Mrs. 29

Today is my 29th birthday! Which means that this post is all about the fabulousness of ME! Just kidding. Actually, its about Jake’s band he was in during college. YES, its true! Jake was a hard-core rock star! He was the drummer of BYU’s most popular and cutting-edge band, “No Band.” Why does my birthday make me think of Jake’s band? Because they had this song called “Miss 29.” And I am turning 29 today.

During his BYU days, Jake waited tables to pay his way through school (so why are we still paying off his student loans?!), pay for his truck, pay for his dates, and most importantly (I suspect), meet girls. One day, an attractive woman leaves her number on her bill, and Jake calls her and they go out a few times. Here is the drama – she’s (gasp) 29! Jake was maybe 22/23 at the time. What a cougar, right? They date a little bit, but Jake had some commitment issues at the time, so he dumps her. Her pain was turned into some college boys’ performance art – “Miss 29.”

But back to the main topic - “No Band.” Why the name “No Band?” Because Jake and his roommates liked to party hard into the night, loudly practicing and jamming, and one night the landlord knocks on their door and says “No band!” So the lead singer/songwriter wrote a song about the experience and found the name for his band. After all, every good band has a theme song, like Jem and the Holograms – truly, truly, truly outrageous!

When I met Jake, I quickly became his number one groupie, although Kim Stewart might want to fight me for that title. She was a pretty loyal follower as well. We were both kind of hated by the lead singer because we just wanted to spend time with our boyfriends, and didn’t see the point of nightly rehearsals, and weekend long “gigs” out in the mountains, which were really just camping trips with guitars and amps. But then we really incurred his wrath when, after one year plus of dating, we wanted to move on with our lives and marry our boyfriends, thus breaking up the band. Just call me Yoko.

Although, having three of the four band members get married and move out of state has not actually broken up the band. Jake still gets calls now and then letting him know when and where to show up for the next gig. Like last year, they played at the Panaca Nevada High School Prom (town population 1400 – and I think the whole town turned out for the performance). I’m pretty sure the kids were ticked they didn’t get a DJ.

The thing I liked about “No Band” was that the songs were catchy and easy for me to remember. There weren’t too many words, which is great because I’m not so good with lyrics, but I can still remember almost all the words to all their songs. Take for example, their self titled “No Band.” The lyrics go something like this:

One night me and the guys were playing real loud
And the landlord came in and said with a frown

Noo-oooo Band!
Noo-oooo Band!
Noo-oooo Band!
Noo-oooo Band!
No Band No!

Guitar solo

Repeat chorus

So you have to ask yourself just one question:
Are you BAND?
Or NO BAND?

Drum solo (Jake’s time to shine!)

Repeat chorus

Ok, everybody sing it with me!

Repeat chorus 2x


I don’t actually know the lyrics to the first two lines, but I know I am right about the rest.

I was looking for pictures and I couldn’t find any on this computer, just this (sorry, very long) clip. Don’t feel like you need to watch the whole thing. PS Jake does not do drugs. I know when he plays the drums he looks like he does, but this is his concentrating face. He gets in the zone when he plays the drums. Wyatt does the same face when he is zoned out, and he doesn’t do drugs either.

So now I am Jake’s “Mrs. 29.” 29 used to seem so old to him, and now its his reality. I hope he doesn’t regret giving up his dream of being a rock-star to become a nursing home administrator (equally edgy profession, right?), father of two, and loving husband. His drums have been in storage for over a year, and I hope we can bring them out again soon, so he can remember that he still ROCKS!