Nicest / most personable musician you've met?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by BroJB, Jul 7, 2015.

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  1. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    I said Willie Nelson already. Top Jimmy is another honorable mention. I met him in Austin 1995, it was me and two friends of mine, we were on a 'blues vacation', he was worn from a life on drink and drugs but super nice. We had breakfast with him. Van Halen recorded the track "Top Jimmy" in 1983 as a tribute to him when he was the lead singer in the wild blues rock band Top Jimmy & Rhythm Pigs. I think he was surprised that three guys from Norway listened to his music. I dont think the legenadry "Pigus Drunkus Maximus" had a distribution outside the US, we'd found it on import. Anyway, it was a glorious moment for me, my love of good-hearted drunks and oddballs (and hate of normies) are never ending. :cool:
     
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  2. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I was staying at that big old Hilton in Chicago near Grant Park. Next street behind the hotel is Buddy's club Legends. I go in there to catch a set and its a really slow night.

    Theres a bar that runs towards the back of the room thats not being used, but there is a guy sitting at it alone. I walk over and sure enough its Buddy. I say hi and we chat for a few minutes about guitars and amps. Really nice guy.
     
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  3. grapenut

    grapenut Forum Resident

    The last time I talked to him between sets with Red Rider around 1980 or so, I asked him to send me a postcard from somewhere on the road. I got a postcard sometime that winter from Manitoba. He opened for Springsteen a few years back in Moncton NB....he was having the time of his life when Bruce called him out to share the encore on "Twist and Shout".
     
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  4. segue

    segue Psychoacoustic Member

    Location:
    Hawai'i
    Ginger Baker
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2016
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  5. So, what was Marshall Crenshaw doing with MC5? That is bizarre.
     
  6. Mark B.

    Mark B. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Concord, NC
    I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the "MC" in this case is Marshall himself.
     
  7. erikdavid5000

    erikdavid5000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Met him at a bar once in Seattle. I didn't even tell him I knew who he was until we started talking about music. Had about 20 beers with him and it was a blast.
     
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  8. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    The nicest, most personable musician I've ever met would have to be Julia Nunes, who has earned a significant following on YouTube. I've seen her perform five times, twice at living room shows that I was lucky enough to host. Just an amazingly sweet, genuine person who truly appreciates the fans who have made it possible for her to make a living as a musician.

    I haven't had much face time with many better-known musicians, but Chris Murphy from Sloan made a very good impression on me. I had arrived early for a Sloan concert a few years ago, and he was mingling with the crowd. The guy at the merchant table said the band sometimes has to pry him away from conversations with fans to get him onstage. Sure enough, he spent ten minutes talking to me. After the show, he made sure the other band members came out to sign autographs.

    I also was able to have a nice conversation with Jim Creeggan from Barenaked Ladies, when my wife and I won admission to a soundcheck in a radio contest.
     
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  9. bagofsoup

    bagofsoup Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Someone else mentioned Anthony Kiedis. My band played a CMJ Music Marathon show at the Spiral in NYC in the early 90's. Packed house. After we came offstage, we quickly cleared off our gear and retreated to the front of house for beers. Made it a few feet from the stage when Anthony walked over, grabbed our drummer by the shoulder with his left hand, extended his right hand, and said, "great set, man!"

    Best 3-word celebrity meeting EVER!
     
  10. bagofsoup

    bagofsoup Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I know he used to play "Tonight" by the MC5 in his sets and was friendly with the band. Could well be them.

    My cousin saw him outside the Ritz after his show many years ago. He called out to him and said something like "great show!" Crenshaw ignored them and instead said, "one minute you're the star, and the next minute you can't even get a cab." I think he was being tongue-in-cheek, but he came off like a real jerk.

    In fairness, I have several friends who have played in his band or have worked closely with him and only have nice things to say about him. I'm a huge fan, myself.
     
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  11. MadMelMon

    MadMelMon Forum Resident

    The Fastbacks stayed with me and my friends for a few days back in the early 90s, and the whole experience was. So. Damn. Nice.

    Lulu (I think) called a few days after their tour ended to tell us how much they enjoyed everything. She even went out of her way to thank me for letting her use my computer, as of all the emails she sent throughout the tour, the only ones that went through came from mine (this was early days for the internet, when I worked for CompuServe. Guess I was better at that job than I thought at the time.)
     
  12. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Nope, Crenshaw was playing with the MC5 of Kick Out The Jams fame at the time- small club called New City Likwid Lounge (New City had a contract with the hotel so all the bands that played there stayed at my hotel). That was in 2003, I believe...I was like, "Wow, MC5? They still around?":laugh:
     
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  13. Scott6

    Scott6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Not that many but my absolute best moment was all 4 of Throbbing Gristle after one of their Desertshore Installations in 2007 at the ICA. After the performance they hung around for a while to chat and sign autographs, which they were all happy to do. Genesis was so engaging and seemed genuinely happy that I had enjoyed the performance so much.
     
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  14. Trevor_Bartram

    Trevor_Bartram Senior Member

    Location:
    Boylston, MA, USA
    Dave Cousins and Bert Jansch:

    I talked with Dave at the bar after a Strawbs Acoustic show in Easton, MA about ten years ago, although he was using a walking stick (after a fall from the roof of his summer home in France) and maybe have been in some pain, he was most gracious and asked where I was from etc, being fellow Brits.

    I got to see Bert at the MFA in Boston, MA around the same time and luvved his anecdotes between songs. A magical night.
     
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  15. Smxx777

    Smxx777 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow
    Yes, in early 1990s Anthony was a nice guy.
    Nowadays he is nice to other musicians while he likes their set. In Budapest he was impressed by small local band and invited them to dinner.
    But he is not very nice towards fans. One girl that I knew was waiting for Anthony late at night. There was no one in the street - only she and Kiedis. So she came towards him, said "Thank you! Please, can you sign "Scar Tissue" book for me?" and he nervously said: "No! No signs, no photos!". He wasn't hurry. There were no other fans around.
    Recently I've read his book "Fandemonium". And there he wrote: "It's not very nice to ask for autographs. It's like: "Oh, thank you man, your music gave me great feelings. But now please give me something more than you gave before!"".
     
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  16. RoyalScam

    RoyalScam Luckless Pedestrian

    I've gotta tell ya...I don't care to get an autograph, or even a picture. I just want to tell them how much I appreciate their work, or how much their work means to me as a fan. The experience is good enough for me. I don't really need "proof" I met them. If they seem into it, though, a pic would be great.
     
  17. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    James Alex of Beach Slang. Met him before the show and talked to him after the show in Baltimore and DC last October. Very genuinely nice. I extended my hand to him and he told me 'Nah man, I'm a hugger". Just a really nice person. When I saw him solo at the Black Cat a month later he remembered both me and my buddy. I then told him how much I enjoyed the solo show better than I did with the band. I missed them last time they rolled through DC. Damn good songwriter too.
     
  18. Smxx777

    Smxx777 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow
    The experience is good. But when the first thing you hear when you just look at artist is "No signs! No photos!" even when you just want to say "Hi" is not the great exerience. There was a known story when one guy saw David Gilmour on the street and came to him and just said: "Thank you for the soundtrack of my life!" and his answer was: "Ok. And now leave me alone".
    While you don't have proof - ok. While you listen things like "leave me alone", "don't look at me" even when you just say "Hi" - not the nicest experience.
    It their right to have free time etc. They are tired of attention and fans for all these years, ok. But not sure that every fan that said "Hi" will be so happy that his favorite musician was quite rude towards him.
     
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  19. PDK

    PDK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Central Florida
    Cab Calloway. Very mellow and humble he was.
     
  20. RockRoom

    RockRoom I Love My Dog

    Location:
    Upstate
    Graham Nash. When we met he happily played a song I requested and was very kind, receptive and interested in our discussion. We later met at a photo event he was having and remembered me and was just as accommodating.
     
  21. Sammy Waslow

    Sammy Waslow Just watching the show

    Location:
    Ireland
    I never heard that before, but about twenty-five years ago, Q magazine had an article on readers' encounters with musicians. One guy wrote in to say he'd been at an award ceremony and David Gilmour was there. He rushed up excitedly to him and asked, "Have you got a pen?", to which Gilmour's (presumably honest) response was, "No", so the guy shuffled off, sans autograph.
     
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  22. Smxx777

    Smxx777 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow
    That's an ok story)) My experience with Gilmour was nice, but not personal. My friend played in 2015 at one gig with Gilmour. They had small chat and he told David that he has a friend (me) who loves early Pink Floyd very much. So David asked my name and made a sign for me :"To Max. from David Gilmour". I was shocked when this happened. And was even more shocked when I heard several stories how Gilmour was quite agressive at fans.
    But there was a video of Gilmour signing autographs. The fans behave really rude. Calling Dave "dude" (while he was 60 at that time), asking "hey! sign one more cd!". I can understand that after all those years of fans' pressure his patience has burst.
     
  23. Thomas Casagranda

    Thomas Casagranda Forum Resident

    I met Taj Mahal, the blues guy, and he was really nice. I have a signed copy of Shoutin' In Key, a live album.

    I asked him about rock'n'roll circus and he was great about it.
     
  24. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    There's a story on the Brain Damage site about a Russian fan's experience of the AMLOR tour in the USSR in which DG does not come off well at all.
     
  25. Smxx777

    Smxx777 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow
    Cause I'm from USSR - can tell you the story about Pink Floyd and the soviet fans)
    It was still iron curtain time and such concerts as Pink Floyd were absolutely insane for hungry soviet people. So the shows were at the Olimpic stadium. And after the show a huge crowd of soviet fans wanted so bad to take some autographs. So they surrounded the bus with the band and blocked it. Band members decided to sign all this stuff in order to get home safe. So their security took all the lps and postcards in a one huge pile, geve to the PF members and 10 minutes later tey threw all this signed stuff on the ground and the bus rolled away. All those fans were pushing each other to take their signed stuff but after all everyone was happy.
    Wild times...
     
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