I regret the statements I made about Preacher, Jesse and Lyla only because the Roadmasters made me regret them.
It was a better band when I was in it and they know it. It’s unfortunate they made it so the world wouldn’t know it.
This is a lesson that jealousy is an ugly thing and I’ve lived that for the last thirty years.
Upon reading this statement:
Jesse:
[Grins]
Yeah, he’s definitely lived that.
Lyla:
[Laughs uncontrollably]
McCade:
[Shakes head]
Fuck, that guy’s still an asshole.
Cat Trelane remains one of the most sought-after and influential photographers in the fashion industry, as well as continuing his photojournalism on tour with several musical acts and throughout the filming of a variety of movies.
Since his first book with the Roadmasters, he’s published seven more.
At a recent retrospective of his work, a segment of the show was dedicated to images of Lyla.
All of the Roadmasters, including Tom Mancosa, and all of their partners, Lyla as well as Preacher McCade attended the opening.
It was noted, however, that McCade and Lyla left early.
Trelane remains unmarried.
Throughout the late 90s and the aughts, Leeanne Brewster would consistently, and publicly, give rise to grievances against Tim Townes, and after Townes married, his wife Marty.
Thus, at sixteen years of age, making firm statements he was acting on his own, Brody Townes petitioned the courts for emancipation from his mother, who at the time, shared custody of Brody with his father.
This petition was dropped, Leeanne Brewster gave up custody rights to her son and disappeared from the public eye.
She currently resides in Santa Barbara with her husband, an executive recruiter, and their two children.
She declined the opportunity to provide a statement for this project.
Brody Townes retains a strained relationship with his mother.
After his tour when the Roadmasters opened for him, Bobby Sheridan’s career would begin a drastic decline dogged by rumors of rivalries (and not simply with the Roadmasters), professional jealousies, aggrandizing behavior and declining record sales.
In fact, his next album would be widely criticized as, to quote one reviewer, “so derivative in a sophomoric way of McCade and the Roadmasters, it hurt to listen. But this comes as no surprise, since his first three were imitative of Petty and his Heartbreakers.”
He would be dropped from his label in 1994.
Sheridan also declined the opportunity to provide a statement for this project, though on the telephone, he gave permission to be quoted as saying:
“Fuck Preacher McCade and especially fuck Tommy Mancosa.”
He, and what members of the Mustangs that remain with him, currently tour the casino circuit in New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.
Preacher McCade’s father died in prison in 1999.
Preacher McCade’s mother died in prison in 2014.
They both received state-funded funerals that were unattended.
Jesse:
Guess Lyla’s momma was right.
[Off tape]
Sorry?
We should all follow our stars.
[Dips head to the interviewer’s phone that is currently recording and grins largely]
Interviewer’s Disclosure:
I have been employed on a contract basis by RockitRollit.com for the last three years selecting artists for features on the site, and writing those features, along with being a freelance entertainment journalist specializing in popular culture and the music industry, primarily the Rock and Punk genres. The latter of which I began in high school, submitting one of my commentaries to Alt Yes magazine and garnering my first byline at age eighteen.
Prior to commencing the “Fast Lane” project, I became engaged to Brody Townes.
However, it must be noted, I was an admirer of the Roadmasters’ music, had a long fascination with their story and had already made requests in an effort to embark on this project preceding my relationship with my now fiancé.
Before beginning this venture, I had not yet met my fiancé’s father’s band and I requested that Brody Townes not be involved in procuring access to the players for this undertaking.
Thus, he was not involved.
However, it should be noted that, even though my fiancé was not a part of this project, I am fully aware I would not have gained access to the band, even if I had not previously met any of them but Tim Townes, if I was not considered by them to be part of the family.
The reader can interpret any bias they wish as per my admiration of the band and my relationship to it.
The Roadmasters’ request, anyone moved to do so by these tales having been told, that they donate to their local nonprofit legal services or child abuse organizations, or they can send their gifts to Childhelp and/or the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Childhelp: www.childhelp.org
NAACP LDF: www.naacpldf.org
Interviewer’s Impressions, Recorded After Event:
Just before Lyla’s final interview completes, McCade uncurls from around his wife and exits the daybed with the tiger cat in his possession.
It does not escape notice that the gray cat keeps a distance, but trots behind him.
After we finish, Lyla reiterates the invitation to stay for chili.
She then pushes from the daybed, and I follow her through the door into the inner sanctum.
A massive room confronts me.
A room filled with windows.
Furniture.
And warmth.
We are immediately in a large kitchen over which is a tall ceiling made of angled skylights, ten of them—five facing five—buttressed braces spanning the overhead space.
There are butcherblock countertops and barnwood paneling.
A top-of-the-line range sits in a hearth of carefully laid river rock, the back of the hearth, behind the stove, is fashioned of brick.
There is a long dining table that seats ten beyond an island made of glossy black cabinets with a startling white farmer’s drop sink in the middle. The table sits in front of a window which both the tiger and gray cat are perching on the ledge of, their tails curling and unfurling, their gazes aimed outside.
I look out the window and see McCade and his son in the gently sloping front area with all three dogs, including the Maltese.
They are at work at a large firepit surrounded by rocks beyond which is a circle of a goodly number of Adirondack chairs.
Lyla goes to the stove and lifts the top from a very large, very shiny pot.
When she does, I feel the need to check my notes.
It is my understanding Lyla and McCade have two children: Jesse Baptiste, aged eighteen and Evelyn “Lynie” Loretta, aged sixteen.
The large dining room table and that pot, not to mention a living area with a long couch and a number of comfortable armchairs with and without ottomans aimed at an enormous TV and/or a fireplace that currently has a crackling fire indicate a much bigger family lives in this house.
Lyla picks up a spoon, stirs, and a rich, spicy aroma fills the air.
Lyla then moves to the front door that sits between kitchen and dining area, opens it and shouts through it, “If Bobby McGee gets filthy, I’m not the one giving her a bath!”