WEBVTT - Billy F. Gibbons 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:12.440 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob left Sex Podcast. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:18.400 My guest today is Block Billy F. Gibbon Billy, Mr Bob, 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.240 So good to be here with you. Man. I'm I'm 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:26.160 getting into the rock and roll thing. I in fact, 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.320 I just read uh one of the latest left Sets newsletters, 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:34.440 so I'm up to speed on just about nothing I saw. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:36.519 I need you to give me about a hundred and 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.559 ten thousand more. Okay, let me ask you a couple 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.720 of questions right up front. Yeah, back in the seventies 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:49.320 it was Billy Gibbons. Now it's Billy F. Gibbons. What changed? Oh? 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.360 I ran into some friends up in Vancouver, BC that 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:57.000 we're heavy into numerology, and they convinced me to become 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:04.720 a bit superstitious, uh uh, saying that the the the 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:10.120 birth name was out of balance, and so they provided 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.160 me fifty selections of first names and fifty selections of 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:19.679 possible last names, all of which sucked. So but they said, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:23.400 you know, if you use your initial from your your 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:27.839 birth given middle name, it all balances up. Billy F. Given. 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:29.959 In fact, you and I talked about this at the 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.760 palm one night, and I was it was a bit 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:40.640 shy because since then, everybody they have they have graced 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:45.360 me with another word that starts with F, which I'll 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:50.000 go with. Okay, okay, So do you believe in numerology 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.280 of those things? I'm not saying no. You know, I'm 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.520 not a superstitious guy, don't think. But who's to say, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:02.520 you know? Okay, in okay, let's just take a little further. 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:10.280 Are you into astrology? Not necessarily no, although although having 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:13.400 been born in December, you know the Sagittarius things, you know, 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.440 the Sage brothers. That's a strong that's a strong thing. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:23.400 Have you been vaccinated? You know, I'm waiting, I'm in line. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.960 My physicians sitting on the fence. So I had the 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:32.000 antibody's test, right, and they were so up that they 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.720 encouraged me to donate some blood to the local clinic, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.880 which I did. They said, hey, we need those antibodies, 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.200 and I said, well, okay, does that mean that I 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:45.480 had it? Uh and didn't know it. That's another possibility 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.000 that they're not nobody's you know, everybody's sitting on the 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.240 fence kind of faith here and there. But the good news, 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.840 the curtains seems to be rising. I feel things thawing out. 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.880 I was out and about uh in town and Uh, 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.600 they're making announcements. Now I gotta go back to work. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.720 So what it was? What was it like being out 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.200 of work for all that time? Oh? It was boring. 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.160 It was absolutely boring. In fact, the only thing that 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.760 cut the ice. I got a phone call unexpectedly from 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.000 our man with the big bad back beach are fearless 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:27.680 drummer from points beyond Uh. And I'm not speaking about 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:31.880 Frank the man with no beard beard or Dusty Hill. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.120 That's that's the trio on that side. The other trio 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:39.080 started off with Matt sarm and Austin Hanks Mr left 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.960 hand Austin Hanks playing the They called me up and 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.960 they said, are you tired of just sitting around doing nothing? 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.200 I said, yeah, what you got in mine? And they said, 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.600 we're gonna come scoop you up. We're out in Palm Springs. 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.680 You over in Las Vegas. We have we found a 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:58.360 recording studio near Joshua Tree. And at that moment I 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.400 mistakenly said, yeah, the Rancho de la Luna, I'm familiar 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.240 with it, and they said, no, no, you you were 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.640 over there working with the Queens of the stone Age. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.720 This is a this is across the street. But what 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.400 Matt didn't tell me was it was across the street 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.080 and twenty miles so we were out in the out 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.360 in the middle of the desert. But the good news 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.880 is that it indeed, uh, you know, when you're doing 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.120 the only way out of doing nothing is to start 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.039 doing something, and this was an opportunity to get it 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.839 going on. So we have Okay, let's let's go back 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:38.640 a chapter. Did you write out the pandemic in Vegas? Yes. 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.800 I had gone to London at the end of February 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:47.160 to to make an appearance on the invitation of Mick Fleetwood, 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:52.120 who had organized that glorious celebration tribute to the early 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.520 days of Fleetwood mic when they were a four piece 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.200 of blues band, which a lot of folks think Fleetwood 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.760 Mike is a pop band. They started off with that 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:05.320 brief fore man lineup, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, John McVie, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:11.599 m mc fleetwood on on drums and Miss Gilligan, my 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.640 lovely sweetheart, was with me. And at the conclusion of 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:18.440 that glorious occasion, which I do believe might have been 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:22.440 the last large public gathering for a music event in London. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:26.080 It was London Palladium. Place was packed. And then we 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:32.280 went on to take a holiday in Spain and uh, 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:36.480 of course, uh, it was so early in the game. 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:42.680 The word of this virus was yet to be spoken, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.080 and we were carrying on and just having a big 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:51.120 old time. However, uh zz Top Tour had been booked 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:55.440 to begin up Peeling the Onion with a startup in 0:05:55.600 --> 0:06:00.520 Las Vegas, so off we go. We got a NonStop 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:04.480 flight out of Madrid, which turned out to be uh, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.040 the last flight out of Europe as the curtain was dropping. 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.440 In fact, had we not gotten out, I've been speaking 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:16.720 Spanish to you today. But land in Las Vegas and 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:22.640 hopped in the taxicab and the driver turned around. He said, uh, hey, Billy, 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.919 uh dog on it. I had tickets for your show. 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:28.880 I said, well, don't worry it. This is Wednesday, man, 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.480 we're gonna start on Friday. We got a couple of days. 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.520 He goes, where have you been? It's postponed. That's how 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.240 I found out that this was a serious drop of 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.479 the curtain. And I got on the phone and I 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.679 called up the management office. I said, hey, I said 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.000 I was informed that, uh, we're sitting on the fence. 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.440 Are we gonna play? And they said no, no, it's 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.280 it's here. You have a house in Vegas. Have a 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:01.640 house in Vegas. Yeah. Gilligan wanted a ranch, and a 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.680 friend of mine said, hey, man, I got I got 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.400 your ranch, which I thought he was joking, and in 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:09.840 fact I was over there to play a walk on 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:15.080 with Matt's arms outfit Kings of Chaos, and I got 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:16.960 off the stage and I walked into I said I 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.800 wanted the dressing room and said, hey, Gilligan, where you been? 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.000 She goes, oh, I was talking to your buddy Markling, 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.560 and he grabbed me by the shoulders and he's a man, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.280 I know you've been talking about that ranch. I got 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.440 your ranch, And it had been this ongoing joke. Yeah, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.640 we're going to get a ranch. So we caught the 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.280 late night red Eye back to Los Angeles, and three 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.480 o'clock in the morning the phone rang and man, you 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:45.120 left town. Where where I got your ranch? And I said, well, 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.360 you are joking, of course, he said no, look at 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:51.240 your computer, and sure enough there was a there was 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.480 a little ranch property on the screen. I said, okay, 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.440 So we got on the early morning flew back to Vegas. 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.480 I got off the plan. I said, man, why why 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.320 the long face? He goes, I tried to catch you. 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.040 Somebody bought the property you that you were looking at, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.720 and I said, well, we're here. Let's let's go see 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.400 what we didn't get. As you know, like I needed 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:18.520 another house. How many houses? How many houses do you have? Uh? 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.800 Once too many and a hundred ain't enough. I live 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:26.560 on a tour bus. It just keeps changing talents. But anyway, 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.160 you start looking for property in Vegas. Yeah, we're standing 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.960 in the middle of Rancho And I turned around and 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.320 I said, well, just for questions, I said, what would 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.559 a place like that go for? And the real estate 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:40.480 girls went into a mild panic and and said, oh 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.760 my gosh, she got pregnant with baby number six. They've 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.960 already bought another property. This one's coming on the market 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:50.840 in the morning, and it seemed to be reasonably priced. 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.320 Gilligan jumped up, said, hey, it's got a stable in 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:58.280 the back. It's our ranch, so low and behold we 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.679 signed on the dotted line. It turns out to be Uh. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.719 It was next door to a house previously owned by 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:09.440 Dean Martin. This house had was Bridget Bardoe's wedding house 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.960 from nineteen fifty seven. That's a little history there. So 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.520 it's a ranch. What makes it a ranch as opposed 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.160 to just a piece of property, I'd call it a 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:27.040 ranch at a ranch at this was in a an 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.360 interesting development. It was. They broke ground in nineteen forty 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.640 nine and I think it's considered the one of the 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:41.560 first commercially developed residential areas. And each each footprint was 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.120 two acres. And of course, back in those days, Las 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:49.040 Vegas was a cowboy town. Everybody had horses and they 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.720 wanted to make sure that there was enough room. In fact, 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.200 there's still a couple of couple of stables in the 0:09:54.480 --> 0:10:00.720 in the little circle there, so I think ranchet. So 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.280 since Gilligan was excited about the stables, does she ride? 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:10.520 She rides my butt. She rides me all the time. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:14.679 I can't get away from that. But the being okay, 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:20.080 does she ride horses? Uh? You know, that's a good 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.199 question I have. I've yet to see her saddle up. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.720 I've yet to see her. Okay, So you've been married, 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.360 You've been with Dilligan about fifteen years or so at 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.120 this point. I actually been married together longer that time. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:34.719 Does she go with you when you go on the road, 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:38.360 Does she stay home? No, she's she's on the road, 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.240 on the road. Count In fact, I've learned to learn, 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.920 as you know, uh, girls all in the world. As guys, 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.560 we just take care of the stuff on it. But 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:55.280 early on, I guess it started actually as a during 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.560 a tour of Europe. We would end the show on 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:03.400 a Friday night dry overnight Saturday morning. Uh, she'd rattle 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.040 my cage and we'd get up to go with the 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:11.160 runner and the catering girl to go see the local 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.760 grocery store. So we'd be traversing the aisles, looking at 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.320 foreign languages and saying different colors in different shapes. It 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.560 was a real eye opening experience. So I credit Gilligan's 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:28.320 willingness to be on the road to be quite quite educational. 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:33.440 So now you're seeing more than a hotel room. Definitely, yeah, yeah, 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.880 And although the hotel rooms are on the horizon, it 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:43.199 does it does appear that we're gonna be out and 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.640 about time to rock and roll. Right, And do you 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.520 always go by bus or do you sometimes locate one 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:54.079 city go by jet to the varying gigs, yes on occasion. Now, 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.320 there was a time back in the eighties when uh, 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:03.960 commercial flights, we're fine, But the ownership of your own 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:09.840 aircraft was actually a plausible outing, given the fact that 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.280 back in the eighties, you know, there was money flying 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:17.040 around left and right. Uh, we were putting forty or 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.199 fifty hours a week on this aircraft, so it was 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.040 quite affordable. And then we got lazy, and then they 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:30.680 decided to turn busses into rolling houses, microwave refrigerator, flat 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:34.520 screen TVs internet. Uh, you don't even have to look 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:39.000 at the road. You leave it to the to the driver. Okay, 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.520 So let's say a traditional gig ins at eleven PM. 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:48.400 What's your routine after eleven Well, we've we uh we 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.840 hang out. Uh. We we let the doors close, and 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.480 we'll mingle with a few fans maybe here and there, 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.559 and depending out on the weather, we'll we'll go outside 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.840 and and if we're really lucky, some of the the 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.160 neighborhood establishments may still be open. We might tiptoe around 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.200 the corner, but by and large it's straight ahead back 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.600 on the wide road and go into the next gig. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.480 I guess I'm asking if the gigins at eleven, at 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:20.880 what time do you try to fall asleep because it 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.600 takes a while to come down from a gig. Oh, 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.360 you said it. I don't know if we're I don't 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:32.960 know if we hit dreamland until six am. It's uh, 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:36.000 you know, it's so it's so exciting to get up 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:42.400 on the deck and you know, jumping around and shouting 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:47.040 it out. It does definitely get the pulse beating. And 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.920 you're absolutely right, it takes a while. That takes a 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.480 while to come down. Okay, So when you go out 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.240 with Gilligan, are you on the bus just the two 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.000 of you or there are other people on the bus 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:02.720 with you? No, it's just uh, we share a separate coach. 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:06.360 In fact, uh celebrate by the way, a zz Top 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:12.800 celebrates five decades together uninterrupted, by and large. And I've 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:16.959 been asked many times how in the world have three 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.400 nearly unlike minded guys outside of two hours on the deck, 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.680 how have you managed to keep it together? And the 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:30.720 answer is simple to words separate buses. Okay, let's go 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.480 back to Vegas for a minute. So you've been there 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.680 in excess of a year. How have you entertained yourself 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.760 other than this album you made The Ranch. The Ranch 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:44.560 yet is a mere two blocks from there. There's kind 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:49.800 of this Hawaiian Polynesian tiki bar that somehow didn't get 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:54.160 the message. The doors had to close that they say, 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:58.520 they didn't get the word. They stayed open, which was 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:05.520 rather unusual. Uh, most of of I mean from if 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.920 you tell, if you started in Texas and if you relegated, 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:13.320 just a corridor through the southwest, through the desert southwest, 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.560 all the way to the west coast. Everything was shut, 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.360 along with the rest of the planet. And here's this 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:24.680 little Polynesian place. Uh, for whatever reason, they didn't get 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:29.840 the message. But around the corner from that was a 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:34.040 little casino and they too, they said, well, the the 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:39.080 tiki bars open, we might as well stay open. So yeah, 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.480 there was a few dice games that caught our attention. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:49.280 Left and right. Are you a gambler, Well, yeah, the 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:55.040 the For those that are listening, Uh, if you'll allow 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.600 me to describe what I just pulled out of my pocket, 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:02.320 I've got, I've got the I've got the rolling bones 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.520 and uh they're official, their three quarter fully squared up. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.680 But unfortunately that's the only thing I was able to 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.720 take take away from the last dice game. They said, here, 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.440 you'll you'll need this on the street corner, go take this. Okay, 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.560 So how do you know Matt sor him? I've known 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:25.720 Matt for quite some time. Uh we met early on. 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.040 I was a big fan of you know, Matt has 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:35.280 has served as the cornerstone backbeat guy the Cults, Guns 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:39.200 and Roses and of course Velvet Revolver and being a 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:43.840 fan of every outfit he seemed to be part of, 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:49.400 had my attention. And it was actually Gilligan was talking 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:54.400 with Matt and he had just left another interesting aggregation. 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:59.080 This was kind of a uh goodly jam band made 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:02.080 up of a bunch of different guys whoever came off 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:07.040 the road had the opportunity to join the outfit called 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:14.840 Camp Freddie and then uh, that's fond the the establishment 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:21.320 of Kings of Chaos, Matt's next gangly bunch of guys. 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.960 And said, well, y'all to asked Billy to Billy to 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.560 come up and do a couple and that really that 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:35.640 really cemented this kind of arms length friendship. By taking 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:41.280 the deck and letting Matt provide that glorious backbeat, I 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:46.000 really fell for it. Uh, he's a powerhouse hitter man. Okay, 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.360 so you go way out into the desert. The studio 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:54.800 is there? Where do you sleep? Aha? This? Uh? As 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.520 I mentioned the Rancho day La Luna, david Catching's joint, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.920 uh freak it in by so many really talented artists. 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.640 Across the way was a gentleman from England that had 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:14.480 invested in a large footprint property and I guess when 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.840 it became known that he was actually creating a recording 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.639 studio as part of this purchase, his next door neighbor 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.440 got very nervous and immediately put her for sale sign 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.240 next to it, and he he bolted, He got the 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:34.120 heck out of there. And so one house became two, 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:44.720 and the former neighbor's domicile became the campgrounds. The garage 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.760 became the performance room, and I guess it must have 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:55.520 been the uh the lawnmower room became the control house. 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.640 But it's really turned into be quite a stately affair. 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:04.280 It's uh globally competitive, as we should say, it's really cool. 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:09.920 How do you know Austin? Austin Uh came from Alabama. 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:14.640 I'm at Austin down on third Uh right in Los 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:21.200 Angeles at a famous place UM that's known for uh 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:26.160 a twenty page menu, one page is food and nineteen 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:32.919 pages of of tequila. And Austin was he was holding 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.560 court behind the bar. He Uh. I don't know if 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.600 he was ever an actual bartender. They just hired him 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.600 to watch over the place. He's, uh, he's a rather 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.520 strident fellow and uh he's not ready to take any 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.720 guff from anybody. But what a great fellow. And then 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.520 it became known that he played guitar and he said, yeah, man, 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.880 he said, I'm holding court down at a place off 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:04.320 of Kwanga and Selma. Huh. Unfortunately it's long gone um 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:06.480 over the past couple of years. But he had a 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:10.840 Sunday afternoon show with a great gang of guys, and 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:14.439 I was just amazed. Not only is he a great singer, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.320 comes from Alabama, Austin, but been on the West coast 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:23.520 for twenty years, and uh, hearing him sing was one thing, 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.520 but watching him play. He plays right handed guitar upside 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:30.359 down and backwards like he does the Albert King Jimmy 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:34.399 Hendricks routine. I can't look at it. It makes me 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.919 go crazy inside out and backwards. I call him. But 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.119 the three of us, Austin Hanks, Matt Storm and yours 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:50.560 truly decided to make Noise a few years back. And 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:56.919 uh that actually had its origins when we were taking 0:20:56.960 --> 0:21:01.879 a stab leaving the Cuban record. The first bf G 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.120 solo record was following an invitation to play the Havannah 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:10.560 Jazz Festival way back, when, of course I left me 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.200 scratch in my head. I said, I'm not sure I 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.080 want to go to Cuba with a I don't want 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.119 to bust up a jazz festival with a rock and 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:23.520 roll party. So we dug deep and uh we we 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:29.280 let the Cuban influences creep into the studio and and 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:33.719 that resulted in the release of the album entitled perfect 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.480 A Mundo, which did pave the way we actually went 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.720 to Havana. I was able to put together an outfit, 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:45.320 had the two girls on drums, Gigi Martin was on 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:49.920 piano along with Mike Flanagan on B three. Alex g 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:52.760 was holding a turntable and a set of congas in 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:57.560 the back. Really a great outfit. And from there, well, 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:00.040 let's stay there for a second show. You know, I 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:01.600 was supposed to go a couple of years ago and 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.119 didn't happen. But my main reason I want to go 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:09.440 to Cuba is for the cars. Now I've heard actually 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.680 did inside their hun days. They aren't really the original. 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.359 So what were you were there? You're such a car guy. 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:20.600 Oh uh. We not as soon as we landed. And 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:25.080 it's very interesting the Havana airport, the Havanna so called 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:29.760 International Airport. It's very small, not much to it, and 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:36.560 the operatives inside are all female and they've got fish 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:41.920 net hose. They look like strippers. Uh. It's really crazy. 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:46.399 But we made quick, uh quick ways back to we 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:49.240 had We had taken out space at a nice villa 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:54.840 and on the way everybody was bug eyed because there 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:59.440 was not a car on the road after nineteen I 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:03.879 would say the the most contemporary vehicle we had seen 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:09.320 was I think we said nineteen sixty. Uh, and they said, well, 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:12.080 oh yeah, that's about when it when the gates closed, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.159 it was about that was about the last vehicle to 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.440 be brought in. But we did see, oh this was beautiful. 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:23.840 We saw a nineteen fifty four Cadillac convertible and I said, 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:27.000 g was pull over, it's on the sidewalk and there 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:31.159 was a crowd gathered around. They were not tourists waiting 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:34.520 to take a ride. They were guys looking under the hood, 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:37.439 trying to figure out what to do to get the 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:41.919 car back running. And as we peeked under the hood, 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:45.760 there was a late model. When you said Hyundai, I 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:49.639 think it might have been a Hunded diesel engine of 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:53.520 powering this fifty four Cadillac convertible. But you know, they 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:56.040 pick up a tin can, they'll twist it up and 0:23:56.920 --> 0:23:59.280 it'll be the it will become an ignition key or 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:03.960 apart to the transmission. They're that they're that inventive. Okay, 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.720 so you you finished the Cuban project and continue the 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:12.280 narrative up to the new album Hardware. Yes, Uh, we 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:17.880 were We were fortunate. We played two nights in Havana, 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:24.000 one at the h the brick factory turned art museum 0:24:24.240 --> 0:24:27.840 and they had a beautiful venue in there. Uh. And 0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:32.879 then we we we closed out the trip with an 0:24:32.880 --> 0:24:38.919 appearance at the Big Theater. Uh. Just a glorious and everybody, 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:42.159 do you know that they've learned how to play music 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:45.440 as part of their lifeblood. They clap on the two 0:24:45.440 --> 0:24:48.159 and four. It's not a one in three crowd this 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:54.360 is they got the backbeat down. But I remember going 0:24:54.400 --> 0:24:58.359 to the airport. Uh. Upon arrival, of course, you have 0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:01.119 to check every single thing and you're bringing in and 0:25:01.480 --> 0:25:05.320 on departure you have to check off everything to make 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:09.880 sure you're taking it back out. Well, Mike Flanagan are 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:13.280 fearless keyboardist. Uh. He was looking at a ticket and 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:16.840 he said, gee was he said, my departure date seems 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:21.160 to be marked differently than everybody else. Sure enough, we 0:25:21.160 --> 0:25:26.119 were leaving on a Sunday. His ticket predicated that he 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:29.760 leave on a Monday, which was gonna be a large problem. 0:25:31.359 --> 0:25:37.600 But fortunately Gigi Martin and Marcel Fernandez, who both speak 0:25:37.640 --> 0:25:41.640 fluent Spanish, they came to the rescue. They assigned me 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:47.440 to go, uh look at the the equipment being loaded 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:51.399 onto the ferry back onto the airplane. Well, little did 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:57.240 I know the the dossier had already been sent and 0:25:57.480 --> 0:25:59.760 was already boarded up on the plane. Next thing, I'm 0:25:59.800 --> 0:26:04.320 being escorted into a side room where a girl is 0:26:04.359 --> 0:26:08.800 looking at me filling out a form, and uh, I 0:26:08.840 --> 0:26:11.680 happened to glance down. In my limited Spanish, I could 0:26:11.720 --> 0:26:14.800 see I was in trouble. It's Aid Act, the title 0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:17.720 of the paper that she was filling out. It was 0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:23.639 titled Act of an Adversary, and so I had to 0:26:23.720 --> 0:26:28.240 dredge up some Spanglish as quickly as possible. We finally 0:26:28.280 --> 0:26:32.800 ironed it out and made way. Uh we flew, we flew, 0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:37.359 let's see Havana back to Miami and then uh we 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:42.520 all went back to the West coast and and just 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:46.760 a great recollections. I gotta say it was quite an 0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:49.359 eye opener. We had a blast. It was, it was 0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:52.800 all good, all good. Well that begs a question. No, 0:26:53.040 --> 0:26:58.040 you have this beard which makes you instantly recognizable around 0:26:58.160 --> 0:27:00.960 the world. Is that a good thing or a bad 0:27:01.040 --> 0:27:07.800 thing for you personally? Well, it's uh, it's definitely uh 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:13.600 a point of identification. And as I've mentioned, uh uh 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:17.040 we do have one. We we do get a kitchen 0:27:17.080 --> 0:27:22.560 pass one night a year. It's Halloween. Just I could 0:27:22.600 --> 0:27:25.200 go out on Halloween. Dude, you look like that's easy, 0:27:25.240 --> 0:27:29.800 top guy, You're gonna win the contest man. So yeah, 0:27:29.840 --> 0:27:34.440 we get we get one one night a year. Um. 0:27:34.560 --> 0:27:40.200 I it was quite popular down in uh in Cuba. Uh. 0:27:40.240 --> 0:27:44.560