from the band:
I am a Sponge: PART THREE

I went to boarding school in Chattanooga, Tennessee for my last two years of high school (not that long ago). One thing we did a lot of at our all-male-, not-allowed- to–have-a-phone-or-a-car-until-you’re-a-senior boarding school was listen to music. I arrived to school as a junior thinking I knew a lot about music and bands, and I had a tape case (yep) chock full of Rush, Van Halen, Journey, BTO, and Aerosmith tapes to prove it. I made friends pretty quickly because it seemed like one out of every three guys played guitar, but I was the only drummer in the dorm. I started hanging out with some fellas upstairs and the next thing you know we had ourselves a band. After study hall we’d gather in Richard Rogers’ room because he had a killer stereo system. We’d listen to music and come up with songs to play at our next “gig”. This was a great experience for me because these seasoned boarding school students introduced me to music that I had never heard of before. One night Jason Virunurm showed up with a new cd and insisted that we listen to it. It was some new band called Widespread Panic…the album was Space Wrangler. I’ll never forget the sound coming out of Richard’s speakers when Chilly Water kicked off the album. I’d never heard anything like it. It was so cool. The songs were easy to listen to…easy to hear. The sound was different and very original. I asked Jason why I’d never heard of them – they weren’t on MTV or the radio (some of my main sources for music). He said they were a college band out of Athens, GA. His older sister turned him on to Panic when she came home from college. “You mean these guys aren’t famous?’’ I asked. “They’re not on the radio or anything?” “Nope,” he said. “They play at fraternity parties and bars and clubs and stuff.” I was baffled. I had never heard of music that was not or had not been mainstream at one time or another. I had discovered a whole new world of underground, grassroots music.

Our band learned most of the songs off of the Space Wrangler album, as well as most of Drivin’–n- Cryin’s Mystery Road and Fly Me Courageous albums, and a handful of REM tunes as well. We went and heard Panic at our rival school’s gymnasium. Drivin’ –n- Cryin’ played at our school the following year. Another grassroots band out of Athens that blew my mind was Allgood. They played on our football field my senior year and I couldn’t believe how cool they were. I figured I was getting paid back for never getting to see Duane Allman and Dickey Betts play together. Allgood had two guitarists that seemed to me to be the next best thing to Duane and Dickey. I couldn’t believe that I was able to see these GREAT bands at high school gymnasiums and football fields – and talking to them afterwards!!! They’d load up their gear and hop in their vans and drive off, just like normal folks. Before I went to boarding school, I was used to seeing concerts in arenas and civic centers, and only dream of actually meeting the guys in the band. After all, I saw them on T.V. and in magazines. They were superstars. But now I was seeing regular guys playing amazing music and I began to wonder if I too could maybe do this someday.

When I went off to college, I began seeing more and more of these type of bands – Panic, Drivin’-n-Cryin’, Allgood, my good buddies Jupiter Coyote, Indecision, the Grapes, White Buffalo, Alma Madre, Gibb Droll, Dave Matthews Band (what happened?), Aquarium Resque Unit, and others – and I felt more and more like I could do this myself. Aside from the ARU, who were all from a different planet, these bands seemed just like regular guys making good music. I began sending tapes to Cameron and our buddies Jason McDaniel and Rusty Bishop and before you know it we had it in our heads that we could do the same type of thing one day. Not long after that, we formed Black Creek Band and thus began a colorful journey into the world of independent, grassroots, do-it-because-you-love-it music. Now, ten years and a few bands later I am still making music with great friends, simultaneously living and chasing a dream… what a journey it has been!

I am thankful for those nights in the dorm at boarding school - hanging out with my buddies listening to good music and learning to play the songs that we loved – and feeling like we were a part of something new, special, and underground. Those times changed me forever, and now with Tishamingo, I am still part of something new, special and underground. Things have changed a lot, mainly due to the internet. Now underground music can be accessed worldwide just like mainstream music (after all, Tishamingo is blowing up in Italy). But I think that for the most part the spirit of this music scene remains the same as it did back when I first encountered it – we musicians play in bands and travel in vans simply for the love of the music. It’s certainly not for the money or notoriety. As I mentioned in my previous articles, Kenny Rogers and Rush were my first musical influences. But folks in the bands that I mentioned above are truly my biggest influences. I was taken by the purity of what they were doing, and the fact that they were just regular people making a living playing good music. When I saw them play, I realized that I could do it too. I didn’t have to be a superstar like Kenny Rogers. So here’s a big “thank you” to those bands that inspired me to make my life playing music from my soul.

Peace, Proc
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