NO BIGGER COMPLIMENT!

As you fine folks have probably figured out by now, I am a pretty humble guy!  I live my life by four simple letters; L,L,H&R!  LOVE, LOYALTY, HONOR AND RESPECT and to me, there is no other way to live it!  If you follow these four letters, to the letter, you will get the very same back.  Of course there is always the Classless Buffoon who feels that these letters mean nothing at all and that they are a "slogan" of sorts and don't apply to them.  They will soon find out that they apply TO ALL OF US!  You get back exactly what you put out in to this world we live in.  Sometimes it comes back on you in an instant and other times it takes a bit longer.  In some cases it takes nearly a year to the day, but I digress, that is a different story for another time.  I will say however, that when I get to see a person who puts themselves above all others have shit come crashing down on top of them, I do get an evil little smile across my lips and it reaffirms my faith in humanity and in the universe!

In this case though, what I am speaking of put a joyous smile on my face!  I believe that the universe puts people in our paths for a reason and what we decide to do in that moment forever changes the course of our lives.  Some of these choices bring us much joy and some of them bring us much heartache, but nobody gets them right all the time, so I say go ahead and make those choices because normally the good outweighs the bad.  I walk in the main bar at the Broken Spoke Campground and I immediately begin to see so many familiar faces and my heart warms a bit.  These are all people that I had the great honor to work with last year or to meet on the road at other events, good people!  Each of them walk across the floor to shake my hand or hug me and tell me how great it is to see me again and I am touched to the core.  Here I am thinking that this can't get any better, I am bubbling over with good vibes!  I hear my name called and I turn around and I get a smile from ear to ear!  What greater honor can there be than when the band that has shown up to perform, have shown up wearing I KNOW JACK SHIT t shirts?  If you want to speak of an experience that humbles you, this was one of them!  I don't believe a bigger compliment could have been paid to me!

Ryan Rolando who looks like he is 19 years old, has been playing at the Broken Spoke and has been part of the family for over 20 years now.  I can only assume that he began playing the guitar at the Spoke when he was one or two years old!  This guy is the epitome of class!  I knew in that very moment that my time at the Spoke was going to be amazing.  I believe that the universe sends you signs or signals and it is up to us to recognize them and use the information accordingly.  In this case, in this very moment, all my nerves calmed down, all the pressure lifted up off of my shoulders and I knew that I was not alone in my mission to make this, the 71st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a success for my Spoke family!  Each and every single one of us was a team and we all worked towards our team being victorious.  This my friends is one first class operation that is manned by first class people who all put the Spoke ahead of themselves and any petty bullshit that comes with working with so many people from different backgrounds falls to the wayside and everyone knuckles up, it is an incredible sight to see!

For all of those that welcomed me back to the Broken Spoke I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.  It was an honor and a privilege for me to work side by side with you and I look forward to doing it again, perhaps more than I look forward to any gig!

Jay Allen, you had the faith in me to watch over your baby while you worked your ass off down town at the Original Broken Spoke Saloon and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity that you afforded me!  You sir are nothing but class and I applaud you for it!   As I type this, you are hopefully breaking yet another land speed record up on the Salt of Bonneville and I wish you nothing but greatness!  Until we all see each other again at the Spoke, I wish you all nothing but the same feeling of joy and happiness that I got to experience these past few weeks.

Until we see each other on the road,

Keep the wind in your face,
Tits in your back
and The Man off your ass!

Your friend,
Jack Shit