I played a gig with Jackson, Wyoming-based rock heavies Derrik and the Dynamos on Saturday, July 12, and Phil Round, the accomplished guitarist/singer/songwriter (see http://philround.com) who played bass on this gig, told me the most hellacious Gus story I've ever heard.
The well-known Jackson-based attorney Gerry Spence has a son who plays harmonica. This son, who by the way is a fully-grown adult, not a kid, is well-known for playing his harp wherever he goes; I heard him playing once while standing in line at airport security in Jackson. (No, I did not introduce myself.) He's been mentioned to me several times by Jackson musicians (disapprovingly) as a guy who stands up and plays the harp from the audience when a band is performing. In other words, he's Gus.
What Phil told me is that not long ago, while Phil was playing a Sunday gig at the Stagecoach bar in Jackson (a gig he's played for almost 45 continuous years), Spence demanded--not asked, demanded--to sit in with the band. When the band politely demurred, Spence and about a dozen of his friends laid themselves down on the dance floor in front of the band, making it impossible for anyone to dance, in an attempt to extort the band into submission.
I think we can agree that this is World Record Gus behavior.
Not to mention world-class weird.
regards, Richard Hunter
author, "Jazz Harp" (Oak Publications, NYC) Latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick Twitter: lightninrick