Thanksgiving!

It's that time of the year, again. The time when everyone posts what they're thankful for on Facebook, leaving you to question your own life and figure out what it is that you're thankful for.

I have a lot of be thankful for, I know. Willy reminds me constantly. And I try to tell them, as often as I can, how much I appreciate having a band that is as talented and fun to be with as mine. So allow me to gush a little bit.

1. Jesse. Finally, a bass player who can not only play bass well, and by EAR no less, but who can also play keyboard so I don't have to. A bass player who has character, who moves around the stage with me, who plays along when I do goofy singer things, who actually SINGS with me. Jesse, who is definitely the best looking person on stage, taking the attention way from me every night with his curly hair and Undertaker-like hat. I am so thankful for Jesse that I'm willing to put a tracking device in his neck and keep it active for the rest of his life.

2. Chris. Hands down the best drummer I've ever known, and I didn't even need to sell my first born child to get him! This is a guy who pushes himself without needing someone else to do it for him. A guy who actually really wants to be the best. He's a gaddamn show off, and even if Josh says it throws off the attention sometimes (lol), I don't particularly mind because how many other bands can say they have a drummer who can do the shit he does? I'm thankful because after going through, what 6-7 drummers in the past, he's the first guy I've ever met who can just do the things you ask him to do without an issue. "Hey Chris, how about you throw some double bass in there?" How does he answer? Does he say, "I'll work on it, later" like the French dude I played with for one show who came to rehearsal with a huge shiny kit and a zebra striped drum mat? No, he just does it. Because he's Chris and he can.

3. Josh. Okay, he annoys the hell out of me, but there's no denying that he can play circles around all the other jack-offs in this town. Plus, he knows how to write music that isn't boring and stupid. And yes, there's a lot of other things I could say about him (he's one of my best friends at this point) but I'm sticking to music. I'd murder him if he tried to leave. I would go straight up Misery on his ass and break his ankles. He knows this. I will not be forced to work with another shitty guitarist who plays in drop D because it sounds "heavy". I will never be forced to sing Paranoid again.

I'm thankful for these three guys. Not just because it's good to play with them, and write with them, but because I can hang with them. When we tour, it's not just work. It's like a vacation. A magical smelly vacation full of heavy metal and BBQ. After having spent more than a week on the road with these guys, I know there's nothing else I'd rather be doing than get cooped up in a van and driven all over the country to play in front of audiences that could go from tens to hundreds. I love it and I love them.

Happy Thanksgiving!