Shouting at the Mules

I wanted to take a minute to give a well-deserved "shout out" to my former bandmates from Twenty Mule Team (TMT). By far the best musicians I have yet to play with. Never have I enjoyed the song writing process more. And never have I had more fun on stage and off. Although "our time" was cut relatively short (I played with them for only a year and a half), I feel that we made tremendous progress as a group and that I individually discovered fertile potential-soil that I didn't know was there. With future projects I hope to plant seeds of music lilies in that soil (or maybe snap dragons...I used to love those as a kid).

John, you are a grandmaster songwriter! Not For Me (however many times we were sick of playing it) is one of the catchiest tunes I've ever played. A little mixture of good tune, raunchy guitar riff, and sticky man-sweat goes a long way. Your antics on and off the stage kept us happy (and healthy). Thanks. "Everybody, everybody get your coat rack--get your coat back from the coat rack man!"

Matt, putting beats into measures that can't be measured. And that's just the beginning. Pretty soon you'll be putting measures into beets that can't be tasted. Seriously though, a virtuoso drummer with a propensity to break sticks. I've never known a drummer to cause more injuries breaking sticks than you. And it's not just about the drumming--many of our songs were only completed because of your good ideas. I only wish we could have used some of your more recent ones. The Direct Method is lucky to have you.

Alex, rocksmith of ages. You were the roof to our outhouse, the crown to our kingdom, even the strings to our puppet. It was like love at first sound. The intensity your playing brought to our stylings was mythical. Like Poseidon, with the very sea obeying him, the bass obeys your every whim. (And you are a whimsical creature indeed). It was such a treat to play with another Led fan. You glued us all together with your musical tastes (and I'll never regret tasting the glue). I hear you're in town, so let's hit that thang and sneak into a show or something. I've got some new ideas...