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Mike McCready & Pete Droge
Here’s
a genuine Polaroid of Mike McCready and me rehearsing for the Bridge
School concert at the Hotel Nikko in San Fran, 1994. We’d play the
Bridge School again in 1998.
In addition to 800 words recalling my fond memories of the experience, I’ve also posted a vintage live performance of “So I Am Over You” on my Sustack.
What is Substack? It’s like a blog, mixed with an email newsletter, mixed with a boxed set, mixed with bologna. Free to subscribe. Paid Subscriptions are optional. Link in comments.
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
#polaroid #mikemccready #PeteDroge #90s
In addition to 800 words recalling my fond memories of the experience, I’ve also posted a vintage live performance of “So I Am Over You” on my Sustack.
What is Substack? It’s like a blog, mixed with an email newsletter, mixed with a boxed set, mixed with bologna. Free to subscribe. Paid Subscriptions are optional. Link in comments.
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
#polaroid #mikemccready #PeteDroge #90s
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NEIL YOUNG 02 - Bridge School Benefit
Plus a vintage live performance of "So I Am Over You"
Playing Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit concert in 1994 was a major highlight.
It was an honor to be included in a lineup that included Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam, Indigo Girls, Mazzy Star, Ministry, and of course, Neil himself.
A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW
Even though I was at the bottom of the bill, I was not the first to hit the stage. To encourage fans to show up early, Neil opened the show with a short acoustic set. So yeah… Neil Young was my opening act. File under “T” for tough act to follow.
I remember waiting in the wings of Shoreline Amphitheater, warming up my voice and plunking around on my acoustic guitar. Nervous as hell, I paced in circles while sneaking the occasional glance at the 22,500 seats as they were filling up. Neil arrived sporting a fedora and Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. We looked like twins as I was wearing a fedora and Ray-Bans too. At least I didn’t have the exact same model of sunglasses. Mine were the Iverness wrap-around style. I considered losing the hat and shades but ultimately decided to stick with them.
MEETING MY HEROES
It’s funny how you remember the smallest details when meeting your heroes. At one point, Neil cleared his throat and spat into a nearby trashcan. “Road gravel,” he said.
Speaking of meeting heroes, I met Tom Petty for the first time at the Bridge School. My pal Mike McCready of Pearl Jam fame was friendly with Tom and asked if I wanted an introduction. A no-brainer. I was super nervous at first, but Tom was incredibly cool and immediately put me at ease.
We’d meet again shortly after the Bridge School when Tom came out to see me and my band in Los Angeles at Johnny Depp’s famous club, The Viper Room. Later he’d invite me to be the opening act on his Dogs With Wings tour. But that’s another story for another time.
Series One Presale
All three split 7" records in Series One.
Record 1: Ramadillo/Cheap Ones
Record 2: Bathtub Gin/Lazy Susan
Record 3: Goodness/Kitchen Radio
Plus all 6 digital downloads plus bonus Ramadillo download
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0ho1qxrJTqfLLwqfYo8Tg9Gb3tmRbfYJi4Wz1waPsp9mXPHvEm4REJ7jtSck8J55vl&id=100063750122131&mibextid=Nif5oz
Goodness
Goodness/Kitchen Radio
Limited hand numbered to 500 pieces
Goodness "Big Wheel"
Extremely rare deep cut never before released.
Carrie Akre, Danny Newcomb, Garth Reeves, Fiia McGann, Chris Friel
Kitchen Radio "Gator's Grip"
Never before released
Dave Schmitt, Mark Notermann, Mark Patterson, Mark Boquist
Bathtub Gin/Lazy Susan
Limited hand numbered to 500 pieces
Bathtub Gin "Shot a Man"
Extremely limited cassette release. Never before on vinyl.
Johnny Reidt, Jeff Hiatt, Brian Martinez, Troy Hewitt, John Cutler
Lazy Susan "Time on the Moon"
Never before release track. Produced by Andy John's
Kim Virant, Tim DiJulio, Brian Kenney, Scott Summers featuring Dave Abbruzzese on drums.
Cheap Ones/Ramadillo
Limited hand numbered to 500 pieces
The Cheap Ones "Halcyion" never before released.
Russ Riedner, Danny Newcomb, Clay Bartlett and Scott Severson
Ramadillo "Devil's in the Best of Moods" extremely limited cassette release. Never before on vinyl
Pete Droge, Sean Mugrage, Dave Ellis and Mark Boquist
RAMADILLO - 1990-1992
Before Ramaillo, Sean and I played shows as a duo at local open mics and enlisted various drummers for gigs around town. One memorable gig from this period was opening for Mother Love Bone on March 9, 1990. Love Bone was huge in Seattle, so it was a big deal to land the opening slot. This would turn out to be Andy Wood’s final show before his tragic death at just 24 from a heroin overdose. Fun fact: Mother Love Bone’s Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament went on to form a little group called Pearl Jam.
Another future member of Pearl Jam was tangentially related to the formation of Ramadillo. Drummer Mark Boquist had recently arrived in Seattle from Minneapolis by way of Kansas City and was playing in Love Chile with future Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. Love Chile’s bassist, Vinny Beaty, heard that I was looking for a drummer with “finesse” and thought Mark would be better suited for my group than his. So Vinny passed my number along to Mark, who had coincidentally circled two ads that interested him in the classified section of our local music rag, The Rocket. One ad was mine and Sean’s. The other was our friend Clay Bartlett, who would later go on to play with The Cheap Ones, who are on the other side of the Ramadillo split single. A double coincidence!
Mark fell in instantly. He’s got great feel. He knows how to put the roll into rock and roll. We had a phone call, and Mark determined it was my ad he had circled in The Rocket. Soon, he was on a metro bus heading to my basement bedroom room slash rehearsal space. Mark recalls, “Sean and I locked in easily, it was effortless. We jammed on blues, but it wasn’t typical 12-bar stuff, there was something more to it all.”
We invited him to join the band and scheduled more rehearsals. Mark relocated to New York City in 1997 after playing for Kitchen Radio, another band included in the Between The Cracks series of split singles. Currently, he’s based out of New York City playing drums in his band, Empire Beats, “a real live mix of rhythm & blues, rock & roll, and jazz music for dancers.”
Mark recalls that after one of our first rehearsals, we brought him along to Andy Wood’s memorial service at The Paramount Theater. So this would date the band’s formation to the Spring of 1990, right around the time when I dropped out of Evergreen State College to focus solely on music.
Wondering if we would feel more at home in Austin, Texas, we made our way to the music town. Sean and I traveled by Amtrack train and Mark by thumb. We partied like crazy and stayed in the cheapest motels Austin had to offer. On the train ride home—a mere 76-hour trip—we stumbled upon our new band name with the drunken mispronunciation of armadillo. At first, we were Ramadillos, plural. Then we lost the S and settled on Ramadillo. We had a blast in Austin but ultimately decided to stick it out in Seattle.
After seeing Ramadillo playing as a three-piece at the Central Tavern, Dave Ellis threw his hat in the ring to play keyboards. After hearing how much he added to the mix with his piano and Hammond organ, we accepted and became a four-piece. Dave could fill in and support the song with ease or step into the limelight and tear it up. Most importantly, he knew when to do what. His playing added a much-welcomed depth and dimension to our arrangements. These days Dave is in Montana designing audio equipment.
In addition to the four core members, we had a revolving door of players join us at gigs and in the studio. The Chicakroos provided backing vocals and included Annmarie Correa, Mia Zapata (of The Gits), Kristen Barry, Erika Porteen, and Krisha Augerot (who later became my co-manager.) Don Pawlak was a busy side musician about town and joined us on pedal steel whenever he was available. Damon Logan lent his guitar skills from time to time while Sean Goodrich added fiddle to the fold. (Sean, Annmarie, Don, and Damon all appear on “Devil’s in the Best of Moods.”)
Our fan base grew steadily. We even broke records for bar sales at The Swan, a club in Pioneer Square. We gigged a lot. Eventually, we branched out and hit the road for shows in Portland and Bellingham. These quick little mini-tours were my first experience on the road. Again, we partied like crazy.
For some shows, our M.C. was Johnny Seattle, aka Jon Evison, from the aforementioned March of Crimes. Mark opened the show with a classic train beat while Johnny took the stage, blowing a wooden train whistle. In between hoots, he’d wind the crowd up with a rousing introduction.
Ramadillo played an ASCAP showcase during the North by Northwest music conference sharing the bill with Pearl Jam just two days after they released their mega-platinum debut, Ten. Labels big and small were crawling all over the city mining clubs for the next big thing. Every band in town with a fuzz pedal seemed to be fielding offers. And while Ramadillo was breaking bar records and packing clubs, no A&R types came calling.
We did join forces with Ed Beeson, the owner of The Backstage—my home away from home in those days—who served as both manager and booking agent. We assembled a press kit featuring some of the positive ink we’d received from The Seattle Times, The Seattle Post Intelligencer, and The Rocket. I’m sure Ed shopped us around to labels, but I don’t recall getting even the tiniest bite.
With no interest from labels, we decided to self-release a full-length cassette album, West of Here. Fun fact: Jonathan Evison used the title for his bestselling novel. West of Here, the album, was produced by the band and the late, great engineer Rich Hinklin at his Word of Mouth studio.
Word of Mouth was in the space that used to be Reciprocal Recording. Reciprocal is a legendary spot on the Seattle rock map. I’m sure it’s been called “Ground Zero for Grunge” before. If not, it has now. Nirvana recorded Bleach there. Jack Endino recorded many seminal Sub Pop records in the funky little triangular building. It’s where Stone Gossard recorded The Gossman Project, which served as Eddie Vedder’s famed Pearl Jam audition tape. Anyway, all that to say, we recorded in a historic studio.
Fun fact: I played piano and slide guitar on The Gossman Project. I attempted some background vocals but we punted on that pretty quickly as I was having trouble nailing my part—yet another story for another time.
Our album release show—at The Backstage, of course—was a high point for the band. Fun fact: Anyone who bought a cassette at that show has a rare version with the incorrect pink color. While we were riding high on headlining what I considered the coolest club in town, things within the group were not running so smoothly. There came a time when I swear we spent more time in band meetings over pitchers of beer at The Blue Collar Saloon than we did in the practice room.
By this time, I think it’s fair to say we were your average dysfunctional band. For me, alcohol abuse was at the heart of the problem. I was drinking way too much, and on New Year’s Eve, shortly after our triumphant release gig, my drinking got in the way of the show. That’s another story for another time. Spoiler alert: Getting drunk before the gig does not pair well with popcorn butter being smeared all over the stage.
As time passed, I was less and less fulfilled being in the band. I did not want to play boot-scootin’ boogie music for the rest of my life. When I started bringing in more mellow material, it was not met with upbeat enthusiasm. Burned into my memory is the response one of my slower songs got. I was told, “They’re gonna leave the dance floor.”
We had a good thing going with Ramadillo. We had chemistry. We had a groove. But ultimately, I quit the band to enjoy the freedom of going solo. And so, just shy of two years after forming, Ramadillo played our last show in February 1992.
And now, 31 years later, we finally got that label interest that eluded us back in the day. Tom Bout has formed Between the Cracks Records to showcase bands from the early 90s Seattle scene that slipped between the cracks. He has collected some fine talent for the first wave of split singles. I’m honored to have my song “Devil’s in the Best of Moods” on the flip side of The Cheap Ones’ “Halcyon.”
Also available now are singles with Lazy Susan & Bathtub Gin, Kitchen Radio & Goodness. More great bands are in the cue as the series continues. Look out for releases by Love Battery & Alcohol Funny Car, Blind Horse & Give, Forced Entry & My Sister’s Machine.
Album art for the Ramadillo limited edition single was designed by Diane Selvey, featuring an image by world-renowned rock photographer Lance Mercer. Mastering for vinyl by Adam Gonsalves. Big thanks to Tom Bout at Between the Cracks Records!
ORDER 7"
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
Easy Street Records is at Easy Street Records.
pete droge
EARLY BIRD TICKET ALERT: Paid subscribers to my Substack newsletter will receive an email today (Wed. 1/17) at Noon Pacific with a link and passcode for early bird tickets. petedroge.substack.com
Tickets for the general public will go on sale this Friday (1/19) at Noon Pacific. https://vashoncenterforthearts.org/
It’s been several years since I’ve played a show. I’ve already begun dusting off the old live ch… See more
😃
Tickets on sale now! 3/30 at VCA on lovely Vashon Island.
An Evening with Pete Droge
March 30 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
VCA & Debra Heesch present
Pete Droge
Saturday, March 30 at 7:30pm
In 2016, Pete Droge played a sold-out show in The Kay Hall at Vashon Center for the Art, delighting local islanders and fans from afar. In the years since, he has only performed in public twice, making this a rare and intimate evening not to be missed. Droge will be joined by his long-time partner in music and life, Elaine Summers.
Pete Droge stepped onto the alternative music scene in the 1994 with the album featuring Necktie Second, featuring the song “If you Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself),” included in the film Dumb & Dumber. Droge went on to tour as an opener for legends Tom Petty, Melissa Etheridge, and Sheryl Crow. In 2000, when film director and former Rolling Stone journalist Cameron Crowe was casting for his film Almost Famous, for the part of “Hyatt Singer”—a role created as a tribute to the great Gram Parsons—he needed to look no further than Pete Droge. In 2003, Droge formed the group The Thorns with artists Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins, and ever since, Droge has enjoyed a loving and loyal fan base.
“Droge writes about the longing and doubts of relationships with the softer, more customized edge found in the work of his singer-songwriter heroes, including Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Petty, and Gram Parsons.” —Los Angeles Times
From Mike:
Pete Droge has always been one of my favorite songwriters. I’ve played with Pete countless times, including at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit. Pete also opened for Pearl Jam at our “Drop in the Park” show back in the day. I hope you listen to my dear friend, Pete Droge.
White Vinyl
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pete droge