rude_ruca

So, you all know that Ive been groovin to the tunes of the new Sublime tribute album (two straight days of heavy rotation on the CD player, not stopping to change over once!). No, I am not a junkie, I am no fiend, but what I am is enamored by the words and music of this legendary band. I have always told people that this band was my gateway band, if you will. And, if anyone asks, I think I am going to have to be honest in telling them that Sublime is the reason that I want to become a music journalist. I mean here was this band about ten years my senior and on a completely different coast, drawing inspiration from the exact same things that were going down in my hood. They seemed to do this with such rawness and grittiness but beauty all in the same and THAT is what fuels my love for music. Its like, not a damn thing could separate my everyday life from the life this band portrayed in lyrics other than a huge gap of land. While no great bonfires of rioting touched my hood, such as the riots of L.A. written in April 29th 1992, small little sparks would fly every time there was a gunshot or drunken beat down in the main street right outside of my house. The stench of rioting always seemed to be somewhere off in the horizon. Let me not even forget about the SEVERAL times the swat team arrived, with helicopter in tow, on the scene for numerous reports of heavy drug deals and one harbored fugitive.

This is the magnificent reaction that music brings. It can inspire, it can relate. Music can challenge one to look outside of their environment and allow a brief insight to another giving the musicians hope that their words and their music can change somewhat a closed perspective. I think that Bradley Nowell was a great lyricist because there was never a time when you were left scratching your head wondering what the hell you just heard, but perhaps scratching your head saying, Damn, that had to suck. or I know exactly where he is coming from. Or, it just made you laugh. I do not believe that this bands music or the legend that is Bradley Nowell will ever fade because, one, their fans are tried and true and I have experienced their warmth first hand. They are a community of creative; salt of the earth people whom I believe would have your back in an instant in a bar fight, and sing right along with you to Bad fish moments later. Secondly, Eric and Bud, the remaining members, refuse to stop playing music. They lost one of their greatest friends in what became one of the greater tragedies in the music world. However, these two men still remain true to the music, forming other bands and keeping up a steady momentum with touring. This to me is true passion, something you cannot buy, package or over produce. You cannot ask for much more from two people who had to endure such a loss, and for that their fans are thankful on such an extreme level.

R.I.P. Bradley Nowell