Chapter 1 of One More Angus Mohr

I approached Paul McDaniel with my idea of blogging about the band in June of 2010. That blog, interviews, and pictures snapped along the way, became the genesis of this book. In Storyteller, Leslie Marmon Silko talks about not being able to take a picture without herself joining the landscape. As this project progressed, I found myself more and more often in the frame. In addition to the four guys you see on stage, Angus Mohr is its crew—Gusty on sound; Damien and Sonya handling setup and tear down—and it is the family of affinity that dances, drinks, and shouts "You Bastards!" at every Angus Mohr show. All of them will have a voice in these pages, and none of them are my subjects.

If you take a knife to one of Countie Cullen’s chimeric beasts, cut through its flesh, and excise its heart—all you end up with is meat. Everyone I interviewed talked about how music brings people together, creating a sense of family. When we discussed these things, there was always a pause and a moment of eye contact. The words fail us, but the understanding that passes between them does not. Life is agony, and it is ecstasy, and music helps us feel both without losing our minds. We don’t have to know how it works; only that it does. Yet, a little bit of knowledge, a little insight into the process, can transform the experience—not just of the moment or the music—but of ourselves.

That's how it worked for me.

Shullamuth