i know you don't understand.

this should not stop you from playing drums.

this will not stop me from making music.

you are a friend and will be forever.

and you keep practicing and playing.

you will do well bob.

and i think you know this, but i will state it anyway.

tripfuse is me.

an extension of me.

of who i am.

where i am at in my life.

maybe you can seperate the band and who you are.

i cannot.

music is all i have done.

it is what i do.

it is who i am.

to me it is simple.

maybe some people can seperate it. here is my music and here is everything else i am. but i cannot.

or maybe,

here is my music, here i am as a dad, here i am as a teacher, here i am as a boyfriend, or friend, here i am as a humanitarian.

THAT is who i am. ALL of that in one. That is me.

everyone i have ever come in contact with, every band i have played in, every city i have ever lived in. every experience i have had, whether it be bad or good. and there have been plenty of both. and all of that has gone hand in hand with music BECAUSE that is the path i chose. music is what i know. i have never been a carpenter, i have never worked in fast food. i did however sell clothes for a couple months. but i was fired. see. music is what i do.

tripfuse is me. my music is me.

make any sense?

i wish you the best of luck in everything you do. you are a great drummer bob. find a great band. yes it is possible. you don't have to settle with a crappy band.

i would like to say you can tell others you were in tripfuse. that maybe it would help. but not so sure now. there are so many fucking racist fuckers in this town. the other bands on the bill are pissed at us because the whole show has been canned because of the attention. they think we should match what would have been made and send it to the red cross.

i have had two guitar students find out about this at school. two seperate schools too. neither had even been to the site. word is traveling. and that is good. not because it is good for the band but because it is important this be talked about.

and people are stupid. we are getting blamed. i should say i am getting blamed. because really i brought you guys into this. that is why you guys are going away.

this is my battle. and as you can imagine, what does my life consist of. yup you guessed it. music. so yes i will be using my music as an extension of me.

i will no longer have a band. i will use hired players for shows i feel i want to do. unless of course i run across people who feel as strongly as i do about this issue. then it is hard to say. will probably depend on how much money i have and how often i care about playing.

this issue isn't going away.

it is only just starting.

and yes bob. do further educate yourself. take a black history class while in school. at the very least.

music is a powerful thing.

and i am going to use tripfuse to make a difference.

and as angry as everyone is about this show.

i did the right thing.

i know i did.

your friend for life

teague

ps. and even if you are a little mad at me i believe you will feel differently at some point. besides what was going to happen to this band anyway. i have a one year old. you said that yourself. sorry that last statement seemed wrong.