Ahh, what's in a name? It's an age old question, one which Shakespeare asked so long ago in "Romeo and Juliet". It was that "rose by any other name smelling as sweet" thing. Anyway, I was reminded of this today when I got a call while hanging out in the paint aisle at the Home Depot (yep, still doing the paint thing). It was my old friend Jim. He was jokingly reminding me that I've turned my back on the Latino community and embraced the Irish (I am a Notre Dame fan). You know, the whole stage name thing. I started thinking again about "what's in a name?". If a music fan landed on Earth from Mars and saw the name Red Hot Chilli Peppers, he's got to be thinking Tex Mex. If Tom Petty looked like Justin Timberlake, the Heartbreakers would have you thinking beautiful, dancing, matching fashion wearing pin ups. The point is, would Raoul Zayas and Groovy Cool sound better, or even matter? Would Butch Ryan and Monkey Corpse be the best way to go? How about Raoul and The Butchers? Or Butch and the Z's? Who knows, who cares. In the end, it's the music that matters. Red Hot Chilli Peppers means Flea's funked out bass, not three Mexican guys with trumpets. Butch Ryan is what it is: the music, the style, the originality (fueled of course by the influences). Gracias Jim for getting me thinking. This blog was probably going to be about painting or Tommy Lee attending college (have you seen that?). See you on Monday. Take care. Later (hasta lluego), Butch