Insider Guest Column by Mrs. Trex

Insider's Look @ Townsend

Guest Column
August 4, 2001
by Mrs. T Tex

Hello everyone! So, I volunteered to write the column this week, to give T Rex a week off from writing. I need a month off, myself, but that's another story entirely. And, yes, the column is a day late, and I will thank you all for not mentioning that small fact. *listens for the silence*
Thank you.

T Rex and the boys are busy, busy, busy these days, with - believe it or not - business matters! And the boys with their music and rehearsals, too, of course. About the business thing, though..it may sound strange at first, but part of putting a successful band together is getting organized as a company. This means lots of paperwork and details, details. Well, that's not too exciting, but it's life!

What do you think of the new All Access column? I think it's super and would like to say thanks to Joy for agreeing to write it. I'm looking forward to more great All Access columns in the future - you go Joy!

One thing I'd like to do in this column is share my insider views on YOU, the Townsend fans. From the moment I first heard about Townsend (more about that later), I was amazed by the number of fans out there , and, more importantly, by their loyalty and dedication. It's fantastic, it really is. Ok, that was a bad pun, please stop the boo-ing!

Anyway - I hope you all know how important you are to Townsend. Just in case you fully understand this(?) here's exactly why:

1) The Numbers Game: Have any of you noticed the number of hits on the website lately? Well, I have! As the Townsend webmaster, I keep an close watch on these things. And the numbers are going up. FAST. Each time there is an event now, the hits on the site go up a step, and stay up. It's exciting to see, and believe me the record companies and producers see it, too. Back to my point, here. Alot of this stepping is due to you and the work you've done in promoting Townsend. You've been out there handing out fliers and telling friends, creating websites and just generally spreading the excitement. And it's working. Not only are the numbers going up, but the word is spreading around the country. Every week now, we hear from people outside of California who've heard of Townsend and love 'em. Thanks!

2) The Workload: I already mentioned the business aspect of the band and the fact that it's not all glamour. Some of it is just plain work. Well, there's more of it than you can imagine actually. Printing out fliers, working out deals for performances, meetings, and yes keeping this website adds up to alot work and alot of hours. At performances, given the current small size of the Townsend team, there is NO WAY we could handle distributing fliers ourselves. That's where you come in. You've helped us more than you can imagine in this way. Besides, it's best if fliers come from young energetic folks like yourselves. Now, I'm not going to pull a T Rex move and start going on about how old we are, but just trust me when I say that young people at a concert are going to pay more attention to that flier if it comes from you!!!!! Thanks, once again.

3) The Psychology: Now, you figured I'd save the most important thing for last didn't you? And you're right. The third thing I want to tell you is that your support means everything to Townsend. Keeping the faith in this business is SO important. There are alot of ups and downs, good times and bad, but through it all, if performers have confidence and feel the support of their fans, it pulls them through and keeps them going. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that you fans are the fuel that runs the Townsend machine.

I have just a couple more things to say, then I'll wrap this up.

As some of you probably heard, Steve "Smashmouth" Harwell lost his young son a week ago today. His son was only 7 months old and died suddenly from complications of leukemia. The Townsend family sends its deepest sympathies to Steve and his family.

Earlier in the column, I said I would tell you about the first time I ever heard of Townsend. I don't remember the exact date, but what I do remember is Todd charging into our house one night about a year ago, all agitated. "Dad, I'm going to L.A," he said. He and a bunch of guys from the radio station had decided to form a band. "A band?" T Rex and I stared at each other. We looked at Todd. "A BAND?" Todd proceeded to tell us about it. He was talking very fast, I remember. (Note: of course, it wasn't called Townsend then, in fact I don't think they had a name for the band at that time, and of course T Rex wasn't T Rex back then either. That was back when Bob was just plain Bob.) So, Todd went on for about 10 minutes about the whole thing then went charging back out of the house. T Rex and I were dumbfounded, I can tell you. But, we thought we'd just wait and see what happened. Well, since then we've done very little waiting and a lot of seeing (and doing). It's been fun. That was the beginning of the story at our house. Can't wait to see how the rest of the story turns out!!!

Luv to you all. Thanks for reading all this. T Rex will be back next Friday, with Matt's interview.

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