Spanky Twangler of The Penetrators passed away today from Esophigal Cancer at the age of 39. It’s hard to know how to start…Spanky was such an amazing guy, both as a musician, but as a person. I doubt I would still be running Double Crown today if I had started the label with any other band. It was such an awesome experience working with the Penetrators as we plotted n’ schemed for the release of the “Hit The Jetstream” 7″. We all kept throwing out ideas, going back n’ forth by phone and e-mail. Dialogue between songs? YES! A photo shoot aboard Bear Bryant’s personal jet? OF COURSE! Cocktail waitresses servin’ up martinis on the cover? It wouldn’t be complete without ‘em! Once we got the preliminaries wrapped up I flew across the country for the Surfari USA tour. We had the sleeves done, but the vinyl was still being pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, one of the stops on the tour. It didn’t matter much that we couldn’t sell the records – we were all just so excited to have the new release coming out. It was so great, meeting the entire band face to face for the first time at the Chukker in Tuscaloosa, and seeing them play live just 10 feet in front of me. They even opened their sets during the tour with a song or two from the 7″.

The biggest thing though was getting to hang out with the guys before and after the shows. So much stuff these days is done by e-mail or over the phone, so it was awesome to be able to form a bond with the guys at the very beginning of the label. Rip Thrillby was kind of a silent partner with Double Crown, doing artwork for several releases and Continental magazines, but more importantly, being someone that I could bounce ideas off of. When Rip passed away a few years ago Spanky said he wanted to keep moving forward with the band, and it was a great feeling knowing that we’d be able to continue working together. While he may not have openly contributed to Double Crown/The Continental like Rip did, he was a great guy to get opinions from. Overall just a swell, down to earth guy with great taste in many things.

Cancer is a devastating disease – my father-in-law died of pancreatic cancer last year and we took care of him in our home during the last 9 months of his life. While I feared Spanky might be going through some of the same things my father-in-law did, I was encouraged by the fact that he wasn’t letting the disease take over completely – he was still playing a few shows, attending the All-Star game, and continuing with family activities when he had the energy. While it’s easy to feel down and sad about his passing, I would encourage everyone to focus on the music the Penetrators gave us, and any personal experiences you had with Spanky over the years. My thanks go out to everyone who attended a Penetrators show or purchased a Penetrators disc – as someone who’s played in a few bands over the years I know what an amazing thing it is to know that people cared about your music. I’m sure all of us brought great joy to his life by being a fan of the Penetrators.

I’ve been listening to the Penetrators music all evening and thought I’d share a rarity which brought a smile to my face. One of the things I remember most from seeing the Penetrators live was Spanky’s between song banter, delivered through a megaphone. Jay Hector recorded a live Penetrators show in California many years ago – I don’t think he’d mind me sharing one of the songs, “Wind Beneath My Kilt” – thepenetrators_windbeneathmykiltlive (right click to download)