Friday, November 07, 2008
2:32 PM - Heartbreak Hotel: Room 667
Current mood: Heartbroken
Blind Melon's Myspace Blog (1)
Friends....
I bring you some difficult news.
The revelry call went out to start the tour, and all reported to duty except for one.
We, along with our entire team, have been working long hours to prepare for this upcoming US
tour, which we have all been excited about. All except one. There has long been consensus
among the original 4 members of the group....we agree on purpose and vision, we believe deeply
in what we are doing, and we have been forged together in the kiln of tragedy which has made us
unbreakable. We all share that. All except one.
We believe that it is a great privilege to do what we do. It is an honor to stand onstage before
you all and play these songs, and we will endure just about anything to do so. We have unity on this...
all except one.
Travis does not share this with us. Two weeks ago when we cancelled the first half of the tour, Travis
was having problems with his voice and the doctor recommended that he rest. Though it hurt us to cancel
the shows, we were understanding towards him and supported him because nobody wanted him to injure himself
or damage his obviously amazing voice. God dropped a Stradivarius down Travis's throat, but the reality is
that he treats it like a broken pawnshop fiddle. It is very difficult to maintain a rigorous touring schedule
while chain smoking.
Early this week Travis was due to again visit the doctor, a specialist that we found for him who is the
very best available. The doctor wanted to make sure everything was OK before we embarked on the tour.
We told Travis that we would cancel the rest of the tour if his voice was still hurting, regardless of
what the doctor said. Travis will tell you that we fired him because his voice was fried, but this is not true.
All singers go through vocal problems from time to time, and we understand that. We did not fire Travis,
he abandoned us. The plan was set, it was solid, and we were confident. Everybody was on board...all except one.
Not only did he bail on the doctor, but he did not return anybody's calls, texts, emails, telegrams, or carrier
pigeon messages for the last two weeks. We're talking about a LOT of attempts to communicate. This has been a
pattern from the beginning of our involvement with him. The reality is that Travis did not want to go on this
tour, and his reasons for this changed many times. The touring life is not for everyone. Had he told us that
it was just too much for him, then that would have sucked for us but we could have dealt with it. But the
dilemma was that HE WOULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITH US.
We finally started calling family members to try to locate him. Members of his family were very helpful
and the good news is that they had spoken to him and he was alive. We were all relieved but curious as to
what was going on. One of Travis's cousins finally got him to agree to call our manager yesterday evening
and they spoke for about 20 minutes (we were all waiting to figure out if we should get on airplanes today
or stay home). Travis stated that if we couldn't understand that he needed this time to himself, then he
didn't want to be in a band with us anymore. He complained about being underpaid and overworked (we all make
the same thing and we all work as hard as he does). He said that he didn't want to play the US anymore and
that he was under-appreciated. He complained about playing the same songs in the same towns. We could not
make him understand that the wheels were in motion for this tour for 6 months, and that to blow it out just
because he didn't want to do it was a very bad move (we think his voice is probably fine now, by the way,
though we could never say for sure since he neglected his doctor's appointment and did not call us to tell
us that it was not well).
There was no indication that any of this was coming at the end of the Canadian tour. We had great success
up there (thank you Canada) and we were encouraged by what was ahead of us. We were all set to record a
live album on this tour, we just booked Japan, and we were in the process of putting together Europe and
South America. People have been working very hard on this stuff...lots of great people who we are very much
lucky to be working with. Travis is unable or unwilling to care about how his actions affect everybody else,
and he's been this way since day one. We have passed up or blown many opportunities because of his actions,
and this has made it very difficult for us to function effectively. For the 2 weeks worth of shows that we
have cancelled in the last year, there have been countless others that were on the verge of not happening.
Many nights we have sat in the dressing room or on the bus wondering if Travis was going to show up and what
condition he would be in if he did show up. None of us want to be in one of those bands that is held hostage
by a single person's whims and demands. Travis's talent is enormous and deep, but after two gut-wrenching
years and countless setbacks and heartbreaks, we can no longer work with him.
We want to make this clear that this calamity is not just about the most recent events. For many different
reasons, there has been a division that slowly developed from the beginning. Travis came into a very difficult
situation, and in a lot of ways he handled it very well. But for whatever reason, we could never get him to
come fully into the fold. We tried to achieve unity and balance in the band and we welcomed him with open
arms as a full partner. But in a band you are dealing with a bunch of highly creative and impulsive people
in suspended adolescence who are also oftentimes maladjusted. It must have been very difficult for Travis
to figure out our relationships and to find his place. When things got tough, Travis would fire off an email
and threaten to quit the band....this happened at least a dozen times. Eventually, confidence within the band
as well as with the people who worked with us became undermined. Everybody around saw what was going on and
were probably taking bets on how long we would last.
The real back-story to this is very deep. If you squint your eyes and read very closely between the lines,
you might pick up a hint of it. There is no way that we could accurately tell you what has transpired over
the past two years without breaking some ethical codes and spewing a bunch of angry stuff that will just
sound irrelevant to you. We don't want to hurt Travis or say anything more than what is necessary to tell
enough of the story. We believe that to publicly air out all of the prior details of what brought us to this
place would be counterproductive. We will have our side of the story and Travis will have his, and the two
shall not meet. And you as the reader will be left scratching your head and wondering who is crazier. You'll
probably also wonder why we can't just kiss and make up and play the goddamned songs. We can only say that
we have tried everything that we could to get to that place.
We sincerely hope that Travis finds a musical situation that makes him happy. As previously stated, his talent
is prodigious, and that is why we thought he should play in the big leagues, but now it is clear that he was
drafted by the wrong team. He belongs onstage, and that is where we got along with him best. He is a GREAT
performer and we are hopeful that he will end up in the right situation for him.
So the next question is "what are we going to do"? First of all, we plan to begin the tour in Allentown, PA
on Monday. Chris Shinn, who formed Unified Theory with Brad and Christopher, is coming with us and is ready
and willing. We are enormously grateful to Chris for accepting this somewhat daunting challenge. After the tour,
we will begin the process of finding somebody who understands, as previously stated, that it is an honor to
perform for ya'll, and that it is important to pull together and work together in order to create something
truly great. We intend to play all the shows that are on the schedule, including the New Year's eve show,
and we will make up the shows that were cancelled earlier this month. We're going on a journey and we'll
bring you back something great......thank you for everything that you've given us.
Blind Melon
November 6, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
9:09 AM - The What The F*** update....
Blind Melon's Myspace Blog (1)
Hey Melonheads,
We've made an effort to prepare for the tour with Chris Shinn, but there is not enough time.
We are canceling the tour outright and will now start to shovel our way out of this enormous mess.
Chris made a super effort to try to get ready for the tour, but it's just too much to ask of him to
get up to speed on all these songs in 2 days. It is not fair of us to keep promoters hanging on while
we cancel the tour show by show, and it is certainly not fair to ya'll to drag this out. We are not cool
with doing something unless we know it is going to be up to snuff, and it is just doubtful that we would
be there by Monday. We will have more news about what our plans are concerning the future this week,
as well as information on how those of you who purchased tickets can be refunded. We're sorry for the
confusion, the bad vibes, the drama and the letdowns. We understand the disappointment and anger that you
feel towards us. We are angry and disappointed too. We aim to make it up to you soon.....
B. Melon
11/8/08