Who?

Timexx Rainwalker Nasty, who has played for years in Cape Girardeau based heavy metal bands, establishing himself as one of the legends in local music.

"Hey, Timexx," I ask, "how come they call you Rainwalker?"

"Hey-- look out! Huh?"

I re-enter.  "How come they call you Nasty?"

"Oh, I don't use that anymore, but you can if you want to," he replies.  "I usually just use Timexx."

"But what about this Rainwalker?"  I inquire.

"Yeah, that's my Cherokee name."

"But why Rainwalker?"  I ask again.

"It always seems to--  "shack-a-wonka "rain everywhere I-- "shick-a-wonka "go," he answers in time to the rhythm of the wiper blades.

While the two of us are both Cape Girardeau area natives, we first met in the kitchen of Three Alarm Recording Studio in Memphis about four and a half years ago.  He was singing with a group called Beggar's Jury and living in a smokehouse in Scott City, Missouri, with the rest of the hand. They had been playing to large crowds in the bootheel (those pre-twenty-one, down at-the-pizza-place, all-the-cheerleaders-show-up gigs) and were checking out the Memphis scene.

Beggar's Jury was a fine band that lasted a couple of years and left members scattered from Cape Girardeau to Denver.  Today Timexx lives in Cape and sings with a rockin' outfit called Drivin' Rain.  They play almost exclusively in southern Illinois with an occasional trip west back into Missouri, and are one of the few bands in the area actually making a living (most of the time) playing music.

On the rain-drenched day of this encounter, I took a road trip to Mt. Vernon, for the last half of a week's engagement at the Mt. Vernon Holiday Inn or Ramada Inn (it recently changed affiliations).  Anyhoo, the club inside the hotel is called the Cobbler, and Drivin' Rain was a-playin' and I was a-goin'.

The band had finagled an extra room so I stuck around for a couple of days and had a blast.  For starters, Mt Vernon cable has something like 10,000 channels and I tried to spend some quality time with at least 37% of them (watching a great documentary about the life and times of the Reverend Sam Kinnison, a story about the blues that made me ache for Beale Street) wishing I had a television at home.

Then showtime rolled around and the air took on a definite spark.  This is Ramada Inn, ya know, and I quite frankly had a bit of a time imagining a hard rock band called Drivin' Rain going over in such a place.  It's kinda like trying to imagine Sam Kinnison as a preacher, but he was... and they did.

Boy, did they go over!  They started with some drivin' and cryin', went into Ted Nugent, and floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee through a set that ended with Sammy Hagar's "Three Lock Box."  It was raining outside, but the thunder and lighting was on that stage.

The band consists of Tim Dial on drums, Pat Tretter on bass, and Jeff Sloan on guitar.  They all sing and Timexx performs the lead vocals and frontman duties.

The rest of both that evening's and Saturday night's shows were textbook perfect This guy, Timexx, is to be reckoned with.  He is hands down the most dedicated young entertainer in the area, and it's obvious he's doin' his homework, but that's not all.  There is some magic coming off that stage and it starts somewhere around Timexx's moccasins, works its way up through the microphone, and swirls outward into the minds, hearts, and souls of his audience.  The traditional Native American dances he performs are sincere, and the band is rockin'.

There are a few bands in the Southern Illinois/Southeast Missouri area that I recommend you go see, now, and Drivin' Rain is one of them.  Their next shows were scheduled at Hurley's Showbar in Johnston City, Illinois, right outside Marion.  My magic ball says good things are in store for our area's music scene and a gal or guy might be well advised to go get their bragging rights as soon as possible.  You know, "I knew them when..."  Start checking the club listings, open those eyes and ears, and by all means make sure you go trippin' with Timexx.