Last week I returned home from tour, playing drums with Mike Doughty. It was a fantastic 21 days of 16 shows in 13 states. I've been a fan of Mike's ever since he was M. Doughty - singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Soul Coughing. I listened to all of their albums obsessively. I watched them perform "Circles" on David Letterman, and saw them live on the 1998 El Oso tour in New York City at Irving Plaza. Four years later I was drumming with John Mayer, in support of his album Room for Squares, and Mike joined us for a string of dates as the opening act. I caught his set every night. We hung out a few times and realized we had some mutual friends. Two years after that, Mike asked me to audition for his new band. He was getting ready to release Haughty Melodic, and needed a touring drummer. I received a CD in the mail (pictured here, dated February 2004) with songs to learn for the session. The audition went smoothly, but I didn't get the gig. Fast forward to 2014 when I relocated from Jersey City, NJ to Memphis, TN to be with my then girlfriend / now wife Abby. Shortly after the move, my friend Mark Stepro told me that Mike Doughty also recently left the east coast for Memphis. I sent an email to Mike and we met for lunch in Midtown, where we caught up on the previous decade. He and I started playing improv gigs around town, which turned into the band MOTICOS and then BABY MEN. The latter of which was the support act for Mike's recent tour. Yes, we opened up for ourselves in disguise (and I got to keep the mask). Anyway, that’s it for now; but stay tuned for more tales from the road. Thank you for indulging me while I wax nostalgic. I just wanted to share what’s been on my mind, which boils down to this... Life is an adventure, and the music business can be unpredictable. Work hard. Work smart. Be nice. Practice gratitude. Keep going.
