Letter from U.S. Marine Shane Duhe

Member of Ryan Adam's first band, Blank Label
About Ryan, I think it's so awesome that he's carved his way through music and forged a career out of it.  I can't remember the first time I met him, it was probably 1988 or so, we knew each other through skateboarding around town.  When I befriended him, I let him borrow some of my records I had been given by some Marines.  I met a lot of people by working at the Record Bar in the mall, and I had been given this priceless stash of vinyl mostly California first pressing punk music circa 1978-1982.  Ryan freaked out over
Black Flag.  "Oh my God!" he'd shout, "I don't want to live...I wish I was dead!", he'd gasp, quoting Greg Ginn's songs...."Who has the BALLS to write like that!"  I'll never forget how he reacted to punk like that.  He was always gasping over it in awe, he freakin' loved it!  In Jacksonville, N.C. pre-internet days and too young to drive far, mostly all we could get was Sex Pistols and the Misfits from the mall which wasn't much of a selection.

Jere McIlwean was my friend from Hubert, N.C. and he was always the ring leader of wanting to get music projects going, along with Al Midgett who worked at the surf shop in town.  We made a band and called it "Pumphouse" because the old sharecropper house that we played in had a waterpump right outside of it.  That went pretty good but I went to UNC Wilmington 1990-1991 school year and I only sang for Jere and Al and Mike who played guitar when I was home.  We picked it back up strong after that year, and Ryan was around more then and we decided to do Blank Label.  All that was was a feeble attempt at my own songwriting music and words and Jere and Al encouraged me to play it so I did.  We made the offshoot project Blank Label by pulling in Ryan for drums who was all over that.  He was perfect for it because he was so damn energetic all the time, and Michelle was our friend from high school.  Ryan had never even played much before besides a little guitar, he was young as shit, probably 14.  He nailed it though.  We saved
money, recorded the music through some guy's sound shop in Verona, N.C. and Jere made up his "Fishbeat" record label.  It was so exciting!

There were two hundred records made and we sold them all to record shops in Raleigh, Greenville, Wilmington, Rocky Mount.  All were red.  We did our own shows at Jere's plantation style house, where the pumphouse was.  Jere and Al lived together there.  The show was annual, and each year the crowd grew. The last time we did that free show thing at Jere and Al's house, I think half the damn town was there along with half the Marine Corps base.  There were bands from Rocky Mount, Raleigh, and a few local Jacksonville bands, Pumphouse and Blank Label being two of them.  That was fun.

Blank Label was never a big commitment, and Ryan went on to play with Jere and Al Midgett and Kevin Doderidge in Kotten as music continued to be played in Jacksonville.  Kotten was mostly Al and Ryan's band.  I think that right there was the beginning of Ryan's future, and his punky country sounds, or whatever the hell sound it is, to me it's just great music.  Give it a "Blank Label", right? 

Kotten was supreme music but I don't think anybody has any of that on earth except Al.  I haven't heard from Al in years, he was a great friend and a big influence on me.....and Ryan, too.  I miss Al.  Al and Kevin Doderidge, they were the first ones to really get with Ryan and make some REAL tunes.  The beginning of getting good.

Then came Patty Duke Syndrome which was originally Jere, Al, and Ryan.  During those days, when Ryan was having family problems, I helped him out and basically helped him run away from home.  I drove him to Raleigh, and dropped him off with a Raleigh band called Regraped, who took him in up there and let him stay with them so he could get on his feet.  Eventually, Jere moved to Raleigh too, and they stood Patty Duke back up with Brian Walsby along with the other hundred things they were doing. 

I never saw Ryan a whole lot after that, I joined the Marines in December of 1992 and have been doing that ever since.  Ryan was a great kid though, aggravating as hell and so alive all the time.  He was constantly writing poetry, taking pictures, and once he decided he was going to be a guitar player, I think he must have been writing another song every 20 minutes or so. From the looks of how much music he's done since, I guess he hasn't
changed much.  He's probably got 10 songs for every one recorded I bet. 

Anyway, it's cool to see him playing still.  Honestly I had no idea that he was still around until I saw his "I Still Love You, New York" video on VH1 after September 11th.  So weird he made that video on the 7th....I've only owned one of his albums (that one) and somebody stole it from me out here but I'm sure I'll be buying more in the future.  Hell, I've never even heard a Whiskey Town record yet!  I'll catch up.  Rock on, Ryan!  Well,  hope some of this history adds a little enjoyment to your historical files. 

Respectfully Sent,
Shane M. Duhe

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