2. D Jam

The Why Store. Led by Chris Shaffer.  An Indiana band that had some radio play in the 90's with Lack of Water. I didn't discover them until early '01 or '02 during college. They played frequently at bars in Bloomington, IN and a good friend of mine introduced me to the band. At that time they were known as Shaffer Street and eventually just as Chris Shaffer.  This song was not from that era, but hearing it takes me back to those days.  

We would head out to "Sports", The Bluebird or Uncle Fester's and watch the band play for 3-4 hours a night. We would watch their sets while stacking empty $4.25 pitchers of Killian's. We thought it was a steal because they charged the same for that as for Bud or Miller. At the time drinking Killian's was living it up, so in our mind that was a hell of a deal. We would laugh and hang out with nothing to stop us from living but closing time. I still can hear the long jams from Sleepy Little Train to Memphis, When You're High, Gypsies and Don't Turn It Around On Me. 

D Jam is not profound, but that's ok. To me this one is about the memories the sounds of the music and Shaffer's voice summon up from the far reaches of my mind. The guitar solo takes me back to those sticky floored bars or a party where the sweet smell of marijuana smoke hung in the air giving everyone that laid back smile that only a college party could. Cheap beer, good friends and freedom that only comes to the those of us that were privileged enough to have that college experience. I can barely remember a Goddamned thing I learned in class while in college, but I can say I am thankful for what I did learn while there. I learned to love my friends. I learned how not to die and after some trial and error I learned how to avoid interactions with the police. Most importantly I learned to hold on to the memories of good times. 

 When I graduated I had a party at the house of some friends down in Bloomington. I made a speech about my love for them, the times we shared and that I dreamed we'd all be friends forever.  You know what? I think I know why this song drew me in after all. Shaffer sings, "Make believe that life is magical/Make believe that dreams are real/In my life there is a tragedy". In a world where time and responsibility have a way of washing away those relationships that shaped us, that is a tragedy. I am lucky though. I still see a few of these friends a few times a year, for some others an occasional email or text exchange occurs, but for the rest, well, they are relegated to being part of the memories.  So crack a beer, smoke some pot, put on some music from the old days and drop your old friends a line. Tell them you miss them and that you had a hell of a ride back when you were young.  Enjoy.

#Thewhystore #Chrisshaffer #indianauniversity #goodtimes #oldfriends