Monday, January 7, 2013

I'm Not a Groupie, Bitch: An Open Letter to Kid Rock


Let me first repeat the comment I posted last week on your Facebook page:

Fuck David Von Bader. In the ass. With his smart phone. Anyone who reports people having a good time on New Year’s Eve as “heartbreaking” is a narrow-minded idiot. You are who you are, and that’s all you’ve ever claimed to be. Neither Von Hater nor the New Times deserve your attention. Let the review go, and have faith karma will balance the scales, maybe with a nice venereal disease.

Okay. With that of the way…

Growing up on a small family farm, nestled in the foothills between the Olympic and Cascade Mountains in Washington State, I wasn’t exposed to much beyond C.W. McCall, Dionne Warwick, and Barbara Streisand. Television was worse. As a band geek, I broadened my horizons. As a teenager, I discovered KISS and Alice Cooper. In 1990, I got married and moved to Florida. My husband brought home DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE in 1998. Since then, watching you develop, both as an artist and as a human being, has been one of the highlights of my adult life. When you played “So Hott” in Times Square a few years ago, I grinned from ear to ear. I was tickled for you, proud of you, and honored to be a fan.

But it’s not just me, which prompts me to wonder: Back when you were an egotistical, crotch-grabbing, foul-mouthed, punk-ass kid from the suburbs, did you know how many lives you would change? Did you foresee fan sites like Extreme Kid Rock and Facebook groups like KRF and Chillin’ the Most, where thousands of fans would flock to share their love for you? Did you know those fans would band together, travel from one concert to the next, form life-long friendships, and forever defend your honor? Did you imagine The Sisterhood of the Traveling Banner, an international network of fans that ensure the same banners pop up at show after show? Did you expect the creation of groups like the Eye Candy Friday club, who share photos and videos of you daily and donate thousands of dollars to the Rainbow Connection every year? Or the Kid Rock Life Line, a non-profit that offers support during personal tragedy and has shipped countless boxes of needed supplies to fans across the country who lost everything to fire or flood? Did you know, then, that thousands of Kid Rock fans would follow your lead and strive to make this world a better place by performing small, random acts of kindness every day?

Did you know? Or has this all been a divine accident? Not that it matters. Either way, I’d like to thank you: for the friends, the memories, and the example. I wouldn’t be me without you. (No shit.) Now, get back to work and kick some more ass!


Sincerely,

Dawn Scovill
Hillbilly, Patriot & Proud Kid Rock Fan

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