Hard Tiiiiiiiiiimes! This was a pretty cool band that I played in twice.
The first time I had heard that these guys were looking for a drummer and they had seen me play with Liars Grin. They invited me to a party they were throwing and I showed up and we talked and stuff and then I was in the band! Just like that.
Hard Times was a cover band that did a lot of 90′s danceable rock and classic rock. Anything that people could dance to, we would play. And people loved us. This was probably the hardest working band I’ve played in. My first stint with them lasted a few years and we played nearly every Friday and Saturday night the whole time I was in the band.
After the first few months the band started talking about getting rid of one of the guitarists and so I pitched Frank Matthews from Liars Grin to fill the job. He got the gig and Frank and I were once again jamming together.
I ended up leaving the band at one point just due to life issues in general. This was around the time I committed to Christ and started playing at Clovis Hills. Several years later, I would say that I had somewhat of a mid-life crisis. I was feeling taken advantage of by Clovis Hills as what started out as a once every few weekends type of gig became a several times a week commitment. On top of that, the newness of my commitment to Christ had worn off, I had gotten overconfident in my walk and therefore my motives were out of whack. I ended up re-joining Hard Times, which in hindsight was probably one of the worst life decisions I’d ever made.
Musically it was fantastic. We gigged CONSTANTLY to totally packed houses. It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had behind a drum kit. We were tight, we knew almost 100 songs, and we could change them up on the fly with just a glance at each other. It was awesome.
The downside was that I was drinking like a fish, I was not staying close to God and my life started to reflect that. Michelle and I started having issues as I became more self centered. I was taking huge risks by gigging all night and then driving home stoned drunk. It was not pretty.
After a while I could feel that things were going to snap. I knew God did not want me in this place and I felt it was only a matter of time until he turned me fully over to my bad habits and then I knew I would crash and burn. So I decided to quit a second time. This time for good.
One thing that I love about Hard Times though is that the guys are the coolest guys on the planet. They never took offense at my quitting (twice), they just rolled with it and said good luck. They are the most low key guys in the world, and for that I really love them.
