Tag: ska and reggae

The story of how I met Greg and the rest of Hepcat:

It starts the way so many stories of my 20s begin, with me doing something in the spur of the moment that I as an older person cannot believe that I did and of course was encouraged by my good friend Cam. Cam was the bass player in one of my favorite bands turned best friends, Go Jimmy Go, from the island of Oahu.  Go Jimmy Go were friends of friends, and I had gotten pretty tight with them, tight enough in fact that as they were touring through the Bay Area one week in 2004, Cam said to me, “jump in the RV and come with us.”  They were playing Berkeley one night, and then hitting the road immediately after the show to head to Southern California to play with our idols, Hepcat at the Glasshouse in Pomona. The catch was, they would be leaving directly from SoCal to Utah the day after the Pomona gig, and I had to be back to work on Monday.  I somehow came up with the gonads to say “fuck it” and take Cameron up on his offer, and to this day, I know I made the right decision.

That was how I ended up in Pomona, California, selling T-shirts and CDs for my friends for the first time, all the while sneaking peeks around a corner to a backstage area, because back there was where we had stashed some beer as there wasn’t any drinking at the venue but also that was where Hepcat was doing a photoshoot.  I can’t lie; I was a little star struck, which was a little weird because at that point, a not insignificant number of my very good friends were in bands. Heck, the guys who were like family to me were opening the show.  But around the third or fourth time I snuck a look back there, I had been caught.  That was the first time that Greg Lee winked at me. Greg was one of those rare folks who could wink at you without being creepy.  I knew that he knew what I was doing.  And I knew that he knew that I knew that he knew.  It was a very endearing way to make an acquaintance. 

Fast forward to the end of the night, the gig was over, but the night was young and so were we.  To my utter disbelief, we were hanging out with Hepcat outside the club and someone suggested we go to a Blues club that was open later, and we all went over together.  That was how I found myself sitting across from Greg with a drink and I was mesmerized.  I hope I don’t sound like I had a crush; he was stunningly good looking and charming, but that wasn’t it.  He was just so warm and engaging and I was more than a little bit befuddled about why someone with so much talent would want to talk to the “merch girl” of the opening band, but he never made me feel like that.  We had a really nice evening.  I don’t remember every detail of the conversation, but that night and that conversation with Greg sas a huge part of me letting go of the imposter syndrome I had while hanging around my more successful musician friends, because at the end of the day, we all loved music and had so much to talk about; we were a part of the same community. 

I saw Greg several other times throughout the years, and it was always great to see him, to hear him sing, and trade a few words.  It was never much more than “good to see you; hope to see you again soon.”  I wish it had been more.  I wish we could have been friends.  Regardless, I’ll miss him.