The strange par of being a fan is even though I have only met Butch for a brief moments, he has always been very present in my life. Still can't believe he's gone. Wanted to share some favorite memories.

I met Butch and the rest of the band at record signing in Boulder in 92. They were all sitting at a long table with Butch and then Dickey being the first two in the meet & greet line. I remember asking Butch "Hey, I really like that tune off Seven Turns 'Let Me Ride." Any chance you guys could play it tonight?" Butch stared at me with a hard and skeptical look and then said, "Son, I've never heard of that song. What are you talking about?" I reminded him it was the second song on their comeback album from just two years prior. He tapped Dickey on the shoulder and asked, "You ever heard of "Let Me Ride"?" Dickey gave me a stare as if to see if I was playing a joke and then, with a big Seven Turns poster hanging behind them, said, "I think you've got the wrong band." I again tried to explain that it was the second tune on the album they put out just two years ago and they just kept staring at me like I was crazy. I still don't know to this day if they were messing with me but it was a funny encounter. (The character of the whole bad was on display that day. Warren and Woody had a funny exchange when I asked if Woody would take a solo in Southbound and they swore for a while that he never did that and then after some humorous banter decided that actually Woody had done this. Frequently. On the most recent tour. Gregg was hitting or every girl in sight and I also later realized that the only picture I had of Marc was of him picking his nose.)

One my other favorite Butch moments which I still watch from time to time is his encounter with promoter Ron Silver on the Live At the Beacon Theatre One Way Out DVD. Ron Silver, who is ostensibly in change of promoting the band, spends his screen time trolling the band. It always looks to me like the band is trying to avoid him in this scene even before he starts in on them. Most of the band walks quickly by. Warren is seen trying to keep his distance and tries to duck the whole situation saying a discreet "hello" to the camera before running off. Silver stops Butch though and says effectively "What's with the drum solos? They're 20 minutes long and everyone is leaving the theater?!" While the rest of the band seems to be intimidated and continues to run away, Butch just stops, looks him in the eye and retorts, "How would YOU know?! YOU weren't THERE!" and then keeps on walking. Silver is left speechless. (He did recover and go after Jaimoe though who was the only minnow not to make it across the pool. Still love seeing Butch be Butch and shut him down.)

One of my other favorite memories of Butch was from a video question and answer session he was kind enough to set up just a few years ago before one of the Beacon runs. You could see his face and fans typed in questions and he'd answer them on screen. I didn't want to use my real name so I went with GLEN BECK. I don't know why. When Butch saw that, he immediately unloaded, "Glen Beck? What are YOU doing here?" or words to that effect. I don't think he was convinced I was actually THE Glen Beck but he certainly wanted to make clear that Beck or even a Beck imposter wasn't welcome. It didn't make a difference. He went off on how Glen Beck was all about fear and he didn't want any of that sort of philosophy any where near him. I playfully responded "but fear is my bread and butter! Ratings!" Now he knew I wasn't GB. But he kept digging in throughout the Q & A as if I was the Glen Beck. I wish I could remember more specifics but it was hilarious. Not so much in only the things he said but in how he didn't care weather I was GB or not and simply had to speak his mind. Just like he always did. I really miss that about him. So principled and not afraid to speak his mind. Even if you don' t agree with Butch's politics, you have to love someone who is unafraid to be honest and speak up for what they think is right. It was also funny when Warren showed up at the end and as Butch got up to leave. Warren noticed the Glen Beck handle and got excited and said to Butch, "Hey! Glen Beck! Do you think it's really him?!" and Butch just scowled as he left and without looking back said, "It better not be!" leaving Warren to stare at the screen with a look of uncertain confusion.

There are obviously many, many musical moments that I thank Butch for and will treasure but I also miss the man even though I only knew him from a distance. So glad to be able to share and talk about him with fellow friends here.