Hiring alcoholics & roadies with one name.

We hired 2 guys to compliment our 3 piece band. (Note: these were 2 different incidents)

Jay: played the B3 and had a big, heavy, B3 with a Leslie in a trailer. He'd have half a bottle of Southern Comfort gone by 10AM every day. He played well even when toasted. We were playing our first gig at a club. Nice place, high pay, promise of regular bookings. During the songs, people would come up to Jay since he was at the side of the stage, to ask for requests. Well Jay had enough of that and stood up on his gear, started yelling, and proceeded to tell the patrons that we don't play requests so quit asking. Needless to say, that didn't go over well. The crowd started leaving, very few were still dancing, and we were not invited back. We fired Jay that night.

Denny: Good singer, played guitar and excelled at fiddle. He loved country music. We knew he was a drinker so he was hired under the condition that he remain sober for the show. First gig.... I go to pick him up and he comes out with his fiddle in one hand and a plastic drinking cup in the other. I asked what he had and he said cool aid. Grape to be precise. I told him I could smell booze, and he admitted there was a "nip" of whisky in the cup. We get to the club and start the set. He's having trouble following the tunes and playing solo parts. By the second set, he couldn't stand up. Fired.

Roadie: Not an alcohol issue.... At the same club where Denny blew it.... we had a roadie who worked with us on occasion, we called him "Skull". No one knew his real name. We had another one called Rocky...also no one knew his real name. Rocky had been wioth us a long time and was worth his weight in gold. Anyway, Skull was with us at that club. The owner cornered Glen and said we needed to do something about Skull. Glen came to me and pointed out what he had been told and I looked.... and sure enough, there was Skull setting at a table and every table around him was empty. The bar was fairly packed so that did appear unusual. It seemed that Skull hadn't taken a bath, or used deodorant for at least several weeks, if not longer, and his BO was nauseating to the patrons of the club. We took him outside and discussed the issue. He stayed outside for the rest of that gig and promised to take a shower and put on clean clothes before coming to work from then on. I didn't ride up with the crew or really work on setup so I had no clue it was that bad. But it doesn't end there.
Going home that night with the trailer in tow, Glen's vehicle had a flat tire and no spare. So Skull offered to stay with the vehicle while everyone else went home. They would get a tire and go back in the morning to fix it. That's what they did. So... fast forward 2 weeks. I called Glen to see if I could catch a ride to the gig with him. When I got in his car, I asked him what the heck that smell was. He said "That's Skull. He said you should have smelled it that morning I went back to change the tire."

Roadies.... gotta love um.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 01/12/17 05:44 AM.
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