Saturday, August 13, 2011

Jani Lane....

So I'm still in shock about the news about Jani Lane passing away. Some of you know my history better than others but for those who don't, I was a big 80s metal fan. When I was a kid the first time I was actually impressed by a songwriter was in 1989 and it was Jani Lane and his song Heaven. I was always into the crazy party songs of the 80s but at 12 years old this was the first time I could remember being moved by lyrics and melody. It inspired me to get an acoustic guitar. I studied Janis writing and lyrics and approach for the next few years all the way through their cd Dog Eat Dog. His song Stronger Now is as good of a song as anyone has ever written. Anyone.
So after being a huge fan as an early teen one of my missions in life were to actually write with Jani. I once waited outside of their tour bus at 16 years old with my guitar hoping to catch him and was gonna ask him to write w me. I never saw him that day so I sorta gave up.
Fast forward 7 years I'm living in LA and my band had a deal from Sonny records and we had a management showcase at The Viper Room on Sunset. A bunch of big dogs came out to scout us and after words took us out to The Rainbow for drinks. At one of my meetings the guy introduced himself as Obi and told me what his firm could offer us. I asked who he represented and the first client he named was Jani. I then told him I would sign with him right then if he could arrange a writing session w us. He called Jani and the next day at 3pm at a place called Sound Arena in the Valley I met Jani officially as a peer and we spent the next 2 hours writing songs. It was a dream come true for a kid from small town Carolina. We worked up a song "Remedy" that I still play today. He was an awesome guy and treated me well. I would see him from time to time on the strip and he always said hello. A few more years passed and Obi was trying to fill in some dates for Janis solo tour and I offered him a gig at The Money in Rock Hill and he accepted. Jani came to town and didn't have a guitar so he used my Guild acoustic for his show. I was so proud that one of my heroes was playing my hometown and using my guitar on the gig.  After the show we hung for a while and he was off to the next show. I never saw him again after that but I always pulled for him to do well. So last night when I got the news about his passing it bummed me out pretty hard. He was one of the main reasons I do what I do. 99% of musicians wouldn't admit that as they're too cool for school but I proudly admit I went to the Lane songwriting school and if you listen to my stuff it's obvious. R.I.P Jani... Here's a picture of Jani playing my guitar in my hometown for me and about 20 friends.




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