r/deadheadcirclejerk

The controversial incident stemmed from Townsend’s frustration with performing lyrics he couldn’t relate to.
“I was only 19 or 20 years old when I met Steve, so that immature part of my personality was in full swing,” Townsend commented.
The singer explained that Vai asked him to perform deeply personal songs based on intimate experiences from his own life, something Townsend found impossible to convey honestly.
“I don’t think it was wrong; it was just the opposite of how I had learned to write music. My reaction was simply to say, ‘No!’ And when you can’t express your discontent in a way that the other person can understand through conversation, I guess you’re left with no option but to screw things up.”
The Canadian musician acknowledged that, in retrospect, he acted out of immaturity.
“I was too young to rationally express what I was feeling. There was arrogance, fame, confusion, and a lot of personal issues. Today I can forgive myself because I was simply lost.”
According to Townsend, that crisis ultimately led him to form Strapping Young Lad, a project through which he channeled all of that creative frustration.
Despite the tensions of that period, Townsend and Vai have maintained a good relationship over the years. The current guitarist for BEAT appeared on Townsend’s album Empath (2019) and also collaborated on his latest work, The Moth, the ambitious multimedia symphonic metal opera that Townsend released in May of this year after nearly a decade in development.

My mom used to carry a notebook with her and write down the set lists along with stars for her favorite songs and little anecdotes about what her favorite moments were and questions about what the fuck was even going on sometimes, so I decided to do the same. Lost the notebook for a while and just found it again.

Awesome to look back at it and remember it all. NFA.

Photo - Sue Stephens

Marcus King played Dalt Dhed this past week and brought out Jerry Garcia's Tiger (Doug Irwin) and Drew was playing Jerry's Travis Bean. Marcus also played the Bloomfield Telecaster (I got vid of that too. Spoke with Drew after the show and he said he loves the Travis bean.

Yeah, it’s Gary.

Don’t know how rare it is but I’m glad he got something unique from his gift!