Five years ago in 2003 marked the beginning of The Weed Band. Bubba and I were in a band called the Blacklist. Bubba was the bassist and I was the drummer along with a few other guitarists. After playing with them for a good portion of my junior and senior year of high school in Jackson, the band had had some issues mainly regarding band motivation and sincere effort. Blacklist played and practiced at Bubba’s house on the memorable corner of 1st and High Street.

After we had broke apart Bubba and I were still interested in sharing our abilities to create delicious musik. We had devised the track Intropen, and carried it over into our new band. And hence The Weed Band was originated. It seemed Bubba was becoming better at guitar everyday. I remember him practicing in front of a mirror at his house. The only thing we were missing was a short, funny, and now one of my best friends the Steve-o. Not to confuse with the jackass (who also shares a similar name). Steve-o had taken bass lessons when he was younger and had agreed to play with Bubba and I since he had already been a great friend to Bubba. Steve-o picked up a specially modified Weed Band bass and learned some songs and has been pursing playing with us ever since.

When 2004 came along I was bound off for college. Yet after my mother re-married, we had been relocated to Ann Arbor (half an hour from Jackson). That summer, I nearly drove everyday to do what I loved, play sweet, sweet musik. Bubba and Steve-o moved in together with now Bubba’s wife, Heather. There we had the time of our lives. We create and play musik continuously. We partied, we smoked Hookah, and most importantly we became the best of friends. Of course nothing lasts forever, and neither did that summer. So in August I moved all my shit out to Kalamazoo.

So I moved back to Ann Arbor for summer break, which I attained a job right in Ann Arbor. My step father had bought me a car my sophomore year of college, which I am still much grateful to this very day. . He also had constructed a large three car garage which contained a loft. In that loft is where I had set up my kit, and the band would come out and we were able to practice, though it had become somewhat crazy in our adventures of golf carting. Now that is a story all in itself, however. My mother’s husband, Bob, not only allowed us to practice in the barn, he also gave us permission to sleep and stay over after long hours of drinking and playing musik. Our progress from that time is all owed to Bob. If it wasn’t for him, I may have never been able to drive back on week-ends, or have a place to play all night, or roof and food for my best friends. All of this we owe directly to Bob. Now back to the story.

Before my junior year, I had decided to rent a house in Kalamazoo. I moved in with my best friend from the university, Kyle. Not before long, I had an entire room of my own to play musik in, the musik room. This became a new hub for The Weed Band. We put on some shitty parties, and stayed up late watching ATHF. Bubba had moved from Jackson up north to Falmouth, and would drive the long three to four hours just to practice. This persistence is another reason why we are together and still play today.

Lately we have been doing some shows in Kalamazoo and Jackson. And we will cutting an album in Lansing this summer.

People sometimes question why we still struggle to get together and play, even though we are not making any real money. Naturally we love to play musik, and getting that nervous little ache in the belly is somewhat a rush when playing for a crowd, even as small as two or three. Yet we play and we get together because we have to. It is more than a job to play musik, this is a way of life, that part of life needs to be fulfilled with an expression of the soul. Every time we play we are reinforcing an unseen connection between minds that can be heard from physical strokes on instruments.

-Jason

The Weed Band