Cheese Chronicles

Finished reading “Cheese Chronicles: the True Story of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band You’ve Never Heard of” this morning. I’ve had the book for about 9 months, and had read a couple of individual chapters on and off. But I had some down time on a trip to New Orleans a few weeks ago and started reading it pretty heavy back then.

For the uninitiated, Cheese Chronicles was written by Tommy Womack, who was the founding dreamer for the band Government Cheese, which was more or less together from 1985 until 1992.

I enjoyed the book. The following review of the book from a reader posting on Amazon.com is pretty accurate:

“In the Cheese Chronicles, Tommy Womack presents a great look into the usually-unglamorous lifestyle of beer-swilling, chain-smoking, working musicians just trying to make ends meet. He demonstrates that the road to musical nirvana isn't paved with gold for every band that hasn't made it yet. It's paved with concrete just like the Pennsylvania Turnpike, complete with an ungodly amount of potholes. From songs about frozen fish to crashing out next to the litter box on some guy's floor, it's all here. And funny as hell to boot.”

Since their roots were in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I never saw Government Cheese perform—although according to the Cheese Chronicles, the band did make their way through Monroe, Louisiana once or twice, including a gig at Enoch’s Café, a place I was known to haunt in my college days.

Another Amazon reviewer caught my eye with this review of the Cheese Chronicles:

“Ever wonder what happened to that great band you used see at the local bar. The
band you were certain were going to be the next Replacements or REM. Tommy
Womack tells you what happened. This book is a must read for anyone who wants
the truth about the real rock n' roll lifestyle. His story grabs you like his
songs, once you bite, you're hooked. From seedy hotels, to the Time Square
Marriott, fish sticks to yellow cling peaches, you live the ups and downs of
Government Cheese. Like one of their shows, when its over you crave for more.”

When I was in college, at what was then known as Northeast Louisiana University, I followed a band named “Why Knot”. I’d say their style was classic rock. They played mostly covers, but also put out a cassette tape that I believe contained original songs. Mason Granade was the lead singer. I think he had a class with my girlfriend at the time (you now know her as Wife) and he talked up the band in class one day, so we went to see them. Their keyboard player was Kelly Kemp, a guy I knew Kelly from church, and who was somewhere between a close acquaintance and a casual friend. I forget the bass player’s name, but he was a doctor in Bastrop, Louisiana I think. They called him “Doc”. Go figure. Then there was the drummer, whose name escapes me, but I remember he had blonde hair and liked to lead the crowd in chants of “Wave your hands in the air! Wave ‘em like you just don’t care!”

The two places we went to see them were Enoch’s and Chelsea Street Pub in the Nice New Mall (Pecan Land Mall). If Why Knot was playing, we were seeing them. We’d even see Mason by himself if we knew he had a gig somewhere, which usually was just him and his guitar playing while people at their food.

Girlfriend and I saw Rod Stewart in Jackson, Mississippi one time and when Rod did “Maggie” it was a let down. I came back and told Mason that I like Why Knot’s version of the song better than Rod’s. I think Mason thought I was making fun, but I wasn’t.

I took that cassette tape with me to Athens, Georgia where I attended graduate school after I left Monroe never to return. I played it for some of my friends one time and they said “Man, these guys suck.” One more confirmation that my taste for music was not mainstream.

I never knew what happened to Why Knot. I want to say that I heard Mason doing some radio dee-jaying on a Monroe station, and my mom kept in touch with Kelly’s mom for a while after. But I guess the band thing probably didn’t go anywhere. Oh well. I certainly have my memories.

Womack does a nice job of tracking his dream of being in a rock ‘n’ roll band throughout the book. The book touches on plenty of low points, but ends on a great note that tells the reader that it was all worth it, and that the dream survived the band. Here is the last paragraph, which serves as inspiration for anyone has feels their dream may not have been fully realized. The dream survives:

“I like to think Government Cheese packed a bunch of dreams in a burlap sack and
swung it over our heads. While the bag emptied, we kept swinging, and it got
lighter and faster, and we spun until we fell down, all dizzy and spent. Those
dreams had to go somewhere. They lie where they fall, spread-eagled, pink and
healthy forever”.

http://www.myspace.com/governmentcheeseofficialbandsite