← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
" Gary Myrick : Six-String Storyteller-From Texas Blues to New Wave Riffs"
00:42:39
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- [00:00]
Buzz Knight
Please welcome aboard the Johnson family. The whole fam's here for the Disney Cruise. So you know we came to play and listen.
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Gary Myrick
The adults are gonna have a ball.
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Buzz Knight
First we're chilling in the infinity pool, onto massages at Sense's Spa, then gliding into Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge for a toast. We're even gonna kick back with Mickey on Disney's private island. That's how we get down. Cause Disney Cruise Line is where we came to play. Where'd you get those shoes? Easy. They're from dsw. Because DSW has the exact right shoes for whatever you're into right now. You know, like the sneakers that make office hours feel like happy hour, the boots that turn grocery aisles into runways, and all the styles that show off the many sides of you, from daydreamer to multitasker and everything in between. Because you do it all in really great shoes. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store or dsw.com right now get up to 25% off select online storage solutions put heavy duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you. This solid, impact resistant design prevents cracking and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked. Find select online shelving and tote storage up to 25% off at the Home Depot. To organize every room in your home from your garage to your attic, visit homedepot.com how doers get more done Stop hitting snooze on new tech Upgrade the whole team@lenovo.com Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device. Win the tech search for business PCs at Lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo taking a Walk.
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Gary Myrick
If you're a guitar player, play guitar. It doesn't have to be electric or acoustic. Do do what you feel. It's all about doing what you really want to do and feel. Welcome music lovers, to another episode of.
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Buzz Knight
The Taking a Walk Podcast. The podcast where your host, Buzz Knight, talks with some of the most intriguing figures in the world of music today. Buzz is joined by a guitar virtuoso.
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Gary Myrick
And a songwriting talent, the one and only Gary Myrick. Gary's musical journey is a fascinating one that spans decades and genres, from his.
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Buzz Knight
Early days in Texas, where he replaced.
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Gary Myrick
None other than Stevie Ray Vaughan in the band Crackerjack, to his breakthrough success.
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Buzz Knight
With Gary Myrick and the figures in.
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Gary Myrick
The 1980s, along with his hit song she Talks in Stereo, Gary has consistently.
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Buzz Knight
Pushed creative boundaries as a guitarist, and we welcome him now on Taking a Walk.
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Interviewer
Well, Gary, thanks for being on Taking a Walk. It's an honor to get to meet you.
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Gary Myrick
Well, nice to meet you too.
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Interviewer
So you started writing songs at 14, and you formed your. Your first band, I think it was at 18, if I'm not mistaken. What were the inspirations that led you to music so early on in your career?
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Gary Myrick
Well, my mother actually got me going. I was 10 years old, and I've always been. Even from an early age, I was trying to draw and paint and do some kind of artistic things. And my mom said to me, you know, you're creative. You need to play an instrument. And I went, okay. I mean, I was real amenable as a child. I'd go, oh, I would do anything. Like, I don't. I don't know anything. I'm 10 years old. I know nothing. Tell me what to do. So she said, well, you know, I love guitar. I love, like, Spanish guitar. And I went, okay. She said, play. Learn guitar. And I went, all right. And the. The funny part is my dad had played trombone in high school or something. So I. The first thing I said to her, I said, what about trombone? And she went, no, not trombone. And I went, oh, okay. Well, what do you think? She said, guitar. And I went, okay. And then it became really my life's work. So it just shows what parents influence can be, how important it really is. You know, I mean, I. And then I started writing songs. After I took lessons for about two years, she would take me downtown Dallas and to a great music store called McCord's Music. And I ended up buying guitars there for years. And you could. Back then, you could find like a. For example, a 1958 Stratocaster and buy it for four or five hundred dollars, where now it's worth 30 grand, you know, so, yeah, you know, it was a great store for finding some. Some good. Good instruments. And anyhow, I took lessons there, and I was. I never missed a lesson. Nobody had to tell me to practice. No. Nobody had said, well, you better practice. Nobody said that. I. I've always. I was into it. And so that's. That's how I got started. And then I. And I wanted to write songs as soon as possible for some reason. And so I started, you know, around, I think. I mean, I was kind of dabbling at songwriting early on, but around 14, and I was, you know, trying to play in, you know, little with some other kids in school, play, you know, that Might play guitar, bass or drums or something. So my, my earliest bands were around 14, but my first all original band was at 18.
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Interviewer
So you replaced Stevie Ray Vaughan in the Austin based band called Crackerjack. What was that experience like? And, and did you, did you know Stevie personally?
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Gary Myrick
Yeah.
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Interviewer
And, and how did that whole experience kind of, you know, shape you career wise?
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Gary Myrick
Well, I was, I had a band in Dallas. I'm from Dallas, Stevie's from Dallas too. But I, I was playing at a club in downtown Dallas. I guess I was about 21, and it was called the Cellar. And it was just a really dark, odd place. Totally different. All the walls were painted black. It was kind of psychedelic. And I played there five nights a week and I was doing completely original, original material and we were doing really well. We were like kind of the top band there. They have multi bands and it was totally weird. There was like a bandstand with amps, you know, of course, behind the musicians and everybody would use the same amps. Each band would walk on and they would use whatever amps were, you know, were there for everyone. And so that was strange. So we didn't have our own amps, so that was a little weird. But it, it worked fine. We had auditioned there early on and, and got the gig and then we really started taking off. And another strange thing is there was a Runway in front of the band and girls from the audience would get on the Runway and just kind of dance. Kind of like strippers, but they're not strippers. They were just dancing and it was totally weird. And then in front of that were like a million pillows and, and people were laying on pillows like looking up at the band. It was, it was very unusual and most of the bouncers had guns on and I know it was crazy. And in fact, one of the. There was a guy there that had hit his gun on a table and it went off and shot right over my head. So I said, dude, what are you doing? I said, you've got to watch out, you know, you can't. Don't be banging your gun around. Look, I mean that could have hit somebody, could have hit me, but it could have hit anybody. Yeah. So anyhow, the, the, the story about the replacing Stevie was Uncle John Turner, great drummer, definitely a blues aficionado. And he came into the Cellar to see me play. And of course they were based out of Austin, but he, I think he was up there. I don't know what was going on. Maybe he was playing. And so he came into the Cellar, came up and talked to me. I knew who he was. I think I'd met him earlier on, like when I was around 18 in Austin. He said, I wonder if you would come down and play with our band, because we're gonna, we're gonna get rid of this guitarist that we have. And I knew that they made the most money and they were doing original material and it was all blues rock. And I wanted to play with some blues people so I could learn more about, about the blues because I loved it. So I thought it was a good opportunity and so I did. So I went down and the, the band was, the singer was named Bruce Boland, a really good singer who is now passed on. And Uncle John Turner and Tommy Shannon, who was later on in double trouble with Stevie the bass player. And then I had another guitarist that played rhythm guitar that I brought down too. So, so there was two guitars, so I was the lead guitarist. But this guy also played rhythm and his name was Mark Stimson. He also has passed on. So I went down there. We all got together one afternoon and jammed and it sounded really good. We liked it. And then we were hired and we all lived in a band house and I, I, I did. I didn't know why they replaced Stevie or what happened, but they did. And you know, Stevie hadn't, you know, done anything yet and, and I hadn't done anything. And I was just kind of happy to be in Austin doing this new, new thing. And they were drawing really big crowds and it was great fun. And then later on, when I moved to California and got signed by Epic Records, Stevie was also on Epic Records and we did some gigs together. So we knew each other. And, you know, he was a sweetheart of a guy, really sweet, really nice, and we got along great. And I remember him coming to my hotel room one day and he was just, it was a kind hearted soul. And, you know, we did a few things. And I'd known his brother Jimmy earlier. We had met too early on too. And I met him when I was playing in Crackerjack again. And Austin was really great back then because Austin was, was not so crowded like now. Austin is very crowded and there's, it's too crowded to be honest. And back then it was a hippie blues musician town and it was the capital of Texas. It is the capital of Texas. So there was a, a total kind of hippie vibe in the town. And it was great. You know, you could, you could, you could play music, you can make a living. You know, we were getting paid pretty well. For the times I had a great time and I learned a lot from Uncle John Turner about the blues. And it started me kind of using that a bit and which I've used on this new album especially. And it's. The new record is on a lot of blues stations, even though, you know, there's, it's, it's loud and it's. It's raucous, but it's, it's definitely rooted in the blues. And Austin was and still is a great blues town, but it was really fantastic back then.
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Interviewer
So let's talk about the new project, the Sum of All My Sins. It's called. I love that title.
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Gary Myrick
Very good. Thank you. Yeah.
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Interviewer
Tell us about the collaborators and the whole creation of that project.
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Gary Myrick
Well, I wanted to make this record and I had been talking to Robert Margula, who I've known since my third album. He produced my third album on Epic called Language, and that was much more of a full rock record. I had keyboards and things, and I wanted to do something that was more rooted in the blues but still was very, very guitar oriented. And so. And he and I wanted to work together again. Robert Margulif had done all the Stevie Wonder records back in the 70s like he did Talking Book. He did the best Stevie Wonder stuff. So he's. He's very knowledgeable of making things sound right. I mean, he knows all the technique and all the numbers and all the things that are necessary to make things right. And I knew that. And also we were just friends too. And so I had started a little rec. I have a little record label. I mean, anybody could start a record label. It's not a big deal. It sounds like it's a big deal, but it's not. And I wanted to put it out on my own label. So I went in this and I wanted to play all the instruments except for drums. So I hired a really great drummer that I had worked with before. His name is Dusty Watson and he's fantastic. He's really, really a top, top grade drummer. Very soulful. We didn't even really rehearse. We just went into the studio and I was going to play all the guitars, all the bass, and I played also lap steel slide and background vocals. And I was going to do everything except drums. So I. We started, we went in the studio and we cut all the basic tracks in one day. It's five. Five songs on the album. And I already had another song that was all acoustic. Everything was very electric on this record except for one song that I did on 12 string acoustic and it's kind of all in the Road again, which was not the, not the Willie Nelson on the road again. It was the one that Canned Heat did back in the day, which they had a big hit with. But I guess that was at. At least 40, maybe 50 years ago. So I always loved the song. And so we added that I had done another record during the Pandemic that was all 12 string acoustic and I didn't really promote it and I'm still probably going to put that out at some again. I mean it's out, it's available now, but I didn't promote it at all. So we, we recorded. We. I, I went to another studio that was a Bob Margulis studio and did the vocals and then we started mixing and we finished it. And then I did what a record company normally would do back in the old days and I hired a promotion team to go to radio and I just did everything that the record companies did. They started going and they were very experienced, these two promotion people and they started going to radio and it was amazing. We, we've, we've gotten like over 300 and something stations worldwide and it's in like over 11 countries and we even got a number one song on that acoustic song in the UK on about seven stations, radio stations. So it's been kind of shocking how, how well it was received and, and that's, and so we're still working on that. That's how it all came together. But it was the, the fun part was that I did it. I got to play all the instruments and I should have done that in other records, frankly, because I could. And if you can, why not, you know, Amen. And, and Robert Margula said, oh yes, Stevie did that. Stevie Wonder did that during Talking Book. And so he was playing drums and he was playing everything and, and I said, well, if you can do it, you know, it's, it's, it sure is fun because you don't have to tell anybody anything. You don't tell anybody anything. You know what you want to do. So that's how it came together. And I was, I'm quite pleased with it.
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Interviewer
That's awesome. So your song, she Talks in Stereo, I played it a few times during my radio days for sure. And a great one. And it, it's interesting to me. You were touching on this latest release and you know, sort of the international scope of it. And that song, your song, she Talks in Stereo, if I'm not mistaken, it, it really caught on in Australia, among other Places. So what did that do for your career when you got that international recognition on that song?
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Gary Myrick
Well, I. I'm still able to use that. You know, like when. When the promotion team for this new record went to radio, everybody, you know, many of these stations knew me from my past work, and Australia was one of those. And they went, oh, yeah, Gary Myrick, what's he. What's he up to? So they were all ready to listen to any. Any new record that I put out, and that was really helpful. So the. The thing that was really good about she Talks in Stereo, even though it was a long time ago, was that people, you know, station radio stations and DJs, know you and they want to hear what you're doing. So that's really all. That's the way I looked at it. You know, it's just helpful and just.
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Interviewer
Opens you up to future projects, future collaborations, future concerts and all of that as well.
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Gary Myrick
Yeah.
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Interviewer
Yeah. So tell me what it was like working with Jackson Brown.
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Gary Myrick
Jackson is a very nice person and a very sweet guy. And we had done, by accident a homeless benefit at the palace in Los Angeles together. And there was a lot of people that were pretty well known. Some of the. Let's see, some of Fleetwood Mac was there. And anyhow, everybody was going up and doing, like, one or two songs. And there was a. Back. There was a. A house band, and I was playing guitar for everybody on that show, and Jackson was gonna do a song, and so I. I was playing guitar for him on that song. You know, I just. I thought he was just a great guy. And then he asked me to come in the studio and play on a song called For America that is on his Lives in the Balance album. And I was happy to do it. And I. So I went over there, we had a great time. And I'm still, to this day, I'm very pleased with the way it came out. It was. It was also track one, side one of his album. And that's when there were still vinyl records being put out by record labels. And I. I don't even think there was CDs at that point. And I. I just had a great time. That's all there is to it. And, you know, I like him a lot. And, you know, when you meet people and they're really nice, they're really nice, you're not disappointed. They're not like, got a bad attitude or something. And he's. He's the opposite. He's just a totally, like, good guy.
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Buzz Knight
We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast. Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, and every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report Ch Ch Chumba looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime. Play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home. Play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games including online slots, bingos, lingo and more. Live the chumba life@chumbacasino.com VGW Group no purchase NECESSARY VOID we're prohibited by law. Seek terms and conditions Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind.
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Gary Myrick
Us to be more human.
- [23:28]
Buzz Knight
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- [23:30]
Gary Myrick
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- [23:32]
Buzz Knight
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Interviewer
I'm fascinated by your experience when you formed Havana 3.
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Gary Myrick
Am I uhhuh.
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Interviewer
Can can you talk about that, what that whole experience was like and and how you sort of reflect on that?
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Gary Myrick
Well I had, I think as a kid I always wanted to play in a British band and so I was playing some guitar for. Well I was going to work with one of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones, the guitar player. He had a solo album called Mercy and he was going to do a tour opening up for the Kinks and he needed a backup guitar player and I told him if he wanted me to, I'd like to do it. And so I was going to do that. And he also rode motorcycles, and I rode motorcycles, and. And so we had that in common. And the bass player from the Clash, Paul Simonon, had come to Texas with Nigel Dixon, who was the singer and rhythm guitarist for a band called Whirlwind out of England. And they used to open up for the Clash a lot. And they were a rockabilly band, one of the early rockabilly bands of. Of England. So they flew over to Texas, they flew to El Paso. I guess they were searching for inspiration. There was just kind of see what would happen. They wanted to start a band, I think, at that time. And then they bought Harley's in El Paso, drove them to Los Angeles, where I met up with them through Steve Jones. And we were all riding motorcycles around. We weren't really talking about music, but we. We were just kind of riding around and, you know, having a cup of coffee and just talking. And one day we were on a ride, we talked a little bit about music, and they said that they were thinking about starting a band in Los Angeles. And. And I said, well. Well, why don't. Why don't you. And you guys. And. And I write. Write some songs. Like, we could just test it out and see what's, you know. And I said, I. I also have a really good drummer that we could, you know, we could try out, maybe. All right, we try it out. Let's write some songs. If we like them, maybe we go in and cut a demo and see what it sounds like. That's exactly what we did. We like the demo. And then we went on a little tour of Texas and California. Now, we didn't have a record out, so nobody heard our music, but based on the Clash connection, we could draw a good crowd. And that's exactly what we did. And then they wanted to go back to England for a while because we hadn't gotten signed, we didn't have a record label, so they went back to England. It was kind of based on a future wife of Paul's that was the. I think that he. They got married later, and I think she wanted to go back to England. I don't. I'm not sure exactly why they went back to England, but they went to England and. And then we just kind of just let it slide. Let Havana 3M slide. And we didn't even think about it much. Then they called me one day and they said, would you like to come over to England? We'll fly you over to write some more songs. And I said, sure, I'd love to do that. That'd be fun. They had. I gotten another guitar player and a drummer in England because it was more convenient, and tried to kind of put it together there, and it. It didn't work. Paul and his wife were not nice to these guys. They were not nice to them. And so that. That kind of. That kind of was floundering. And so I came over, wrote songs, and then they said, would you like to go on tour in Europe? Even though we still don't have a record out, but we could because of that Clash connection and, And. And Paul's reputation. So we went around Europe and then all of a sudden we were asked to come over to Tokyo and a record label in Japan wanted to sign us to just make an album in and for Japan. And they said, and you guys can keep the masters and you can license them wherever you want. They're. They're yours. We'll give you the masters. We just want to put it out in Japan. And we went, oh, that's. That's a good deal. So we flew over there. I think we played a gig in Tokyo and then we were going. We went back to England. Then we flew back again and. And went into the recording studio with a Japanese recording engineer who couldn't speak English. And so we had to have an interpreter all the time who went with us everywhere. And it would. That was really unusual. But we pulled it off and we made the record. And then IRS Records with Miles Copeland was the owner of my. Of irs, wanted to sign us, and we would use that record that we already made that no one had heard really, except in Japan out on that label, which we did. And then we. We toured around America and Canada and we'd already done Europe before. We had a really good time. Things were going well. We did like David Letterman, and so we did a little tv, and. And it went really well. But then the. The. The thing that really threw us for a loop is our singer, Nigel, got cancer. And it was really devastating for all of us. And he. He wasn't giving a good. Well, the doctors, you know, basically said, you have about a year to live. And that's. Was very. I mean, that's for anyone. That is the most shocking and horrifying thing to hear. That stopped us dead in our tracks. And then they went back to England and Nigel, you know, I actually had another little tour we could have done. And Nigel flew back over even though he had cancer, because he. Well, you wouldn't know that he had cancer. I mean, you wouldn't like, look at him and go, oh, this guy's got cancer. You couldn't tell. But it was, we knew it wasn't good. And we did one little Texas tour because he needed some money too, and, and I, I, you know, we were able to do that and we had a good time. And then he went back and I kept, kept in touch and checking on him. And then he passed away in, in England. So that was, that was the end of Havana 3M and, and he and I were going to, you know, we were working on writing songs for a neck, a second album. And so I ended up by myself making that second, second album. And it's called Gary Myrick and Havana 3am And I was really pleased with that record. I, I think in many ways I liked it a lot better than the, the first Havana 3M record. And that's, that record is out in the marketplace, it's available and it's, it was called Texas Glitter and Tombstone Tales. And anyhow, that's, so that, that exists in the world and that, that was, that was it. We did have a great time, but we didn't want to keep going without Nigel.
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Interviewer
So you, you played guitar on the great song Missing you by John Waite. You played on that whole session as well.
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Gary Myrick
The whole album. Yeah, yeah.
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Interviewer
And that song, you know, to this day gets a ton of airplay on all different formats on the, on the radio.
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Gary Myrick
Yeah.
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Interviewer
When you hear it now, how does it make you feel from, you know, knowing your work and, you know, your collaboration with John Way?
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Gary Myrick
Well, no one knows that you're going to get a number one song. Nobody knows. The record companies don't know. You don't know. You just do stuff that you like and see how it goes. And we actually, John and I had been put together by a manager to work together and we were going to start a band and call it a band thing. It wasn't going to, that record was never going to be a John Wayne record. We made the whole record. I wrote about four songs with John and we went and started recording and everything was coming together and we got missing you from a couple other writers we didn't know. We just thought, oh, it's, it's a good song. And we recorded it and it came out good and that's all we knew. And, and then near the end of the album, like an idiot, I, I, this is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. I had gotten an offer to do another solo album from Geffen Records, and I wanted to do it. And for all I knew, the record we had just done could have easily gone nowhere. I didn't know that we were going to have a. A number one song with Missing you. And so I said, you know, John and his manager didn't want me to do that. And in retrospect, it was really stupid, but I wanted to make that solo record because I didn't. I didn't know we were going to have a big success off of Missing it. I didn't know. So I said to John, I said, well, you know, I know we're. We're going to do a band, and you don't. But I really do want to do this solo album, so why don't you just call it a John Way record? And I have points on the record, so I own a piece of the record anyway, and I have songs on the record, so, you know, I feel like I still own a big chunk of this record, so you can just call it a John Way record now, of course, that's the dumbest thing in the world. I shouldn't have done that. But who knew? You know, we didn't know. The bad news is, I know he's been able to tour for many years based on that one song, and I could have done that, too, but. Yeah, but it's okay. It's okay. It was what I decided at that moment, and it's okay. And I. I still get paid, you know, when there's. When it's. When Missing you is on in a movie or TV or something. I still get paid.
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Interviewer
Nice.
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Gary Myrick
So it's okay. Yeah, it's okay. But it's kind of stupid on my part.
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Interviewer
So some past guests on this podcast, I want to throw those names out to you, some guitar players, and get your reflection on them, you know, when you think about them as.
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Gary Myrick
As your.
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Interviewer
Your peers. First of all, you conjured this up in my mind, talking about the, you know, acoustic nature of some of your work, and this guy is able to go back and forth from acoustic to electric through his career. Jorma Kalkonen.
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Gary Myrick
Yes. I, you know, I played some gigs opening for. For him. For him. And what's the name of the band that he had?
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Interviewer
Hot Tuna.
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Gary Myrick
Hot Tuna. I had played some gigs with Hot Tuna, and I think it's good to, if you're a guitar player, play guitar. It doesn't have to be electric or acoustic. Do. Do what you feel. It's all about doing what you really want to do and feel and So I, I respect that. I think it's a good thing. And I like playing acoustic guitar and electric guitar and I get different things from, from each. Like I just did a solo. I did three, a little mini tour in California and I did it all electric and I did it completely solo, no band. You know, I have a, I have a great time doing that and I can kind of jam with myself because I can turn on a dime when I'm doing it completely solo. But it's all electric. I'm getting feedback and, you know, it's, it's kind of wild and crazy. And then I've, you know, I made, like I mentioned I made a completely acoustic 12 string record during the Pandemic. And that's called Forever Adventures in 12 string. I think it's healthy to, to do, to do what Yarma has done. I think it's very artistically healthy.
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Interviewer
So let me ask you about another person who's been on who. I know you're paths have probably crossed with Mike Campbell from Dirty Knobs and the Heartbreakers.
- [38:56]
Gary Myrick
Yes, I know Mike and I, I knew the original drummer of the Heartbreakers, Stan lynch, who was on the, I think he was all the way up to Damn the Torpedoes record, was my drummer in Los Angeles for about a year or two before he joined Tom Petty. And so I was kind of around and we come into some of their gigs before, you know, they had really done anything. And so I knew Mike and you know, Mike's an excellent guitar player and he also is not. You know, in Texas we're, we're kind of brought up to not think playing super fast is the answer. That's not the answer. And, and that's based probably on the blues history and blues culture. It's not about speed, it's not about going well, I gotta play really fast. It's not about that. It's about playing and, and making every note count. Even if you're playing one note, just make that count instead of playing a million notes, you know, as fast as you can. I mean, that's, that's not really it. Mike is, is of that school also of make the notes count, make the sound count and the notes. Not trying to be shredder dude, not trying to be that guy big, you know, make it count. And he, he's, he's like that. And he, I, I think, I think he would agree. I hope he would. And he's a very nice guy also.
- [40:48]
Interviewer
And then I gotta ask you about this guy known as Skunk.
- [40:53]
Gary Myrick
Oh yeah, Jeff Skunk.
- [40:55]
Interviewer
Baxter.
- [40:56]
Gary Myrick
Skunk is a sweetheart of a guy. Skunk is a wild man. He is also, I think, a member of the CIA. Did you know that? Yeah. I mean, that is a trip. That is a wild trip. And Skunk and I have. We played together on. There was Spirit, the band spirit from the 60s, who. I thought Spirit was great, you know, when I was a kid and I would. I had seen them play live and like Fresh Garbage, the song Fresh Garbage, I love that song. And I had written some songs with the singer, Jay Ferguson. He. Jay Ferguson had played on my third album with Bob Margulif as the producer. So they were going to do a video of the reunion of Spirit, and they asked a bunch of guitar players that they liked to come in and sit in with Spirit. So Randy California was playing guitar, God bless him. And who. I was a fan of, of Randy California's in Spirit. I thought his sound was fantastic. And Skunk was there that day. The guitar player from Hart was there, I was there. And then there was somebody else. I can't quite remember, but anyhow. And of course, Randy California and the whole band was there. The original bass player, original drummer. We had a great time that day. And then later on, I would accidentally see Skunk somewhere or something and we would. We would jam. One time we did a radio interview together. We both went on at the same time. And now we have the same manager, Mike Grimley, and so that's kind of interesting. And we. We may do some shows together. We've been talking about it. We're talking about doing a Texas tour together. And Skunk has never played Texas. Can you believe that? Wow. I know, It's. It's nuts. It's crazy. He should have played Texas decades ago. I don't know why he hasn't.
- [43:21]
Interviewer
That's crazy.
- [43:22]
Gary Myrick
Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. With all his history, you know, you would think he would have surely played Texas, but he hasn't. So we may do that. We'll see what happens.
- [43:32]
Interviewer
I love Skunk, man. He's amazing. So in. In closing, I want to ask you, when you think about your body of work and you think about the body of work of others like the guys we just mentioned. Yeah. What are the, you think the key qualities that make up a master guitar player?
- [43:57]
Gary Myrick
Well, I think not just a guitar player, but any musician of any kind. Just be true to yourself. Do what you love and you believe in. Don't follow other musicians. Now, of course, you can have other musicians that you. You like and you appreciate other guitar players. Or, or drummers or whoever, whatever instrument you. You play, you can appreciate others. And of course you're. You're probably going to, to grab things out of the air from other musicians and you might hear a lick or something that you. You want to do. But when it comes to songwriting and playing, be yourself. I think that's always the key. Don't follow lead, be you. And it's easy if you. It's easy to be you. You are you. So that's it. So you don't have to figure it out, but don't think you have to follow trends or be what others want you to be. I don't. I think that's a mistake.
- [45:14]
Interviewer
And I think that's so true of so many aspects of life. And, you know, it is various artists and, you know, occupations. Right.
- [45:24]
Gary Myrick
So absolutely it's that I think that counts for nearly everything. Yeah. But in, in the art world of all kinds, if you're a painter, filmmaker, actor, musician, whatever, radio, dj, make it yours. Make it your thing that you believe in as opposed to somebody else. Oh, I want to be like that guy, you know? Now be you. It'll work out better that way.
- [46:00]
Interviewer
Oh, man, Gary, I had such a blast talking to you, man. Thanks for sharing the stories. Thanks for giving us the music and continuing to give us the music. I really appreciate your time.
- [46:12]
Gary Myrick
Well, thanks. Thanks for being so kind and, and having me on your podcast. I really appreciate it.
- [46:20]
Buzz Knight
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