Nicest / most personable musician you've met?

I spoke to robin Williamson from the incredible string band at a small club in wales in the late nineties. I asked him to sign my changing horses album. He laughed and said he hasn’t seen the sleeve in years. A great guy.

 

Metallica - saw them on the Ride The Lightening tour and met them after the show. They invited me and a couple of friends onto their tour bus to party and took pictures with them. They were very friendly towards ALL of their fans (at least way back then).

 

Walter Salas-Humara of The Silos is a sweetheart. So is Jimmy Herring of Aquarium Rescue Unit/The Dead/Widespread Panic.

 

"As Canadian as possible under the circumstances" describes my interaction with Gord Downie (singer from The Tragically Hip). At a typically artificial after-show meet-and-greet (Orbit Room in Grand Rapids, late '90s), he asked if I wanted any pictures or something signed, and when I told him that I wanted only to tell him face to face that the Hip's music meant the world to me, I saw the most genuine smile light his face like a Nova Scotia sunrise, and he asked me if I wanted a Coke. Who says no to that?

 

Met Vince Gill at the Music City Union 76 truck stop in Music City back in the mid 90's. He stepped off his tour bus wearing T-shirt, shorts, flip flops and a big smile. Introduced myself, told him I was a fan and we chatted together for around 15 minutes. Very down to earth polite man.

Another straight shooter and down to earth guy was Canadian country singer Charlie Major. Outdoor casino, g/f and I sitting front row he came down and over to us after his sound check. Chatted for about 20 minutes and had a beer with him. Nothing fancy just shooting the crap about everyday stuff. He actually went and got the opening act and brought her over to say hi. she was the lead singer of Lace, Beverley MaHood. It was funny cause during one of his songs once on stage he said say hi to my new drinking buddies Greg and Michele.

Little things like that, chance meetings with people make it all worth while being a music fan.

 

I've met a lot of rock star/musicians over the years, almost all in a professional capacity so they weren't dealing with fan behavior and more natural as a result. Almost everyone was pretty decent to deal with, the people you have to look out for are supermodels. They tend to have serious attitudes 24/7 in my experience. A hungover Tyra Banks was particularly prickly.

I did want to relate one music related story though, I used to work in the same loft building that Ornette Coleman lived in and ran into him in the elevator pretty often. We chit-chatted regularly about this and that but never about music. One day he saw me with a guitar and started asking me about my music, and even invited me to come to some workshops he was doing to come play and show him what I was doing. I was WAY too intimidated by him musically to do it, but it shows what kind of person he was that he would encourage a punk rock guy in a Discharge T-shirt to come and exchange musical ideas with him. RIP Mr. Coleman.

 

I collect drumsticks so I've met quite a few drummers and everyone has been very cool (Aynsley Dunbar was probably the nicest)

I've met a few other rockers and they've also been cool to me -- Mick Taylor, Mike Anthony, Vince Neil, the temperamental George Lynch, and even Johnny Rotten lol.

I saw Don Dokken in a club once but knew to stay away from him as he's been known to take swings at people. lol

 

Gene Parsons drummer of the Byrds was a warm decent dude...met him back in the 70's...had a blast talking music.

 

Randy Newman, Leo Kottke, Jake Shimabukuro, Steve Wynn, Dan Baird, all equally humble.

 

Anson Funderburgh (contemporary Texas blues guitarist, fronting AF & the Rockets). I saw the band three times, twice
in Memphis during consecutive New Year's-weekends at BB King's (late '90s). During breaks, Anson (and other band members)
hung out on the main floor in front of the stage, very approachable. At the time I was producing and hosting a public radio
show that played a lot of blues. The last time I talked with him, the Rockets were playing the next day
at some festival in or around Helena, Arkansas (about an hour and a half SW of Memphis). Anson offered to take me to
legendary bluesman Robert Nighthawk's grave.. Unfortunately, I was to fly back home the next day an had to pass on
the opportunity. Also, unfortunately, the Rockets nearly blind vocalist and harp player Sam Myers
(who wrote "Sleeping in the Ground," covered by Blind Faith) was not so talkative or polite when I tried to talk with him at the bar.

 

Densmore just doesn't seem like a personable guy. Watch the behind the scenes footage of the Skrillex collaboration - it looks like Densmore reduces him to tears at one point.

Out of the 'other three' Doors, he's always seemed like the least pleasant.

 

Peter Buck of R.E.M. He was playing with The Baseball Project at a little dive bar in Albany NY called Valentines. It’s no longer open. It was a hip place in Albany for years. There was eight or nine people there. Obviously they were mostly there to see him, but the whole band was great! They played a high energy show, and hung around with the audience at set break, and afterwards. Peter Buck was so down to earth and humble. Very kind fella! I fell in love with the drummer, Linda Pitmon. So beautiful!

 

Having met Densmore (who was a jerk) and interviewed Manzarek (who was personable but extremely pretentious) and met Robby a few times (talking with him at length once) --

I can tell you that of the "other three," Robby was / is a really cool, down-to-earth guy.

(I also think he's one of the most underrated guitarists in rock history... and a great songwriter)


I will give Densmore his props in one area however, he was the only one of the "other three" who's refused to allow any of their songs to be used in commercials.

.

 

I have a buddy who works in PR in Los Angeles.

He was running some event at which Christie Brinkley was to appear (this was probably 20 or so years ago).

As they had to travel a few miles from her hotel to the event, she demanded that he hire a helicopter to take her there because she didn't want to sit in traffic.

I $hit you not.

.

 

Apparently Billy was right to kick her to the curb....

 

Friendly, patiently (regarding getting an autograph or getting a picture taken with):
Warren Haynes / Gov't Mule
Paul Rodgers
Poppa Chubby
The Tubes
Royal Southern Brotherhood
Susan Tedeschi
Robin Trower
Sonny Landreth
Oteil Burbridge
Col. Bruce Hampton
Patterson Hood
Slobberbone


Even more friendly and patient. Really talkative / showing interest / taking their time:
Devon Allman & Honeytribe
Dan Baird (& Friends / Homemade Sin)
Jason & The Scorchers
Derek Trucks
Todd Smallie (bassist with The Derek Trucks Band & JJ Grey and Mofro)
Ron Holloway (sax)
Paul Nelson & Johnny Winter
The Paladins

 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's bass player; Leon Redbone; the Proclaimers; John Waite; and Patti Smyth.

 

About 15 years ago, Cadillac wanted to use The Doors' "Break On Through" for their new national ad campaigns (radio, television and print) to lure in the adults (who were just kids in the late 60's and early 70's) who were now thought to be financially solvent enough to buy a luxury brand. It was thought that by using The Doors' "Break On Through", the song would (in the subconscious minds of the car buyers -- and in the conscious minds of the advertisers) differentiate between the new generation of Cadillacs from the Cadillac their folks drove. Translated: Cadillac ads with Doors music = hip generation. Cadillac ads without Doors music = cars your parents bought. At any rate, The Doors turned down Cadillac so they (Cadillac) went after Led Zeppelin for the song "Rock And Roll" to use in their ads instead. Same era, musically, and the same demographic of car-buyers who grew up listening to that era of classic rock. But Cadillac still wasn't satisfied with "just" the Led Zep song so they added the voice-over "break through" at the end of their ads. I don't know if "break through" was used as an inside jab at The Doors or if Cadillac thought people would somehow connect "break through" with "Break On Through" or what, but that's the inside story.

 

Met John Waite - one of the nicest guys out there and what a voice

 

A class act..... Brad- if you only knew how much you are missed.

 

Napoleon Murphy Brock (Zappa)
Chad Wackerman-drummer for Zappa/Holdsworth
Bill Evans, the tenor sax player
Airto, famed Brazilian percussionist
Bela Fleck
Mike Keneally

 

I met Brad Delp as well about a year or two before he died when I saw Beetlejuice play at a local high school auditorium. I brought my CD of Boston's first album with me along with a Sharpie, and during intermission he came out and I walked over to him and we shook hands and he graciously signed my CD (he seemed pretty happy that a young kid like me owned a copy) and talked to me for a minute or so, very down to earth guy. He actually lived about 10 minutes away from me and used to shop at the Shaws that my buddy worked at and my buddy would always see him, so needless to say when he died and especially the way he went hit very close to home for me

 

Very nice story, ebro. I was hoping to see him in perform with Beatlejuice.... I heard he was easily approachable at those shows. He left us before I had the chance. Very sad.

 

Either Joe Strummer or Roger McGuinn

 

I rode in an elevator with her in 1988. Christie Brinkley was so spectacularly beautiful that I felt like shading my eyes. It was a like a bright light of hotness.