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Nonfiction Memoir

A brief history of Anti-Lou

On Saturday, February 22, the world lost one of the good ones. Anti-Lou lost one of its own: Scott Hall.

On Saturday, February 22, 2014, at 7:30 PM, the name Josh Holt appeared on my caller-ID. “Scott, man, he’s dead. He’s dead, man.”

A Brief Summary of Anti-Lou

ANTI-LOU (1995-2000), the quintessential cow pasture rock ‘n roll band of the mid-to-late nineties, stole more girlfriends from each other than they did their fans.

Born in the midst of adolescent hormones and bad hairstyles, the band changed lineups numerous times (Derek Smith – original drummer; John Howard – guitarist; Dwayne Davis – bass; Joshua Holt – guitar; Jeffrey Pillow – vocals) before cementing their legacy in a cow pasture between Cullen and Madisonville, in Charlotte County, Virginia, at a little place known as the Cabin.

But hell, who can forget the Mule Barn? Or the house Derek told us we had permission to practice in but really didn’t until the cops showed up? Anti-Lou’s final lineup consisted of Joshua Holt – guitar, vocals; Dwayne Davis – guitar, backing vocals; Jeffrey Pillow – bass guitar, vocals; Scott Hall – drums; and our official unofficial additional vocalist, Scott’s younger brother, Rick Hall.

And they were f@#king legends… sort of.

Rock band from Charlotte County, Virginia, named Anti-Lou
Anti-Lou after the epic Drakes Day show in Drakes Branch, Virginia. I really need about six cheeseburgers

A fragmented, grammatically incorrect, partially stream-of-consciousness re-telling of some of the best years of my life

I am only one of two people in the history of the world to have ever had a confrontation with Scott Hall, easily one of the nicest and most caring and sincere people you could ever meet. I’ll tell you about the first guy, then the second. And I’ll tell you about a little band called Anti-Lou and how it was born.

But first…

Five Things I Always Think About When I Think of Scott Hall

Tank tops

Scott never wore a shirt when we were in high school, except to the prom, and when he wore a shirt, it was a tank top. He is the only human being I know born after 1980 that could pull off a tank top and not look foolish. Scott equals tank top.

“Song 2,” by Blur

Rachel, Barry, and Scott. C.I. and Sharon Hall’s garage. Drakes Branch, Virginia.

Camel cigarettes and Coors Light

I was a Marlboro man. Scott was Joe Camel. A non-smoker is something I routinely attempted when I was younger, and I routinely failed. Even though it definitely likely annoyed the hell out of Scott, he never let it show on his face and was always there to lend a Camel when a brother came bumming. Also, Coors Light. I never could get him to switch to the good stuff—King Cobra or Hurricane.

Sugar . . . sweetie

Scott was a bit of an old soul, and often called women “sugar” and/or “sweetie,” and did so in a kind, sincere way. If you had never met Scott and didn’t know any better, you would assume he was trying to pick up every woman he talked to by calling them “sugar” and/or “sweetie” but that was just Scott. It was genuine.

Drums

Drummer. Anti-who? Anti-Lou!

The First Guy

April 1996 (or possibly 1995)

The first time I met Scott he was wearing a bloodied, torn Nirvana: Unplugged in New York t-shirt. It was Earth Day, a once booming event in Charlotte Court House, Virginia. If my memory serves me correctly, and that’s up for debate, Scott was in eighth grade, and I was in ninth. He very well may have been in seventh and me in eighth.

He was “going with” Addie (I believe, or was it Kathleen? Ah, youth. I can’t remember), and I was hanging out with my cousin Robbie, who was dating Mary, Addie’s older sister. We approached Scott and Addie (or Kathleen or some other female. Come on, brain!) in front of the library, and asked what was going on, considering the tattered and red-splotched shirt on Scott’s back.

Someone had challenged Scott to a fight in the library garden, and Scott, pale, thin bodied with every vein in his body poking through his skin like burrowing worms, had, in turn, obliged, busting the kid’s lip and bloodying his nose. I can’t remember the kid’s name now but I remember that, at the time, he ran his mouth a lot in this adolescent alpha-male sort of way. Scott made him beta-male for the day.

As was the style at the time for us skinny folks, Robbie was wearing two t-shirts, so he gave Scott his spare. Scott put on the shirt, lit a cigarette, steadied his body against the road sign, thanked Robbie, and we turned and went in opposite directions, presumably off to take home yet another Earth Day Volleyball Championship title from the Sheriff’s Office.

Then Scott disappeared from my life.

Listen to:

♦ ♦ ♦

1998-2000

“Whoohoo! Whoohoo! Whoohoo! Whoohoo! I got my head checked. By a jumbo jet. It wasn’t easy. But nothing is. Whoohoo!”

“Song 2” by Blur I will always identify with three people: Rachel Hall, Barry Napier, and Scott Hall; and I can tell you, as I type this, it brings a smile to my face — because it seems like yesterday more than hardly any memory I have: that song, and Rachel’s thumb, which I remember, as a bass player myself, envying, thinking she was genetically pre-determined to be a bass player. Did you ever know that Rachel—I envied your thumb?

It was the summer of 1998 (or was it 1997?) and the rock band I was in with Josh Holt, Dwayne Davis, and Derek Smith, had invited the only other band in the county to join us for an upcoming show at our place of practice, known simply as The Mule Barn.

Rachel’s parents, Sharon and CI, were musicians and had a garage out back where Scott, Barry, and Rachel practiced. Erik Larson would later join them.

That day, Josh, Dwayne, and I rolled into the driveway, and as we opened the door to the garage, “Song 2” went into full chorus mode: “Whoohoo! Whoohoo! Whoohoo! Whoohoo!”

My ear drums rattled with enjoyment.

♦ ♦ ♦

The Mule Barn show was epic. I would detail it for you here but I don’t remember much of it because I was sixteen and drunk. What I do remember were two bands, boatloads of beer and Goldschläger, and a sea of bodies who all came to see our two bands perform.

(Also, I saw some pictures from that night and people looked like they were having a lot of fun. But frankly, I just remember the gold flakes in Mary’s Goldschläger)

The consequences of the epic Mule Barn show is how I came to know Scott, not just as the drummer in Rachel and Barry’s band, but as someone I could call friend.

♦ ♦ ♦

Word spread to the owner of the Mule Barn about how epic our party was (and how many underage kids were drinking on his property), and as a result, we forever lost the Mule Barn as a practice place.

From there we bounced around other temporary practice locales. That is, until one day, Derek told us he found a house off Firetower Road between Phenix and Charlotte Court House. By way of morse code or smoke signal, I’m not sure which since no one owned a cell phone then, I got in touch with Josh and Dwayne. Together, the four of us, a band literally without a name, moved our musical equipment to the second floor of this old white house. Finally, a place to call home. Derek hit the lights on the breaker and we started rocking.

About two weeks later, Dwayne and Josh stopped by my house. Dwayne didn’t look very happy.

“Hey, man,” Josh said. “We have to get our stuff from the white house.”

(That’s what we called it actually, the “white house”)

“Why’s that?” I responded. “Kicked out?”

“No,” Josh replied. “We’re trespassing. We never had permission to practice there. Derek lied. Sheriff’s office found out we were there.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Because of this incident, Derek, our drummer, gets in a wee bit of trouble with his parents and has to quit the band.

♦ ♦ ♦

Not long after, and you’ll have to excuse my memory if I am getting this wrong, Barry returns to college. Scott, as a result, is looking for a band. Dwayne reaches out.

We book what is known as “Drakes Days” in Drakes Branch, Virginia, and start rehearsing with Scott. Still without a name, but with a new home, the Carwile cabin in Madisonville, and with a sore spot from being kicked out of the legendary Mule Barn, I jokingly throw out the name “Anti-Lou” as in “Anti-the guy who kicked us out of the Mule Barn.” [1]

It’s not as terrible a name as two other band name finalists, “Government Cheese” or “Burrito Fuzz” (not sure what was up with the food names), so we stick with it.

Anti-Lou is officially born.

Or “An-tee Lou” is officially born, which is how we were introduced on stage at Drakes Days. [2]

Pict0378
Anti-Lou as 16 and 17 year olds or 18 and 19 year olds. Judging by my hair (no mohawk, no crazy colors) and Josh’s (not shoulder length), I’ll say we are 18 and 19. We might be 19 and 20 though.

♦ ♦ ♦

At this point I could attempt to rehash the early days of Anti-Lou, and onward to our VH1-like rise to fame at Randolph Henry High School:

  • Talent show winners
  • T-shirts printed
  • Album recorded

But that would take a really, really, really long time, and I would get more dates incorrect than what I am currently getting incorrect, so I will summarize in a stream-of-consciousness like paragraph styling, what went down from 1998-2000:

cup flies off wall toilet won’t flush ghost in tree naked people in canoe naked people fishing naked people playing cards catching wood after passing out in front of everyone at the cabin cow shit between ben’s toes cow shit between josh’s toes cow shit on mattress vodka hidden under cabin people getting tackled trying to leave party cow attacking brandon shepherd’s car like seriously attacking his car as in i will hump your car if you try to leave this pasture type of car attack scraping puke out of ricky’s mouth coors light who drinks coors light how about hurricane or king cobra the good stuff brandon’s butt crack parents’ van stolen then won’t crank camel cigarettes can i have one of your camel cigarettes kari josh becky john howard tc shauna addie ricky rick brian dustin brandon tad blaire kim kelly rick ben kate rachel ghost of ray all the regulars and i know i am forgetting someone and i apologize second epic party…

Which all eventually led to us, yet again, getting kicked out of our practice space.

RIP The cabin.

♦ ♦ ♦

2000

With nowhere to go, and apparently everyone aware of the Anti-Lou shenanigans, we land in Scott’s upstairs bedroom in Drakes. Four guys, three amps, two guitars, one bass guitar, a small PA system, and a set of drums.

Boy was that shit loud.

All these years later and I feel like Pete Townsend from The Who — deaf. What was that? I said, all these years later and I feel like Pete Townsend from The Who — deaf.

♦ ♦ ♦

The Second Guy

Fueled by teenage mood swings and too much nicotine, Scott and I almost come to blows during practice.

♦ ♦ ♦

One of the last skills for a teenager to develop is good communication. There is such a whirlwind of emotions, mood swings, and general anxiety, that being able to effectively communicate your feelings for me ended up in a build up of suppressed lack of vocalization in which I would later erupt like a volcano with my emotions splattering all over the place. Usually not a pretty scene. Now that I have two children of my own I get to look forward to having that happen to me in a decade or so.

They are already not listening to me.

I asked my wife the other day, I said, because my daughter was totally not listening to a word I said, and so I asked my wife, “When do they start listening again?”

And my wife said, “Do you listen to your mom?”

And I was like, “Aw, crap.”

And so that brings me to the point of the demise of Anti-Lou. It was inevitable. What began years before as just four guys who wanted to play music together, well, who just wanted to play music, came to a head.

It gets to a point where you are like, you just want to play a certain type of music. We all liked a different style of music. Dwayne and Scott had a little bit of differences but were mostly on the same page with their style of music. The style of music they liked, there was nothing wrong with it. I just didn’t like that style of music at all. I really didn’t.

They were more kind of like a hard rock, an angrier, type sound, I think. I don’t think that’s a misclassification of the music type. I do think for an outside listener you would look at it or hear it as an angrier type of sound. I was in the vein of , I was more into punk rock, plain and simple, that’s what I wanted to play. Josh was kind of like, he liked an alternative, slightly bubble gum pop-punk but not really because he wasn’t into punk then. He was more alternative like The Flys or Marcy’s Playground or something.

We never sat down and had the discussion.

We never took the time to say to each other, “Okay, can we make this work? Can we like different music and still make songs together and enjoy it? Can we find a happy medium?”

We never had that discussion, so really, it could, really it could only end one way. It could only end one way when you let frustration grow and grow and you know, you’re young, and you don’t understand what it takes to be an effective communicator.

♦ ♦ ♦

Then one fateful night at Spanky’s Bar and Grill in Lynchburg, it all reaches a boiling point. Dwayne and Scott start playing some improvised, crunchy hard rock song that goes on forever and then I just, I remember sitting down on my amp and just saying to myself, “Fuck this. I’m done” and I unplug and walk off stage. Scott and I have some words and Dwayne tries to break it up and I say something to Dwayne. I can’t even tell you what I said to either now. That’s what’s so sad. It’s like fighting with your spouse. Whatever you were arguing about likely didn’t amount to a hill of beans, which is why, when you think about it a month later, you can’t even remember what you were arguing about in the first place.

And just like that, Anti-Lou had played its last show.

♦ ♦ ♦

That stretch of time when I dismissed myself from Dwayne and Scott was one of the darkest periods in my life. Sure, I had other friends but groups of friends cross over in Charlotte County, and I did whatever I could to avoid them, which meant shooting basketball by myself in Phenix a lot of weekends. They went on to form another band and get another house. Then one day Josh knocks on my front door and says, “Party tonight at Scott and Dwayne’s. You should come.”

Reluctantly I agree, expecting to have a confrontation with Scott. I arrive at the house fully anticipating to get in a fight that night. It seems silly now. It is.

I walk in the back door into the kitchen and Scott walks past in the hallway, stops, turns around, and says, “Hey Jeff. Good to see you here. Glad you could make it” and puts out his hand.

We shake, and that was it. It was all over.

♦ ♦ ♦

It has been a good three years since I last saw Scott. I remember it well because it was when Allison and I broke the word she was pregnant with our first child. It was at Kelly’s wedding. Before the night was over, Anti-Lou reunited for one last photo shoot.

IMG_5328

♦ ♦ ♦

In a few days, the old cabin crew will meet up again. It will be the first time in a very long time that many of us will be together again in the same room — just like old times. I wish I could say it were for a happy occasion, but it is not.

I know that they, like me, have been overcome with a flood of memories since Saturday. For me, Scott’s death has not sunk in yet. Wednesday it will be real and I don’t want it to be real. Scott was 32—like me, like us. We don’t just die unexpectedly at 32. We’re still young. But sometimes we do.

The Anti-Lou days were fun and I will never forget them. We were the American Pie generation—the movie that is. Pre-Facebook. Pre-Smartphone. We still took pictures with a Kodak disposable camera. College hadn’t torn us from our planted homes yet and cast us in different directions. Nope. We were just stupid high school kids playing in a rock band in the middle of a cow pasture in Madisonville, Virginia, and it was great.

The world lost one of the good ones Saturday.

So did Anti-Lou.

I’ll miss you Scott.

We’ll all miss you.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your life, even if only a little while. Liz and your family were blessed to have you a little more than the rest of us.

Photo Gallery

drummer

Photos totally rogued from Kelly, Tad, and Addie. Thank you for capturing these memories

Author’s note

I have some really cool pictures at my parents’ house I would have loved to have put up. Unfortunately, that is two hours away. I’ll try to update this post accordingly when I next visit home and can scan them in.

And lastly, a playlist of songs Anti-Lou covered

I’m going to pretend we didn’t cover Creed a few songs. Hey, it’s my blog.

Footnotes

[1] I know this seems like an asshole thing to do, and looking back on it now, it was (naming our band this), but we were young and didn’t really mean anything bad by it. It was more just a way to move on from the Mule Barn. I was actually related to Lou and he was a good guy and had every right to kick us out. I would have done the same thing. I mean, there was a sea of underage people drinking on his property and he could have gotten in deep shit.

[2] They kept on and on with this pronunciation.

19 replies on “A brief history of Anti-Lou”

Jeff, you forgot one special performance. Anti-Lou performed at your Prom in 1998…it was at the afterprom party at the CMS gym!

Well of COURSE it would be something you write about him that would make me tear up for the first real time since hearing the news. I almost lost it Saturday night when I called Brandon and told him. Actually SAYING it…”Scott died today”…it almost broke me. And now your post has nearly done it again.

For what it’s worth, seeing the disbandment (pun intended) of Anti-Lou from the other side, Scott never thought ill of you. Sure, emotions were heated that night but, Scott being Scott, it was blown over by the next day.

I would like to say that I’m weirded out for being your representation to Song 2. Also, the only thing I remember about the Mule Barn show was dropping my guitar, snapping the A peg and being out of tune all damn night.

Great post, man.

Thanks for reading Barry and for the phone call. I enjoyed talking to you.

As for “Song 2,” you, Scott, and Rachel are the whole representation. Ha. I don’t want to hurt your street cred. When I think of you, musically, the first thing that pops into my head is NIN. Is that better? And “Song 2.”

By the way, the book is SCREENPLAY: THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCREENWRITING.

Jeff, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. You’re so right about how we’ve all been thinking about those days again since Saturday, and your writing paints a perfect picture of what they were like. Reading it, I remembered a bunch of things I had forgotten. I don’t remember Scott being scrappy like that and picturing him in a bloody fight is hard. That was surprising! I do remember being called “sugar” and “darlin'” though, and you’re right about it being endearing and sweet. God I miss those days and I miss him, and I wish we’d had at least a little more time. Thank you for writing and sharing this, Jeff!

P.S. I did NOT know you envied my stumpy thumb, but it made me smile to read that part!

That’s your new nickname: The Thumb.

I’m sending your family a Christmas card this year that is addressed to Mr. and Mrs. The Thumb.

Thanks for reading. It’s a little hastily put together but I just wanted to get some words on the page. I had so much stuff just floating around in my head. It’s still so unreal. I hadn’t seen Scott in a while but just the thought that he is no longer here, it just seems so I don’t know. It’s hard to wrap my head around. My thoughts immediately go to Liz and his family.

Also, I read your post on Facebook. Very well said.

Aw thanks. Im looking forward to that Christmas card and will answer to my new nickname proudly, though im not sure how happy Dave will be with being called Mr. The Thumb. 🙂

I’m having a hard time accepting it too. I just thought we’d have forever and could all get together again whenever we wanted. The fact that I could’ve called him up or visited him in the last 3 years and didn’t is what’s really killing me. And then to think of Liz, Randy, Beth, Rick and Mitch just completely breaks my heart because if I’m hurting this bad I can’t imagine the pain they’re feeling. It’s just so terribly sad and tragic, the whole thing. It doesn’t make any sense. Thanks again for the fond memories though. They definitely help! See y’all tomorrow.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. It’s so hard to believe he’s gone. Very appropriate tribute, Jeff.

As clear as yesterday — except for the parts in which we were alcohol induced. A bit foggy there 🙂

Scott was a great person. I don’t know of a soul who can say otherwise.

Thanks for reading. I hope you are doing well.

Beautifully written Jeff! Such a moving tribute to Scott! His passing still hasnt sunk in but as I read this, the tears flowed and I found myself smiling too as I remembered Scott!

Thanks for reading Meg. Scott was a great guy. I don’t think anyone can say otherwise. It is very sad he is no longer here with us. It may have been Rick who said it at the funeral, I can’t remember who said it now, but in Scott’s 32 years, he brought such joy and memories to his family and friends. Imagine if he had been here longer. We would have been spoiled to the fullest.

(Sorry for my delayed response. I didn’t realize you had commented until today)

Jeff,

I loved reading this…you have me in tears…all the memories…

Thanks for reading Brittany. Good to hear from you. Lots of good times down at the cabin and with the band in general. I sort of had to stop myself from writing. So much fun in so few years. It’s a shame Scott had to leave this world so soon. I was terrible about keeping in touch, always thinking we’d all catch up again. Then, well, that’s not how the story unfolded. He truly was a wonderful human being.

Sorry for your loss dude. This line — “We shake, and that was it. It was all over” — says much about your friend.

I was only ever a Charlotte County resident by proxy (thx, Rachel), but I know so many of the names and faces in this story. Losing a friend is awful; losing a brother is a heartbreaking thing that you can never fully recover from. Your words tell more than you might think, and I’m thankful to have read them. Thanks for sharing, Jeff.

I dont know you and I didn’t know Scott but I feel like I know both of you now. As crazy as being a teenager can be it sure can be a whole lot of fun at the same time. Im sorry he left the world so soon

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