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February, 2001
So I'm halfway through this East Coast tour and, as is often the case when I'm out here, I am staying with my good friends Bob and Sue Lynch, in Andover, MA (the Lynch's hot-tub was where I wrote the lyrics to “Just 'Cause I Sing The Blues [Don't Mean I Want To]” one snowy night, with scotch and Cuban cigar close at hand). Today, as is also often the case when I'm anywhere, I had to go to the post office. As I finally shuffled my way to the pole position at the front of the line, the postal worker whom I found myself face to face with said: “Hey! Aren't you that guy who came in here wearing that t-shirt?” She quickly gleaned from my suddenly vapid expression that I had no idea what she was talking about, and elaborated thusly: “The one that said I'm an arrogant bastard! on it: you wore it in here last summer.” Ahhh, my Arrogant Bastard Ale T-shirt. One of my favorite articles of clothing, even though I'm not all that big on wearing t-shirts. An explanation is in order. A couple of years ago, I played the San Diego Street Scene festival with my band. Karen (my girlfriend, soul-mate, and background singer) and I drove down there from L.A. the night before the gig, and checked into the hotel the festival was putting us up at. At the hotel bar, I asked, as I always do when looking for a beer to go with my shot, what they had that was local and interesting. The bartender, without pause, went to the cooler and immediately produced a frosty bottle of "Arrogant Bastard Ale," brewed by San Diego's own Stone Brewing Company. The name alone made it worth a sip. The beer was just wonderful. Equally as wonderful was what was printed on the bottle: "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory – maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this..." That just said it all for me. The next day, at Street Scene, we discovered that the Stone Brewing booth was within earshot of the Louisiana Heritage Stage, where we did our set. Karen stopped over there after the show to tell them how much we liked their brew, they told her how much they liked the show, and gave us the very cool Arrogant Bastard Ale t-shirt. So, back to the post office in Andover. Apparently, after seeing me in my Arrogant Bastard t-shirt last summer, while I was buying rolls of 20-cent stamps or sending 8 by 10 photos to some promoter that had lost the first shipment of 8 by 10s, or whatever, this postal-worker liked the shirt I was wearing so much that she was inspired to go home and search the internet for “Arrogant Bastard Ale.” She found the Stone Brewery website and made an online order for two t-shirts. One for her brother-in-law, and one for her teenage son, who couldn't believe his mom was capable of buying him something so cool (he keeps asking: “where did you find this!?”). She told me he wears it to school all the time. If this kid gets kicked out of Andover High for wearing a t-shirt that says I'm an arrogant bastard, I will be proud to take full credit. My only regret is that none of them have had the pleasure of tasting the beer. So without even knowing it, I did my part for the Stone Brewing Company. I'm hoping this story finds them, and a case of Arrogant Bastard finds me. Love, Bob
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