"Allow me some time to play with your mind And you'll get there again and again Close your eyes and imagine my body undressed Take your time cuz we've got all night, oooh You on the rise as you're touchin my thighs and Let me know what you like If you like I'll go Down da down down down da down down I'll hold you in my hand and baby"
The early 90's were pretty damn emo. If you weren't walking around in a state of chronic melancholy you almost didn't fit in. Not that any of us really ever felt like we fit in. Douglas Coupland's Gen X novels reminded us that we were born into confusion so feeling like a misfit was par for the course. I had traded in my hairbands for Bush, Pearl Jam, Afghan Whigs and just about anyone else that was closer to Seattle or Portland than they were to the east coast. And then Janet Jackson reinvented herself and her sound.
Her self-titled album from 1993 stayed in my cd player for probably months straight. I was obsessed with the music, the videos, her abs- just everything. It was all so well-packaged (flannel shirts included) that it probably helped pull me out of my self-induced funk within a week or two. It was all so slick and between the videos and MTV's behind-the-scenes footage I really wished that I was one of her "kids" (dancers). I mean really now, they were just awesome. Check out the video for "If" below. It is still my fav and dear god, nearly 30 years later I still remember the choreography!
There are so many misconceptions that go hand in hand with being a bonafide rockstar. One of the biggest is the notion that once you "make it" in the music industry and score a platinum record or some other oddly shaped trophy, you're set for life. You know, money just keeps on flowing while difficult doors are magically opened for decades on end. The real truth is that any end of the music industry is a really harsh place to exist, even on the best of days. You can be on the road playing sold-out gigs now and in six months time, you can be back to waiting tables with zero musical options. It's a scenario that Kip Winger knows well, as he went from riding the late 80's hard rock wave with his own band (Winger), to having his career all but buried by MTV- the same network that had made him a household name. The only solid guarantee in music is that you're going to hit bottom far more often than you strike gold and it takes talent, timing and unshakable determination to pull yourself back up again.
That sitting on the bottom feeling is something that Winger has dealt with on multiple occasions and it's likely a big part of what has helped to transform him into a man that is comfortable in his own skin, flaws and all. He carries with him a depth that only comes from a life that has been fully lived and transparency that is quite beautiful. While the rockstar days aren't totally behind him, composing symphonic music and simply striving to be better, is what captures the majority of Winger's attention these days.
I caught up with Kip Winger recently and quickly realized that he is the kind of man that carries with him a great deal of wisdom, the kind that can rub off if you're ready and willing.
Google the lyrics to any of the songs on some of Winger's solo albums like, "Songs from the Ocean Floor" or "This Conversation Seems Like a Dream" and half a verse into it you'll understand that his writing is deeper than most.
Kip Winger on writing rock, progressive and symphonic music:
“I'm a believer that if you want to be a good writer then you have to sit down and write every day. You can't just expect it to hit you on a sunny (or a cloudy) kind of day. I'm the kind of person that believes that you just sit down and make it happen. One day is good, one day is bad and one day you might get to an idea that you'll work on in a month. Organizational skills are key when it comes to inspiration because the inspiration will hit you and it'll leave you just as fast as it hits you. I have to have a recorder or something with you because the inspiration for music for me usually comes from my subconscious being almost in a state of a trance or I can be doing something like grocery shopping. I sit down and write every day when I'm home. I tour a lot and it's harder to do it when I'm on the road, but I do carry tools to write when I'm on the road. When I'm home I write every day and I try to keep the projects that I'm working on very organized. Now I have these big projects that take much longer than just sitting down to write an album, but even still an album will take me a year.”
Kip on his own personal writing style:
“I do a lot of stream of consciousness writing as well as pursuing specific ideas. I know what I like so I don't just meander around and hope to get struck by a great idea. I do get struck by great ideas and all of the best ideas are purely by accident. You can't just sit down and write a great idea and I challenge any artist in the world to say that their ideas came because they thought of them. It just doesn't happen like that. Those ideas come because you work, work, work and then the universe will show you something that you weren't seeing and it'll show it very clearly so that you think, 'Oh my god, that's amazing'. You spend a little time getting high on that feeling and then you try to develop it and realize you suck (laughing) because the idea alone was its' greatest fruition.
I don't think I'm different than many other artists and I think that my process is probably pretty similar to most people. I may just be more dedicated to it than most people and I'm probably less dedicated to it than some people. I'd say I'm in the more dedicated category and I know what it means to be an artist. Having that understanding is about all that I can hope for.”
Kip on what influences his solo work:
"Well in my solo stuff when you hear world music it's a direct descendant of Peter Gabriel. I never dug down into authentic world music, it all came from the generation of Peter Gabriel and other English artists that were introducing that stuff into their music. If you listen to a song like "Don't Let Go" off of This Conversation Seems Like a Dreamyou just have to know that I was heavily influenced by Peter Gabriel. There's no way around it and I'm proud of it because he is a towering genius among us, the guy is incredible.
Photo: Kip Winger & Robby Rothschild by Aline Narducci
Kip on the creation of "Sure Was a Wildflower", one of his favorite songs:
“I wrote that song for a movie. I read the script and I don't remember the name, but the movie came out and they didn't like my song (chuckling). I really like that song. I was working with a very well-known television composer named Dominic Frontiere, who did old school stuff like Outer Limits and The Flying Nun, plus he was a jazz guy. He was working on the film when we both lived in Santa Fe and so he asked me if I was up for writing a song for it. So, I wrote the song for the movie and they didn't like it so I put it on my album instead. The lyrics come right from reading the script and that's one of my favorite songs out of everything I've ever written."
Photo: Kip Winger- Official Facebook
Creative people generally aren't too quick to admit their fear of failure. Musicians and artists need to make money and admitting that you're insecure can prevent you from landing gigs, but that doesn't mean that the fear doesn't exist. In fact, it usually is just left unspoken, but festering beneath the surface. Making platinum records and earning Grammy nominations apparently won't chase these fears away either.
Kip on admitting his creative fears in spite of finding success:
“I mean it's terrifying, I'm not going to lie. I'm working on symphony number one for Nashville Symphony and I'm scared to death, it is terrifying. I don't think you ever get over that kind of fear. The only people that I know that have gotten over it are people with giant egos and those same people usually aren't the better artists. I don't think you can get over the fear if you know the difference, I mean, how can you? You've always got Beethoven looming over your head. In my case, there are great composers that I'm actually friends with now that crush me. I can call them up and ask what they did in bar nine million of their fifth symphony so I'm in a really strange situation. All you can do is one note after the next, or if you're a writer you put one word after the one before, after the one before that and pretty soon you've got a novel.”
If life is intended to be a journey then it's only fair that we would need some help along the way. Winger learned years ago that he is wise to watch and learn from the steps, and the missteps of others.
Kip on the importance of mentors:
“I actively seek out mentors. I grew up reading this book that my dad gave me, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. In it, he talks about shadowing those who are doing what you want to successfully do, and so finding a mentor has always been a big thing for me. Even at the ripe old age of 57, I still have a couple people that I consider my mentors. I'll call them up and ask for advice on all sorts of things like how to get out of problems, or I'll ask them to look at my music, or I'll ask them why I suck (laughing).
I don't think that need for guidance should ever go away. I think that if you believe your own gospel too much and think that you’re all that, then you become a fraud or a parody of yourself. You have to have the humility to look around you to see and understand that people are as good or better than you. The people that I'm looking at are usually better than me and so I just keep trying. There's nothing else you can do but keep trying to get better. You can't not be you, that's the other part of the equation.”
He has spoken often about taking ballet in his teens and how it was the key to unlocking his love of classical music and yes, Winger does still dance.
Kip on the importance of dance class, even still:
“I like to stay in touch with dance because when I compose music, I consider dance even if it's not something that's going to end up being choreographed. My last ballet class was maybe nine months ago. I recently did a tango class and I'm kind of interested in that. That was just last week actually.”
Photo: Winger Promo Shot
Kip on that new Winger project:
“Reb (Beach) and I are going to start writing and we'll try to knock something out in August. He's out with Whitesnake now and I'm very busy, so we've got some time set aside in August for us to get together and try to do something. I don't know what we're going to do and I don't like to preplan it. I like to sit down with Reb and see what the mood of the day is. It's impossible for Reb and I not to sound like Winger because the combination of us is the sound of the band, no matter what song we do.”
Kip on why he can’t just coast on Winger’s early success:
“I think human beings, in general, tend to be lazy. A lot of people can find success at one thing and be like, okay I did it, I'm done and I can live off of that credential for the rest of my life. I don't even feel successful in many ways, all of that stuff sort of passed by me and it never sunk in. I'm not the kind of artist that can repeat myself and so I don't just sit around and think of the glory days. The glory days for me are still ahead of me, in terms of art. For me, it all comes from a very artistic point of view. I'm not interested in the commercial aspect of it, to my own detriment by the way, because I'm not a rich guy. I don't have tons of money but what I leave behind, that's the most important thing."
As if the rock and symphonic worlds aren't keeping him busy enough, Winger has teamed with Damien Gray to create a piece of musical theater. Kip on Get Jack, a Musical Thriller:
“The Get Jackconcept album is coming out in the next couple months and then we're hoping to do a lab later this year. We've got a great director, Kelly Divine, and we just signed a producer so it's moving along but it's a very heavy lift. Hamilton took ten years before it was up and successful. This has so many moving parts and the scheduling is difficult but it's moving forward and I'm happy with the progress given what we've been able to put together.”
It only makes sense that a man who values mentors to facilitate his future growth would still have a pretty impressive list of things to do.
Kip on what’s next:
“Honestly, more of what I'm doing but I need to try and make it better. I'm done seeking out new genres. I'm not going to do that anymore and I'm actually going to try and reduce all of the different directions. I'd like to reduce everything down into my solo records because that's a place where I can do it all. I know who I am and I know my limitations very well. I don't have any pretenses about who I am. I keep moving basically, and I adapt and overcome. I've experienced tons of obstacles. My big thing is time and I don't have enough time to do all of the things that I want to be doing. I'm comfortable with who I am but I'm not comfortable with my ability, especially with my orchestral writing, I'm just not good enough yet. I might do another musical and I'd like to write an opera. Yeah, I'd really like to write an opera.”
Let The Music Play: At This Moment...
is a continuing series by DailyBOOM Media on Covid-19's crushing impact on the music industry as seen through the eyes of artists, musicians, promoters, venue owners, merchandisers and Save Our Stages/NIVA ambassadors.
THAT WAS YESTERDAY: MEN IN MUSIC REWIND RELEASED ON OCTOBER 6, 2021
Men in Rock Reflect on Lessons Learned and What Advice They Would Give to Their Younger Selves in Hindsight
NEW YORK, NY -- DailyBOOM Media has released “That Was Yesterday: Men in Music Rewind” via Amazon and international distribution, on October 6, 2021.
Veteran music journalist, Cate Meighan, handpicked fifteen rockers and asked them what advice they would give to their teenage selves now, with the obvious benefit of hindsight. What follows that question is fifteen unique stories of lives well lived and lessons that have been learned the hard way. Things like homelessness, sobriety, cancer, and bankruptcy are repeatedly met head-on with the determination to defy the odds and make a life for themselves onstage.
Each of the artists included has been in the industry long enough to experience both the soaring highs and devastating lows a few times over before finally finding solid footing. The stories may be different but nearly everyone seems to share one core belief- that music chose them, and not the other way around.
“That Was Yesterday: Men in Music Rewind” includes:
Eric Bazilian – The Hooters
Steve Brown – Trixter / Tokyo Motor Fist
Tom Gimbel – Ex-Foreigner
Joel Hoekstra – Whitesnake
Steve Lukather – Toto
Ron Keel – Ron Keel Band
Jeffrey Martinez
Robin McAuley – MSG / Black Swan
Jim Peterik – Ides of March / formerly of Survivor
Jeff Pilson – Foreigner / Black Swan
Mickey Thomas – Starship featuring Mickey Thomas
Michael Sweet – Stryper
Nick Van Eede – Cutting Crew
Ace Von Johnson – L.A. Guns/Faster Pussycat
Chip Z’Nuff – EnuffZ’Nuff
"That Was Yesterday: Men in Music Rewind” is available now at Amazon:
It feels so right, so warm and true, I need to know if you feel it too
Maybe I'm wrong, won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong?
This heart of mine has been hurt before, this time I want to be sure
I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life
I've been waiting for a girl like you, your loving will survive
I've been waiting for someone new to make me feel alive
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life"
There were so many great power ballads to come out of the 80's. I love the term "power ballad" because it insinuates that the group can really rock out once this particular song ends. That idea certainly held true for Foreigner back in 1981 when they released "Waiting For A Girl Like You". It was one of those mushy songs that got tons of airplay because of the sentimentality (wedding song material). I was really young so I didn't care about that but I did love the synth vibe to it that a then-unknown Thomas Dolby provided.
"Waiting For A Girl Like You" was the second single released off of Foreigner's 4 album and it went to number two on Billboard's Hot 100. "Urgent" was the first release and it grabbed lots of attention so fans were ready to see what was up next when Foreigner dropped their ballad. I can remember fighting to get a clear signal on my transistor radio whenever either song came on because I loved them equally. Check out "Waiting For A Girl Like You" below. Is it one of your sentimental favorites too?
Coffee, tea on me baby Touche a la' My opening line might be a bit passe But don't think that I don't know I'm feeling for ya Cause I got a vibe on you the first time that I saw you saw you
Yesterday I spent quite awhile listening to Teena Marie's Starchild from 1984. I have been on a real Tee kick lately, thanks to THIS GUY over here & his radio show, The Power Hour. It all started with my accidentally stumbling onto this clip of Jeanette Jurado's cover of "Portuguese Love" which just blew me away,
Once I realized that it was originally Teena Marie's song made me go back through Lady Tee's catalog of music and I had forgotten just how much of her stuff I actually love. I remember when Starchild first came out because her song "Lovergirl" was a huge hit. Like, it was played every 3.5 hours on the radio like clockwork and the video was constantly popping up on MTV. Not that I was supposed to know that because at that point in time my mom had banned MTV from our house. I remember sneaking it while upstairs and going to my grandmother's to freely watch videos.
The only problem there was that in 1984 my grandmother didn't have MTV so I was at the mercy of America's Top Ten countdown which had video clips and of course, Friday Night Videos. You remember that right? It came on at midnight and everyone tried to stay awake long enough to watch even if they had MTV, just because.
So anyway, I knew that the video for "Lovergirl" was in heavy MTV rotation but I never caught a glimpse while at home. I had to finally see it late at night while at my grandmother's and I remember it being sandwiched between Madonna and Phil Collins. I was stunned that such a big, soulful voice came out of such a tiny pale chick. I knew Teena was tough though because she ran with Rick James and even though I was only 12-ish I totally understood what being his (sometimes) other half had to entail.
While Starchild made me happy as a kid, as a grown woman I totally appreciate the unbelievable range of talent that Lady Tee had. It's a damn shame she left us so soon.
So, there was this one Saturday WAY back in 1989 that I can remember like it was yesterday because I had perfect timing (a rarity). I had arrived for a taping of Dance Party USA and the energy was crazy because one of the guests for that days' taping was Sweet Sensation. I loved them. I mean, we ALL loved them. If you were even slightly a freestyle fan than the opening to "Take It While It's Hot" probably made your heart race. Betty Dee put on one hell of a show even then. Sure she was all sparkles, leather, ripped jeans, and big hair but even more so, she was a performer.
When DailyBOOM first launched in the summer of 2015, I had a bucket list of people that I wanted to interview and Betty was on it. At the time Sweet Sensation was on hiatus but as luck would have it, they returned to the stage by summers' end. In the last few years, the ladies have crisscrossed the country, performing for freestyle fans that still know all of the lyrics to their string of hits.
I finally had a chance to chat with Betty this week and the only thing bigger than her laugh is her heart. I wish that everyone could experience a bit of time with her because Betty is one of those rarities that leaves people better than she first finds them. Well, unless she's really mad then you better start running! Seriously though, Betty is equal parts crazy, outgoing Latina and introverted cat lady. She is also ALL parts love, joy, positivity, and acceptance. The woman you see on stage is exactly who she really is, and that's a gift to all of us.
Cate Meighan: Can you believe that Sweet Sensation has been around for more than thirty years? Betty Dee: Sweet Sensation has obviously had personnel changes over the years. Since 1991 it has been me, Jenae Colon, and Belle Ritter. I've jumped in and out of the group a few times. The last time that we faded into the music background my dad was really sick and I was dealing with a bunch of other personal things. So I decided to step away from the spotlight and just live my life. In August of 2015, we got back together. I received a call from K7 of TKA, my work husband (laughing) asking me to come back. He said that we needed to return to the stage and start doing shows again. I couldn't believe there was interest but he has been my best friend for thirty years, and so I listened to him. I called the girls and just like that, we got back together. The first thing we did was meet for rehearsals and I can remember thinking, oh my god, I'm going to have to go and by lashes again (laughing)! CM: How do the logistics work now that you're all older and juggling other responsibilities? Betty Dee: We all live in different parts of the country. I work a crazy, very demanding, but fulfilling day job during the week, and then on weekends, I get to perform. My week is busy. I'm a mom to my kitties and my dog and I do the things that I need to do at home. Then on the weekend, I get to put on lashes, make my hair shiny (laughing), and then hop on stage and perform with my friends. I mix the two lifestyles and they're easy for me to balance because I'm a good multitasker. I need to be busy and performing is something that I really love to do. If we are in NY for a show then we travel into the city and gather at one location for a quick rehearsal. We'll get ready there, do the show and on Sunday we'll go our separate ways again until the next weekend. If we go out of town and have to really travel then it becomes more work but I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way.
CM.: How was it coming back this time around? Betty Dee: Coming back this time has been so different. We're older and we appreciate things more. I feel better now at 50 than I did at 30 (laughing). I'm more energized and I want to keep giving the fans more. I mean, there's a mortality thing of- okay how much longer can we really keep doing this? If I'm going to do it now then I'm going to give 1000% and I've got to give it my absolute all. I think other freestyle artists think the same way. CM: Freestyle fans are like no other. No matter where the venue is, it really is like a family at the shows. Betty Dee: The fans are the fuel. They're the gasoline that lights the fire for us. If we went out there and didn't have the support it would be totally different because that's what drives us. I speak for my work husband, my work wives, and all of the people that we do shows with. We see each other so often that we really are a family and we really do get together and talk about how amazing it is that we can still do this thing that we love so much. It's valuable to me and not just as an artist. I listen to them perform and it takes me back- like thirty years!
I remember what I was doing when Noel's "Silent Morning" came on KTU in NYC! We sang about love and dancing and heartbreak. I can't find a freestyle song that's not about one of those things (laughing). It's all about love and tears and that music created a bond 30 years ago and it's still there now. We all share that same bond now and I'm humbled by it. Understanding the genre and growing up with the people that listened to it, I totally get it. We hold on to this music and the time in our lives that it takes us back to until it's ingrained in our DNA. It's literally who we are.
CM: You look like you're in the best shape of your life right now and I've gotta ask, what's your secret? Betty Dee: I had spent years depriving myself of calories and running around like crazy until my metabolism slowed down. It was in starvation mode and so I was gaining weight instead of losing it. I was trying to stay in shape and I wasn't eating fatty foods and it just wasn't working so I decided to experiment and cut out leafy greens. I would eat more meat and some cheese instead. I also started to work out differently. Instead of being on the elliptical for like, ten hours a day, I started lifting weights and dancing. I was doing that and eating full meals throughout the day because the food was giving me fuel.
Once I started switching things around and feeding my body, it did me the service of getting really lean. So no more measuring and weighing food for nothing. Now I eat everything in moderation, including the healthy stuff. I have more energy and I don't feel sick every day. Here's the thing, you have to figure out what works best for you because there's not one set cure-all program CM: You're one of the happiest people that I think I've ever met. Where does the joy come from?
Betty Dee: We're on borrowed time and we all end up in the same place so don't take life too seriously. Do the things that make you happy and do them 1000%. Life is short and at some point, we lose each other so make the most of it. Be happy and make others happy too. That's where I'm at in my life and if that means going out on stage wearing sparkles and singing songs, then it's what I'm going to do.
Since Covid-19 has made gigs a hit and miss kind of thing we are flashing back to some of the best of the best content here at DailyBOOM.
Quarantine. Social distancing. Pandemic. Not exactly the terminology that any of us expected to personally identify with as we rang in the new year back in January and yet, here we are. When sheltering in place becomes a part of daily life it has a way of stripping away some of the things (career, money, etc.) that might otherwise divide people. We're all literally in the same boat and that includes rock stars like Tesla's lead singer, Jeff Keith.
The band recently put out a wonderfully crafted new live album, Five Man London Jam, and rather than celebrating on the road as expected, they are at home with their families, waiting for this initial wave of Covid-19 to be over. I caught up with Jeff the other day and while life has taken a sharp turn, his kindness and positivity remain fully intact. Check it out.
Jeff Keith on daily life while under quarantine:
"It's crazy, my wife and I are now homeschooling our nine-year-old son. He does computer work and I do all the paperwork. I'm re-learning about a lot of things like adjectives and linking verbs, I'm brushing up on all the stuff I learned so many years ago (laughing)."
Jeff on Tesla's new release, Five Man London Jam:
"We have to get a handle on the virus so we can get back out there and rock and roll. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get out there to work this new record, Five Man London Jam. We're really excited to be able to play it for people and so hopefully we'll get the green light to go back out. We want people to listen to it now, watch the video and really enjoy it because we enjoyed recording it.
It was done at Abbey Road Studios which made it just magical. Also, in a lot of ways, it was the best sounding room that we've ever played in. The Beatles and so many other great bands have gone through there and that kind of history made it a really special experience for us. We were really fortunate that our management was able to set it up in time for the thirtieth anniversary of our Five Man Acoustical Jam. It was like a celebration for us and we were able to have it in a place that already has magic in the air."
Jeff on playing acoustic shows:
"Playing acoustically is both challenging and exciting. Songs that are like a wall of amplifiers or something normally, make us have to approach them completely different with an acoustic guitar. It's fun to take a song like "Modern Day Cowboy" and try to keep it in the same vein that it was written in, but with an acoustic spin. It's exciting to have to figure out a different approach to it.
I love doing studio records but doing anything live is my favorite, because you forget that you're recording. Everyone does because we're all just in the moment having fun and feeding off the energy of the room. So, for the room to be Abbey Road Studios, the energy was electric."
Jeff on how this acoustic show was different from previous shows for the band:
"Oh my gosh, that location was just everything. When you're in the room you really try to forget that you're recording and just live in that moment and the music of that moment. Then with it being Abbey Road Studios, you had to let go of the legacy of this room and again try to stay connected to the music. We also got to throw some songs in there that weren't a part of Five Man Acoustical Jam back in 1990, which was nice. We got to do some of the songs from our record called Shocked, that we put out last year with Phil Collen. It was exciting and both challenging and fun for us to do and we had such a great time."
Jeff on working with Phil Collen:
"Phil is such a beautiful, loving soul and he clicks really well with our band. He is such an awesome guy and Phil really is like a big brother. Def Leppard took us under their wings when we went out with them on the Hysteria tour, back in 1987-88. We spent fourteen months in the round, with the stage in the middle of the arenas, for that tour and it was fantastic. Phil working with us and producing a record for us this many years later was just as fantastic He taught us a lot of things that we weren't already familiar with and somehow still kept it all in the vein of Tesla. We were still ourselves on that record but with a little bit of a different sound. The nice thing about it was that the fans appreciated it. They knew that we were doing something a little different that still allowed us to be ourselves, just with new techniques in our writing, and they supported us doing that. If Phil would be interested in doing it, we would love to do another one with him. If we had the opportunity to work with him like that again we would jump right on it."
Jeff on Tesla's secret to longevity:
"I believe an important part of it for us is that we have always stayed true to who we are. We are a blue-collar, rock and roll, bluesy band and every record that we've ever made stays true to that, even if it wasn't the most popular thing stylistically. We made it through the grunge movement (laughing) and we've never tried to win a popularity contest. After we broke up for four years, we came back in 2004 with a record titled Into The Now, and we called it that because we felt like we had one foot back in the 80's and then the other firmly in the present. I think the fans appreciate how we've always stuck to and acknowledged our roots. One thing about Tesla is that we don't try to be something that we're not. We've always stuck to our guns even though what we're doing may not be part of the latest fad, we stick to our roots. We also love to still make records and we intend to keep making them. I think that all of those things combined keep the fans with us and we are so deeply grateful to them for sticking with us. We know who we are and we'll always be Tesla."
Jeff on adapting to life temporarily without gigs:
"I think a lot of us are just trying to figure it out as we go. Hopefully, sooner rather than later they'll find a vaccine and really learn more about how this virus works. It has just taken over everything and everything is shut down and we are hoping that they figure out how to get it under control. We can't wait to be able to get back out there and play again. We are hanging in limbo just like everyone else and we truly hope scientists figure things out so that we can all congregate again knowing that we're safe. We're dying to play live rock and roll and it's just not that simple anymore, it's not even in our hands. In order to be able to do that, the whole world really needs to come together. We need to do the right thing, which is social distancing and it really is also the toughest thing to do. Sheltering in place is so important and so is remaining hopeful that things will work out. It is going to take us all coming together as one for us to beat this thing."
What Jeff wants you to know:
"We can't wait to get back out there to play for our fans again. It's heartbreaking not to be able to do that now but once we are given the green light, Tesla will be bringing their Five Man London Jam to a city near you."
Check out Tesla's official site for updated tour dates and merch!
