Author: Heath

Tis a long and twisty tale. First, some important background.

I have played guitar, keys, and bass for about 42 years. Shut up, I’m old. I played alto saxophone in 6th and 7th grade, I believe. Then I continued to play it on a few songs in bands where I played guitar. I played the solos in “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS, “On The Dark Side” by John Cafferty and Beaver Brown Band from the “Eddie and the Cruisers” soundtrack, and “One More Night” by Phil Collins, among others. Again, yes I’m aware that I’m ancient.

At some point, I pawned my saxophone and didn’t play for decades. Maybe something like 30 years, I’m not sure. In 2021 I formed the yacht rock band, Yacht Z, and thought “There sure is some tasty saxophone in some of these songs, maybe I should pick it back up.” Apparently the universe agreed as two generous friends (shout out to Kathy Rose Center and Chris Wilson) gifted me a tenor and an alto saxophone over the years.

Also starting in 2021, the amazing band Skyrocket asked me to be a sub on guitar and keys occasionally when they needed one. My good friend Johnny Goudie from that group has a great podcast called “How Did I Get Here?” which I was honored to be a guest on at one point. Jack Hues from Wang Chung was also a guest, and he and Johnny became friends afterward.

So that’s how it came to be that my friend Darin, Skyrocket’s drummer, called me a few weeks ago and asked me if I would play sax on “Dance Hall Days” by Wang Chung because Jack Hues was going to sit in (he currently lives in the Austin area). Now keep in mind, I still feel like a total mediocre amateur on Saxophone having only picked it back up in 2021 and I still get really nervous and in my head about it. So a part of my brain thought “Are you sure you are up for this?” but my mouth was already saying “YEAH SURE!” They also wanted me to play on “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS so that was an interesting full circle moment.

So I spend the next few weeks working on those songs. I’m not really an improvisor on saxophone, so I tend to just learn whatever parts are in the actual song. I had one rehearsal with the band (minus Jack) on Wednesday before the show, where I was quite in my head at first. It felt real shaky. But by the end of the night I was having fun, and at least by what I was told, everything was sounding good.

Saturday arrives. Show day. I show up to soundcheck my two songs, and Jack is there as well. Talented, nice, wonderful guy. Wang Chung. Come on. Who doesn’t like Wang Chung? What other band is a VERB? You can’t say “I Beatlesed tonight” but you can absolutely say “I Wang Chunged tonight.” Or would it be “I Wanged Chung” tonight? Hmm, I’m pretty sure it’s “Wang Chunged.” They are part of eternal music culture.

We run though the song once. It goes well and Jack and his wife seem happy and complimentary. Then Jack asks me, “Hey I think it would sound good if you played that up an octave.” Part of me panics. Wants to blurt out a disclaimer about how I’m not very good and I’m not sure if I can make that adjustment at the last moment because, again, I’m not very good…” but my mouth smartly just says “YEAH SURE!” once I clarify that he means just the main riff. The solo at the end I already had to alter because I’m not good enough to play up into the octave where that solo actually begins.

Then he says “Oh and in the third verse, I like to do this thing where between my lines you play something so we go back and forth.” Stage 2 brain panic. “I HAVE NOT REHEASED THAT. I CAN’T IMPROVISE. I’M NOT VERY GOOD.” Again, luckily my mouth is smart enough to simply say “YEAH SURE!”

We try it. It actually goes pretty well. Compliments all around. I feel…good about it! Several people give me specific compliments on how they liked the things I chose to play. They were tasty, soulful, and riffs that said something. In that moment, I realize that the limits of my abilities and my lack of confidence worked in my favor. Because they made me keep it simple but soulful. I knew enough to play something that fit without worrying about being “flashy” or trying to throw in “LOOK WHAT I CAN DO” riffs.

The band finished out the first set with my two songs, the last one being “Dance Hall Days” when they brought Jack out. The sold out place went wild. The energy was amazing. The band was amazing. I was far from perfect but I had a blast and played from the heart. Afterward as I walked back to my car, I had to take a moment to just sit down on a rock bench in downtown Austin and process what had just happened and the crazy life journey that led me there. The temperature was dropping and the brisk night air felt almost as good as the immense gratitude I had for it all. Sometimes, you can do more than you think or know. I say this to you all from the heart, because it’s a good motto. Everybody Wang Chung tonight.

Today John Burgess, founder of The Eggmen announced that November 16 at Backstage at El Mercado would be the last ever Eggmen gig after 32 years, so I thought I’d try to collect my thoughts on my journey to being a small part of that legendary legacy.

The Beatles are the deepest part of my musical being. The most foundational part of my musician DNA. My mother was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager and even got to see them in concert. Growing up, we had all her records in the house. Mostly the Capitol American releases. I wouldn’t learn until quite a few years later that those were kind of haphazard, Frankensteined releases and not the true UK releases as intended.

I had always been impressed with the incredible range of their catalog. Comparing their first album to their last is like two completely different bands. They defined and defied genres. They experimented with recording techniques thought to be outrageous and even taboo to the the studio engineers at the time. Techniques that would go on to become industry standards. They invented technologies that became standard tools in the toolbox. It is important that you realize that when I say “they,” that includes George Martin (the true fifth Beatle in my opinion), Geoff Emerick, Mal Evans, and everyone in their camp who helped them create that music.

They have been with me through so much of my life. Comforted me in difficult times and brought me joy in all times. To this day I somehow continue to discover more and more new things through their music. It’s a neverending source of knowledge and inspiration.

I had heard of The Eggmen, this legendary Austin Beatles tribute band, decades before I lived here. Yet somehow I never actually saw them until they just happened to be playing at Central Market when I was there one day in 2018. In 2021, my friend and bandmate in several bands, Matt Patterson, became their drummer. In 2022, he recommended our mutual friend and bandmate, David Houston when the bass slot opened up. Then later that year when they were doing some shows with some local orchestras and needed a keyboard player to play a lot of that stuff, both of them recommended me. Let me tell you, there is not much I have experienced that is as magical as playing Beatles songs while surrounded by a live orchestra playing those songs with you.

For the next year, they would call me in when they needed a keyboard player for those bigger gigs or when they’d be playing a lot of keyboard dependent stuff. I played alongside many former members as well for the 30th anniversary show which was the one time I got to meet and play with JB’s brother, Tommo who used to play keys with the band before he retired his position. In the Autumn of 2023, they asked me to be a full time member. I was elated and gave an enthusiastic “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!” My first gig with them as a full time member was October 13, 2023. Which turned out to be quite interesting.

I was loading up my car at about 4pm to go load in for the gig when we all got a text than John Burgess had gone to the hospital with some kind of emergency. Quickly assessing our plan of action, the other lads brought up the prospect of me filling in for JB. I said that I absolutely felt up to the task and that, in fact, it felt like I had been training my whole life for this moment. I very quickly went back inside and loaded up lyrics for every song into Band Helper, the app I use for set lists and such. There was no time to rehearse. I drove straight to the gig, set up and quickly assessed our set list for the night, and what I would be doing on each song. Any song with a prominent keyboard part, I would play that, but anything else I would wing it on guitar and hope for the best. I would also sing everything that JB sang which was most of the list. I felt strangely calm about it. I knew these songs in my bones. The chords just found my fingers. The lyrics came out of the mental archive with ease. These songs had been etched into my neural pathways for most of my life.

The gig was amazing. I filled the same role for several other gigs while JB recuperated. When he rejoined the band, he was a little worried about his voice so usually I would still double any vocals, which worked out well as our voices blended well together and a lot of Beatles vocal lines were double-tracked because Lennon hated the sound of his own voice and thought doubling it made it sound better. And now it seems this (not) Long (enough) and Winding Road is coming to “The End.”

My tenure as an Eggman may have been short, but it was filled with life-changing magic. My late friend Val had a “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do in her remaining time here and seeing me perform with The Eggmen was one of them. I was so glad we made that happen. Right up to the end, she would text me about how we should be ending EVERY show with me singing “Hey Jude” because she thought it brought the house down.

And so with today’s announcement that November 16 at Backstage at El Mercado will be the last gig for The Eggmen, the remaining members contemplate our path ahead. Many of us know that we definitely want to continue playing the music of The Beatles in some form, and I’m sure we will. It will be sad to no longer be “The Eggmen” (which we all agree is the BEST name for a Beatles Tribute ever) and to see that legendary legacy set with the sun, but the music is bigger than all of us. People want to hear it, and we want to play it. I personally have some very mixed feelings about it all, and am just trying to take some time to process and contemplate the future. I do know that no words seem sufficient and that I am filled with gratitude and honored that I got to be a part of this amazing group, playing the best music with the best people, even if only for a short time.

I think the best parting words are the words of The Beatles themselves, from the appropriately titled, “The End.”

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

I am the Eggman. They are the Eggmen.

Goo goo g’joob.