We are back at it excitable nation! A new fan spotlight has arrived. Kick the week off properly by learning all about Craig Sabol!
At the age of 10, Craig’s mom took he and his brother to Best Buy to pick out a CD. On the shelf was 311’s blue album and No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom. “My brother said pick one and he would get the other. I ended up picking No Doubt and he grabbed the blue album. About a week later my dad as working down in North Carolina so we took a road trip down to see him and I remember sitting in the back of my mom’s car with my disc man listening to the blue album cover to cover on repeat for the 6 hours it took us to get there. From there I was hooked, I just couldn’t stop listening to it, it was like no other band I had heard before.” Shortly after this Craig’s brother took a trip to Florida and when he returned he brought back Grassroots as a present. “I just remember being so excited when he gave that to me. I guess that’s what big brothers are for, to steer you in the right path on your musical journey. So I would have to thank him for getting me into 311.”
Craig hasn’t really kept track of the number of times he’s seen 311 live, but he would have to guess it’s somewhere between 50-60. He was a mere 14 the first time he saw them live, it was back in 1999 at the HFStival. “I remember begging my mom to let me go see 311 and she of course let me go see them under the carful watch of my brother.” Craig said picking a favorite out of all the times he’s seen 311 is hard because they all have something that remind him of each ones uniqueness. “Whether it’s a song I heard live for the first time or a person I met. Me and my brother have been too all these shows together except two that he couldn’t make, so it has always been something we shared and enjoyed. Since I met my wife Lynn 11 years ago she has been with us also and it is something we all look forward to and enjoy doing together.”
Favorite song is also tough to narrow down for Craig, since each one has a little something that means a lot to him or helps him relate to something, or reminds him of a good time he had. However “I’ll Be Here Awhile” has a great significance to him since it’s the song he and Lynn were married to.
The lyric “You got a wishing well within” from “Eons” is one that always resonated with Craig. “It just always makes me look at myself and remember to really strive hard for what I want in life and to realize what I really need to get it done is within myself, and that’s what it really takes for wishes to come true.” A few other standout lyrics for Craig are “Life’s a bowl of punch, go ahead and spike it,” and “Rebellion done for its own sake, does not a true free thinker make. To go against for it’s own sake, you’re still controlled by the course that the other man takes.”
Craig has lived his entire life in Maryland, growing up in Brooklyn Park which is just outside of Baltimore. He works as a control room operator at a power plant, kind of like Homer Simpson he said, but without the nuclear element! Prior to that he was a mechanic for the same company and he worked on outages on turbines and generators that produce electricity.
Something that makes Craig unique? “I have a freckle on my eyeball, you don’t see that too often!” Guilty pleasure comes in the form of Keanu Reeves movies. “He is actually an awesome actor so I don’t know how guilty that is.” Some other musicians that Craig can be found listening to include Ballyhoo!, Pepper, Elton John, and the Deftones. He also loves a mix of 70’s rock.
Craig’s message to 311 – “Thank you for making music for so long that has touched and spoken to many more people than you will ever know. Keep it up and Fuck the Naysayers.”
To all the other 311 fans:
“It has been amazing meeting some of the best/kindest people in the world through 311. It has been an honor to meet you, and hope to meet many more of you through the years to come.”
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Thanks Craig for sharing your story and being a part of this amazing fan community. Thank you to everyone who reads these every week! Can’t imagine a better group of people in the world to write about!
Much love – The Runt