Ryan, this is the forum for you to come out. You may tell everyone reading this that you are gay.

RYAN: I’m not gay, though I’ve heard that before. I’m very in touch with my feminine side. I find that it works well on the ladies.

If you were gay and liked young guys, which member of Tinker’s Punishment would you go for?

RYAN: Kenny. Definitely Kenny (Laughs)

Terry, mortal, you are a Christian. Would you have a problem being in the band if Ryan was gay?

TERRY: No, I don’t think I’d have problem. (Laughs) I’m not gay. I’m not afraid of people who are gay.

You should be very afraid of me, mortal! Anitra, you are a female with a hatchet wound. Are you gay or straight?

ANITRA: I’m straight and married.

I am marrying Murray Neill, (lead singer of Drudgery, see MURRAY page) We are to be wed on Halloween night. Do you think we make a good couple?

ANITRA: I have to be honest. I don’t have a computer. Mine died. I don’t know what Murray looks like.

He is a buffed up Marine. Acceptable to my Greatness.

ANITRA: I think Marines are sexy. He can teach you a thing or two about discipline.

He has a shaved head. Do you think baldness is sexy?

ANITRA: Hmmm. Well if the hair is waning, I say go for it. But personally, I like hair. My husband has a lot of hair. He’s very hairy.

So now on to the band. Tell the uninitiated mortal reading this how it began for the THE RYAN TRACY BAND.

RYAN: Anitra and I met in Vail about eight years ago. We became fast friends and found out we both had similar musical interests. We both started playing open-mic nights. She moved down here (Denver) in ’95. I followed about a year later and started putting the band together.

How long did it take to find the musician’s you ended up working with?

RYAN: It took about the next three years to put together a conglomeration of musicians.

Why did the band end up using your name and not Anitra’s?

RYAN: We had a gig coming up and needed a name real fast. At the time I was doing a lot of the songwriting, organizing and booking. Actually Anitra was the once who pushed for it. I was uncomfortable because I didn’t want to come across as self-absorbed (Laughs) We just ended up never changing it.

ANITRA: We thought about changing the name, especially with the incarnation of the way the band is now. But the thing we ran up against is changing it might put us at risk of hurting all this momentum we’ve spent all this time building. We’ve got a pretty strong following in Denver and a few other cities.

What other name were you considering for the band?

RYAN: Four fags and a hag (Everybody laughs)

What personal influences ended up merging to make the THE RYAN TRACY BAND sound?

RYAN: I grew up listening to all kinds of music. My Dad was a big R&B and Motown guy. My Mom was a hippy. So I grew up listening to (music) across the board. What I always did like was singer-songwriter stuff. I’ve listened to everything. What I always kept returning to was music with strong female vocals. Singer-songwriting stuff. Folk singers. In the 80’s U2, R.E.M. and Peter Gabriel influenced me. The Police are one of my favorite bands. I listen to new stuff all the time. But where I would say I get my main musical knowledge from my parents, who were both singers as well.

ANITRA: I’ve changed over the years but since I was a little girl (I loved) anything with a female vocalist. I’m not allowed to say a couple of them (Laughs) Um…I’m drawing a blank now because I’m not allowed to say a couple of them…Stevie Nicks…

Why aren’t you allowed to say a couple of them?

ANITRA: Oh, because I’m not allowed to say. It’s just I’m not allowed to say who I grew up singing.

RYAN: For God sake, she likes Debbie Gibson! (Laughter)

ANITRA: Well I liked all of it. (Laughs) I liked Diana Ross, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. You know, all the chick singers. I would just pop in a tape and start singing along. Fleetwood Mac was a big one for me. I love the Beatles. I get a lot of the Natalie Merchant comments. I’m a fan of hers and 10,000 Maniacs. I loved to sing Aretha Franklin.

Were you in a lot of bands growing up?

ANITRA: This is my first band. This is my one and only.

What took you so long? Trust me, mortal, you won’t live forever.

ANITRA: (Laughs) I needed a lot of work and I need someone like Ryan, who had the patience to spend the time to teach me about the things I didn’t know, musically.

So you had no previous musical training? Impossible female mortal!

ANITRA: Well, I grew up singing in church and singing in a lot of theatre. But I never was in a band. I have no classical music training. I’m learning a little more about singing now, but initially, any chance I had to get up and sing I did. Growing up, all the talent shows, theatre. I did community theatre up in Vail for a couple of years before moving down here to Denver. This was really the first big opportunity that came my way. Ryan and I are great friends. It just seemed like a great fit.

Terry! Mortal! Tell my Greatness about your influences.

TERRY: Jeff Beck’s “Blow by Blow” was the first record my Mom every gave me. When I was a kid, Led Zeppelin 4 was pretty much my thing. Jeff Beck really transformed me into like, fusion music. I really wasn’t so much into the vocal thing until I started listening to Yes. I started listening to early Yes. All of the little incricys of music just really fascinated me. Rush – I loved them. Then I really started listening to guys like Allan Holdsworth. Jazz-fusion guys. All sorts of weird stuff. A buddy of mine turned me onto a band called The Dixie Dregs. I really identified with Steve Morse’ music writing. I could listen to his music forever and still learn something from it. He was like a master of music for me. That’s kind of where my heart is. I find it interesting and challenging to take my influences and try to put them into a pop/rock context. We’re trying to get our music played on the radio. It’s difficult at times but it’s fun too to try and take things I would like to hear and put it into something you normally wouldn’t hear in pop. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work.

ANITRA: Terry has brought a level of sophistication to our music that I think has really helped us get the level of recognition we’ve gotten in the last year.

Terry, are there artists from the Christian genre that influence you?

TERRY: I’m really inspired by Phil Keaggy and his guitar-work. Steven Curtis Chapman is another singer-songwriter that’s really talented. He’s an all around, sort of musician. Those are really the two main ones. I stayed away from Christian music because for a long time everything coming out from Christian artists sounded kind of corny. The music always seemed surreal to me.

Do you think Christian music has evolved?

TERRY: I think a lot of the stuff coming from Christian artists today is a lot more repectable. It isn’t so “churchy” or “Rugged Old Cross” type of stuff. There’s a lot of good music out there.

How do you maintain your faith when part of being in the THE RYAN TRACY BAND means being around alcohol and all that it entails?

TERRY: I grew up with alcoholic parents. I’m really comfortable around alcoholics (He looks at Ryan and Anitra and everybody laughs) One wants to keep their spirituality in check. There are certain things you don’t want to do or be portrayed as. It’s a touchy sort of line you ride. When you play in a secular band, you play with people of different beliefs. You just got to kind of hang in there and kind of just be yourself. I live in the world. I just want to make sure I don’t become of the world. You know what I mean?

What are THE RYAN TRACY BAND songs about?

RYAN: Well I write about love, which nobody ever writes about (Laughs) So we figured we better write some love songs. I write about a lot of stuff about self-awareness. The songs I write that aren’t love songs are generally about waking up and finding out stuff about yourself. Pushing yourself and what your limits are –stuff like that.

Give my Greatness an example.

RYAN: The song on our album, “This is not to say” is about everyone having to go down their own road and find what their destiny is. I’m very into like, Celestine Prophecy and Zen spiritualism. I right what I know. I can’t write a bunch of drinking songs. (Laughs)

Anitra, female with the hatchet wound, tell my Greatness about your spirituality.

ANITRA: I’m a recovering Catholic. A number of years ago I started reading Eastern philosophy types of books. Deepok Chopra, Dalai Lama type stuff. It’s really helped me find peace of mind and find a place I can be comfortable and not be stressed out all the time. It helps me relate to everyone as human beings. We all pretty much have the same issues and same struggles. I just try to do the right thing. I try to be nice. I can be abrasive though. I’m often misunderstood. It all comes from a loving heart.

So, Ryan, would you say Anitra is a bitch?

RYAN: No. She’s very East coast and so am I. We are a perfect fit.

ANITRA: I can definitely be a bitch (Laughs)

RYAN: Yeah, she can definitely be a bitch I can…

Give me an example of how she can be a bitch

RYAN: Well, she can be very set in her ways on things. She and I are both very similar that we are both very stubborn as mules. We argue about things and get very defensive. We won’t listen logically in an argument. We’ll just blow up at each other. When she’s a bitch, she’s like a rottweiler. (Laughs) barking and growling at you.

How do you react to that?

RYAN: I usually let her do it in front of people so that they can see how bad she can be (Everybody laughs). What I’ll do is start a fight with her and shut up and let her go for a couple of minutes (Laughs). Then she’ll stand there and realize there are people watching her (more laughter). That’s my greatest revenge.

What are you like when you’re a bitch?

ANITRA: He’s a baby.

RYAN: I’m not a baby. I don’t get necessarily whiney. I know a lot of the times I’m very…especially about the music. I take it very seriously. When things aren’t necessarily going the way I want them to, I react a lot more than I should. Rather than thinking things through I…

What do you do?

RYAN: I go for the Achilles heel. I have a pretty sharp wit. I usually go for the quickest wound. It’s not something I’m proud of. It’s something I’m definitely working on.

ANITRA: When I tell him, “Ryan you should be doing this or you should be doing that,” he’ll go “Oh yeah, are you gonna wear makeup to cover up that zit on your face?” (Much laughter)

You know, come to think of it, I don’t get to interview many women. What is it like being a performer and going through your period?

RYAN: That’s when she’s a bitch (Laughs)

ANITRA: Actually, it’s right before it that I’m a bitch. I try to schedule shows around it. The thing that bugs me is when I’m on my cycle at performance time and I’m carrying about 10 more pounds with me. I get the bloat thing. It’s really frustrating because everyone is looking at you up there on the stage. You think, “I’ve got this big gut, this big ass.” I get a little more emotional and I tell the guys, “step back” I’m in that way.

Does this affect your music?

ANITRA: You know, I’ve never really looked at it that closely. But I imagine that my angry songs come out a little angrier and my sad songs come out a little sadder.

What state of mind puts you at your best on stage?

ANITRA: Definitely peaceful. I try to meditate before a show so that I come in centered. When I’m focused I can just be just present-minded when the music is happening that’s when I’m at my best.

RYAN: I’m kind of shy person anyway. A lot of the lyrics to the songs I write are kind of personal. There are some people who have no problem taking what they feel inside and putting it out in front of everyone. Anitra is very, very good at that. I, on the other hand, am not. I’ve always struggled with stage presence and opening up to the audience. I’ve been told that when I open up to the audience I’m at my best.

TERRY: Focused. I like to be focused. I hate to be mad. Arguing with someone really throws my game off. I just want to be focused. I want to be sober. I want to go up on stage like I’m going up there to have a good time. I’m kind of a shy person, normally. When you go up on stage, nobody wants to watch someone who is shy. You kind of put on this façade It’s kind of like “I’m the best guitar player in the world.” and when you’re on stage, you act like that. The audience responds well to confidence. Sometimes I drink a beer to take off the edge.

What are you like when you’re drunk?

TERRY: When I’m drunk? Like trashed?

ANITRA: He’s happy. He’s laughing.

TERRY: That’s when I’m buzzed.

ANITRA: Oh you know what it was? You were on cough medicine and I thought you were drunk. You said, “I can’t hang.” It’s because you took some cough medicine and it knocked you out. And I was like, “Goldstein’s shitfaced. Somebody put him in the van.” (Laughs)

TERRY: No, drunk is when you’re playing cards with your Mother-in-law and you tell her off. That’s drunk (Everybody laughs)

Do you like to drink before you go on stage, Ryan?

RYAN: I like to have a couple of shots. I won’t lie to you. There was a time when I would go up on stage completely wrecked. I was just so nervous.

What kind of drunk are you?

RYAN: I’m happy and jovial, baby. I’m the funniest guy in the room, I promise you that. (Laughs) When Anitra and I drink, we’re at each other’s throats. I mean, immediately. I don’t care what it is. It’s because we spend so much time together. I can’t do shots around her anymore.

Let’s talk about the CD, Rain won’t stop.

ANITRA: Well, a couple of years ago, a woman ripped Ryan Tracy’s heart out. He spent a couple of months living with my husband and I, sleeping on our couch, our extra bedroom to try and recover from this major heartbreak. We gave him shelter, love and a place to heal. During that time, he started writing a lot of music. He was writing this, “rip my heart out” type of songs. Burn it with the rest is one of the songs that talks about what was going on inside of him. Other than him was about this chick that figured out who she was and decided to be a little more of a whore. Things like that. That’s where the CD started.

What in your opinion is your angriest song on the album?

RYAN: Probably Not your savior. That is talking about the same lady and the demise of the relationship. Times like this is one Anitra wrote about a fight she had with her husband. Let’s not kid ourselves. We play chick rock. Our songs aren’t the head banging kind of angry. It’s more of a retrospective thing.

ANITRA: When I wrote Times like this I was so angry. It’s tough because I am an artist. I want to get my feelings and life out in my songs. But at the same time, the song is about my husband. I kind of wanted to make sure he was OK with me writing this song. He was and always has been very supportive.

So once the songs were written, what was the next step in developing the CD?

ANITRA: When we went shopping and thinking about where to record, Frank Schultz of the Soiled Dove got involved. He came up to us one night after a big show at Herman’s Hideaway and said he’d like to finance the album. He felt he could make something happen. He formed a record label. He got a producer named Danny Seraphine, who was one of the founding members of the band Chicago. He was the drummer for 23 years. He said he would produce for us. We did the album over a couple of months up at Danny’s studio in Evergreen (Colorado). We mixed it at Colorado Sound and mastered it with Bernie Grundman out in LA

What’s interesting is the band you had together then is entirely different from the band you have now.

ANITRA: Yeah. Right after the album was complete, the bass player quit. His goal was basically to be on the record. He reached his goal and got out. That’s when we got Rich Ross. He’s been with the band since April of 2000. And then we got rid of a few other people and brought a few people on.

Are you comfortable with the lineup as it is now?

ANITRA: I’m extremely comfortable with it. I think we’re the best we’ve ever been. I absolutely expect that we’ll continue to grow.

RYAN: What this band has become is a work in progress. I think we got the best level of musicianship and the best people. It’s important when you talk about going out and sharing time on the road. We are very, very, happy with where we are right now. We are great friends and we are happy with one another.

Tell me about how you felt winning the “Best of Westword” for pop group.

RYAN: We were stoked. We were just really, really excited just to get nominated. To win something like that in our town was just a huge honor. That’s especially true when you realize that we aren’t a party type of band. Our songs our introspective. Some of them are fucking depressing. To be the kind of band we are and receive such an overwhelming response it so rewarding.

What’s the biggest compliment you can receive from either a listener of your CD or someone listening to you in the audience?

RYAN: Well, were really fortunate that everyone who comes and sees us has nothing but really nice things to say to us after the show. The thing I always feel good about is when people say they could really hear our songs working on the radio. That our songs are as good as anything else out there on the radio. When people say that it makes me feel really good.

ANITRA: I remember a show at the Soiled Dove we did a couple of months after the CD came out. Here I was, singing words to a song I wrote when I was crying one day. I was singing it to the crowd and a bunch of people in the audience were singing the words right back to us. It gives me chills now.

RYAN: When the album first came out, I had people coming up to me all the time and saying, “Man, I’ve been there. I know where you are.” The fact that people could relate to that stuff was good for me.

What’s the biggest compliment someone could give you Terry?

TERRY: You look cool! (Laughter) No, the biggest compliment someone could give me is complimenting me on how I play. I think today’s music isn’t as much about the guitar as I would like, so when someone notices what I do and what I bring to the songs, It’s great.

Tell me about the thing you did with Counting Crows

ANITRA: It was just an unbelievable. We played for 8000 people. We got a standing ovation at the end of our set. It is the highest point of our career thus far.

RYAN: It was the happiest day of my life.

How much money was raised for Children’s Hospital?

ANITRA: $100,000 dollars was raised for Children’s Hospital. Counting Crows were so nice to us. They had us come up on stage for the encore. The Samples were great as well. It was just an incredible day.

At what point will THE RYAN TRACY BAND have made it?

ANITRA: We’ve been really fortunate with having a lot of support around us. I’ve always had a lot of support around me with family and friends. They always said, “You’re gonna make it.” Well, in my mind right now, we’ve made it. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was to be a singer in a band, play shows, have an album and do all these things. We’re doing it. If it blows up and it becomes this really big, big thing, well that’s great but we’ll still be playing music together and singing on stage. I’d love it to continue and love to reap some benefits from it. It is what it is. I’m singing in a band so in my mind, I’m there all ready.

In closing, tell my Greatness a traumatic story from your childhood

RYAN: I was like six years old and my Mom and I came home from the grocery store. We were in one of those hatchback Vegas. Remember them? A big, orange, hatchback Vega. We parked on the driveway and she put the car in park, grabbed the groceries out of the back and didn’t put the emergency brake on. I jumped out of the car, but tripped and fell into the door. The front wheel ran over my leg.

Did it break your leg?

RYAN: No. Interestingly not. I think the Vega probably weighed about 200 lbs. I was skinned up pretty bad. My Mom freaked out. We had to go to the hospital.

How about you Anitra?

ANITRA: My entire childhood was traumatic. I was tortured by all the kids of the neighborhood. I grew up in the. Bronx. It’s a wonderful place to be from but growing up was traumatic. My parents were very strict with curfew. I had to be home at 9:00 PM. If I arrived at 9:01, I was grounded for a week. They were really, really strict about this stuff. So, of course it would be five minutes to nine and I would be ready to leave the park I would be playing at. All the kids would hold me back and not let me go home. I would have to sing a song in order for them to set me free. It was very traumatic.

Terry! All the pressure is now on you!

TERRY: Well, my Mom was crazy. I remember one time we were driving to Bishop, California. We were in the desert. I was like seven years old. My brother is five. We had to go to the bathroom. So we pull over to this gas station and ask the guy for the keys. Back then, you had to have keys to get in the bathroom. Well, he wouldn’t let us go for some unknown reason. It was out of order or something. I don’t remember what the deal was. So my Mom had us piss right on the door. (Laughs) So we pissed on the door, jumped back into the car and my Mom drives off. This guy chased us for about 100 miles (Much laughter) It was very traumatic. I was like seven years old; my Mom is like racing in our ’67 Oldsmobile. We’re like going 85 miles per hour! (More laughter) I have problems urinating in public to this day!

(Everybody laughs)