America is so vast that almost everything said about it is likely to be true, and the opposite is probably equally true.
We were playing a small club in San Diego and the power had gone out in the building. Eddie had a lighter and kept us lit backstage. We became very good friends and spent a lot of time together including hearing Eddie sing in some of the bands he was in at the time.
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.