Salt of the Earth

So I am on tour and we just played a show in St Joseph, MO. It was one of the best shows that I have ever been to or played. Not because of how many people were there, but because of the people there.

I refer to these type of people as the Salt of the Earth. Very rarely, if ever does a person ever brush shoulders with someone who has been all around the world. Not people who travel and go to tourist spots, but people who see the hearts and souls of the cities they visit. I feel that I need to explain the Salt of the Earth metaphor. I am not a great writer by any means but I will do my best to try and help you understand how much character these people have, and how underestimated and un-noticed they go.

I met a guy named Billy, and a kid who was about my age named Devin. Fist, I will talk about Devin. Devin is one of those people whose life could be a book or movie. He has gone through more in his life than I would probably ever want to do in my whole life. He is a truly genuine guy. Everything that he said I knew was true. I talked to him through the course of the evening, invited him to Taco Bell, and just heard his story. He recently had his ’91 Honda Civic stolen by some relatives that were passing through. Devin loves cars and this was his pride and joy. He bought it from a former teacher for a hundred dollar bill. Then he found a racing engine from I forget what kind of car and put it in. I remember him telling me about how fast it was and the look of pure happiness on his face. Anyway, he ended up tracking down the relative that had stolen his keys. He said that he wanted his car back and his relative told him there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Devin in turn said that he would fucking kill him if he didn’t get his car back. Well, the relative then threatened that he would kill Devin and sent out a crew of people to do that very thing. Even last night Devin said that he had to constantly watch his back and be careful about where he was all the time. Also, he brought everything to the police department and they have had three detectives working on the case and haven’t found anything. With KC just 45mins away his car is way past gone. Devin also really liked ATA, and talked about a band he used to have, and his guitars, and guitar playing. I was truly sad that I had to see him go, and wished him the best of luck.

Next was his friend who called himself Billy. Billy and Devin had met three days before at the Scallywag venue. Billy is the most cultured person I have ever met. He is a once in a lifetime aquaitence. He was probably around 38 years old and has traveled the entire world. Also he has the deepest, roughest pirate sounding voice I have ever heard in person. He was in St. Joseph, MO because of family, and calls his home So Cal. While in St. Joseph he also had his car jacked and was kind of stranded. He would talk and talk talk. And smoke and smoke and smoke. But his background story was even more intriguing. Billy’s ancestors were pirates of the Caribbean. Real ones. From down by Haiti, and Brazil. He told us about his ancestory, and was very proud of it. He is what you would call a drifter. Someone you could trust absolutely, but not 100%. But could trust nonetheless. Anyway, he said he had to stop but he Scallywag when he saw it. This is because on the sign outside there was a pirate ship so he felt naturally drawn to it. Weird but true. The world I believe is smaller than it is bigger. Billy has been all over the United States, coast to coast, and the world… literally, but grew up in good ole Des Moines, IA. He went to Roosevelt actually, and wrestled. He knew exactly where we were all from. He name off streets and towns better than most people who actually live there would. He knew of Waukee, Clive, Windsor Heights, even Martensdale, Guthrie Center, and Earlham! It was crazy. That’s how I knew this guy was the real deal. He told us of Mexico, and California, and Iowa, and Texas, and Haite and Brazil, and that’s just shootin the breeze. It was really a blessing to meet him as well.

It’s weird but after meeting those two it made me look back on my life. It made me feel horrible for having all of these things that I take for granted in my life. These two guys were living everyday like they had no cares in the whole world. Even though they barely had much more than the clothes on their backs. At any time they could meet the wrong group of people and get mugged to killed. Having no idea where you would be in a week seems like a scary, yet equally beneficial feeling. They were both so genuine and kind hearted it really hit home to me. These guys have it harder than I could ever imagine having to live, and here I am typing on my expensive laptop, texting a gorgeous girl on my cell phone, and am on the road getting paid to play a guitar. It is very humbling to see things from a different point of view. It really makes me step back and look at where my priorities are, and see how problems in my life are insanely trivial compared to the trials and tribulations that so many other people have to live with to the end of their days.

So in short I was forced to take a different look at my life and was shown how blessed I truly am.