THE DAMN UNION

"This means something..." 

Last night, Richard Dreyfuss visited me in a dream. He was floating above me as I lay down in a dewey meadow (I may have wet the bed. More on that later.). He told me that I needed to post the last of the information about the extra-curricular activities for Dreyfest. Also, that I needed to take a dry cloth to the meadow, 'cause something was seriously unpleasant about where I was laying. I told him, "Okay- you're definitely right. We just have to get two more things locked down before the announcements can happen. ...It might not be 'til Tuesday though!" Richard rolled his eyes and said something about how much he disliked Aimee Mann's songwriting...Dreams get fuzzy, I don't really remember. The next thing I can recall, Richard was floating upwards toward a giant ship in the sky that kept playing some musical scales that had the same timbre as the opening to CBS News Sunday Morning. I remember being very bored by it. Before he disappeared into the saucer, he called down to me, "And interview that touring band from New Mexico, slacker!" As someone who believes in signs, after I woke up, I did just that.

What’s the band’s hometown of Messilla, NM like?

Mesilla is pretty small (about 3,000). Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa visited Mesilla regularly. The jail that Billy the Kid was in before he was to be hung is right on the plaza. The Gadsden Purchase was negotiated there. And the plaza was Mexican territory until 1930. You might here us call Las Cruces home, but it's all the same place. Beautiful sunsets, wide open spaces, and a slow pace of life.

Can you bring us some green chiles?

Unfortunately, we cannot bring green chile. The famous Hatch Green Chile are grown through out the Mesilla Valley, but it's not quiet harvest time. Plus, we'll have been on tour for twelve weeks by the time we get to Richard Dreyfest and won't be home to re-up. If we look like we are jonesin', it's because we haven't had green chile in a while. So if you can get us some...

Have any of you been through MT before? What are you expecting from the Montana leg of your tour?

We played in Bozeman at the Pour House on July 3. It was a quick six hour stay. We had to leave as soon as the show was over. We are looking forward to going through again and getting to see the beautiful scenery during the day. We're also expecting some awesome rock 'n roll at this pretty cool music festival in Billings.

Where else will this particular tour take you? And how has it been so far?

This is our first tour. We are all representatives of other bands from Las Cruces/Mesilla. We put together the Doña Ana Music Night Union (DAMN Union) in October. Doña Ana is the county Las Cruces is in. Music Night is a weekly musical happening that is hosted at The Farm (the house we live in when we aren't living in our van, Ol' Tom Young, with 700,000+ miles). We're the brave souls that could take the time to adventure for six months. Some of us have been going out in our other bands for the last decade. This tour has been great! The reception every where has been really good. We're just having fun with it.

I read that the band works a vehicle for several singer-songwriters to utilize each other as band members and play each other’s songs. ...Are you the new Eagles?!
I hope we are not the NEW Eagles. We have a lot more grit and diy/punk rock ethic than the Eagles. I would prefer The Band meets Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, but even then it is something different. The DAMN Union is not just the people on this tour. It is interchangeable. There is a core group, but we leave room to invite anyone to be a part of the Union. We've added hundreds of members on this tour, while still defining what the DAMN Union really is. We want to be able to be anyone's backing band and still have enough of our own original material to play for hours.

Favorite Richard Dreyfuss picture:

I don't have any pictures of Richard Dreyfest yet, but if you want some from our favorites of us, two are attached. (see one of the pictures below -the editor)

"WE DID IT! WE FINALLY BEAT THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
FOR "MOST PEOPLE ON STAGE AT THE SAME TIME!!!""

Can you recommend any other bands from your area?

The bands we all represent... The Rawdogs, Alma y La Tierra Muerta, Sean Lucy and Family, Beans and Crackers, Lillis Urban, Everett Howl and The Wolves, Blue Gramas, The Supersonic Bogies, and Squeaky Wheel. There is also... Low Cuture, Bourbon Legend, Time Squares, Far Corners, Oryx, Hypatia, and Katy Neely. But that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of talent in Las Cruces.

Anything you’d like to leave us with? 

We'd like to leave you with one hell of a good time, but we might take a helping or two for ourselves.

(Questions answered and opinions of "I" by Tucker)

You're welcome to them, sir, and thanks in advance for helping to provide a good time for the rest of us! Also, thank you for taking part in the interview and being a good sport, Tucker. 

For folks who haven't heard them yet, the DAMN Union's bandcamp page has an album of theirs you can stream or buy here: http://damnunion.bandcamp.com/ 

Oh, and about the "wet the bed" thing: I found out a couple hours later that I didn't actually wet the bed, but that my dog had gone number 1 on me. DISGUSTING! The worst part of it is, it wasn't even because he had to go and couldn't hold it. He was trying to impress his canine buddies by messing with the first guy to pass out. ...I also had Sharpie phrases like, "Cat stroker" and "My nose can't detect shit!" all over me.

Until next time, friends.

See you at Dreyfest!