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Singer is a Felon

Metalbasspro

Metalbasspro

Feb 9, 2009
1,848
922
WA state
#1
Singer did 5 years in prison for Meth and is on parole for the next 16 years. So far it means he has to be across the state line by a certain time at night that makes for short band practices. He also needs written permission to play a gig especially if it's in the next state just three miles from where he and I live. He seems like he's an ok guy despite the prison rap. I don't believe in the drug war anyway.

Anyone ever been in a band with a member with such restrictions? How well does it work or not work?
 
#5
Gtr player in one of my bands was in charge of the music studio/department at the DoC.

He said there's guys locked up there that will never see the light of day,
with absolutely pro-level chops.
 
#6
Metalbasspro said:
Singer did 5 years in prison for Meth and is on parole for the next 16 years. So far it means he has to be across the state line by a certain time at night that makes for short band practices. He also needs written permission to play a gig especially if it's in the next state just three miles from where he and I live. He seems like he's an ok guy despite the prison rap. I don't believe in the drug war anyway.

Anyone ever been in a band with a member with such restrictions? How well does it work or not work?
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Nope, I haven’t, and unless he‘s really, really good it sounds like to much of a PITA too. But if he’s your friend, and your friend probably needs the job, so I guess you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do. Good luck and best wishes.
 
#7
nojj said:
Tell him to keep away from the 420 folks. Can show up in his required tests.
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Only if he smokes or ingests it. Second hand smoke is not enough to pop positive on a test.

As far as his parole length, 16 years. All I can say is wow. I've never heard of such a lengthy parole. This would be a red flag for me to be careful. Hopefully he's turned the corner but 16 years is indicitive of a pretty serious crime.
 
#8
Yeah, a singer as well. He had problems that went beyond just being a felon , as many do. He eventually got into a fight and violated his parole, so back in he went. Keep in mind that people become similar to those they are surrounded with with and even though he may be a cool dude , it takes only one situation to screw up all your hard work. Make him aware of this , and even then, give it serious thought.
 
#10
The problem here is that although you can argue that the war on drugs is out of control even in the current environment you need to screw up pretty badly to actually do 5 behind bars and then get 16 on parole. This wasn't casual.
 
#12
uOpt said:
The problem here is that although you can argue that the war on drugs is out of control even in the current environment you need to screw up pretty badly to actually do 5 behind bars and then get 16 on parole. This wasn't casual.
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That. He must have been near the Breaking Bad level, either manufacturing, distributing, or both. Doesn't mean he's still a bad guy, but the money involved makes this sort of racket hard to get away from. I say everybody deserves a second chance, but watch it.
 
#17
I had a singer that was fresh from Betty Ford, started playing with him about 4 months after he got out.

He had the guitarist mainlining cocaine within about 7 weeks.

Not exactly the same situation, but generally folks in that kind of transitional phase are not going to be super reliable. They may or may not also be looking to relapse with a new "buddy"/drag someone down with them, so that can be problematic if there's anyone else in the band that's impressionable.

As always YMMV.

Also, I've been around meth abusers, if you're not doing that yourself and/or do not have extensive experience with them, this will probably get messy. I'm assuming you fall into one of those categories as "5 years in prison for meth" didn't send you running to the hills already.

I have seen a number of folks get caught in that particular trap, and even the ones that pull themselves out, and appear ok for years, can have occasional relapses. So, even if he wants to be clean....there's a pretty big chance there will be downstream problems.

If this was pot or something I'd tell you to laugh it off (and you probably wouldn't even post over that.) Heroin and meth though are really, really nasty drugs that get their hooks pretty deep into their abusers. If you haven't had personal experience with the depths that folks in that situation can sink to, it's probably best to stay away.
 
#19
lustersilk said:
Only if he smokes or ingests it. Second hand smoke is not enough to pop positive on a test.
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Actually I happen to know that this is untrue as my wife is a substance abuse counselor and has seen people test positive from second hand. The equipment she uses gives actual numbers so they can tell if its second hand or first however they have to mark either pos or neg. There's no shades of grey when your on parole. Just an FYI.
 
#20
nojj said:
Gtr player in one of my bands was in charge of the music studio/department at the DoC.

He said there's guys locked up there that will never see the light of day,
with absolutely pro-level chops.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, Jim Gordon's in jail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Gordon_(musician)

I've remotely considered committing a minor felony in order to get locked up with him. A few articles I've read mention that he sits in with the band at the prison he's housed at. Can't imagine what folks in that band think when that quiet guy in the corner sits down and breaks out his "I've played on over 1000 albums" chops.
 

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