Artists I’ve shared the stage with

Looking over this partial list of artists I’ve been lucky enough to share the stage with over the past 40 years is humbling. I was the opening act for the large majority of these shows, and many of the acts that opened for me went on to enjoy far more successful careers than I ever did. That’s never bothered me. I’ve had a fantastic ride, and I’m incredibly grateful.

If you had told 16-year-old me that I would one day open for eight of the artists that my band was covering at the time (Neil Young, Cheap Trick, Eagles, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Brian Setzer, Blackfoot) I wouldn’t have believed it. Ditto that I would one day open for seven members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Neil Young, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Eagles, Randy Newman, Cheap Trick, Doobie Brothers, Warren Zevon). 

Many of the most incredible things I’ve seen and experienced over my career have happened while opening for these more successful artists. Since the late 80s, I’ve ridden some pretty impressive coattails. In the early days, the Gear Daddies toured with some of our friend’s far more successful bands, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Our first east and west coast tours were opening for Soul Asylum. We toured extensively with Bob Mould and the Bodeans. We did 3-7 day tours with more bands than I could list. Touring was fun, but it was also exhausting, even when we were in our 20s. Most of these shows were one-off performances at clubs, arenas, stadiums, and festivals.  

As a happy aside, I was lucky to have met most of the artists on this list. With only one exception, all were lovely people. I’ll save the one exception for a later post. Maybe.

With any luck, both of these lists will continue to grow. I know of at least one of my upcoming summer shows that will add a name to the opening acts list. It’s all but assured that several names on the current list will eventually be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

* Full disclosure: I was on festival stages with George Jones and Randy Newman and separated by a single act on both occasions. They’re both just too cool not to stretch the definition a bit.