I first heard about the Muggs while talking with long time Ann Arbor Reggae DJ Brian Tomsic.  We were talking about Cousins Vinyl’s idea of showcasing the best area bands on our store.  The first band he mentioned was The Muggs, which he said was hands down the best.  So I got in contact with the bass player, Tony, who I later learned suffered a stroke and had to re-learn to play bass with his left hand.  Told him I wanted to buy some CDs.  Tony said, “Yeah, come on over and pick ‘em up-that sounds great.” We agreed on 11:00 the next day: in typical rock star fashion Tony wakes up when we arrive at his house in a modest ranch neighborhood in East Detroit.  He stumbles to the door, shirt off:  “Give me five minutes, late night. C’mon in guys.”  Sitting in his small but neat living room, I think “So this is it, this is how rock stars really live.  What will his house be like if he hits big? Like Cribs?”  Tony walks slowly, with a limp, I can see the affect of his stroke (he really had to re-learn bass with his left hand?) and over to the trunk of his car, an 80s model small something, to give us the goods.  Driving home with Eric, we pop the CD in and turn up the volume.  We’re immediatly banging our heads, playing air guitar, and driving 100 down I-94.  I can see now what Brian was saying: hands down the greatest rock band in Detroit.  It’s the kind of new music I’ve been waiting for-straight up vintage Detroit blues rock, original and kick ass.

We’ve got one of the tracks playing.  Still got some for sale here:  SOLD OUT!

-Cousin Geoff