Two things we are always asked about: how did you come up with the name for the band and what does the name of the album mean? Here is the answer to both!
When I was stationed at Camp Lejeune in 1990 while serving as a “Doc" (a combat medic) for the USMC's 2nd Battalion we earned a bit of of a reputation shall we say. We earned the highly coveted “base ”Super Squad" competition and Alpha Company made sure everyone knew it. There was a running joke that if trouble was happening and we didn't start it we were on the way to make it worse. People get nicknames in the service based on what they talk about all the time and since i grew up in Arkansas just across the bridge from Memphis and talked about Memphis constantly “Memphis” became my nickname. Before long when trouble started people were quick to yell “go get Memphis & those Misfits and get them in here ”……..fast forward to last year. We had recorded the first two singles we wrote with Doug Shanklin and i had sent them to a few dj's just for some feedback. I received a call from one that wanted to play them and he asked me the name of the band-we hadn't even talked about it as a group and “Memphis & the Misfits” came out before i even realized it. And here we are…..
“Halfway to Number Nine ” is both literal and figurative. Number Nine is both a real place with some of the most fertile land and wonderful people in the Delta but it's also figurative. It is a representation of home which is different for everybody. The album cover signifies being a long way from home yet thinking about trying to get back there as a working musician. We all get that nostalgia from time to time. While the album speaks about my literal home i hope that it strikes a remembrance in every listener of the pleasant places we all want to revisit sometime. It's all very real!
Memphis