Contest Submission

Before you entered the contest, how long had you been listening to moe.? How would you characterize the state of your moe. fandom?

I have been listening to moe. since I was around 15. I had a good group of friends (who would later turn into my moe.ssena famoe.ly) show me them. I loved it. I’ve been to 31 shows now. (The 28th in Worcester was my 30th show)... As far as my “Fandom” goes, they are one of my favorite bands currently. I love going to see them live, its a treat everyone should experience.

What was your thought process in terms of your contest entry video?

I just wanted to do something I knew not only the band would dig, but also something that would show the fans watching it that I could “Run with the big dogs” sort of speak. I choose a backing track that was basically the chord changes from the vocal solo in “Great gig in the sky” by Pink Floyd, and tried using more soul than flash in my playing. I knew from the start there was going to be some amazing players. So in order to stand out from the crowd I knew I had to show them something that was more from the heart.

Can you describe your initial meeting and soundcheck with the band?

The band and the crew as well were all awesome/down to earth guys, and I couldn’t thank them enough for everything. They welcomed me with open arms from the moment I stepped in the Palladium…Soundcheck went very smoothly. We went over the song a couple times and that was it. I’m not sure if they thought it would take longer, but they seemed very pleased during the run through, and that confidence knowing I did ok took a lot of weight off the shoulders before the show.

What was the experience like taking the stage with moe? What if anything surprised you?

It was a high I couldn’t even begin to explain. The feeling you get when you are on a stage like that (with a band like moe.) is the feeling every musician chases, and is why we want to do what we do. When Al announced me, the roar from the crowd and all the smiling faces just makes you light up. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time because I knew how much the crowd was getting into it. If anything surprised me it was that. I wasn’t expecting the fans to respond like they did, but by the cheers I heard from the stage they loved it. I got a lot of positive feedback by random people coming up to me in the audience after the show, and also after the song got done the pats on the back I got from the guys. Knowing that one of your favorite bands not only picked you to play one of their songs live with them, but also the fact that they thought you “killed it,” it’s priceless, and I’ll never forget it.