Amanda: Cracked Rear View. It came out 25 years ago. This is your 25th Monday After the Masters coming up. What does that mean to you guys in this community and to give back, and just everything you guys have done for so long?
Darius: It means we’re old. We think back starting in Miami, you think back to making Crack Rear View. That was just a different time in our lives. It’s just amazing that people are still talking about both of those things, 25 years later. And MAM’s still going strong, and Cracked Rear View being in the top ten albums sold of all time. It’s amazing to be a part of that, still, a little bit.
Mark: Yeah, it’s really funny to think about when we were first starting this thing. There’s no way we could imagine we’d still be sitting here talking about it. So that’s pretty cool.
Dean: Yeah, it’s [crosstalk 00:00:53], it’s been great. And Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach Gold Holiday have just made it so amazing. The crowds, and the facilities, and the people in Myrtle Beach have really got behind it. If we had known that when we came to Myrtle Beach, I think we would’ve come a lot sooner.
Jim: 25 does seem to have to some magic to it this year for sure. But the big event … I was 25 when I joined the band, come to think of it.
Mark: Really?
Jim: Yeah. You guys were like 19.
Amanda: Were you the oldest freshman on campus?
Jim: No, I was not a freshman. I was a third-year senior. Sixth-year senior, I guess you’d say. But no, it’s fun. It’s nice that it’s all sort of come to a nice, sweet number of 25 with a little bow on it. It’s a good year to celebrate. For us, it’s a landmark, but we hope that we just kind of keep it going forward at this point with the tournament and with music. So it’s not just another year, but it’s a great –
Amanda: Right, what is your favorite Monday After the Masters story? Anything crazy, funny that you just look back on? You’re like, “That’s just … I love it?” That you can share!
Darius: Oh, boy.
Dean: You mean when we headed Columbia? We leaked the bars at 5 to get dressed for golf.
Amanda: Nothing wrong with that.
Mark: That’s one memory.
Darius: I mean, the great thing about Monday After the Masters, there’s so many great memories from golf. The different people you play with on par, you play with Tiger or playing with Watson, or you get to play with – all those great memories. You get all those great times you’ve had with people who’ve become your best friends ’cause they were coming here forever. These celebrities and these other guys that come in, and MAM is just like a three-day family reunion because we’ve been doing it for so long. That’s what it feels like.
Mark: We had a pinnacle moment last year’s Monday After the Masters, number 24. We did a little mini Earth, Wind, and Fire set with Philip Bailey and his wife in our concert. I think back of all the years, that was pretty much as good as it gets. That was amazing.
Amanda: That’s awesome.
Mark: That’s one. So many.
Jim: Yeah, there’s a lot. Lot of musical moments on stage, playing with people you never though you’d meet, let alone be the backing band for. And I was just here, and the fun things we did maybe 10, 15 year ago, they don’t involve regret. It’s always nice to hear we did a great thing, but it wasn’t hideous.
Mark: How about when you made the eagle chip with Tiger? That’s pretty memorable.
Darius: Oh, [crosstalk 00:03:31] game. That was [crosstalk 00:03:31].
Amanda: What year was that?
Darius: ’98? ’96, ’97? Yeah.
Amanda: He was probably this big, right?
Darius: He was little, yeah. Yeah, we were not. We were fat at that time.
Amanda: What has Myrtle Beach meant to you guys personally, and being able to have the tournament here? I know you guys said it’s like coming home and seeing your friends and family ever year.
Mark: I was talking about this on the way up today, is that one of my best friends from growing up went to Coastal Carolina and introduced us to a guy, way back in the early 90s, it was the first time we ever played at Myrtle Beach. He introduced us to this guy, and this guy’s still on tour with us today. So there’s a deep friendship we have, like that, and we have with Bill in Myrtle Beach Gold Holiday, and those sorts of things, where we have these really long running friendships from way back when we played shows here. And we’ve build it up over the years, so that’s something that means a lot to us for sure.
Amanda: What are some of your fondest memories playing golf here in Myrtle Beach? And playing music here as well? There’s a lot of great bars.
Darius: Oh man, there’s so many music places. We play in the House of Blues. Play in Purple Gator Place. playing the Magic Bus way back in the day. We played Myrtle Beach for a long time. So the memories are great, ’cause we’ve always had a blast. When we saw Myrtle Beach, it’s because we were excited, ’cause it was going to be a lot of fun.
Mark: Well, one of Sonny’s first ever golf memories that exist was here in Myrtle Beach.
Jim: Yeah, I heard a –
Mark: You know Gator Hole?
Jim: – greens keeper who wouldn’t move out of the way.
Darius: I remember that.
Jim: And I tried to wave. “Move, no further left! No, keep going left! I don’t know where this thing’s going!” And I had a laser right between his knees. And he fell down, bloody, walked over. Just picked him up and put him in the back of the [inaudible 00:05:27] and then just cruised off. “Sorry, I tried to tell you!”
Amanda: That means you’re very talented. It’s hard to hit right where you aim it.
Jim: He was not the last guy I put down. That happened at our Long Drive Contest in Myrtle Beach too, when I hit a guy who was much further away. But just as naïve to where he was standing, and I’ve never seen Darius move so quick. He sprinted from the celebrity Long Drive Contest Gallery out to the guy to make sure he wasn’t dead. Which he wasn’t.
Darius: He wasn’t.
Amanda: Mark, you better watch out. I think he’s coming for you next.
Mark: I know where to stand when he’s hitting.
Jim: Right.
Mark: I learned that years ago.
Amanda: Well thank you guys so much.
Mark: Thank you.
Amanda: I appreciate it.
