Mondays Melodic Memories: Red Ragtop, Tim McGraw - There are a few reasons why I still count the time I was living in Minnesota and playing with the boys in October Son as some of my most memorable time as a musician. First, I was at home there, and there was always a group of friends and family at every gig that gave me great comfort. Also, I was having a great time playing with Dan and Trevor and Jason and Arlin. And I think along that same line, it was the last time for me that music was just a fun hobby. After I moved to Texas and really let it become my lifes central focus, I think it lost some of its pureness. So my time with those goofy boys in MN remains a high water mark for me in a lot of ways. We spent a LOT of time goofing off, both on and off stage, and one of my favorite things was to change some of the words in a song just because we could. Sometimes those changes were just one-offs for a particular gig, but some of them stuck. Arlin taught us to change the chorus of an old Alabama song to, Now shes a lady, down on love; she needs somebody, to gently knock her up. Not entirely proper, obviously, but something that folks with a few drinks in them typically got a kick out of. We also made a subtle change in this Tim McGraw cut that wasnt a huge hit for him, but still a song that we stuck with for quite awhile. Im pretty sure Tim starts it by singing, I was 20 and she was 18. Never minding political correctness, I thought that we could dress it up a little with, I was 20 and he was 13. Truth be told, Im not sure how many people ever really heard those changes. I suppose you had to really be paying attention. Mostly, it was just a way for the five of us to play a little, and make each other laugh. ow.ly/BSziI
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:31:04 +0000