Rock Star Eddie

It’s Tuesday morning as I start writing this. I’ve barely had anything to eat since I had lunch on Wednesday. For breakfast today I had to throw out one of the two pop tarts I had, I just wasn’t hungry. I mean I’m hungry, I feel like I’m starving at times, but a few bites of anything and my stomach feels like I packed in a Thanksgiving dinner and them I’m good for a while. I haven’t been able to sleep much at all since last Wednesday night either, but with good reason. That night I had front row tickets to Chris Cornell’s show at the Murat Egyptian Room in Indy. I took one of my best friends and fellow bandmate Frankie with me for a show I knew we both would love and would never forget and it truly turned into a memory to cherish.

The opening act, Craig Wedren, was right in front of us. He put on a really good show and I am in awe of his skills with the delay pedal. When he finished playing I asked him what he was using and then I talked to fans in the front row before Chris came out. I mentioned I was going to ask Chris if I could play a song when he came out and people seemed excited and impressed I would do such a thing. I always had the dream of something like that happening while jamming out to records alone in my bedroom. I never thought it was possible until I saw this kid, Arnie Sallan, on a bootlegged video of a Cornell show in LA, ask if he could get up there with him to play a song, and Chris let him. At that moment Chris didn’t have an acoustic tour planned yet and I had hoped he would do one so I could get such an opportunity to see this kind of show and just to ask if I could play one with him, but never expecting it to happen.

Then a tour gets planned and I get tickets to the Chicago show at the Vic back in April. They were GA tickets and I knew I would have to get there early with my friend Frankie if I was going to get up front and ask but he had some kid stuff come up and I was too busy scrambling last minute to find someone who could go. I ended up taking my Dad who’s 62. It didn’t take much convincing since I was visiting from out of town and told him the type of show it was going to be. He had only been to two other shows before, The Who (when they had Keith Moon) and The Rolling Stones a few years ago at Soldier Field with my Mom. My Dad enjoyed the Beatles and Zeppelin covers Chris did along with the rest of the show. My Mom was thrilled for both of us and that we had a good time too. While we were there this kid Stacey Hopkins asks Chris if he can play one with him and I see it happen again, Chris plays with a fan. I told my Dad that’s what I want to do and maybe someday it will happen. At that show, had I gotten the chance to play I would have picked Like a Stone, figuring it was the one song of his I was least likely to fuck up, but I was too far back to ever ask and just enjoyed the evening. During the night fans are requesting Sunshower and I hear him say that one’s kind of hard, we’ll see, and he played it anyway a few songs later. I know it’s a hard song, it’s my favorite of his and I tried learning it one time for my sister Susie who also said it’s her favorite, but I gave up on it. I could play the beginning of the song but I could never figure out the end until I saw him play it live. The whole time I tried learning the song in a standard tuning but I saw him play it in drop d. Once I saw that something clicked in my brain and I just had it down. I would practice to the YouTube videos fans took of Chris playing acoustically to try and get the timing down and eventually got it. The next step was tell my cats, “Sorry, no Christmas this year, spent the catnip toy money on front row tickets to Cornell in Indy.”

The day of the show I took the afternoon off so I didn’t get stuck working over and picked my friend Frankie up when he got off work since his car broke down, otherwise he was driving since I was hooking him up with the ticket just because he’s an awesome friend but has a family and can’t splurge on a show like this like I can. I’m so excited and talking about the our night to come not but two blocks from picking him up I realize I’m going through a yellow light that’s turning red. It was too late to stop so I sped up to make it through… right in front of a cop who was waiting for the light to change. Sure enough she turns down the street I was on and follows to pull me over. I hand over my license and registration, tell her where I’m going, etc. A second cop car shows up and then a third. We must have looked really suspicious since Frankie was still in his snazzy work clothes and I was in jeans, long hair, said I was going to a concert, etc. They inform me a dog is going to go around the car and told me to roll up my window half way so he doesn’t jump in and bite. OK, so I do as I’m told, they bang a tennis ball on my car door and the dog just sits there. Then they tell me to get out of the car, I asked why, they said the dog indicated there is something in the car, we’re going to search it. (I thought they needed a warrant to search my car without my permission? but I’m not going to argue with the law) I get out, my buddy gets out, we’re searched, I get my crotch groped and they keep asking questions. Why did the dog indicate if there’s nothing in the car, etc. Well they did find something and asked who’s it was. Said we didn’t know and they replied if you don’t know you’re both getting in trouble for it. So I claimed it, I know it’s not his, it’s one of my stupid friends that left it in my car a long time ago. Frankie has kids he’s in a custody battle over against the most evil she-bitch of an ex-wife on this earth, he doesn’t need this hanging over his head. All I’m thinking at this point is take your wife to the show, the tickets are on the back seat, bail me out when it’s over and I’ll pay you back. Fuck my life, maybe I’ll get the chance to ask Chris if I can play some other time. I just want them to hurry up so he won’t miss any of the show, he can worry about me later. I paid $350 for those seats and I’m not letting them go to waste if I can help it.

Now yes, I smoke up sometimes, I don’t think there’s a damn thing wrong with it, but that’s the last thing next to drinking that I would want to do before getting up on any stage, especially if I’m asking Chris Cornell if I can play a song with him in front of a bunch of ticket paying fans. Either way I felt like I was punched in the gut. Then the cops said because I was up front about it I would just get a citation for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia along with the traffic signal violation, but they said they could arrest me for it, it’s their call. I’m extremely thankful for that. As the night went on it turned into something even more unbelievable to write about. We’re getting back in the car and I’m putting things away that were on the drivers seat after the search, accidentally bumped the horn a few times as I was leaning to put my things back in its place and scared the shit out of myself. Then we sit down and I look over at my friend and say, “So, I can pull away right? Their lights are still on. I’ve never even had a speeding ticket before. Did that just happen? We’re still going to make the show?” Now I don’t smoke cigarettes but I bummed one off Frankie and smoked half of it before putting it out. Took Frankie to his house so he could change and we made it to Indy with plenty of time to spare.

After the opening act there was an intermission before Chris was coming on. I wasn’t nervous about what I was about to ask at all. My nerves were already shot, my heartbeat was normal. Chris came out and started talking to the crowd first instead of going into a song. The only thing I feared was he would open with Sunshower. I didn’t think he would since it’s a song you probably don’t want to play until you’re warmed up, but I still felt compelled to ask before he went into his set. I’m standing up with everyone else as he talks to the crowd, I’m in the front of the stage off to his right and I blurt out my question the second I hear him and the audience get quiet. “Chris, can I play Sunshower with you tonight? I play the guitar.” He asked if I knew the song. I said “yes,” he said, “Sure, you can play Sunshower with me.” “Do you know it well?” “Yes,” I said. He asked, “Do you think you could play it by yourself and I’ll just sing it?” I said “yup” as I gave him two thumbs up and nodded my head. He said not to worry, the crowd is very forgiving. I’m thinking to myself, I know, no problem, I learned so many of your songs off bootlegged YouTube videos that I’ve seen you fumble and as long as you play right through it nothing else matters. It’s not like we’re going for a studio album, we’re doing this live and didn’t even rehearse it, hell my hands weren’t even going to be warmed up. After that it was on and Chris started his set. I think Frankie may have peed his pants, he hits my shoulder and says “Holy shit, you’re going to play it with him, you’re actually going to play it with him.” I must have answered him in the most nonchalant way possible with a huge smile and said, “Yea, I know. I told you it was possible.” Frankie asked if I was nervous at all and I told him it wasn’t possible, not an ounce of anxiety existed in me. I was just happy like a kid in a candy store. I get more nervous when I call a girl I like for the first time. People around me were excited and couldn’t wait for it. Frankie wanted me to ask him if he wouldn’t mind doing a duet on Hungerstrike and to tell him he sings a great Eddie Vedder. I said we’ll see, I don’t want to push my luck or tick him off.

Chris plays a few songs and then walked around on the stage, you could see wheels turning inside his head. Probably contemplating the decision to let me play one of his more difficult songs up there with him since Sunshower isn’t just a couple of simple chords. He talked to the crowd a little bit and was stretching his arm out and decided it was time to do Sunshower. He asked where I was, looking out into the front row. I raised my hand and he looked over and said come on up. People start cheering me on and I jump up there. My buddy doesn’t even know how I managed that so easily. I go over to Chris and he asks if I play it in drop D and I confirm as he detunes the guitar. Somewhere in the middle of that I did ask for my friend if he wanted to do a duet but I think he heard me wrong and said “I don’t need a fake Eddie, (I said sings a great Eddie) I got a real one and smiled.” I smiled back and said no problem and then he asks for my name and I’m like oh, haha, It’s Eddie, and then he asks where I’m from and goes on to introduce me as Eddie from Chicago. Now to my Muncie friends, yes I live there now that’s not where I’m from. I grew up mere blocks from the state line and Lake Shore Drive going into Chicago. Lake Michigan was my swimming pool. Yes, technically I’m from Robertsdale, this part of Hammond that has a Whiting post office address, but it’s easier to just say Chicago, people know Chicago, I talk like I’m from Chicago. I root for Daaaaa Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Hawks, and the Sox as long as they’re not playing the Cubs. So =P I stick my tongue out in your general direction and make funny face, I’m from Chicago.

Anyway, Chris tells the crowd we just met tonight, that I’m going to play his song Sunshower, and since he only has one amp and guitar the work at a time, I’m going to play while he sings. A couple people are shouting up don’t choke or tweak out and I’m just laughing, I know this song well enough to probably play it bar for bar backwards and it’s going to rock your face off. Others are cheering for me before I even play. I take the guitar, which I think was a Martin, and it felt a little off at first. I had the strap going over the back of my hoodie and it didn’t feel right. He asks if I’m alright and I’m just making sure I can hit the fretboard alright for the fill at the end of the chorus and I’m good to go. He said I could sit in his chair or stand and I felt like being on my feet. The feel of the guitar is different than I was used to on my Gibson Hummingbird, strings a little lighter than my guitar, just had to remember not to over bend some notes. The guitar pick was nothing special, same Dunlop brand I use actually, they’re easy to hold onto. After the introduction of our duet he asks me to start. In the words Les Paul used to say a lot, “It’s time to sink or swim.”

I started the song off and it actually sounds better in the video Cornell’s fans took than I thought. I nearly missed a strum when I opened because my fingers were so used to playing on my guitar but I played through it. Managed to slightly fudge that same lick up again when Chris is singing on top of the guitar part but he helped cover it up with his amazing voice. The crowd starts cheering louder when they realize I can play it. The chorus comes and that’s easy to play once you get the rotation of chords down. Then it’s time for the high part and everyone goes wild for it. I don’t know if I was supposed to play an A on the high E string for that since I never see Chris do it acoustically but thought I saw Yogi or Pete play it while while the other guitar part leaves the string open, but it sounded good and worth the little pinky stretch. Also almost went into the studio version after that with the little pull off you hear on the single, one I hadn’t seen Chris play acoustically either. One more round of verse and chorus leads into the last part of the song. Probably the most tricky to play and the part I gave up on months ago until I realized the guitar was simply tuned to drop D. It walks up the guitar twice and I know Chris isn’t singing during that part so I look over at him and he looks right back at me and nods his head “yes” while applauding for me. I think he said good job but it was hard to hear. I just looked back and said thank you. Somewhere in the middle of the song some girl yells out my name and I break my concentration and laugh. Kept playing right on though but I’m thinking that shout out came from the side of the stage my friends in the cheap seats aren’t even on.

My feel for his guitar progressed as the song went on but I still managed to mute some strings on accident that needed to ring out. I just played through it and hit everything note for note. At one point I nearly missed what I was supposed to play and blacked out on what came next in the chord progression but somehow my hand magically found where it belonged and kept going like it never happened. When the song ended people were starting to stand up in their seats and chant Eddie as Chris said “stand up, give this guy some love, because he has huge balls.” I looked out into the crowd and swore I saw the kid Stacey who played with Cornell in Chicago front and center a few rows back. (Found out later I was right when he found me on Facebook. He actually lives 30 minutes away too and we jammed the other night. He was also the talenthouse photographer for the show) Then I handed Chris his guitar back and got a hug. Told him thanks and mentioned that he actually followed me on twitter. He re-tweeted me to his fans once. Everything else is kind of a blur. I remember him saying as I walked off, “huge balls will go far,” and I did a little Wayne’s World “we’re not worthy” at him before my bud Frankie helped me off the stage. I remember thinking; Shit, I should have asked to keep the guitar pick, but laughed when I found it in my pocket later. You know how your smoking friends always steal each others lighters on accident? I’m like that with guitar picks and I’m totally guilty of it on film this time.

As I got down in front of a room that holds 2,000 (I’m unsure how many they fit in there for the sold out show though) that was cheering my name I was getting fist bumps, high fives, hugs, and pats on the back. It was so surreal I still can’t believe it happened and felt so at ease up there. It seriously felt no different than playing in my living room with a bunch of close friends. This “pressure” or “butterflies” I expected to kick in never surfaced, I just had fun, a shit ton of fun. Somebody tells me I’m already on YouTube and I just laughed. I figured maybe after the show a few days later something would surface but I got home that night and sure enough it was up there already for the past 5 hours titled Chris Cornell with Eddie From Chicago. All I was hoping for was one good picture but his fans gave me so much more than that. The rest of Cornell’s set was phenomenal. He even mentioned the size of my balls again later when some guys shouting a request at him wouldn’t calm down. He said something like “I wrote that song with Matt Cameron and can’t play it unless he’s here with me, I don’t have the balls like Eddie over there to do it.” My night obviously wasn’t going to go downhill from here.

When the show ended I had people coming up to me asking what it was like, if that was planned, if I met him at a meet and greet beforehand and arranged it. Well it was like a dream and no, we didn’t plan any of it. My question asking him if I could play and everything that happened after was impromptu. I know everyone says I nailed it, but I am a perfectionist and think it would have sounded better had we actually went over the song backstage before the show or if he had a Hummingbird up on stage I could have picked up. However, I am also the kind of artist who will plow through a song when I’m recording in my bedroom, as long as there are no major hiccups, I’m happy with it. Sometimes you just capture things ringing out you couldn’t have perfected no matter how many times you try again. I think that’s why the Rolling Stones, if you listen to the tracks carefully, just let some little things slide. When the show ended and the lights came on people came up to me as I walked out. To everyone who said I nailed it, was right on, did and awesome job, didn’t suck too bad (with a smile on his their face) thank you. To the girl that gave me a rocker bracelet, thank you. To the guy that asked if it was alright to take a picture with me, thank you. I’m seriously flattered like I’ve never been before. To Valerie, who wanted me to sign her and her brother’s ball sacks but ended up buying me a beer instead, thank you and your friends for making the rest of my night a blast before I went home. Everyone who shook my hand that night and to everyone else who was there, I’m glad we got to share that moment. A friend told me even X103 said I did a nice job on the radio. Of course a huge thank you to the cops that were cool enough to let me reach my destination. The biggest thanks goes to Chris Cornell for allowing a die hard fan to get up on stage and play one of his more difficult songs to a packed house while he sang. That took some huge balls too. Truly a night I will never forget. I want to hug you all.

It was a great experience and confidence builder. My friends and family constantly tell me they love hearing me play, but to hear it from complete strangers that don’t even know me is something else. Even Cornell fans I don’t even know, who don’t owe me a thing, ended up finding me on the internet to send copies of the video and pictures they took, it really blows my mind. You are too kind. I’m glad I could share my love of music with Chris and all of you. I had people asking if I played out anywhere or if I was in a band they could check out. People even asked if it was something I thought about doing for a living. I was shocked, I didn’t even play or sing one of my own songs. I said I would love to if it could pay the bills. I directed them here and to my twitter @RockStarEddie and said I’m working on an album with some close friends that I’m determined to put out in 2012. I had hoped last year at this time I would be finishing up the record by now, getting the 2” tape mastered, selecting artwork, etc, but I’m glad I’m waiting and decided not to skimp any of the cost just record somewhere sooner, cheaper, or digitally. This was an experience I would have regretted not taking in there with me.

Chris Cornell is truly one of of the best role models anyone could ask for. His whole musical career spanning from the early days of Soundgarden til now has been nothing short of astonishing. From the way the Seattle scene supported one another before and after they broke into the mainstream to the strength they had to carry on when Andrew Wood passed, I can’t help but be moved. Chris said this tour was for the fans and he proves it every time he gets up there, vulnerable, with just an amp and guitar in such intimate venues. If you were at the show you know what I mean, if you still have the chance to catch one you’ll be blown away. As much as I love the ringing in my ears after a loud rock concert I think I love this kind of show more. Probably because I write music as well and love seeing songs in their raw and stripped down form. It’s something the whole family and all ages can enjoy. Chris said I had some pretty huge balls to get up there with him but it almost doesn’t feel that way. It’s just something I felt driven to do. We only get one shot at life, why waste it with regrets of things we wish we did when we had the chance? It could all be over tomorrow. I want to leave you with this quote. “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.” It’s a Latin phrase from Horace that translates in English to “Seize the day, putting as little trust as possible in the future.” It’s something you can live by, but the choice is yours and yours alone. Make the most of what you have, even if at times it seems like nothing. Be kind to those around you, be yourself. Make friends, not enemies. Accept one another for their differences, it’s what makes us all unique. You’ll never know what life might surprise you with around the next corner if you never give it the chance. -Eddie