Doug Van Pelt

Rock Stars in Bug

Tuesday I interviewed the great "new" artist Dan Dyer. I use quotes around "new," because he has been doing music for years. When owner Clifford Antone introduced Dan on stage that night, he recalled years ago at the old Antone's location how this young guy's voice warming up really caught their attention (the band Breedlove). Like many debut artists, their first big record isn't their introduction to music, instead it's the culmination of years of hard work. This guy has released his debut album, ...Of What Lies Beneath, on new Roxie Records, which is apparently the new label started by Lenny Kravitz. It was nice to enter the club right after soundcheck and be welcomed as one expected. At Dan's suggestion, we moved over to another quieter location for the interview (I'll always take those suggestions after losing a great Korn interview due to the thud-thud of Danzig's soundcheck that ruined the playback later), so as we headed out I offered to drive Dan to the hotel, since I didn't know where the San Jose was. It was fairly impromptu, and even though Dan was carrying two guitar cases and I had childs' seats in the back of the Volkswagon Bug, I figured everything would fit and it would be fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Things went well.

The interview was really good and engaging, lasting about 40 minutes. I discovered a nice new hotel that seems like a great little oasis on South Congress Avenue. As I was leaving, I looked down at the floor of the passenger seat and saw all the mess that I forced this guy to endure: I had a coiled up garden hose in there, a grocery bag with a soda and a tupperware desert in it. I laughed because I had unknowingly cramped this future rock star in such a confined space.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at September 2, 2004 08:49 AM