Pheaturing Reese Wynans and Tommy Shannon

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? I am gonna start with a second question... Can you get expelled from school for eating a rainbow cake outside of school on your 15th birthday? Apparently in Kentucky you can! According to The Washington Post, Kimberly Alford ordered a cake for her daughter's birthday instructing the bakery to make the colors "pop." The bakery innocently interpreted those instructions and designed a beautiful rainbow cake, but when Alford posted a photo of her daughter with a matching rainbow shirt, chaos ensued. Alford's daughter Kayla was expelled from her private Christian (surprise!) school, immediately after her birthday when Alford received an email from the academy's head stating the following, “The WA Administration has been made aware of a recent picture, posted on social media, which demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy’s beliefs,” Jacobson wrote. “We made it clear that any further promotion, celebration or any other action and attitudes counter to Whitefield’s philosophy will not be tolerated.” First of all, the cake was a birthday cake and not a coming out cake. That being said, even if it was an LGBTQ acceptance cake, discrimination against sexual orientation shouldn't be tolerated in any school, especially a school that prides itself on loving thy neighbor. Here is the pic of Kayla and the cake...

The expulsion seems so ridiculous it's pretty hard to believe. However, when the school later said that the decision was actually based on two previous years of conduct violations, they failed to elaborate or justify those claims. Alford admitted to The Washington Post that her daughter had been previously punished for smoking an e-cigarette and cutting lunch, but the fact that the rainbow cake was even considered as a part of the ultimate decision to expel her is ludicrous. That school doesn't deserve you, Kayla!
Rob Lowe hopes that both teams have fun. The actor and disconcertingly beautiful man attended the NFC Championship game Sunday night, and rather than root for the 49ers or the Packers, he expressed his general support for the game of football with his headwear. Lowe's hat featured the NFL logo, and only the NFL logo, because that way, his team was guaranteed to win. It's a very Chris Traeger move of him to say that the real winner of the football game is the multi-billion dollar corporation that made money along the way. Lowe was mocked with memes for this incredibly dorky move. Lowe saw the memes, and was glad he succeeded to entertain, unlike his friends on Team Football.

Indecision was theme of the night, as just a few hours later, The New York Times rolled out their own version of the Generic NFL Hat: A generic endorsement for Both Of The Women Still In The Democratic Primary (that's Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren for the people who have been successful in tuning the circus out). If only there could be two presidents and two Super Bowl winners, then none of these takes would be cop-outs.
Hangovers are the pits. It’s not something you think about when downing your fourth vodka soda of the night, but it’s the first thing on your mind when you wake up to the entire room spinning. Some people swear by the hair-of-the-dog, others swig a shot of pickle juice, and now, adults are taking to Pedialyte, an oral electrolyte solution originally marketed for children. The drink, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, was first introduced in 1966 by Dr. Gary Cohen in Massachusetts to “promote rehydration and electrolyte replacement in ill children”. The drink meets the standards of the Academy of Pediatrics to prevent dehydration in children and contains fewer calories than Gatorade and more sodium and potassium. The drink also does not contain sucrose, which is said to increase dehydration. Today grown-ups swear about the healing power of Pedialyte after a night of drinking, including celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, and Jennifer Williams. And now the company itself has changed its entire marketing to appeal as a drink better to cure a hangover than a sports drink like Powerade. Long gone are the days of marketing their product for dehydrated children, a bottle of Pedialyte is the drink to consume after a crazy happy hour. The brand has recently launched their newest product to help us on Sunday mornings: Pedialyte Sparkling Rush Powder Packs. These packets, which come in grape and cherry, can be mixed in a glass of water for fast rehydration after a couple drinks the night before. So the next time you find yourself praying to the porcelain throne, grab a bottle of Pedialyte and down it like a Coors. You can thank me later.
A 26-year-old man in Evansville, Indiana went from Bad Grandson to worse when he skipped his grandmother's funeral to pay a visit to her house... and steal stuff. The grandfather had just arrived home after his wife's funeral to find that his guns were gone, and he told the police that "his grandson, 26-year-old Cameron Reine, was the only family member not at the funeral, and he knew the alarm and safe codes and location of the keys." Grandpa told the cops that Cameron had stolen from him before, and while Cameron initially denied taking the guns, he later admitted that he took someone because he owes someone money. What an efficient way to disrespect both grandparents in one day! Congratulations, World's Worst Grandson: an even stupider person committed an even stupider crime. Former Alaska dentist Seth Lookhart was found guilty of 46 counts including reckless endangerment after filming himself pulling out a sedated patient's tooth while rolling around on an electronic two-wheeler. Lookhart filmed himself yanking the tooth and then throwing his hands up in the air, and sent it to eight friends with the joke, “new standard of care." Even his lawyer thinks that the guy is a frickin' idiot. According to The Anchorage Daily News, "It’s unacceptable and you can be assured that when I agreed to represent him, I got in his face and told him what I thought about him for doing this, which I think needed to be done." While there's never a good time for an adult to be on a hoverboard, during a medical procedure is objectively the worst time. Doc Brown from Back To The Future did not invent them to be abused like this.
So, did you see there's a new movie coming out about the Royal family? Here's the poster...

It looks good. Hahaha. Trump sure has a different look lately. Just in time for the impeachment trial.

Troompa Loompa. Hahahahahahahahaha. Even journalists make mistakes sometimes. Here's another editorial nightmare for you to laugh about...

If I had a TARDIS I would go to a McDonald's in the 60s but I think I'll be afraid of the original Ronald McDonald.

Ugh! Scary! So, they tell me I would see some weird things at Walmart. I didn't believe it until I saw this...

Haha. Ever see those panhandlers on the side of the road? Some of them sure are original...

I mentioned in the last entry, or the entry before that that the press covers Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton differently. Here's another example...

Kate and William's nanny news is written up with little fanfare, while Meghan's is treated as an all-caps BREAK from tradition... with no mention, of course, of Harry, even though it was his decision too. I don't know much about manscaping but I think I might get this look done...

Why "8," I don't know, It used to be my favorite number when I was a kid. Speaking of kids... hey, future kids, this was JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy...

Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Heard At The NFC Championship Game
5. Rob Lowe loves all 32 teams equally.
4. Brown coat guy: Big football fan? Rob Lowe: Yup! Brown coat guy: Who you got, Pack or Niners? Lowe: Yes.
3. Rob Lowe may be the first person in history to wear an NFL hat to an NFL game.
2. Rob Lowe's favorite NFL star is the guy who does video replay.
And the number one thing said at the NFL Championship game was...
1. The guy next to Rob Lowe looks like he’s pitching his new half hour sitcom about a group of wacky NFL referees who also solve mysteries.

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, there's this guy who once in a while likes to come onto the Phile and lies. The things is he's not very good at it. Anyway, please welcome back to the Phile...

Me: Hello, Chip, how have you been?

Chip: Okay, I guess.

Me: So, what's new?

Chip: Last year on the first day of a month long rotation in medical school I was telling a story and accidentally referred to my dog as my daughter.

Me: Wait... you're really going to medical school?

Chip: Yes, Jason.

Me: Good for you. I didn't know. Continue...

Chip: I quickly did the mental evaluation of how embarrassing it would be to correct myself versus rolling with it and just decided to go with it and pretended I had a kid for the rest of the month.

Me: How did that work out for you?

Chip: Well, I didn't like purposely bring it up or anything, but if someone mentioned it I would just vaguely agree and not elaborate on anything.

Me: Ahhh... so, what's your dogs name?

Chip: I don't have a dog.

Me: Of course you don't. Chip Cooin, world's worst liar, kids.

There are plenty of reasons to not go to someone's wedding. It's too expensive, it's too far away, you've already used up all your vacation days on everyone else's dumb weddings. But if you don't go to your sister's wedding, something serious must have gone down. One woman emailed me to figure out if she's wrong for refusing to attend her sister's wedding because her sister is marrying her ex-boyfriend of three years. At first glance, it would seem as if the emailer is NOT wrong for not wanting to see her ex-boyfriend marry her sister, but it's a bit more complicated than that, and hoo boy, let's get into it. She describes how she was in a three-year relationship with a man I'll call Tonio. She detailed how he paid for most of her meals and almost the entirety of their shared rent, but "the one thing we could never agree on is how frequently we would be intimate." Their difference in libido ended their relationship, but Tonio was kind about it and even paid her share of the rent while she spent two months looking for a new place to live. But as she put it, "I was heartbroken, as a truly thought we'd get married one day." Cut to three years later, and she learns that her little sister is pregnant and engaged to her ex-boyfriend!

"Fast forward three years, and my little sister announces she's engaged. Not only that, but she's one month pregnant, and is expediting the wedding so the child is born in wedlock. Apparently her fiancé is kind to her, is covering all the wedding expenses, and is even paying for her master's degree program and all expenses so she can be a stay at home mom as long as she wants. I've been invited to her wedding, but was worried when she told me it might be 'hard for me': her soon-to-be husband is Tonio. Naturally, I'm depressed and angry and every possible emotion all at once." Yiiikkeeeess. According to her email, her sister kept her relationship with Tonio a secret for three whole years and was able to pull it off because the two sisters lived on opposite coasts. To make matters worse, she thinks her sister and Tonio got together while she and Tonio were still dating. "Apparently they got together 'officially' about three months after Tonio left me. I don't buy it. I remember that my sister was the one person whom I confided in to that Tonio and I were arguing due to 'mismatched libidos.' Based on various little stories about their first dates, it sounds like they became a number just around the time Tonio ended the relationship." If the story ended there, she would be completely within her right to refuse to attend her sister's wedding to the man she used to love, who may have also cheated on her, but oh does the plot thicken. She then slut-shamed her sister and accused her of getting with Tonio for a "free ride," and then the sister shamed her right back, and yikes all around. "I basically call her a whore would gets a free ride through life and gets to be a stay-at-home-soccer mom all because she tactically (and frequently) spreads her legs for the man, while my sister shouts back 'you had a good man, but you're not woman-enough to keep him.'" She even ended her tirade with, "She's getting a free ride through life by stealing my man, as far as I'm concerned." She wants to know if she's wrong for "refusing to attend my sister's wedding or ever be in the same room as her husband-to-be." Well, I'm extremely split, every one in this story sucks. I don't think she is wrong for refusing to attend the wedding, but everyone in this story is still pretty lame. Only for calling your sister a whore.. She didn't steal your man, he left you because his needs weren't being met. Which was not your fault at all you weren't compatible. Your sister sucks because you shouldn't hook up with an ex of someone you're close to. You are being reasonable in not wanting to attend or be in their lives. Your sister should not expect you to be supportive since it's your ex. I feel for you because that's a pretty big blow but don't blame people for their sex drive. Tonio sucks for dating two sisters. I would say that dating two sisters (especially back to back like that) is not treating either of them well. Creating division like that in a family is terrible. So what did we learn here? I dunno, maybe don't date your sister's ex and also maybe don't slut shame her either? But yeah, everyone sucks here. Case closed. If you have a problem and want my opinion email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.

Oven
Warming influence

Today, the President of the United States (that's Donald Trump, for the people who have been successful in tuning the circus out) will begin his trial in the Senate having been impeached in the House for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. Unfortunately for him, he can't pull off the same move he used in his past lawsuits including Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Miami Resort Management, and Trump Productions LLC and settle out of court. Even though Trump and his allies claim that impeachment is unconstitutional, it is written into the Constitution under Article II Section 4. While Trump is almost certain to get acquitted because of the partisan makeup of the Senate, he still can't stop the trial from proceeding and likely flooding the airwaves. This historic event might just be the most closely-watched trial since The People vs. OJ Simpson, and like the OJ trial, this one's got Alan Dershowitz. Trump himself is preparing for the event by threatening to block witnesses, calling impeachment "frivolous" and "dangerous," and tweeting some of his greatest hits...

Stay tuned for the inevitable all-caps "WITCH HUNT!"

The 112th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Joe will be on the Phile on Thursday.

Today's guests were two members of Double Trouble, the blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. One is an American keyboard player, the other is an American bass player. They both appear on the recent album "Sweet Release" which is available on Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Reese Wynans and Tommy Shannon.

Me: Hello, fellas, welcome to the Phile. How are you both?

Reese: I'm doing good, man. It's good to be on the Peverett Phile today.

Tommy: Thanks, man, I'm doing good.

Me: That's good. Have to say I love your album "Sweet Release." After all these years working with other people why now to do your own album, sir?

Reese: For this of you that might not be familiar with me I've been a studio musician in several different bands for 50 years now. Some of the bands I played in are Bpz Scaggs, Captain Beyond, Steven Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and lately Joe Bonamassa. Things happen to me when I've been around for 50 years I thought it was about time to do something. So I thought it was about time for me to record something on my own. And Joe Bonamassa thought it was a great idea. I did record some instrumental tracks on my own and I wasn't that pleased with the way they came out. Joe said, "I've cut some of the songs that I famously played on and get more vocals turned on." So it turned out that's what I did.

Me: Tommy, I looked at your bio and was surprised and impressed you played with Johnny Winter at Woodstock. What was that experience like over 50 years ago?

Tommy: Well, that was 1969 and I was just a hick from Texas and I got with Johnny. I've only been out of high school for two years and we moved to New York and it was like the whole world was there. It was such an incredible place with all these artists and musicians and actors. So it was a new experience playing with Johnny. It was incredible because he was a great guitar player and we played all these giant pop festivals, including Woodstock. I grew about ten years in one year.

Me: Okay, so, Joe Bonamassa has worked with so many different people I had on the Phile yet I haven't interviewed him yet. He produced this record, right? How did that come about?

Reese: I really loved Joe's vision of what my record should be. I love it. So I asked Joe to produce this record and he never produced anything and he wasn't are about producing but in the end that's how it worked out. My first record, Joe's first production, "Sweet Release," what year is this? It's 2020, who would have ever thought I would have a record out with my own name on it.

Me: It sounds like you guys had a good time, sir. I can't believe all the musicians you have on it. Was it fun to put the album together?

Reese: It was an incredible place. The way to worked out was completely fun. The hardest thing was just picking out which songs to do. We finally honed down the sing list, we decided we were going to have three different rhythm sections Joe wanted to bring Josh Smith in to play guitar, I wanted to bring Jack Pearson in so we had guitar players forever. Jack, Josh, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Doyle Bramhall, and of course Warren Haynes and Keb' Mo. It was everybody who I wanted to be on this record was there so it was just fantastic.

Me: How did you guys decide who was gonna play on what song and sing?

Reese: Every song is different. For example I wanted Doyle to sing something on the record and I thought he might want to sing an Arc Angels song. Turned out that wasn't the case and he wanted to do something funkier than that. So we found this cover song that Otis Rush had done called "You're Killing My Love" that was actually written by Nick Gravenites and Mike Bloomfield from Electric Flag and I really loved the Otis Rush version of it and so did Doyle. It ended up to be exactly the right song for Doyle to sing. And he just killed it. Its just beautiful. I wanted to do this song called "Hard to Be" from the Vaughan Brothers record but not do it the way Jimmie and Stevie did it. I heard it more like a road house Bonnie and Delaney type of song. And so we changed it up a little bit. We changed the arrangement a little bit and made it to what I had envisioned that song to be. A song like "Riviera Paradise," for example, one of Steve Ray Vaughan Double Trouble's most iconic song, I wanted it to be more like a movie soundtrack with a lush orchestra orchestration. So that's what we did on that track.

Me: What was it like working with Tommy and Chris Layton again?

Reese: It was fantastic to play the songs with them because they just play so great. The idea of playing a shuffle with them I say I'll do that with them, any time any where.

Me: What was it like for you, Tommy, being back working with Chris and Reese again?

Tommy: It was great. It was like Chris, Reese and myself fell together immediately, you know. We still had the groove and everything, it just felt so good and felt great. There was no struggling to get the song right or anything, we just fell together immediately. It was so great playing with my old friends.

Me: What was it like to work with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Reese? We've seen that guy grow up over the years, right?

Reese: Yeah, he's a perfect guy. He's a very firery inspired guitar player. I love that man.

Me: Tommy, what was it like for you working on these songs with Kenny Wayne Shepherd?

Tommy: He was pretty comfortable. Kenny grew up listening to Stevie and he knew Stevie's playing. I was really surprised how well he fit in. He was right on target. It was like second nature to him. He just nailed it.

Me: Do you think it was hard for the guitarists to play those Steve Ray Vaughan songs? I would think it would be intimidating.

Reese: I didn't see anything like that and of course I played with Stevie so it was neat playing our old songs and Tommy and Chris felt the same way. As far as having Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith and Jack Pearson feel about that, well they all seemed very comfortable playing those songs. I don't think there was any of that intimating at all.

Tommy: Kenny handled it real good, he was confident with himself. He loves Stevie so much, he learned from Stevie. He was just comfortable. Like the intro to "Riviera Paradise," that's a really hard guitar part. There's some jazz chords in there and that would be very hard for any guitar player to learn and Kenny learned it. I was a little surprised to be honest.

Me: Tommy, what was it like working on those Stevie Ray songs again but without him?

Tommy: It was different. We managed to keep with the songs we did with Stevie, we managed got keep I don't know what the right word is. We kept it alive. We didn't lose anything at all.

Me: Was working with Chris and Tommy again like riding a bike getting back in the groove with those guys?

Reese: Absolutely. Playing our old songs with my favorite band mates, it's exactly like we never left. I wish we could do a whole record of our old songs, that would be amazing to me.

Me: Yeah, I think the fans would love that. I didn't know a lot about Stevie Ray's music before, but before you joined the band on the "Soul to Soul" album the band was a three piece. When you joined on keys the sound I am sure changed. Was there any concern with the band when you joined?

Reese: With the band? Not at all. The band wanted it. The band had considered briefly adding a rhythm guitar player. The thing about a trio is, a trio is great. It's all spontaneous but when Stevie goes out to play to do the solo work and it's just the bass and drums there's not really a thing there for a rhythm section to grab a hold of. It's hard to explain what I'm saying there. They could accompany a solo but with another piece there we could;d kind of get grooves going and get little things going that helps a soloist. They could of been any number of particular people they've could've brought into the scene I happened to be the one it was. Was lucky and honored to be there because I thought they were a great trio and didn't need anybody. I didn't want to change the sound to much, I just wanted to add to it.

Me: Tommy, how did you guys chose to have another member of the band?

Tommy: We were in the studio, the three of us and we needed a keyboard player on some songs and Reese had been in town playing with Delbert McClinton, so we called him up asking him to come up to the studio and he did. It sounded so good. We asked him that night to join the band. It happened that fast.

Me: I like that stuff better. It sounds more full, right?

Reese: That's the thing exactly. It's fuller behind the soloing, it's fuller behind the vocal, it's that thing of just adding the piano seemed to work.

Me: Were you into that style of music, Reese?

Reese: Yeah, I had the big background in Texas blues at that point so I was on the same page musically and of course I was.

Me: Yeah, good job you weren't a prog player, sir.

Reese: Yeah, that would've been weird. That would of changed it, really changed it.

Me: Tommy, did you have to change the way you played bass now there was a keyboardist in the band?

Tommy: Well, when I was playing in a trio playing a trio is hard. It's fun but it's hard. I got to keep it full. When Reese joined the band there was more room to breath. It became really great, Reese fit in right away. It kind of took a lot of pressure off me and Reese's groove was there so strong. It didn't take him any time at all for him to fit in.

Me: Okay, but did you change how you played and just let him blend him so to speak?

Tommy: Well, I played pretty much how I played before but some of the later stuff when Reese joined the band it gave me room to breath. I didn't have to fill in.

Me: My favorite song Stevie Ray and you guys did was "The House is Rockin'." What do you think of that song?

Reese: That's a great song, isn't it? It became sort of iconic being used at athletic events and things like that. We started the shows off with that a hundred of times and it always got the show started with a great start.

Me: Does that blow your mind if you're ever at a baseball game or somewhere and you hear that song?

Reese: Are you kidding me? I think it's fantastic. I think it's great that they use that. When I was playing it I never envisioned it'll be used at the 8th inning stretch but that's the way things work out sometimes.

Me: When the Hammond was added to the music of Double Trouble do you think having the keys made the music a little more approachable to mainstream radio?

Tommy: Yes, it did. Adding Reese added a whole new dimension to what we were doing. It changed the way we were playing.

Me: You've been playing with Joe Bonamassa for a number of years, Reese. How is it playing with him and playing alongside some horns?

Reese: That's a really interesting question. We have two horn players in the band and I've been playing with Joe for five years and he always had horns in the band when we played live. We don't always have horns in the band when we record. Usually when we record it's two guitarists, bass and drums and me. But live it's one guitar and two horn players and the fabulous back up singers that are always live with us as well. Playing with a horn section and playing with a four or five piece band without horns is a dilemma musically for a keyboard player. Do I want to play with the horns? Do I want to play with the rhythm section? Do I kick with the horns? Do I not kick with the horns? Every song is a sort of dilemma and has to be thought out. Sometimes I love to kick with the horns and sometimes we just have to kind of chunk through things and just make the groove the thing and play on top of it I have to make it for each individual song. For us it's not a cut and dry rule, it's how we do each individual song.

Me: That kinda makes sense to me. I play kazoo. Haha. It could easily sound like a mess, right? 

Reese: Yeah, that's the thing. We want the band to sound tight if it's supposed to be tight, we don't want it to be disorganized. It's a real fine line and that's the musical question. We all listen to each other and try to find a place and answer.

Me: Joe seems really, really busy, doing so many things. Do you get to rehearse or do you play on the fly?

Reese: No, no, no. For example when we're on break we try to rehearse. We want the tours to start off like we've been playing to for a while. We want to make it strong right from the start. We do rehearse especially when we're changing it up and and adding new tunes to the set.

Me: Do you swap emails to learn about the parts or do you just wait until you are all together to rehearse?

Reese: No, we don't send emails about the parts. We swap emails about the songs, which songs we'll be working up and it's up to us to determine individually to get ready for what we're going to be playing so we are all ready for those songs. When we hear everybody playing at rehearsal that's when we tweak it to see what's the best way to approach the particular song. So that's the way we do that. 

Me: In the 80s at Double Trouble's peak I was living in England and didn't really hear about Stevie Ray Vaughan and you guys. I knew Robert Cray, but not you guys. Anyway, back then did you have any sense of how big or how historic Stevie and the music and the band was? He's legendary now. 

Tommy: Well, we did "Texas Flood" and we were just doing what we loved. We didn't know if it'll sell or not but it turned out it sold a lot of records. We were doing that we loved.

Me: Did that surprise you that it sold like that?

Tommy: Yeah, it did. It really did. Everybody was telling us blues won't sell, no one wanted to hear the blues. We approached it in a totally different way.

Me: Okay, so, when I first heard about Stevie Ray was when he played with David Bowie. He was offered to tour with him and he turned it down, I think. That would have been weird. What did you think of that, Reese?

Reese: In hindsight it would of altered the course of our careers. I don't know if that "marriage" would have been good for anybody.

Me: Reese is playing with Joe, Tommy, what have you been doing lately? Are you still playing? 

Tommy: Right now no, I haven't been playing much. I'm semi-retired but I still play some. I could never quit playing. I'll die without music. I'm just doing to for fun now. I'm not trying to be successful or anything like that. I just want to have fun.

Me: Do you find that more enjoyable than when you did it as a vocation?

Tommy: I miss it. I really do. It was such a wonderful time in my life having all those things. I was young and we did a lot more traveling. I loved to see new places and play in front of thousands of people and the band really sounded good. It was a glorious feeling. I miss that but I'm doing okay. 

Me: Reese and Tommy, it's so cool to have you both here. Please come back.

Reese: Thanks, come see us. Take care.

Tommy: Thank you. I appreciate that.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Reese Wynans and Tommy Shannon. The Phile will be back on Thursday with Joe Namath. Spread the word. not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. But, love you, bye.

I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon