Rock and Roll Fantasy!

This week I wanted to give you a little something about my time in the entertainment industry. It's a tough nut to crack, that's for sure and I know that many of you harbor aspirations to be the next big thing. Everyone wants to rock. That much we know...

Life as a rocker wasn't easy. There's the practice, the rejection, the late hours. But it's worth it for the sake of rock, cool clothes and adrenaline rush from being on stage. And don't forget the babes. Hot Babes.

A few people already know about by rock and roll prowess. To some it has reached mythical proportions. (I should say that they think it's a myth that I even play guitar).

I started playing in my room in 8th grade. I followed the likes of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Dead Milkmen. From there, I joined a few bands in high school. Epitaph, Jubilee Baha Brothers and Glucose Toad to name just a few. But I felt that there was more...

It all started my freshman year of college where I met Eric Hauck and Shad Smith. Who knew that three years later we would start one of the most amazing bands of 1997 and 1998.

THRIFTY SPACKLE

The summer of 1997 Eric contacted me and convinced me to bring my electric guitar to school with me that year. He knew I'd be ready to rock. That summer he penned such classics as All Ears, It's the Truth and Francis. All Ears later became a staple of our live shows. At our first full practice with Dan the drummer we knew it was something. We rocked so hard you could see the walls crying tears of joy. We were all drenched.

Our first show was in a pretty popular local hangout in Provo, the Roman Gardens' patio. You don't have to read that again. You read it right the first time. Pretty exclusive place. We rocked it with a Rentals cover band and Tim Boisvert. Impressive company, I know... Unfortunately, no footage remains from that show. The Rock Gods still weep because of it.

But then there was Mama's Cafe. THE place in Provo for hot bands to rock. I remember it was a week night. A well sought after date to be sure. It started with this:

All Ears:

Jim (Guitar), Shad (Vocals), Eric (Bass), Dan (Drums)

Have you sat back down? I know that got you to your feet. We played for about an hour that night. But my personal favorite was this gem...

Wonderful Spatula:

Who would have thought that a song about a kitchen device could be so moving and so rockin' at the same time. Sadly, only one other show exists. The BYU Halloween Bash

Now, along with my lead guitar duties, I sang a couple of my own songs. They were generally acoustic based and only sometimes turned from love songs to songs about Jews.
Here is one of them from the BYU show.

Don't Know:

I'm sure you noticed the raw emotion spewing out of me. As well as the pleas to the crowd not to leave because of the touching feelings that I'm sure were their reason for leaving early. Not to mention the impressive display of plaids that only a true rocker can get away with.

Finally, I will share one of the little known tracks. I guess we only played it one time, since until recently I didn't remember ever playing it, but it was a rocker and was about everyone's dream to be a Jellyfish.

If I was a Jellyfish:

The Rock Gods smiled on us that day in October. I probably even made out with a hot babe that night.

After the BYU show, Dan left the band on study abroad and we got a new drummer from the music department, but we had only one show left and it was panned by the critics and club management as being too loud. We never played live again. But there are these moments...and that's important. Now I dabble here and there and Eric does an annual Cul-De-Sac of Fire on the 4th of July, but nothing will compare to those days. The hits, the misses and the rock. Maybe we will have a Thrifty Spackle reunion sometime. But until then, it's just the memories.

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Thanks for checking out my post this week. Check back soon for new posts. One thing about the polls... They need more votes. A tie between three great topics doesn't work. That's why I keep encouraging you to vote for your neighbors, friends and dead relatives. Maybe now that ACORN will be getting a few billion of the stimulus money we'll get more votes.

If you want to see and hear more Thrifty Spackle including .mp3s that you can download to your Ipods check out http://www.thehaucks.com/ThriftySpackle/