Something to Believe In | Nothing Lasts Forever

Well I'll be damned if we didn't do it! If you made it out to that Album Release, you would have seen the bad ass of bad ass that is Snake Skin Prison!!

Hot DAMN! That was a good show; with final numbers climbing past 300 with 200 pre-sale tickets. There have been Pictures Galore and my good friend and Lonestar Beer Murderer Dave TEEVEE is working on video as we speak.

A SERIOUS Thank you is in order for Yayo, The Bayou City Outlaw Band, and Broken Teeth. Those guys played a great night and brought the house!!

So...here's run down of that day...the Noisiest Night in November:

I woke up @ 9a, ate breakfast and sent some last minute Facebook/Myspace/Emails out in hopes of pulling AS many people as I could. I was a bit nervous, I knew we had pre-sold a shit ton, not the exact amount (the front gate online sales were still out)...we could not, without a doubt, flop on this show...there was just no way it could happen. I need not tell you what happens to bands that plateau...this was Snake Skin Prison's time to prove to anyone and everyone watching that the sky is the limit...and will be.

After a great arm day in the gym, I was onto cardio then the Sauna where I was going over the show over and over and over again in my head. The changes, the differences, the solos...funny how you can write a song, perform it a hundred thousand times, but on a big night, you still have to think about it.

Either way, load into the Parish around 6p...the building is completely empty except for SSP...





Sound Check Went great, great sound in the room and great energy already, with just the bands milling around.

I headed back to the APT and destroyed a subway club, changed clothes...and felt an unnervingly calmness set in...and it dawned on me that the MASSIVE...and when I say MASSIVE, I mean MASSIVE...amounts of preparation that had been put in place left room for just one thing...execution. You've practiced, you've studied, you've promoted...now just execute...quite possibly the easiest part.

Yayo took the stage to a vibrant excited crowd, followed by Bayou City (that's my short version of their actual name, "The Bayou City Outlaw Band") slayed as well.

The Lights went out...and SSP's intro Song:


takes off...we're standing back stage and literally hear the crowd...yelling, whistling...getting ready to get pummeled by the Rock N Roll Pain Train.

We take the stage and Blitz right into "NoWhere".
Now if you've been to an SSP show, you know I myself am never at a shortage of words, however on this night, the music would do the talking....next up came "Scream for Air"



Another Awesome moment was the Premiere of our Music Video for "Alcohol of Fame"



From there SSP blazed on into the night, with Squeals and Thrills and 8 minute Drum Fills.

I still smile when thinking about last Friday...and probably will for a long time. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I want to thank God for giving us Rock n Roll and putting up with me...Also family...friends...and fans...that support Snake Skin Prison...all of you that came out and helped make November 19, 2010 one for the books...








Now...always going back to football, I remember my Head Football Coach, Donnie Football saying, "You play well, and win...you enjoy that win on Saturday and Sunday; come Monday it's time to focus on next Friday."

That's exactly what we're doing...just wait till you get a load of what we got up our sleeve....

Sat. Dec 4 w/Dangerous Toys @ The Fly...





"You're either on our way or in our way, either way hold on tight"
\m/

Let Me Be Your Salty Dog...

1 Week...that's what separates me and one of the biggest nights of my life. I have compared this upcoming Album Release to that fateful night in Charleston WV, when my High School football team, the James Monroe Mavericks squared off against Dupont (Randy Moss and Jason Kidd's old High School) in the State Semi-Finals. We had one helluva season that year, the first undefeated regular season in school history, literally plastered everyone all over the field. Several games I didn't even play the second half, would be more focused on cat calling the cheerleaders.



Be Good or Be Good at it...I choose both :)

Either way, this coming Friday, November 19th, is a chance for myself and Snake Skin Prison to show whoever is watching that we aren't just your average bullshit band, in the words of Jim Morrison, "We want the world and we want it now!"

It all begins next Friday. I'm so excited I can't sit still. This show has been in planning for over 5 months now. I read a book, that I would suggest for anyone trying to make it in the music business: "Tour Smart: Without Breaking the Band" by Martin Atkins, and he says, "Being successful isn't about avoiding the problems, it's about handling the problems when they happen....cause they will happen." I have made that statement my mantra. I personally have been through so many roller coaster rides with this band it's insane. Ups and Downs, good and bad. There's been times I thought it was nearing the end and times I could smell the next level calling my name. And through it all, here's the common denominator...never say die. You never give up. Never, it's unacceptable.

I have said this next statement a million times and I will say it again:

"The difference between winners and losers is winners do...losers don't"

It's that simple. The show must go on...period...and it will with or without you.

So with all that said I know that SSP is ready to wield the pistols of Austin Metal and spew the infectious whiskey venom from the darkest corners of Red River to the Highest Mountain in WV, and to have fun. Cause that's what it's all about...(if you read my last blog you're following along right with me)...



As for the night in Charleston WV...we lost...14-7...that night changed my life...I plan on changing my life again next Friday...and it won't be by losing.

Nobody likes a loser anyways \m/
Next Friday we RIDE!!

mb

Never Get out of this World Alive!!

You know, I've been writing these blogs for some time now, they sometimes focus on Snake Skin Prison and sometimes focus more on myself, and sometimes...don't even focus. I wanted to take a quick second and thank you for taking your time to read them. Initially these blogs started as a glorified journal. I had read Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries" and realized that whereas I might not be shooting Herion, dying, and coming back to life; one day I myself will like to look back and be able to recollect the life SSP and myself are living now. So, I think it's kind've interesting that you will get to take that journey with me...with SSP...regardless of where it leads.

Also, I was looking over my blogs the other night as I sipped a freshly made Love Juice, and noticed that the last several blogs have been very heartfelt and meaningful. You might watch this band on stage, listen to myself and wonder, how in the world can that boozehound think so deep...or you might not wonder that at all!

Any way, I told ya that to tell ya this, I had a revelation the other day and realized that a lot of times we get caught up in the destination and forget to enjoy the ride. And I realized that was happening to me. Before shows I was so concerned about the business of Snake Skin Prison, the Merch Sales, the Credit Card Balances, the Amount of Gas in the tank, the list goes on...that I was missing the whole point...I was missing the best part of the night...and that was the music.

Hell if I wanted to stress over bills and balances, I could've stayed in WV!! So where there is definitely a time for serious, and sensibility...you have to remember this one thing...regardless of how serious things get out there...

You'll never get out of this world alive...

I've started a new book, Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) by Don Felder. Now there's some feel good music for ya. I'm really excited to get into it because I can remember growing up in Southern WV and the Eagles were alive and well in my Dad's stereo...

So on that note I'll leave you with a quote from The Eagles...who's album:

Eagles: Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975 is the greatest selling album of all time!!

Said, "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never know we have the keys...but me I'm already gone"

Till Next Time!
M 2 Da B