But, until we went on the road, I had no idea Preacher was a bruiser.

And Dave?

Dave was a crackpot.

[Chuckles]

So, they weren’t big fans when people threw their beers at us just because people can be assholes, especially when they’re rednecks and drunk.

Because we did not suck.

We weren’t awesome, but we didn’t suck.

No reason to throw your beers at us.

And in order to play those bars, me, Dave and Tim had fake IDs. Wet behind our ears. We’d barely been out of Mooresville, Indiana, and when we were, it was with our parents to go to Florida to hit Disney World when we were kids or a beach when we were older.

You know?

So yeah, right now I will confirm the lore. In the beginning, there were brawls. And there were a lot of them.

And yeah, right now I’ll confirm that Preach was protective and he didn’t allow shit to fuck with the band.

And last, another yeah, the second Dave saw Preacher’s arm go up to pull off his guitar, he’d jump his kit and be all in.

And since those two were in, Tim and me had to wade in because, man, these were our brothers. You took their backs.

But then…

[Pause]

We met Tommy.

By this time, we’d been on the road, I don’t know, four, five months.

Summer was over, I know that.

Felt like we’d been on the road four, five years, I know that too.

And we were outside Chicago.

I know that too.

I’d have to look up my notebooks to know exactly when it was, but it doesn’t matter.

I was pissed as shit because we were in that camper where we rode and slept, and they all fucked chicks.

But I wasn’t pissed about that.

It was cold as fuck, and Dave was alternately smoking a bong—and we barely had enough money to eat, and Dave got his hands on weed, probably using our money, which did not make me happy—and holding ice to a fat lip.

And Preacher’s knuckles were all split and he was lying on his back with his long-ass legs up the side of the camper, his head hanging over the bench of the table that turned into a bed ’cause his nose wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Two of my knuckles were split and I had a tooth loose.

And before we even left the joint, Timmy had a shiner.

That was when someone hammered on the door.