Punk Rock & Whiskey

  Music and angling have always been very heavily intertwined in my life. As I have alluded to before, my love of the guitar ran neck and neck with my love of angling for well over a decade. I have also alluded to my watershed moment...an almost religious experience of witnessing Flip Pallot and Chico Fernandez chase Redfish out of a Jon boat on The Walker's Cay Chronicles TV series. I knew right then, consciously or otherwise, that I would be setting the guitar down permanently and putting the fly rod in it's place.

Part of my frustration with my musical pursuits was that I was just a TERRIBLE songwriter. Add to that the fact that I really never really wanted to be in a band, and it becomes pretty clear that the opportunities for artistic fulfillment were very limited. That doesn't change the fact however that I can recognize and appreciate good musicianship, and songwriting when I hear it. And in the interest of full disclosure, I really do enjoy just about all types of music. My collection back then would have ranged from Miles Davis to Slayer, and just about everything in between. Even though my days as a student of the guitar are 25 years in the rearview mirror, my memories of that time are very much intertwined with angling, because those two passions overlapped so heavily for almost a decade. So, it's no wonder that just about all of my angling memories can be associated with music.

  One of those memories that has been with me for over two decades doesnt even really involve the actual act of angling. It is rather one of those "peripheral angling experiences" I have alluded to so often in past articles.  I have a very vivid memory of sitting in my living room somewhere around 2001, sorting and packaging a large batch of fly rod blanks I had just picked up from the AllStar Composites factory. In the background, there was a surfing documentary being aired on television. I've always found that extreme sports like surfing, skateboarding, etc....seem to have the best music to go with the footage, and this particular segment had a really unique soundtrack that immediately caught my ear. It turned out to be a piece called "Sunshine" by the band Samiam, and my god it was BLOODY BRILLIANT. I immediately went out and purchased the associated CD titled Astray, and instantly became a fan.

  Samiam is one of those bands that defy category, which to me is one of the trademarks of good music. They're punk rock, but also emo, kind of pop, sort of indie, a little bit hardcore, a tad heavy metal....it's all in there wrapped up in a unique package all its own. Over the last 20 years Astray has been in my regular rotation on many, MANY memorable fishing trips. And as time goes on, it continues to cement it's place in an ever dwindling collection of "must haves". It has become one of those classic "soundtracks to life" that I always find myself reaching for on a long drive to the gulf coast when nothing else seems to fit the mood.

  Recently I have been on an Astray binge, and out of curiosity decided to consult my old friend Google, to see see what the band had been up to as of late. As it turns out, Samiam is still around and occasionally producing new music. And from the soundclips on their FB page, the boys still have the magic! Interestingly though, original guitarist James Brogan, who left the band in 2001 has recently released his own brand of whiskey called St. James.

  I decided to reach out to James through social media, just to let him know how much I have enjoyed Astray over the years. James after all was responsible for my favorite track on Astray titled "Mexico". James graciously accepted my correspondence on Facebook, and the resulting conversation we had brought back many many great memories of blasting that CD through the speakers in my old Dodge 4WD truck as I plowed through the sand dunes at Yarborough Pass or Wilson's Cut praying to the fishing gods that I didn't get stuck.

  Anyone who reads these front pages on Sexyloops knows that the subjects of time and memories are two heavily recurring themes in my writing. I don't necessarily intend for it to be that way, I suppose it's just somethin about the stage in my life that dictates my thought process lean that way. However, when I have conversations like the one I recently had with James, the memories become so vivid because of the music associated with the experiences, it's hard not to want to relive them, or at least recount them in some way.

Perhaps the proper way to show respect to these punk rock laced angling memories is to raise a glass of St. James rye whiskey and toast not only the memories of long ago, but also the ones yet made.

You can read about St. James Whiskey here: https://www.facebook.com/StJamesWhiskey

You can listen to Astray here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmOntn_BxyA

Hope you all are staying safe and healthy,

Andy