Former 'Funbagger' Scott White Visits Vinnie Penn

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My man, Scottie White. You know, I gotta tell you
there's not enough Scotty White in the video. I'm going
to say it. God bless the boys in the band.
It took me for too long to get a glimpse
of you on that video. One is you? Yeah? I
mean I did see you in Ring of Fire. You're
you're performing Ring of Fire with Hasker.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
If you went to Hazzard countysp dot com, then you
would have found our videos. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, Old.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well said, I watched the Ring of Fire one in
there you were front and center. Although Scott were you
Are you on bass in Uh? What do you playing
Hazzard County?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm playing guitar.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
You are on guitar when you were in the Fun Bags.
And we're talking to Scott White because on Sunday, Hazard
County's part of the bill. Uh. And he used to
be a funbagger. I mean that's what we called it
back in the day, a funbagger. Weren't you on keyboards
for whatever reason? Never? No keyboards?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, we used to switch instruments a lot, right, So
I probably played keyboards on maybe one or two songs
per sep you know, but most of the time it
was guitar.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, yep, so, and I've got a blurry recollection Scott
too of really, Oh, dear boy, do I how about
the way I promoted you being out here. We're gonna talk,
but there are no real I really don't have fields.
We had so much fun. But my few experiences hanging

(01:28):
out with you guys, I mean it was the fun bags.
Those shows kind of blew my mod what you guys
were doing in the nineties. I remember saying repeatedly, not
so much to you. We had different conversations because, like
I said, I have a blurry recollection of I think
I was at your studio once, this like state of

(01:49):
the art studio that you you probably still have going, yeah,
and you were on Well.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I don't, I don't anymore. I got out of that business.
But yeah, back yep, back in the two thousands, I
had a studio. It was running hard, and you worked
with them. You worked with my friends me and Carleen
with some some of your material. And yeah, I mean
I was trying to think of when we first met.
It sort of foggy, but it goes way back.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, was our link, Mattz was really mine? In your
h link.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
That's right, that's right, because I know Matt since I
was in high school. Even though we didn't go to
high school together, we hung in the same crowd, so
I knew him for a while time. Yeah, And in fact,
I remember listening to you the week of nine to
eleven down to New York.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, yep, yeah, yep. Yeah, crazy times indeed. And and
that's why a lot of my conversations with you back
then were about music. We're about Matt, We're about skoodoos,
you know, because we used to just terrorize that guy, uh,
and just about the industry. But I used to say
to Derek and to uh Chris who was the lead

(03:03):
singer at the time, Chris Michaels, And who was I
to say? But what you what you guys were pulling
off was kind of madness. You know. It was cover
band that was drawing these enormous, like kind of ridiculous crowds.
And I'm like, you guys got to enjoy this. How
long can this last for? It's freaking twenty twenty five,
a fun bag show? Still mad? It's unheard. Oh it

(03:27):
shouldn't be crazy. I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
You know, back back in those days, you know, it
was the five members. We were one hundred aligned in
our work ethic, right, and with the game plan, like
we really wanted to expand to a regional band that
that could you know, really make some of the guys
just a solid living just doing that, you know, And

(03:50):
that's what we set out to do. And everybody was
on the same page. And you know, here they are,
you know, twenty five years later, right and they're still
doing it, doing on a super high level.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, soos, it's all believable. It was just a couple
of years ago. I came crawling out of a show
at Mohegan Sun again just blurry, just it's just it.
Maybe there's a problem. Maybe as I talk to you,
I'm realizing there is a legitimate problem going on here.
And the gal that I was with, so let's go

(04:22):
to Lansdowne. And I'm like, oh, it looks like that's chaos.
Like we've got a room for a reason, Like, I mean,
you know, it's like ten thirty. Yeah for me, it's
time to hit the room. What do you mean going
to Lansdowne. But Derek and the Fun Bags was in
lansdown People were spilling out of the joint and I'm like,
this is insane that this is still going on. It's
like eleven o'clock. Yeah, Derek is a machine. I got

(04:45):
to give it up to him. Oh yeah, and watching
him go through what he's going through right now, it's tough, obviously,
And that's what this whole thing is about. On Sunday,
it's because you know, you stop and you think he
said it to me himself or whoever wrote up the
on the gofummi page or like, look, he can't work

(05:05):
at this time while he goes through this. Sure he
can play a gig here and there, although they're not
playing that much. They're playing on Sunday at Toads, but
we're trying to help out a family. They small kids.
He's not working his ass off right now, no matter
what a machine is, right, Yeah, that's.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Right, that's right. You know Derek, you know he has
fought an extremely challenging battle, right. It's it's health battle,
but it's also emotional and mental health, right because you know,
when you're fighting a disease like that, you you have
to do everything you can for your body, but you
also have to do something for your mind, right, you

(05:42):
have to you have to keep that positive focus. And
you know, he made the decision to be public about it, right,
which not everybody handles their disease that way. So you know,
it helps him be accountable to himself and to you know,
his loved ones, and he's putting it all out there
and it's extremely uh, it's extremely brave, right. But yeah,

(06:06):
he relies on the band. That's his family's main income, right,
and Michelle works and stuff too. But you know, it's
a big chunk of what they need to live. They
got two boys, you know, they got a house, they
got everybody's you know, similar expenses. So when you're out
of work and when you're self employed, which is basically

(06:26):
what a musician is, there's not a lot to fall
back on.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, And you know, at the same time, and then
we're alm with Scott White right now, who's in the
band Hazard Counting and that and just I mean, you're
your all your income is music is from making music too, right,
I mean your no.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
No, not exactly. I do some other stuff too, so
you know, and that's that's always the way I've been.
You know, the music has been something for you know, income, sure,
because we're putting in a lot of work. We take
it very seriously. We want to be you know, compensated
appropriately for sacrificing and giving up what we do. But no,
I do other things.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
To make a listener supplement, and I'm glad to have
you on. You're exactly who I wanted to have on
to talk about this great event Sunday two to eight
o'clock two pm to eight pm all sorts of bands
has a county just one of many and of course
culminating in a fun bags performance. Who knows, maybe you
and I will jump on that stage and do a
little slot and miss Kuamakat absolutely absolutely, even though I

(07:31):
do you remember the one time I second, I didn't
remember a single word and David just kept going you
wrote it like you wrote it, and I couldn't remember
any other words. But I but I saw late yesterday
afternoon as I was just trying to, you know, get
a little traction going on social media, making sure people
are aware because you guys are all brought so much

(07:53):
happy to this to so many people in the late nineties,
early two thousands, and obviously Derek continued on with that
you're doing have I literally know a million hazard county
fans Kim Wolf. You probably know Kim Wolf. She's a
huge fan, absolutely, Yeah, I do know a lot of Yeah,
she's a big supporter of Hazard County.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
So way back.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yes, I can't wait to uh.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
If he doesn't even like country music.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
By the way, I didn't want to say it always
seemed like a pose to be honest with you. But uh,
but yesterday I see Derek post that he's building a
whiffle ball like compound. I don't know if you saw
this post. Oh wow, yeah, and uh, you know, and
he was just he actually really wrote this, this very

(08:44):
well written like kind of post about how growing up
in Shelton, what a big deal it was playing with
all you needed was five other guys in the neighborhood.
And he would build like he would make a legit
mound in his backyard and wo would come home and
they would be ticked about it, and he had all
of his plans map And I thought two things, Scott.

(09:07):
I thought, One, this guy's unstoppable, and you need to
be I know me, he's significantly braver and stronger than me.
I would just fold. And he's just an animal, and
he's got to support group behind him and I looked
at that post today. He's building some whiffle ball compound
and I thought two things. I thought, One, he's unstoppable

(09:28):
and that's great to see. Two, I mean, we are
throwing a fundraiser, dude, should you be promoting this whiffle
ball compound of yours? I mean, you know, I don't know,
optics wiseness might not be the wisest time to post this.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Well, I don't know. You got you gotta think about,
you know, Listen, he's putting stuff out there. You know,
he loves to support his boys and their endeavors, and
baseball's oh family, you know. And it's true, you know,
sometimes in the modern days here, some of the most
simplistic things are lost, right, that simplicity of gathering up

(10:08):
the crew in the neighborhood and playing with the ball
or whatever, you know, whatever you would do. Some of
those days are gone, right, They're just replaced by technology
and stuff like that. So, you know, it's sort of
me and you know, I got to also shout out
to you know, his band, the rest of the fun bags,

(10:28):
Steve and Matt and Freddie who you know ultimately took
my place and Vinny and my buddy Jeff, who plays
with them, sacks a lot. Those guys have supported them
to him, you know, because they're also musicians trying to
make a living. They're on hold as well.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, well that's fair. Yeah, that's that's true. And you
know that's funny to me as well, Scott, especially doing
what I've done for as long as I have. You know,
I interview bands that tour of the country and right
and really grind it out. So hearing you say that
this is this is their how they make a living,

(11:07):
it's that much more of an accomplishment. I mean, it's
hard enough for a band with a that had a
top ten single touring the country, right C. And this
isn't this is a Connecticut base not to diminish, you know,
cover band that has pulled off thirty years of playing
live and we all make a living doing that. It's
kind of If it's lost on me, it's going to

(11:28):
be lost on a lot of other people who go
to see them too, probably just think they're doing it
for fun and don't realize No, it's a it's a business.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Right, Yeah, it definitely is. And it's a hard business,
right because you make a lot of sacrifices. I mean,
you know, back in the day, we all made sacrifices
to be you know, working from sometimes Thursday through Sunday night, right,
That's I mean it was. It was a lot of work.
That's why I ended up leaving the band, was because

(11:57):
it was so work intensive and I just out and
all and.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
All of that nudity in the audience too, all of
that nudity and the audience was really it was in April.
I that's why I stopped opening. Uh for the fly bags.
I don't need all I don't need to see.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
I mean, listen, once you turn forty, you don't want
to see that stuff.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
No, No, that was you're officially adult. That's it. That's
how I felt. Uh. But we get a little Hazard County.
Uh tell me some of the who do you you doing,
Keith Urban? Tell me what I can tell Keith Urban.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
We do a lot of Kenny Chesney. We do a
lot of So we've got male vocals and female vocals.
So Eric Eric sings and plays acoustic guitar, and Sue sings.
She's got a great voice. So we do some little
big town we do, uh, you know, all sorts of
cool stuff. A little bit of you know, southern soul

(12:53):
uh Tina Turner, you know, Sanna Choplin, stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
So it's a nice it's.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
It's modern country and a little bit of country inspired
rock and roll. I guess we'd say, yeah, and six
piece band. We're all considered family, very very deep roots.
Jen and I were just out with some of the
members last night to see Zach Brown.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
I saw that a lot. To be honest with you,
your relationship kind of galls me. You're madly in love
and your posts are all they do is hurt my feeling.
All they do is hurt my feelings. Yeah, you're both
ridiculously happy. Same with Derek. Derek and his wife, and
I'm like, why are these guys who were complete reprobates

(13:37):
when they're in the late nineties they're happily in love
and holding hands.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Well that's what happens, you know, you find somebody, you
know that that just you.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Know, guys got good women you.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
And like has their their their careers and their you
know lives that you know are pretty amazing. So Jen
and I, yeah, we've been together for fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, yeah, I see and I see all the posts
I see the happiness you deserve it. You're exactly who
I wanted to talk to today was my man, Scottie White,
and I can't wait Sunday to bring Hazard County on stage.
The Zoo is also part of the bill. Madhouse DJ
d Brown is going to be spinning. I suppose this

(14:22):
the way I'm supposed to put it. It's it's they're
calling it Derek and the fun Bags and friends, and
I don't know why they went with me as a host,
but I'm looking forward to it. Twenty five bucks ahead.
It's all it's team Derek. We're supporting Derek and it's
an all star lineup. It's at Toad's Place. You'd hop
right online there grabbing tickets at Toad's Place right now.

(14:43):
It's this coming Sunday from two to eight. Scott White,
thanks for taking the time and I hope to see
you all there Sunday