I am in the country of one of my heroes, none other than the one and only Johann Sebastian Bach!

There is no such thing as “the best musician” or my complete favorite but when it comes to my top 5 Bach is always right there. He went to that big “pipe organ in the sky” in 1750. With a little luck I will have time to get to Leipzig so I can visit his final resting place. I would have to say visiting his homeland was definitely on my bucketlist. So I can check that off!

Christmas in Bavaria is very peaceful and quiet and very different than what I am used to in the states.

In fact it has been so quiet here I have had a hard time sleeping. I am used to a lot more of the hustle and the bustle. All the shops are closed and and stayed that way from Christmas Eve to a few days after Christmas. It has been a constant meditative state and it has been a memorable Christmas.
The only downside is I miss my family and friends. This was a great opportunity so I will catch up with all of them the minute I get home.

On Christmas Eve my friend Stefan and his other friend Stefan took me to midnight mass at a church here in Inglestodt that was built in 1310. Wow a church that is 700 years old!. I will post some pictures when I get home. At the end of the evening they shut down all the lights and sang “Silent Night” in German completely acapella. It gave everyone goosebumps it was so hauntingly beautiful.

This country is impeccably clean as well. Spotless, everything is set up and engineered to efficiency and recycling is mandatory. We took the Autobahn back from Munich yesterday and even the Autobahn is spotless. No junk anywhere and it is fun to drive along with everyone else at 100 miles an hour. If you go under 80 mph on the Autobahn the Polize will give you a ticket. I love that!

What a mature way to encourage the flow of traffic and the entire policy has no basis in fear.
I love my country but I feel for a few 100 more years until the U.S. grows up we should call it the United States of Fear.

Underage drinking and private marijuana use is a non-issue here as well. I have experienced the same maturity levels in the Czech Republic and Amsterdam as well. We have a lot growing up to do.

I have some great gig photos to post as well. I will do so after New Years. I will write about the beer as well then. That will take an entire couple of post in itself.

Happy Holidays and Have a great New Year!

Much Much Much Love,

Eric

I am going to try my hand at a smaller post today. Fun and straight to the point.

Me and my friend Alex Jiminez used to play all kinds of games in high school to keep from “stark raving madness” induced by boredom. I used to draw cartoon strips and we would make all these “list” where we practiced “mentalism” by seeing how many guitarist from band’s we could think of and then we would start with all the other instruments. This was the kind of stuff that truly mattered to us and it was so much more fun than paying attention in class.

One of the the things I learned from Alex was to open the dictionary everyday and learn a new word. I always thought that was so cool. A few years ago I heard Tony Robbins interviewing Stanley “Tookie” Williams from death row in Jail and the interview was so enlightening and profound. Tony asked Stanley how had developed such an articulate amazing vocabulary and Stanley mentioned he did the same thing that Alex did. I still do this and I did it this morning.

This morning I learned;

Hendiatris- (Greek for one through three) is a figure of speech used for emphasis, in which three words are used to express one idea. For example, the phrase “women, wine and song” uses three words to capture one idea.

“Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll” is just a modern way of saying “Women, Wine and Song”

Perhaps equally well-known throughout the world are Julius Caesar’s “Veni vidi vici”
“I came, I saw, I conquered”

I have always loved the number 3 as well and My favorite basketball player was always Larry Bird. His jersey number was #33

The cliché “wine, women, and song” is a rhetorical figure of a triad or hendiatris. Similar tripartite mottoes have existed for a long time in many languages, for example:

* Bengali/Hindi/Sanskrit - “Sur, Sura, Sundari” (music, wine and woman)
* Czech - “Víno, ženy a zpěv” (wine, women and song)
* Danish - “Vin, kvinder og sang” (wine, women and song)
o also “Øl, fisse og hornmusik” (beer, a slang word for female genitals, and horn music)
o also “Tjald og lal og lir” (slang words for cannabis, fooling around, and being sexually aroused)

I have to tell you, I love these Danes, they are geniuses! Remember in my post “The evils of Sexual Repression” they were the ones that had a program subsidized by the Dutch government, the “Lang leve de liefde”(Long Live Love) package, developed in the late 1980s. That aims to give teenagers the skills to make their own decisions regarding health and sexuality. Nearly all secondary schools provide sex education as part of biology classes and over half of primary schools discuss sexuality and contraception. The curriculum focuses on biological aspects of reproduction as well as on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach. The Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in the world, and the Dutch approach is often seen as a model for other countries.
Wow!, a governmental policy called “Long Live Love”? Could you imagine that in the US, the UK, Germany or the Middle East.

Anyway, back to the fun!

* German - “Wein, Weib und Gesang” (wine, women and singing)
* Hindi/Urdu - “Kabab, Sharab aur Shabab” (meat, wine and women/beauty)
* Norwegian - “Piker, vin og sang” (women, wine and song)
* Polish - “Wino, kobiety i śpiew”
* Swedish - “Vin, kvinnor och sång” (wine, women and song)
o also “Bajen, bärs och rakade brudar” (a soccer team, beer, and women with shaved genitals)

As you can see like the Danes, the Swedes have their “hendiatris” totally happening!

“A soccer team, beer and women with shaved genitals!”

WOW! Now that is what I call a hendiatris!

Isn’t it amazing that all these different languages have this phrase?

“Sex, drugs and rock and roll” is a modern variation of it. The terms correspond to wine, women and song with edgier and updated vices. The term came to prominence in the sixties as rock and roll music, opulent and intensely public lifestyles, as well as what some saw as “liberal morals”, came into the mainstream.

“Rum, bum, and concertina” is a British naval equivalent. Another British naval equivalent is “rum, sodomy and the lash”.

“Rum, bum, and concertina”! Yeah Mon’ now there’s a song title!

Stay tuned as I feel that one coming on the horizon soon!

The phrase may have also originated with the following couplet:

“Who does not love wine, women and song / Remains a fool his whole life long.” this phrase is attributed to German poet Johann Heinrich Voss (1751–1826)

Voss’s full phrase is: Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und Gesang / Der bleibt ein Narr sein Lebelang (”He who loves not wine, women, and song / Remains a fool his whole life long”).

Isn’t that awesome. I love the way that sounds in German.

The waltz “Wine, Women and Song” (Wein, Weib und Gesang) is Op. 333 (1869) of Johann Strauss II.

The British poet and mystic Aleister Crowley, in his work “Energized Enthusiasm,” suggests that “wine, woman, and song” may be utilized towards the development of genius in the individual or the attainment of mystical states.

I agree so remember to keep things simple in life and focus on the three things you love the most! everything else should be a side dish.

Have a remarkably Merry Christmas and cherish the power of focusing on those you love and the things you love in life over the holidays!

My friend Dominic turned me on to this great quote by Bruce Lee that just reeks of truth!

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

Much Much Much Love!

Eric

In this month’s issue of “The Lion’s Den” my interview series. I hold court with my friend phenomenal jazz guitarist Clint Strong. In our chat Clint talks about the fact that when he was 9 years old all of his friends were adults and he never hung around anyone his age. Clint is an amazing person and so full of jokes and stories and tales about life that the wisdom he espouses just had to be a result of the mature friends he had.

One of the traits I look for in a girl is that she has a great relationship with her father. If she has a great relationship with her father she will be much more likely to choose a strong balanced and mature individual for a mate. This is why a girl with a strong relationship with her father is often attracted to older men who are more mature and don’t play games.

Girl’s with “Daddy issues” are sometimes attracted to older men as well but for all the wrong reasons. They are often trying to find the father they never had or that was absent. These types also are attracted to the “stripper pole” Girls who have fantastic relationships with their father rarely gravitate towards “the pole”

On the other hand girls that have bad relationships with their father or that do not have a strong “alpha male” type father figure in their life tend to date “little boys” . They want a mouse, not a man. So they will find someone they have to “take care of” and babysit. It is a very funny thing to see but it is a very serious problem in our culture.

I have a friend that has a very unstable relationship with her father. She wasted no time getting to the “pole” the minute she turned eighteen. It was like clockwork, she finally got out of that line of work as it just about destroyed her life since she didn’t have strong enough “boundaries” to avoid cocaine and all the other amenities that come with that lifestyle. Now she is either bartending or cocktail waitressing and living paycheck to paycheck. There is always more “month” left at the end of the month than money at the end of the month. This girl is pretty and an incredible dancer. She could easily have her own dance studio. Over the years I have noticed something about her that is very interesting and revealing about the importance of “early imprinting” in raising a child and or family.

I could put this girl in a room with 400 guys, 399 of them could be stable, financially independent, strong alpha-male types that would treat her well and with Honesty, Trust and Respect. Unequivocally without a doubt, she would be attracted to and find the one “bad apple” in the group that would abuse her, lie to her, and participate in completely unhealthy rampant drug use with her.

She will walk right up to him and pick him out of the crowd. It is a fascinating thing to watch!

I have seen her do this so many times it was an amazing lesson to me in how important early childhood development with stability is. She would not even have an ounce of attraction to someone who would be good for her at all. I see an incredible amount of this, so much that it is dis-heartening.

So I thought it would be fun to “hold court” for a while in this blog and just lay some stuff on you guys. I have to tell you my good friend Aaron Pendland, who is an amazing artist told me a few days ago. That it is OK if I just post a short snippet on my blog once in a while. I think he is right and i want to but there is so much I have to say about this subject this is going to be another long one;

OK, Let’s get started;

Women mature faster than men do, tis’ a fact. There are a lot of reasons for this, but it is what it is.
My “birth mother” was 14 when she gave birth to me. Think about that 14 years old. Think about this;

How would a 18 year old girl date an 18 year old guy?

I was an 18 year old guy once, and I was completely immature and a knucklehead. There is a balance to all of this. Women would benefit massively and it should be “mandatory” that a girl date a guy at least 10 years older than she is. Likewise younger guys would massively benefit from dating older women that could teach them a thing or two. The classic, what some people call a “cougar” is a prime example. These 18 -25 year old guys that are basically “human tri-pods” that just want something to “poke on” could learn and benefit from meeting a “cougar”.

You see a “cougar” has been there and done that. She bought into the script and and often married and had kids with what society dictated she should do. When that went South and she ended up divorced she got back in the field and started doing what she wanted to do. She took care of #1 herself. This is why she is perfect for the “fetus” (the young knucklehead guy).

She can teach him the ropes!

You see great timber does not grow with ease, the stonger the wind the greater the trees.

Everything cool I have learned from older guys. Let’s start with the car I drive:

Look at that thing! I have to tell you one of my mentors John Aruzian (who you will meet later in this blog) got me started with these Crown Victoria’s. Pat Riley the famous basketball coach drives one as well. He is a suave, sophisticated older guy and someone I look up to as well. The Crown Victoria is spacious, elegant and regal. Yet it has an almost subtle but not so subtle intimidating factor to it.

You can tell in an elegant way, don’t fuck with the guy driving this car.

I will tell you who knows cars, Black guys! I get more compliments on my car from black guys than anyone. You see boys drive cars that they think will impress girls. You know the typical red sports car or the “fast and furious” type little toys with the rims and all the “hey look at me I exist” trimmings.

The Crown Vic is a car you would drive for yourself. Try one sometime and just feel the absolute elegance and attention to detail. Brother’s drive the car they want to drive and they do it on their own terms. My good friend “Big Dog” was over tonight and he was telling all these great stories about his Grandfather who was a pimp and a preacher. He always drove a Cadillac!

There is a great story about this car. The day I bought it from Bill Utter Ford in Denton, I needed to drive to my good friend genius photographer James Bland’s house to pick up some photos. My girlfriend at the time Erin Gilmore came with me. She liked the car because it has a mirror with lighting on each side on the passenger side so she could do her makeup. The car was brand new and still had the paper license plate on the window. While we were at James house perusing the photos I looked out the window to check on my new car. It was so cute, there was this little 90 year old man out there just walking the perimeter of the car and checking it out. I told Erin, “Go out there and chat with him and make his day. He loved that car and I feel we can learn so much about quality from older guys!

Another one of my mentors Allan Holdsworth who is 62 years young took a liking to my Crown Vic as well. So much he even bought one for himself, he talks about it constantly and he is English and a man that knows his “gadgetry” He lives in a retirement community next to a golf course in San Juan Capistrano California. He has related to me that all the old guys stop by and stand around his Crown Vic with their hands on their hips and talk about how cool his car is as well.

Let’s talk about Beer, Frank Zappa said it himself. You can’t oficially declare yourself a country if you don’t have your own beer. I concur and couldn’t agree more. You know what little boy’s drink?

Yep, you guessed it light beer, and what do they market the most to colleges which are rife with “little boys” (frat guys and etc.)

Bud Light, Miller Light and Coors Light…

And what do they market it with?

Sex…

When in reality a man would never drink those beers. They are for cream puffs. Isn’t it ironic?
I am going to Germany on the 18th and I am looking forward to it. In Germany they have a law;

It’s called “Reinheitsgebot” It is a German purity law established in 1516 that forbids the use of anything but Hops in the brewing of beer. You know what they use in Bud Light and Coors light and etc?

You guessed it, corn or rice, Why? Because it’s cheap. I learned a lot about beer from older guys as well. You know what a lot of older guys drink?

Coors Original!

Here is a beer that has 3 nicknames:

1. Colorado Kool-Aid (my favorite)
2. Yellow Bellies
3. Banquet Beer

What other beer has 3 nicknames?

This beer is a “Pilsner” and was so good it used to be smuggled all over the country from Colorado. In the movie “Smokey and The Bandit”, Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed (great guitar player) are smuggling “Colorado Kool-Aid” out of Colorado. A Classic movie!

You see an older guy is like an Oaktree, he has been around awhile, he has roots and he is strong. Remember as I said earlier, “Great timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind the stronger the tree. Most girls these days lack an “Oak Tree” in their life. It’s not their fault, it’s due to the “imprinting” we spoke of earlier. They have no strong examples in their life as a reference at all.

So they choose “saplings” and “twigs” as mates and try and mold them. But by mothering and wasting their time on these “fetuses” they never allow the “sapling” to get tough and grow some “balls” and become a man. Let’s look at today’s supposed “rock star” as an example:

This is the “sapling” that most women drag home these days:

Look how his legs look like “parentheses” (kind of resembles a twig doesn’t it)

And the godawful trucker hat? Zeeeeeeeeeesh. This is to quote my good friend Nick Russo, “a damn shame!”

That’s a rock star?

In Denton and Austin, TX where I spend the majority of my time these “twigs” are a dime a dozen.
There are variations on a theme but the basic drill is the same. Some may have “woodshop glasses” and the some other “emo misgivings” but the saddest fact with these clowns is that it is fashionable to be a “hack” and not be very good. Remember the movie “Slacker” very Austin and that is the breed.

I say Fuck that!

Here is my idea of a Rockstar!

Yngwie Malmsteen! No matter what you think of him you can’t say he doesn’t know how to play his guitar! And he looks like a rock star. Look at the Gold chains and the outfit. Reminds me of Elvis!

Here is a picture of me at 16 with my high school sweetheart Lupe. Isn’t she pretty. Because of Yngwie I practiced my ass off and got a nice skill set on the guitar. As funny as I look here and I am proud to share this with you, at least there are no photos of me looking like that douchebag with the “trucker hat”

I still have that Les Paul by the way. My mom said “If you stick with lessons for a year, I will buy you your dream guitar, and she did.

Here is the moral to the story;

They say a “picture is worth a thousand words”…

So much of the rest of this post will be pictures with a few comments.

Ladies, if you truly want to be happy in life. Date an older man.

Are there exceptions? Of course but 96% of the time you will be better off and you won’t have to babysit “boys”. That’s what children are for…

If you want a baby, find an older man that can provide that stability and that knows what he wants in life. That way you can relax under the Oak Tree and “be alive” and have a real “baby” with him.

Here is an great picture of an Oak tree (an older man)

Now ladies, you have to ask yourself,

Would you like to sit down and read a book under that tree? Or this one?

Would you rather date this guy:

Or this one:

Let’s do this again, so you make sure and get my drift:

Would you rather date these “assclowns”

Or just maybe, just maybe… this guy

You know what, to hammer home my point and because the 3rd time is the charm. Here you go:

These douchebags:

Or a real man;

Here is me with my father’s friend Racehorse Haynes and my buddy Rafe Foreman. This is after Racehorse walked into a courtroom in Denton on my behalf. The case was dropped after we stood our ground and got our “oaktree” on. Racehorse is 80 years young and still practicing law.

You see you have to respect your elders, they have been there and done that! They know the ropes.
We need quality people in our lives and like fine wine age brings wisdom. I love life and even though I live in the moment. I cherish the days when I am 80 and as cool as my grandmother and Racehorse and Hugh Hefner and all these other cool cats.

Here is one of my favorite older friends, Jim O’neill;

Jim is my good friend Trey Smith’s Grandfather. This is at his 80th birthday in Cameron, TX. At the party his daughter’s joked that they should get him a 40 year old girlfriend…

He snapped back, “can you get me 2 twenties?

There is my kind of man.

Here is me and Bill Dear. Who was like a second father to me:

We were talking about a picture being worth a thousand words?

Here is a prime example;

Here is Cameron Diaz with a “baby tree” you see how this picture parallels most pictures of girls with their “boyfriends”?

No wonder she found Justin Timberlake and his “trucker hat” attractive. She is attracted to a “mouse” not a “man” She likes the K-Feds and the Timberlakes and etc, of Mice and Men.

Here is a couple of shots and me and my mentor John Aruzian. John is crazy but in a exceptional way. He is without a doubt better at reading people and dealing with people than anyone I have ever met. He walks his talk and I have learned more about life and girls from him than anyone I have ever met. This is after he and his daughter Heather came to see me on his 69th birthday.

Here John is relating to me the beauty and zen of watering the garden by hand and using that time to get your thoughts together:

I have learned more from just talking to this guy than I did in any classroom anywhere!

Alright my friend, thanks for hanging in there with me through this lengthy post. I feel like a kindred spirit with you thus far and this was all for a reason…

I have told you none of this to impress you, just to impress upon you the importance and the beauty of those who have come before us. Our mentors, Our Fathers, Our Mothers and the few, the 4% who are awake and get it.

I end this post with a photo of my Dad, 80 years young at Pappa Brothers Steakhouse in Houston, TX where I took him and my mom and sister for his birthday. He is my hero and he taught my work ethic. He taught me to fish and hunt. He married my mom 56 years ago and they are still together. Most of all…

He taught me Unconditional Love…

It wouldn’t matter what path I chose in life he would have stood behind me.

The best way to lead is to get behind the people!

Here he is macking a fried oyster at his 80th Birthday!

Much Love to all of you and thanks for staying with me on this long winded post!

Like fine wine and Oak Trees we are better with age and to embrace that is true divinity!

All of my Love!

Eric

If you really think about it, “Depression” is just focusing on the past…

It is that simple, If I sat around and thought about all the mistakes I have made in my life and the opportunities I have missed and the bad gigs I have had. I could become depressed in an instant!

Now let’s take a look at anxiety;

If you really think about it “Anxiety” is just worrying about the future…

It is that simple, If I kept worrying about a gig I have next Saturday and I keep thinking that I am going to have a bad night with my voice because I am a little hoarse. I would become extremely “anxious” and be miserable.

To some extent a little sadness (depression) is normal, as is a little (worry) is normal. They can be motivators. For example; a little worry might help you get your taxes done on time.

I strive every day to live in the moment and be in the “present” that’s why it’s called the “present” it is a gift and to stay there is to be “alive” It is where the word “believe” comes from. It literally means to be alive. Here is a great story that reinforces the “Power of Now”

There was this monk who was walking in the woods. All of a sudden behind him in the corner of his eye he feels the presence of something ominous. He looks back and sees this gigantic bear that’s starts running towards him. In a panicked frenzy the monk starts running for his life! The bear keeps chasing and gaining ground on him. He can literally feel the heat of the bears breath and slobber on the back of his neck as he comes to the edge of a cliff…

He doesn’t even have time to think about it, he just jumps for his life!

As he is falling he looks down and sees a river full of crocodiles awaiting his arrival. Snapping their jaws! He grabs a branch that extends from the side of the mountain with one hand and hangs on for his life. He is able to stabilize and grab with his other hand another branch and he looks up.

There is the bear growling and licking his lips. He looks down and there are the hungry crocodiles.

Then in front of his face he sees a strawberry plant with a luscious ripe red strawberry right in front of him. He plucks it and pops it into his mouth and the moment is perfect!

You see the message in this parable is beautiful. Live in the moment!

They say “a picture is worth a thousand words” I agree.

Check out this guy:

He sure looks like he is living in the moment macking that strawberry!

I have always been super curious about life. Not long ago I was at a BBQ in East Texas with some very dear friends. One of the friends of the family I was visiting has been in the funeral home business for several generations. Standing around drinking beer and talking I started asking this gentleman question after question about the funeral home business and what it’s like.

So many people are afraid of death and we sanitize it so much in our society and hide it from everyone that I think that is a bit sad. I held my cat Battleaxe’s paw as she passed away and my vet left me alone with her body for awhile so I could just let go and find some inner peace at that moment.

I asked so many questions that this guy finally said to me; “Eric if you ever want to go with me to the morgue as I prep a body for burial you are more than welcome” I thought to myself “I want to experience this part of life up close and personal and I am going to take him up on his offer”

Subsequently a few weeks later I was visiting again and he got a call to pick up a couple of bodies of deceased people. I was there and he asked me if I wanted to go. I did.

Out of respect for the bereaved (I don’t know why but I love that word) and I have always wanted to type it. So there it is.

Anyway out of respect I won’t mention any names but I can tell you the entire process was one of the most serene and interesting experiences I had ever had in my life. I watched as my friend washed the body, prepped the carotid artery drained the blood from the body and completed the entire embalming process. You would think that something like this would gross me out but it didn’t. It awoke in me the fragility of life and how precious our friends and loved ones are. I was extremely in the moment during the entire process and I still remember the person’s name and everything.

I will as long as I live. It had that much of an impression on me.

The family brings the clothes that the person requested for burial and often they will bring a photo. This is so a makeup artist that works for the funeral home can do their best to make the person look like they did for the viewing process.

I am glad I had the curiousity and the courage to experience that and I have to be honest I always wanted to see what happens to us when we die. I am not content living my life “on the surface” and not living. In my opinion, If you are not afraid to die than you can live!

Check out this poem “Present Tense” this was written by a 14 year old kid named Jason Lehman.

I love this and have it laminated on my wall, here it goes:

Present Tense

It was spring, but it was summer I wanted,
The warm days, and the great outdoors.
It was summer, but it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air.
It was fall, but it was winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season.
It was winter, but it was spring I wanted,
The warmth and the blossoming of nature.
I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom and respect.
I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted,
To be mature, and sophisticated.
I was middle-aged, but it was 20 I wanted,
The youth and the free spirit.
I was retired, but it was middle-age I wanted,
The presence of mind without limitations.
My life was over, and I never got what I wanted.

Isn’t that awesome!

All the best and remember;

If you are not going to love yourself, who is going to do it for you?

Much Love,

Eric

Green Tree Bird Shirt.

Girl Shirt.

Chocolate Lion T-Shirt.

BabyBlue - Love Shirt.

The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of your relationships. There are myriad examples of people that are wealthy beyond imagination that are not happy, miserable, depressed and even suicidal. Several very famous people in all walks of life have taken their own lives because they did not have a “strong psychology” to carry them through the rough and dark times in their lives.

Everyone has heard the age old adage “Do what you love and the money will follow”

I wonder how many of us truly believe it though? And when I say “believe” it, I mean live it!
To truly walk your talk and “be alive” and follow your bliss. Listen to your hearts desire and do just that. All the while staying the course with massive perseverance. With a degree of commitment that any obstacle is merely viewed as a simple stepping stone towards your goal that must be removed.

I can tell you from experience not many. Once again we are back at about 4% of the general population.

I ask just about everyone I meet at some point this question; “If you could do anything you wanted in life and there was absolutely 0% chance of failure” and I mean that 0% chance of failure!

What would you do?

I have found it is best to ask this question before you know someone very well. The less they know you often the more honest they will be in their answer. I am not sure why this is but I have found it to be true.

I asked this question to an extremely driven girl I had dated that put herself through school by dancing at an upscale strip club all the while attending college and getting a 3.96 GPA in psychology. We were just starting to like each other a whole lot and we were still in the “honeymoon phase” She was a rare find in her field as she was young, had no children and avoided any drug or significant alcohol use. She save over $100,000 dollars in a safety deposit box all by herself. She is an amazing story of determination. She was always worried about money though and had a lot of anxiety about her future.

She used to ask me all the time about how to get this job and that job. I helped her get out of the stripping and find other kinds of work that was less draining on her soul. She hands down and admittedly confided to me that the colossal impetus in her stripping was the money. She couldn’t make the kind of money she was making in most professional careers, even doctor or lawyer.

It was cute she used to come stay at my home during the week and she was like a purring kitten. She would read and cook for me. Sometimes we would cook together and she would walk by my refrigerator and take out the “Ben and Jerry’s” eat a few scoops and then check her e-mail and go back to studying. She would widdle away all day at that “Ben and Jerry’s” It was so funny because she weighed about 90 lbs. She was always laughing and pulling little pranks on me and would call me nick names.

Then the weekend would arrive, “primetime” for girls who work in the “strip club” business. Friday morning she would get up and her entire demeanor changed. It was like I had a chameleon in my house.

She would become so “matter of fact” and a switch flipped in her personality. It was also cute, because I knew who she was and this was an act to protect her heart and her soul from the “War Zone”(the club)

I used to call it her “bitch shield” In that environment you need it though. When you are taking people’s money first and strip clubs do it well. Patron’s have a sense of entitlement and expect things. It is the reality of the bizz. Ask anyone that has dated strippers, If they like to go to work. They hate their job, they do it for the money.

I know “porn stars” that like their jobs more than strippers. At least they like sex and are getting paid for something they like to do.

So anyway let me get to my point. When I first me this girl we at the Galleria in Dallas shopping. We were walking down the corridor along the shops holding hands and I asked her the question…

“If you could do anything you wanted and there was no chance of failure, what would you do”

She looked at me and smiled and said “really”

I said yes, “really”

She said, “I would be a mother and have a baby and raise my child as best as I could”.

I was floored, you see I could tell this was an extremely honest answer from the way I felt when she shared this with me. As time went on and I got to know her better she retracted and denied this desire.
As her doubts and fears about life surfaced and she “let down her guard” she became focused on going to school and getting her Phd in Psychology. In get this; studying “Close Romantic Relationships”?

Reminds me of the wise words of Joseph Campbell once again;

“Would you rather go to Heaven, or a lecture about Heaven”?

People are funny and that brings me to the topic of today’s subject “People first, Money Second”

Me and my assistant Rina just got through booking and promoting 3 dates in Texas for my friend Allan Holdsworth. Allan doesn’t play in Texas that often and promoting his shows presents a challenge.
Allan’s fans aren’t mainstream folks. He is a musician’s musician and most of his fan’s are audio connoisseurs who do not subscribe to the traditional media outlets that the herd listen’s to, i.e., “the radio”, local rags like the Dallas Observer. I could call the knuckleheads at The Denton Record Chronicle about the show and they would say “who’s that”. So you get my drift. This is why I liked the challenge.

I love Allan and his music and I admire his dedication to doing what he wants to do, when he wants to do and how he wants to do it. So we went with utilizing what we know best reaching out to the people.

Allan is having a “renaissance” in his career as of late. He has influenced so many people and he also was recently featured on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine again last April. So we had that on our side. Luckily through my years of playing shows myself I have acquired an e-mail list of friends and fans that trust me and that also have great taste in music as well. This is priceless went it comes to creating a buzz on the street and utilizing “word of mouth”

In all my endeavors especially business I aspire to put “people first” and “money second” I made it a point to book the shows at my friends clubs. People that I know and that trust me as much as I do them. People like Dan Mojica at The Silver Leaf, and my friend Pete Gordon at The Continental Club in Houston. Pete introduced me to Steve Wertheimer at The Continental Club in Austin who is a great guy that truly cares about local musicians. Instead of “eating out” at fast food or hotels. I arranged for dear friends that I have that are chefs to cook for Allan, Chad and Jimmy. People like Kei Nagano and my friend Shari Beasley and her sister Cindy and there Mom 79 years young “Antoinette Sacco.

The result; all three shows were sold out and the fans were awesome and waited 2 hours after the show to meet the guys in the band and they sold out of all of their merchandise. Jimmy Johnson, Allan’s bassist who is a great guy and Allan’s favorite bassist to play with even commented on how great the money was on this “mini-tour”. I agree with him as it wasn’t about the money. It was about Allan and his dedication to his art. It was about the fans that appreciate his dedication to his art. It was about the venue owners that take care of the many details that go into having a venue that supports “original” live music. Here are some great photos from the behind the scenes happenings at the shows.

Here we are at Chef Sheri’s home prior to the show in Houston!

Sheri, her Mom and Me!

Chad, Sheri, Mom and Jimmy.

Having Supper. It was hilarious! Mrs Sacco kept calling Chad “the boy” and Jimmy “the hippy” She would say “make sure the boy and the hippy get enough to eat!” She then told them to “go play purdy now”

Allan and the ‘Italian girls” Sheri and Cindy!

All of us after the show. Sheri and Cindy helped Allan sell his merchandise while he signed autographs.

Allan and a couple of “Texas Birds” after the show. You see even pretty girls come to Guitar concerts if you promote them properly.

Have an Incredible Thanksgiving and stay tuned for Playboy part II and a great story about an “up and coming” band “Osage” and their debut CD that me and Eric Delegard produced.

Much Love,

Eric