My feelings have always been that half the people in there should be taken out and shot. The other half should be let completely free. Trouble is, it's hard to tell which are which for the most part.

It, like everything else for me, seemed to be a Hunter Thompson-esque adventure. The first time, it was with a band called "RW Stone". The female singer/harp/rythym player was great. So was the guitar player. Getting up that early tho for him was inviting a grand mal seizure. We had to hide a yellow seconol in his guitar strap in case he felt one coming on. On the way in he was getting bit, and I noticed him recoiling. He said to imagine sticking your hand on a 220 dryer plug with wet feet. Our Bass player, it turns out had a mike screen full of green bud that he handed off to one of his cousins. Our drummer didn't have a clue. Myself, I brought about 6 packs of cigarettes. We went thru security OK, evewn with all the cigarettes and a zippo lighter i'd forgotten about.We were pretty much "released" into the general prison population. It was a Gymnasium type deal. The prisoners ran the sound. We played some Judds stuff, and Mary did some harp. Just before the first break, the sound kind of screwed up. The drummer got really upset. At break he said he was going to "go over and set those guys straight.". Yeah, I thought.. Well Jimmy kind of dissapeared into a sea of denim clad guys twice as big as even myself. I watched him walk lighter and lighter as he got further out there.. Turns out the sound guys were "doing just fine". I laughed like hell.

I ended up talking to a couple big guys ( they were all big) on the break. One of them Really liked mary. Asked me how one would go about "getting next to her". I allowed as how step 1 would involve "wearing a dress". That brought a real laugh.

It was fun. Gave away all my cigarettes, and my zippo lighter. What the hell..

#2. We were in a more controlled gymn setup. We set up, played, the "black contingent" walked out. Was told not to think poorly about it, that there was "stuff" going on.. I noticed that many of the guys that got close enough to the stage for me to eyeball were all "flying" on heroin. Seems the "New Warden" from NM had cracked down on the "green bud" situation, and all that was "getting through" was tar heroin. Some nameless and now faceless guy I had met there before explained that the guy was going to "have an accident" for cutting into "the system".. Sure enough Warden Franke died about three months later. Stabbed on the porch of the admin office.. Never did get solved...

#3 was on a hot afternoon. A guy had ODed in his cell on friday nite. They had left him in there til monday morning. It was sunday, and he was starting to stink. Things were very quiet, and nobody was real happy. I remember our blind drummer Danny was the high point of it for me. He was understandably afraid of heights, and the end of the drum riser was about 15 feet over nothing. When he felt the ledge, I assured him that it was only about three feet down, and just to "make sure" he didn't scoot back. Danny never did. He was a trooper. Like I said, there was a real "Pall" over the place, and it was just good to get out of there.

One good thing I remember, is the REAL applause. Here were guys that wouldn't face any more time if they ripped you off the stage and raped you. When they REALLY liked say, the banjo solo, or the harp, or steel ride, it made you feel like a million bucks.

I was told that if everything else in my life "screwed up" that "I'd always have a home down there". What a relief..

Haven't been back. Like I said, it was just a "con" on their part, and I confidentially talked to the guy in charge of it. I just suggested that he get out, get a real job, and forget about trying to make a living in the world of people that will lie to you because they forgot how to tell the truth, write you a 300$ check and ask you to hold it for a week, don't have drivers' liscences, and are probably putting the make on their underage step kids....

Never heard from him again. Probably, he took my advice.

There is no bigger thrill than the applause you'll get there.

There is no better glimpse of the "reasons not to screw up".

As for "Salvation" for those on the "inside"?

Leave it up to The State, And Jesus.

They're the Professionals.

Don't try it at home.

------------------
EJL63FLH
'78 Pro III Sho-Bud
'63FLH 90"Stroker
'80 Gold Wing
-Peavey: When it's *not* about "The Sound"-
"You can Smart Yourself Dumb.
Why Can't you Dumb yourself Smart?"-Me
"There are only so many ways to fry cat food."- Buster
"At my age, sometimes I run out of Adrenaline, but I've still got plenty of Gall.." -Me-

[This message was edited by Eric West on 20 October 2002 at 07:32 PM.]

You could probably approach local principals, suggesting an assembly where your band would play some and answer questions some.