Gary James' Interview With Dave Hlubek Of
Molly Hatchet
In 1980, six musicians out of Jacksonville, Florida known as Molly Hatchet had performed over 250 concert dates all across the U.S. Their first album for Epic Records, titled "Molly Hatchet" was certified Gold. When I caught up with lead guitarist and founding member, Dave Hlubek, their second album, "Flirtin' With Disaster" had been released.
Q - Dave, why are people comparing Molly Hatchet to Lynyrd Skynyrd?
A - There's a similarity for sure, but it wasn't planned like that. We had a kinship of sorts with all of Skynyrd, but people are beginning to identify our songs with Molly Hatchet now.
Q - What kind of a guy was Ronnie Van Zant?
A - Ronnie was a very honest, very straight talking person. He was a good fellow, a country fellow. He'd look a person right in the eyes and you could see the honesty there. He was a bad enemy to have. He'd sucker punch you in a minute and take no quarter.
Q - This is pretty much a no gimmick band, isn't it?
A - We never felt you needed to put a $300 suit on your back to play Rock 'n' Roll. We don't wear sequined suits like ZZ Top. We're comfortable with just jeans and t-shirts.
Q - Just how tough is the Florida club circuit on a Rock group?
A - Tough. You're talking fights, knives and guns. We've had guns pulled on us by club owners and been escorted out of clubs by cops with shotguns.
Q - You guys have a reputation as drinkers.
A - We do drink quite a bit, but not as much as we used to. We once ran up a $750 bar tab in three days!
Q - How were you guys able to keep the group going? What is your philosophy?
A - We're live and let live people. We're not anti-this or that. We're a hard working band and want nothing handed to us. We all wanted to succeed.
NOTE: Dave Hlubek died on September 2nd, 2017. He was 66 years old.
Official Website: www.MollyHatchet.com
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