picture. Please don't forget to give credit.
I'm not going to tag anyone. But do it if you want to, it's a lot of fun.
*Cover Art credits: The photo for the first album cover was taken by Luara :D, the second cover was taken by gi varga and the third album cover photo was taken by BigFrank.
4 comments:
haha, i remember reading this the first time and being all "what...?? she was in a band..?? how has that never come up before??" :-)
That does sound like fun. I will have to try it one day.
I remember this meme making the rounds some time ago - and each time I spend the firts paragraph thinking, "Wait, what?"
I didn't do it but the name of my band would be ISA and the title of my album would be 'Conform To Our Whim.'
Pretty good, eh?
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