Had gone to Ft. Worth to see my favorite band, the Peppermint Creeps, who were on tour from Los Angeles.. I hung out with the band all night, drummer and founding member,Traci Michaelz, in particular.. said goodnight at 2am, walked into th3 parking lot, stopped dead in my tracks.. I had some sort or premonition that something was wrong.. imhad a 3 hour drive home ahead of me, so talked myself out of going back into the venue and drove home and went to sleep..
Around 9am I got an email that ,they had just found Traci Michaelz dead in this hotel room in Ft Worth.. ,like 5 hours after I said goodbye to him.. I was totally crushed.. such a good guy and totally my kind of performer..
So, I had a show coming up and decided to do the Traci Michaelz, Peppermint Creeps look as a tribute to them... I had so much fun doing it that I just kept doing it, but made my own look.. I've performed that way ever since.. I also had rubber bracelets made that say Traci Michaelz Rock in Peace on them.. I have worn mine since 2008, only taking off for surgeries.. it's pretty worn down, but still cool.. you can see it in this photo, and all my stage photos from.. its the green bracelet one on my left wrist.. it started out black with lime green etched text, but all the black has worn off so that the entire bracelet is now green..
Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..