Dave Moody's journey in the music industry is both inspiring and insightful, as he reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped his career. The episode commences with a nostalgic recounting of his childhood, where an encounter with the KISS Destroyer album ignited a lifelong passion for music. This early revelation set the stage for a career that would see him perform with notable acts, including Billy Ray Cyrus, and ultimately lead to his role in Hairball, a celebrated tribute band. Throughout the episode, Moody emphasizes the relentless nature of touring, where he performs upwards of 130 shows a year, a testament to his unwavering commitment to his craft.

The discussion transitions to the often-overlooked financial aspects of a musician's life. Moody candidly shares the lessons he learned regarding financial planning and the importance of preparing for the future, especially in an industry characterized by unpredictability. He advocates for musicians to take proactive steps towards financial security, such as investing early in a 401(k) plan. This crucial advice highlights the necessity for artists to balance their creative pursuits with practical financial management, ensuring they are equipped to navigate the challenges that come with a career in music.

As the conversation unfolds, Moody delves into the significance of relationships within the music industry. He underscores the importance of fostering connections with colleagues and fans alike, recognizing that these relationships can provide invaluable support and opportunities for growth. His reflections serve as a reminder that success in the music industry is not solely determined by talent but is also heavily influenced by the ability to build and maintain a supportive network. The episode concludes with a heartfelt message about gratitude, emphasizing the necessity of appreciating the journey and the people who contribute to it, ultimately reinforcing the idea that a successful music career is built on a foundation of passion, preparation, and community.

If you're an artist trying to figure out the long game, this is the episode.

Check out the upcoming Hairball tour at https://hairballonline.com and grab your tickets today!

Connect with Dave Moody:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/outracedave

FB: https://www.facebook.com/dave.h.moody

Like, comment, and subscribe for more real conversations about the money behind the music.

Grab the free guide or if you're ready to talk about your money system, head on over to : https://1024wealth.com/music

Jason K Powers: Welcome to Backstage Money, real World Finance for Musicians.

I'm your host, Jason K. Powers, and this is where music and money collide

with honest stories and practical lessons from people who make it work.

So let's get to it.

Today I am joined by the one and only Dave Moody, Louisville bred road veteran

who spent nearly a decade holding down the bass for Billy Ray Cyrus.

And now one of the lead vocalists with the band Hairball, one of the biggest

arena rock tribute productions in the country, And, uh, Dave has logged some

serious miles on major stages covering 130 shows a year, and so he has seen

some business from multiple angles.

Dave, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

Glad to be here.

Yeah,

Jason K Powers: I appreciate you taking the time.

I know we talked yesterday, you'd just kind of gotten in town and were kind

of recovering from another, stretch of, shows That's gotta be relentless.

Yeah.

It, it never stops.

And nor do I want it to.

It just, uh, yeah.

Yeah.

Just keeps going, you know?

So I'm, I'm very fortunate and grateful for all of it.

I'm, I'm grateful to be tired.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Yeah.

That's good.

And, and it's, we were saying it's not for the faint of heart, right?

It's very, uh, no, not, yeah.

You gotta want to do it.

Wanna do it.

That's right, that's right.

Well, so Dave, let's dive in.

Uh, you know, but before, I always like to talk to people about kind of how they got

into it, how they got started, you know, before big productions and packed crowds.

How did music kind of become the thing for you and, uh, you know, what

was the first big break that, that made this kind of feel real for you?

I knew from a very young age when I tell people that I knew

at six years old what I wanted to be.

They look at me like I'm crazy, but I literally knew that at six years

old who, uh, and what I wanted to do.

The minute that I saw the, the Kiss Destroyer album cover and I put the

needle on the record, I was infected.

And, uh, it took me to, uh, places that I never thought, you know,

you know, a 6-year-old should go.

Uh, it was just amazing.

And, um, I remember telling my parents, this is what I wanna do for a living.

And it was cute.

And then I got to my teenage years and it was still kind of funny.

And then I got to.

Be in my twenties and they were like, it's time to get on with your life

and do something important here.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

But,

uh, I told them, I said, this is what I wanted to do.

So I knew from a very, very young age, um, exactly what it was that I wanted to do.

And I'm fortunate in that aspect because a lot of people spend their

whole life never knowing what they wanna do or what they wanted to become.

So I'm so grateful for that, that, uh, divine intervention, if you will.

On that porch step at my parents' house at six years old.

A sat on a Saturday morning when the UPS man dropped off.

Kiss Destroyer.

I'll, I'll never not be thankful for that day.

And that

Jason K Powers: you, you remembered like that day, huh?

That's cool.

Oh yeah.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I, that's how quick it was.

Yeah.

Jason K Powers: How fun.

How fun.

how did you transition, say from that over the years to, you know,

getting, in a band, you know, what did that look like for you?

You know, I didn't play an instrument until I was probably.

We was very poor, so we couldn't afford instruments.

And so it was, it was quite difficult.

But I didn't start playing until I was like 17 or 18 years old.

And, um, and then I ended up getting an instrument and getting in a

band and, and we were horrible and we sucked and it was bad.

But I think that's the way everybody should start.

You should start out horrible and, and suck and be bad and get better.

Yeah.

And start with people who.

Or horrible and suck and can be bad with you, you know?

And that way you can grow from that that aspect of it.

And, um, I learned a lot in those formative years of what

to do and what not to do.

And sometimes I made the same mistake over and over until I realized, oh,

wait a minute, this is not working.

You know, so.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

But, uh, yeah, I was, I was, uh, I was actually a little

bit older getting into music.

From a, from a learning and instrument standpoint.

So I was like 17 or 18.

Jason K Powers: And then you guys got, you did some small bands and then

you, how did you go from, from that to playing bass for Billy Ray Cyrus?

Well, you know, it was a process.

You know, you, like I said, it started with my first band and then, and then

I went into an original act, uh, and I did that for about oh eight to 10 years.

And, uh.

It, it really taught me a lot of lessons from, from the standpoint

of, you know, working with others.

Crafting songs, you know, uh, promoting your band.

'Cause I come from the era of when we put, you know, flyers on telephone

posts, you going up and down the street and, you know, and you know,

there was none of the social media.

There was no cell phones, there was no computers, there was, it was all word of

mouth and you had to create your own buzz.

And, and that's where it came from.

then, uh, after about eight to 10 years I got to a point to where.

I was in a band that almost got signed by Gene Simmons of

Kiss, surprisingly, uh, in 2003.

A band called Magnetic Flux, and we actually had, we were being courted by

Gene Simmons because he had restarted Simmons records and he was taking

open solicitations for albums, and so we sent it in and got a meeting with

him, and long story short there, he told us we were too old and too tall.

At that point.

I was like, that's, yeah, I was, I was like 30 years old, 31 years old.

I was like, man, I'm, I'm still.

Looking back now I'm 54, you know, I was a kid, you know, so, uh, yeah.

But, but, uh, yeah, that didn't work out, but that's okay.

You know?

It's all right.

then, um.

The next thing I know, I get a phone call from a friend of mine who was Billy's

brother and my good friend who I'd grown up with, and he said his brother

was looking for a bass player and asked me if I wanted to audition and I did.

And, uh, it went famously.

And, uh, we, we had a, we hit it off.

From Jump Street and it, yeah.

I guess 'cause he's from Kentucky.

I'm from Kentucky.

Mm-hmm.

The whole band's from Kentucky and you know, it's just a bunch of Kentucky Boys.

We like-minded, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

For, for better, for better or worse.

Yeah.

Jason K Powers: That's it.

That's it.

Hey, most of my family's, most, most of my family's from Kentucky.

Oh, good for you.

Yes, that's right.

A smart man.

That's right.

I got it.

Well, so, so you learned a lot over these years, these, these early years,

and then you got in, you know, with, with, uh, Billy Ray Cyrus and mm-hmm.

Learned even more and Right.

And now you've been at it a few decades now.

And, and so what is maybe going all the way back, What's one money lesson you wish

you'd known when you started in music?

what's something Oh, you wish you'd known man when you got

started that you just, you're like, gosh, if I could, if everybody

would know this, walking into it.

I wish somebody told me that I was gonna get older.

I wish somebody told me that, that, uh, you know, life is real and things happen

and you've got to prepare for those things instead of living in moments.

Living in moments is great.

That's cool and it's satisfying for those moments, but there is a bill

at the end of the dinner and you have to be ready to pay for that bill.

So I guess my advice from that standpoint is.

If you're going to be a professional musician, usually you're hand to mouth

anyway, so it's hard to save money in that aspect because you're, you're

paying your rent, you're paying your gas, you're paying your, you know,

maintenance on your instruments.

You're paying, you've got all these, and then there's not, there's not a

lot of, you know, it's all overhead.

There, there's, there's not a lot of room for saving money, you know, and

you don't make a, a ton of money.

But if you ever get to the point to where you have a job, let's say

you have a job and you're doing a job, and, and music make that job.

Your, your 401k.

If your company has a 401k, invest in that.

Immediately take, you know, 5% of your income and throw it in this

401k that lasts forever in just accrue money over a period of time.

Because I did not do that.

I, I did not.

I, I, you know, I was famously delusional as everybody else and

thinking that, you know, you're going to make it and you're going and, you

know, there's no second, you know.

So I didn't really pay attention to that aspect of it.

And it wasn't until I was probably, oh, 15 years ago that I actually started

doing those things of putting money into a 401k, putting money into the side

and making sure that I was, preparing myself for a future when I get older.

I'm 54 now.

So what I did was basically, it's never too late to do this either.

I mean, there's no rule to it.

You wanna start earlier, but you can start later in life.

It's okay.

You can, you could start at a, at a different, you can start in your fifties.

It, it, you have to start though.

But I was lucky enough to pull the parachute.

You know, in, in my forties and, and get it right from there and put myself in

a position now to where I'm not caught up with the people who started in their

twenties, but I'm in a pretty good spot.

Mm-hmm.

So, I, I would say that you want to prepare as if your life depending

on it, because it does, you're gonna get older, things are gonna happen,

you're gonna need money, you're gonna need finances, and, and, and you don't

wanna be a burden to anybody else.

So.

You know, musicians are not accused of being smart people by any stretch.

Mm-hmm.

And they're def, they're definitely, they're definitely not

accused of being good with money.

And I'm guilty as charged on that.

But if the advice that I could give you is to start as soon as

possible, saving money, putting it back, making sure to accrue money.

And then once you do that, then you could get into the stock market maybe

a little bit, put some money in, some easy, you know easy stocks that

are gonna maybe pay some dividends, maybe, maybe give you some money and,

and hold your money in a good spot.

and, uh, those things are just gonna help you out immensely.

and it, and it's done it well for me because I'd like to get to 62.

I'd like to t retire at 59.

I'd, I'd like to retire and be done at 59 to say I retired in my fifties.

But I, I don't see that happening.

I'll probably go to 62 and even then, I probably won't retire because I'm just

too addicted to the, to the lifestyle.

Jason K Powers: Enjoy.

But if I want too much,

yeah.

But if I wanted to do it, I could do it.

That that's the thing.

That's, that's, that's where I want to be.

So, and that's where you want to be too.

So I, I highly recommend saving.

I highly recommend if you have a 401k option, you utilize that

and attack it with everything that you can attack it with.

Hell, if you're just a covered musician, take that money and put it in the 401k.

You know, whatever, whatever you can do to put money into that, to save money.

That's what you want to do.

And I know I sound too reasonable right now.

Not, not too cool for rock and roll.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

You know, you know, but, but that's a conversation and that's

really one of the reasons.

The, this podcast got started, right?

Because, you know, watching artists over the years and, and run into financial

dilemmas and having to put up that GoFundMe because of some unforeseen

circumstance and going, you know, gosh, I wish, I wish there was a way

to better equip, you know, musicians coming on and, and get that across.

I know everybody's young and excited and, and Right.

You're living in the moment, like you said, and, and just finding a way to.

Better educate and better equip.

The guys coming on.

And even like you said, starting in your 40, if you've been in it 10,

20, 30 years, it's not too late.

Start now.

No, no.

You know, it sounds too late.

That's right.

We always, you know, people say, oh, I wish I would've started

something, you know, years ago.

Years ago.

And I said, well, look, when's the second best time to plant a tree?

You know?

Right.

You're right, you're right.

Today is the best time and, and, uh, it, it, it's, it's just like anything.

You, you just want to make sure Starting habits is hard, but once

you get into the habit, it's easy.

Then, then, then it becomes.

Easy thing to do versus when you first started.

It's hard because you gotta stick with it.

But if you stick with it, it is so worth it.

And, uh, at the end of the day you're gonna be going, man, I

did the right thing and Right.

But, but don't, don't, don't be the guy, you know, God bless 'em.

I, I know so many people, so many more than I should that, that are

financially struggling with just those things that you just said.

And a lot of 'em are, are.

Very well known.

And, uh, and, and, and it's tough and it, it, it, this, this business is tough

as giving as it is, is unforgiving.

And, and, uh, and, and you have to protect yourself at all costs and

make sure that you're looking out for you and your family moving forward.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

That's right.

That's right.

That's great.

Well, let's pivot a little bit.

So talking about money day to day in the music business, what investments

are really non-negotiable for you, that are worth every penny.

You know, don't, don't, don't cut corners here, kind of thing.

Well.

You just wanna make sure that,

You're taking care of yourself health wise.

You cannot not take care of yourself.

If, if you're doing this just to get drunk and get laid, that's

the wrong reason to do it.

Mm-hmm.

You, you wanna make sure that Whatever it is that you're doing,

you're, you're building relationships and contacts within the industry.

These are corners that you don't want to cut.

Relationships are so important in this industry because the relationships for a

reason, they're gonna feed you later on in life if you build these relationships.

So you wanna make sure that you do that.

Music gear.

Make sure that you have the best of the best of the best.

Make sure that your, your appearance is good.

It's just like any job.

You wanna make sure that you're healthy, you're strong, uh, you

look good, you perform good.

you blew it in your instrument.

These are things that are, that you can cut corners in because those things

separate you from everybody else.

So then be a good hang.

Be a, be a person that, that is easy to get along with.

Not necessarily agreeable, but good to hang around with.

Mm-hmm.

You know, a person that, that, that, that, that is like a guy that you could

count on, a guy that can be, you know, it's like my dad always told me, arrive

15 minutes early, stay 15 minutes late work harder than anybody else.

And I gotta tell you right now in this industry, musicians.

I'm speaking to you are inherently lazy.

They're entitled, I, I know you don't wanna hear this, but it's true.

They're inherently lazy and they're entitled.

It takes this much effort to outwork a musician.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, just that much more than somebody else, because they think

that talent or their ability and somebody's gonna find them.

No, it's relationships.

It's your attitude.

It's your musicianship.

It's your, it's everything.

It's all of these things.

It's not just one thing.

So the corners that I wouldn't cut are the ones that are the small details that allow

you to achieve more than other people.

So stay on those things and you should be able to succeed at

least more than the next person.

Jason K Powers: That's great.

I, I think just kind of spinning off of that, uh, what I appreciate with you

guys, and I've, I've watched you guys for a while and, and what's your opinion on.

Uh, big shows, small shows.

What shows do you take to do everything you get your hands on?

Ditch the little ones.

I mean, I hear a variety and, and I think I know what your

answer's gonna be, but, yeah.

What do you, what's your, what's your perspective?

I love 'em all.

They all pay, you know, they, they, they all mm-hmm.

Pay the bills.

So I treat every room as if it was Madison Square Garden.

You, you don't look at a crowd and think they don't deserve my best

because there's less people there.

You look at a crowd and go, they're gonna get the best of me every

single time I walk out on stage.

Because not only you're representing the band, you're representing yourself.

And there should be integrity in that.

There should be there, there should be, there should be no mailing it in.

If you hear somebody say they're mailing it in, that's not the

people you wanna be associated with.

You want to be, you want to be strong and deliver every single night.

I'm a firm believer in that and that's what's allowed me.

To, to do the, to the small amount of success that I have had.

it, all comes from hard work and, and paying attention and getting up on stage

and never turning your back on that.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I've seen, I've seen you guys a few times and a couple different size venues

and, and that's what stuck out to me.

'cause one show in particular I went to when I, when I was, and when

I knew where it was, I was like.

I'm quite surprised they're plenty here actually, because I've seen

them fill three times as big a venue.

Mm-hmm.

and I, always appreciated that, about you guys, you know, just kind of taking.

Like you said, even the small gigs and, and that's the stuff people can go to.

and you guys show up and it was just as incredible of a performance

as the big venue, you know?

And that's awesome.

Yeah.

You wanna be, you wanna be who you are no matter where you set it up.

You want to be who you are.

You know?

Let's take for example, like a brand like, um, like Coca-Cola.

Okay.

Coca-Cola is sold in stadiums around the world, but it's also sold in small

convenience stores around the world.

Do you think Coca-Cola in the smallest convenience store, in the

worst neighborhood is any different than the Coca-Cola that's being sold

in a stadium at a football game?

No, they're always Coca-Cola.

So when you show up.

Always be who you are and what your product is and what you

expect to deliver to that crowd.

You get people one at a time, you know what I'm saying?

You get, you get your audience built one at a time, one person at a time.

It's, you know, don't get me wrong.

We've done stadiums and we've done, we've done small little clubs and

we've done most of the small stuff we do though is private events.

Most of the stuff we do is like, or, or if we're building a market,

we'll have to go into you know, a place that has never heard of us, you

know, in May, maybe Tucson, Arizona.

Maybe they've never heard of us and we have to go into a club, not,

or, or a small theater and mm-hmm.

And, you know, like a seven, 800,000 seat theater.

It's small and, and, and build our brand there and build 'em one at a time.

But there's never a time where we don't show up and go, well, we're

just gonna mail it in tonight.

We're not gonna be here, but we're not gonna wear the costume.

No, no.

You're gonna get every single bit of what we do.

We do not mail nothing in So.

Your responsibility is to the people that, that are paying to see you, no

matter if it's one person or 50,000.

Jason K Powers: So, uh, spinning from that kind of to the business

side of things, with hairball in particular are there any parts of the

business that say you touch directly,

How's that?

How's that look for you guys?

you know, this band is built on Alphas.

So like the, all the singers have ran their bands.

Before they got into this band.

Mm-hmm.

All the, all the musicians that are on the stage, the drummer, the

bass player and the guitar player have all ran their own bands.

So it's all a bunch of Alpha Dogs following an Alpha Dogs.

So we know that we're, a Swiss knife for Happy.

For Chainsaw.

We know that.

We're like, if, if they need something done, they know that their generals can,

can march into war and take care of it.

Yeah.

It's not a problem.

They give us, they give me something to do, I can do it.

You know, it's not a problem.

And that's a wonderful place to be.

If, if you think about it, to, to look at your team and go, there's not a weak link.

That this is a strong chain.

So that, that's, that's the best part of being in this band, is that everybody's

so strong in everything that they do.

Musicianship, business wise, you know, good hang wise you know,

being a, being a good person, you know, all of it is, is wonderful.

It's, it's very, very, it's very, very unicornish Yeah, yeah.

In the world that, that, that we live in.

Yeah.

Jason K Powers: Right.

So, so on that.

I saw you post something the other day.

You guys were somewhere and it was a, a good group photo and you talked about

you guys just being on the road together and being like a family, you know?

Mm-hmm.

And, and with a group, as you put it, of Alphas, are there things that you guys

keep an eye on or make sure, or, or, or intentional about that everybody's

on the same page communicating?

Well and things aren't.

Egos aren't coming in to play too much, you know, and everybody's kind

of working for each other, you know?

How, how do you, how do you handle that?

Well, it goes back to what I said a minute ago.

The product is, is number one.

and a good idea is a good idea.

No matter where it comes from and, you will succeed as long as you

don't care who gets the credit.

It doesn't matter to us.

Who gets the credit for what?

It's the band that wins.

It's, it's the, it's the, it's the product that wins.

It's the audience that wins.

Everybody wins.

If you don't care who gets the credit.

Then you, you're truly part of a team and that's what hairball is.

Then, you know, we just, we're very supportive of each other.

Somebody has a good idea.

Sometimes they get used, sometimes it doesn't.

Most of the time I don't even offer ideas.

They come and ask my opinion, what do you think about this?

And then I'll give 'em my opinion.

And if they don't use it, I don't get but hurt about it.

They just wanted to, they just wanted to do their research.

What the best idea might be.

Maybe my idea wasn't the best idea.

Maybe my way wasn't the best idea.

That's okay.

I don't care who gets the success.

As long as we cross the finish line together, that's all I care about,

and that's all everybody cares about.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Maintaining that humility.

In

the band.

Yes.

Correct.

Correct.

You're, you're, don't, don't be too big for your britches.

Just be thankful that you got 'em to put on.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

It, it's, it's it really is about making sure that you're, you're team oriented.

You're, you're, you're not, you're not me oriented.

Pay attention to the product.

Pay attention to the ultimate goal.

Like, uh, you know, like in football, only one person can be the quarterback

and touch the ball every time.

It's up to him to decide who gets the ball in the best play to run.

Right?

So that's, that's happy.

He's the quarterback.

Him and Mike are the quarterback, and we're like the receivers

and the running backs.

And some of us are blocking and some of us are running the play.

Some of us are, are, are downfield for a bomb.

You know.

So either way they all end up celebrating the end zone.

They all end up celebrating.

So that's us.

Jason K Powers: Yep.

Yep.

That's great.

So let's touch on real quick.

You know, what we talked about before the show kind of.

In your expansive experience, what pay models have you seen bands do

that maybe that do and don't work?

Uh, whether or not you're giving advice on you should definitely do this, but,

but what pay models have you seen work and not work that bands try to put out there?

Well, the thing that you have to do is first you have to

have a product that everybody loves.

You have to have, like, let's say that you're starting a tribute band, you

know and this is free advice kids.

Let's say you're start, let's say you're starting a tribute band.

First thing you wanna do is find a band of course that has 20 monstrous stadium hits.

You know, just huge that everybody loves.

It's universal.

It's just this, this band that, you know, little old ladies love and little kids

love and they can all come to your show.

That's number one.

Number two is developing the product at a topnotch level, making

sure that everything is 100%, you know, buttoned up to a t. You want

it to be so tight and so good.

It's like, oh my God, this sounds just like it.

And then you want it to look as close as you can to that product.

You want to have the instrumentation, you want to have the, the close, you

want to have the, the mannerisms of the, the people that you're doing.

You wanna make sure that you're doing all those things.

And the models that I've seen, they don't pay attention to details.

They don't pay attention.

They just think that they're gonna, because I've had some people come

up to me and ask me, you know, for help in starting a tribute, and I'm

more than happy to give this advice.

Mm-hmm.

Because I tell 'em all the same thing.

But they think that they're gonna start a band and just because it's

a tribute that they're gonna make.

Five to $10,000 a night.

That is not how it works.

That is not how it works.

What you have to do is develop the product and you've got to take it to the people

and work your ass off and develop your crowd, and that takes time and effort.

And then you gotta surround yourself with people who are like-minded, who

want the same thing that you want.

That are willing to pull in the same direction because

this life is not for everybody.

Everybody thinks they wanna be a rockstar until they're gone

from home for 230 days a year.

Then they see, then they understand, oh, I don't.

When I come home, my dog growls at me because he hasn't seen me.

Yeah, my wife, my wife is like kind of upset that I'm not here today to help

when something breaks around the house.

You know?

You know?

So.

You have to have like-minded people that want to do this and want to achieve.

And the models that I've seen are people that some of 'em now, some

of them have been fantastic that I've seen that have worked great.

But then again, I've seen some that, that, that, that have this misconception

of, I'm gonna put tribute by.

AC/DC or Def Leppard or Motley Crue or whatever, and we're

gonna make this much money.

This is not how it works people.

You, you actually have to work hard, find a great booking agent, find,

you know, take every shit detail that you can find in the beginning.

just so people can see you.

So people can.

They hear your product and then you can develop that thing and

you can develop those crowds.

A lot of people don't get that message and, and, and they

just had this misconception that it's just gonna be easy.

It's not

Jason K Powers: It's the grind, right?

You gotta go through the hard day, the hard days to get to the good days.

There's no, no other way.

There really is no other way.

Uh, I, I remember, I remember when, when we started Thunderstruck

that ended up being, the biggest AC/DC tribute band in the world.

It was huge.

It was monstrous before I joined Hairball.

Mm-hmm.

And we took every crap detail you could think of.

We rode in sedan.

Pulling you know, uh, with a box truck, you know, pinched in like this, grown

men like this for 700 miles you know, eating hamburgers like this, you know?

Yeah.

I mean, saving, like pinching pennies so hard.

But the copper got on your fingertips.

I mean, it was just, it was really, really tight.

The margins were really, really tight.

And, and we started out like that.

And.

Nobody knew who we were.

Nobody had an idea, but we started delivering that product,

and that's where it starts.

You have to want to do it.

You have to want to be there.

And the people with you have to want to be there.

Everybody's, it's a teams, like I said, doesn't matter who has the ball or who's,

who gets the credit that we all win.

Cool.

Cool.

Jason K Powers: All right.

Let's shift gears here a little bit and, and start landing the plane.

Give me a. Fun, memorable, funny story.

You got Life on the Road.

Oh, I got so many.

God dang.

Dude, I got so many.

It, it, it literally is Spinal Tap.

I mean, One time, way back, my first band ever we had a band.

Uh, we was playing a show in a little old jamboree and my guitar player

at that time, back in the day, Paul Gilbert had that video where he took

the picks and put it on a drill.

And it's like, you know, he was, he was, he put like the three picks on

the drill and glued them on a bit, and he was like doing a solo with a

bit and taking the, you know, so he is doing the Star-Spangled banner with the

picks on the thing and, and the drill.

Then he gets done and he hands me the drill and I was singing at the

time, and he hands me the drill and I take the drill and I'm like,

putting it in the microphone.

I had really long hair.

And um, he takes, he gets me the drill and I'm putting it in the microphone

going, and I put it up like this, go.

Not realizing that the suction from the drill is very real.

It went and my hair got caught into it.

I'm standing there on the crowd with this drill and I got the hair caught in

the drill bit like, and I'm like, well, you know, it gets tighter and tighter.

And because it was out here first and went and I went, oh shit.

And then I went, well, me being the bright guy that I am, well,

I'll just put it in reverse.

I put it in reverse and thinking it was gonna go do that.

I went really?

Oh no.

And it got, it got up, got up to my head.

I had to run off stage and rip my hair out the Oh my gosh.

My, but that, that, gosh, was, that was pretty funny.

Pretty funny.

Uh, yeah.

Yeah.

So it from bad to worse, bad, just stupid.

Stupid kids.

Stuff's hilarious.

But it, I wouldn't trade nothing for it.

It's hilarious.

Jason K Powers: That's funny.

You know, one thing that's impressed me about you guys.

You know, and being at your shows is your all's willingness to really get

out there after the show and interact with the fans and, and nobody really

knows is the big, you know, I know a lot of, most conscious people kind of

linger and wait and see what happens.

Somebody wants the, the set list or, you know, and, and I always

appreciate, you know, I remember the first time I saw you guys.

Out in, Evansville, Indiana where I saw you guys the first time.

And Victor Victory Theater.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

That's right.

And, uh, hanging out just a few.

I was just kind of loitering really.

And, and then, uh, HBK jumps down and I was running around in the front and.

So anyway, got to meet a couple of you guys that just briefly, right?

You're hanging out and socializing and, and taking pictures and, and, and

consistently, I talked to somebody, uh, after every show and, and I

appreciate that, about you guys.

is there a motivation behind that?

Is there a, is there a philosophy maybe behind that, that.

Allow some of you, at least I still need to get Happy out there, you know,

but, uh, get some of you guys out there and, and visiting with the fans.

Well, yeah, I mean, uh, first and foremost we're, we're fans ourselves.

Um.

We've, we use the old saying, you know, when somebody asks how far

you've come, we say about 10 feet from the front row of the stage.

I mean, it's, that's who we are.

We're fans of this music just as much as you are.

It's just we're wearing the costumes and leading the band, you know?

So we're, we're nothing we're, we're just like you we're, we're no different.

Everybody in the band has that same mentality, and we're all grateful

for everybody that comes and see us.

I, I, I laugh every single time.

Like, we will see kids down there and I'll, and I'll go, well, thank

you, thank you for coming out and seeing middle aged men and spandex

and lipstick and high heels.

We really appreciate it.

You know?

Yeah.

So we're, we're, we're, we're humbled by it, you know, and, and we wanna let

the crowd know, you know, we're, we're.

We're not above anybody.

We're not, we're we're just people just like everybody else.

And, and, and we enjoy this music just as much as you do and to

get to performance, the blessing.

And if, if, if.

It means making somebody's day to go down and shake their hand and give

'em a hug and a picture and a set list and a pick and, and or a drumstick

and just, just be so thankful because they have no idea what it is that

they do for us to allow us to do this.

So we're, we're grateful for them and we never turn our back on that ever.

It's very, what, what you see is very genuine.

And we do it every single night.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's great.

All right, so give me, I'm gonna leave this open-ended.

Any final thoughts, opinions, advice that you wanna throw out there

going back to the beginning when you asked me about the money

thing, uh, that's, that's, I want to help people avoid what I stepped in.

I want people to achieve.

I want people to succeed.

And the best way to do that is by listening to people like you

and people like me who have.

Fallen in these traps, or, or, or seeing these, these mines in the field

and, and actually hit them, you know?

And, uh, we're walking like, uh, you know paralympic people, you

know, we, we, we got, we, we got limbs missing financially, you know?

Uh, but if, if we can, if we can get if we could get you to miss those mines

that that's what I want, you should.

Get into your 401k, start developing the habit of taking

care of yourself and your family.

Start developing the habit of, you know, looking, be healthy, stay healthy.

You, you stay in the game longer.

Your, your, your personal health is so important.

Eat right.

I know these are not rock and roll things, man.

These are not, but they're very important and they, they, they add to longevity.

People ask.

All the time, you know, how have you stuck in the game so long?

And it's because I pay attention to one, my failures, the things that I

messed up on, and I try to fix them.

Two.

I I, I'm always looking for betterment and, and the way to make myself better.

And if I can do that.

And then three, it.

I don't own any of my blessings, so I try to give them away

like I'm doing right now.

And the best thing that I can tell you is.

Please, please look into taking care of yourself in all

of those ways, financially, health wise, and, and mentally.

Just, just do everything you can and always be grateful for what you have.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

That's great.

it's such a good conversation, you know, so where should people follow you?

Where can people find out more about what's going on with Hairball?

What do you guys got going on this year?

Tell me.

It'd be easy to tell you what we don't have going on it.

It's uh, we got everything going on.

I mean, if you go to hairballonline.com, you'll see it.

We do over 130 shows a year.

And I'm, like I said, I'm gone about 230 days out of the year.

So we work, man.

We do not stop.

And, um, it's.

It's crazy.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, hopefully we'll see you out there.

We're all over the United States.

We got a big Canadian tour coming up in March that we just announced.

The tours been announced for next year.

It's called Balls to the Wall.

It'll be the 26th summer that we've done it.

And man, amazing, amazing, amazing.

And, so we're, we're, we're thankful, dude.

what can I tell you?

We're just, we're blessed and we're grateful, and we're thankful,

and we never turn our back on it.

Jason K Powers: Yep.

Yep.

Yeah, I would say to the listener, definitely get out

there and see these guys.

It is nothing but fun.

Nothing but fun.

I've already got my tickets for the next tour and so Nice.

I'll, uh, we'll be seeing you there.

I'm bringing a crowd with me this time, I think.

Nice, nice.

I think there's like 11 of us so far going, so yeah.

Good time.

I

Jason K Powers: love

hairball versions.

I love whenever people haven't seen it, and, uh, you, because like

you'll try to explain it to people.

Like, I'm sure there's gonna be people watching going, ah,

they're just another tribute man.

They're just, come to the show.

Come, come, come to the show and give us a chance to prove you wrong.

Yeah.

'Cause, 'cause I promise you this, you're gonna walk in, but you're gonna float out.

You, you ain't gonna understand what just happened.

Jason K Powers: I will second that.

I will second that, that's for sure.

Alright, so for our listeners, we always finish with what we call "Final Riffs".

It's a rapid fire round where we trade stories and snapshots, quick

questions that capture who our guest is on and off the stage.

So Dave, Shall we jump in?

Yep, go.

All right.

Easy one.

First character you ever stepped into in Hairball.

In Hairball, sure.

Yeah.

Dee Snyder.

Jason K Powers: Dee Snyder, who's your favorite character?

I got cool characters, man.

I mean, I got Gene, I got Gene , Alice, Dee, Brian Johnson, uh, Kevin DuBrow,

Cinderella, and, and Blackie Lawless.

And Lemmy Kilmister.

I got cool characters.

Yeah, I guess, I guess overall it's just because it's just so much

and it's so over the top is Gene.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

The Gene Simmons.

Yeah.

All right.

Hardest vocal to nail night after night.

Man, probably, you know, because he's not my voice now.

Brian's my voice.

Gene's kind of my voice.

Probably Dee Snider.

Mm-hmm.

Because he's, he's so just.

It all comes from here.

I mean, it's all just right.

People don't realize how good of a singer he really is.

Mm-hmm.

Like he's, if you go back and listen to him, he's all power.

Just all power.

There's no falsetto.

There's no squeezing of the, the vocal chords.

It's just, it's all power and it's raw power.

Mm-hmm.

So, uh mm-hmm.

You gotta make sure that you're on point on him or you'll,

you'll throw your voice out.

I learned that real quick.

I was like, oh my God.

Okay.

Oh yeah.

Jason K Powers: Alright.

Cool.

Here we go.

Yeah.

All right.

One, one city or venue you will never forget playing in.

There's so many.

I guess just by default you're gonna have to say the Grand Ole Opry.

Jason K Powers: Yeah.

Only because it's the Grand Ole Opry.

It's,

Jason K Powers: yeah.

But, but you know, then, then you got stadiums and you got TV shows

and CBGBs and Whiskey and, I mean, but.

If you're gonna, if you're gonna cut it down to one, it would

have to be the grand old Opry.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm, because it's the grand old Opry.

Yeah, it's, that's right.

That's right.

Jason K Powers: All what's uh, one non-music hobby or passion of yours?

Oh, I'm a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Pittsburgh.

Shoot, shoot.

Huge Steelers fan.

I, it's my escape.

It's my getaway.

I mm-hmm.

I love them so much and, and we have so much fun.

Me and my wife, we have so much fun watching the games and, uh, win or lose.

We, we just have a ball and, uh, we love it.

Uh, and we go to about three or four games a year.

And, uh, yeah, I just love football.

Jason K Powers: Great.

All right.

A, uh, city that surprised you with the loudest crowd?

Anything come to mind?

Iowa, I mean Oh

Jason K Powers: yeah.

Just, just Iowa in, in general.

Yeah, it, it, that is probably the rock and roll capital of the world, Iowa.

I mean, we just did Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair, and

the first night was ZZ Top.

The next night was Lynyrd Skynyrd, then us.

Then Def Leppard on the grandstands.

Mm-hmm.

And we beat Lynyrd Skynyrd in attendance and which was at a hard

ticket sale, not, not a free concert.

Now this is a hard ticket.

Yeah.

And, um, and we beat him.

We had like 8,000 people there, and it was Wow.

Just so into it.

Iowa people are just so, not, not anything against anybody in the world,

but they're just salt of the earth.

I mean, just great rock and roll fans.

Mm-hmm.

Jason K Powers: All right.

Best road habits that cost little, but pay big.

That's a hard one.

being prepared, in your packing.

Like whatever you pack is going to be, like your toiletries,

food, if you have some extra.

You know, like things that you want, it's gonna save you money.

Having those things, most the time you have catering and all that stuff, and

you get to eat when you get there, so.

Mm-hmm.

You want to pay attention, you, you wanna do, you wanna take advantage of that, but.

Stuff that you can bring with you that you don't have to buy on a daily, like,

like you, you just have it with you.

So I guess, you know, bunk snacks and things like that, you know, things

inside of your bunk and, uh, you know, but you, the things that'll

save you the most money is eating lunch at when you get to the venue.

Taking advantage of catering.

Whenever dinner is served, and then afterwards, generally

they'll have something for you.

Maybe it's pizza or whatever, and take advantage of that because

those are things that keep you from dipping into your wallet.

Jason K Powers: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And they're, they're free.

They're, they're, they're supplied.

Great.

Jason K Powers: All right.

First concert you ever went to?

Kiss.

Queenryche, 1984 Kentucky Commonwealth Convention Center

and Queenryche was on the warning tour and KISS was on Animal Lies.

I couldn't believe that I was in the same room as Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.

That's right.

I was like a That's right.

That's them.

Jason K Powers: That's it.

That's alright.

That's alright.

It's cool.

All right, so I think we've already answered this, but who was your

biggest musical influence growing up?

I had several, but of course KISS would be number one, probably.

And then, AC/DC.

It was very, very, very typical stuff.

Kiss AC/DC, you know, Motorhead, Motorhead and Kiss over here, you

know, you know, and then, you know, I'm just, but then again, I had, uh.

So many country heroes like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard

and um, Johnny Cash and things like that.

People that I love dearly from that genre of music.

Mm-hmm.

But yeah, I have a very good palette of music that I like.

Everything from Slayer to Sinatra.

I love it all.

See,

Jason K Powers: there you go.

There you go.

That's it.

That's a music lover.

You know, that's, it's, you like music for music.

Correct.

Love it.

Correct.

Dave, thank you so much for making the time and for being so open with

the road lessons and, just all of the insight, you know, I appreciate it.

Yeah, I know our listeners appreciate it.

And thanks for keeping that rock alive and, and inspiring a lot of people.

I know you do.

So for everyone listening, we will put hairballs links in the show notes

so you can follow along and catch.

A hairball show near you.

If this conversation helped you, think about the business side of your music,

grab my free ebook and Musicians Guide to Infinite Banking at 1024wealth.com/music.

And when you are ready to talk about how a money system could support your

career book, quick call and let's chat.

So thank you you are listening to Backstage Money Subscribe

on your favorite podcast app.

Share this with one musician who needs to hear it, and I will see you next time.

Until then, keep your money working and your music moving.

Thanks, Dave.

You're welcome.

Thank you.