Rick Davis
1956 posts
Jun 14, 2013
2:50 PM
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Where did you get your music nickname? What is the story behind it?
Is it bogus to come up with your own nickname?
I have resisted the whole nickname thing for decades. There is one nickname that has followed me for years but I thought it was dumb so I never used it. I was always just Rick Davis. Some nicknames are cool, others seem contrived. The one I got tagged with just seemed silly. I tried to come up with a cooler nickname but I guess I am just not creative enough.
Now it is back for some unknown reason. It’s not just with music or harp playing, but with other friends as well. Maybe it is because I have been working out like a madman for the last year or so.
So I give up. I am getting older and it seems less goofy. I don’t know.
Henceforth I shall be known as: Little Rick Davis.
(For those of you who may not know, I am 6 feet 7 inches tall (2 meters) and weigh 255 pounds (115 kg).)
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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Gig74
143 posts
Jun 14, 2013
3:05 PM
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I like the cut of your jib little rick, nicknames are an odd thing, from about the age of 8 or 9 I've been gig, nothing to do with music thought. Back in the day when you could only put 3 letters up for high scores on arcade games I've been gig, my initials are actually GRA but my brother who is really MAGA used MIG, he must of thought it was cool or something but he's my brother so i I naturally just changed 1 letter and became gig, and I guess it stuck.
I met a guy once called MAF he was mute but he totally ruled on bomb jack, awesome.
Cheers
Greg
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Living the dream and learning the blues one little trouble at a time.
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The Iceman
911 posts
Jun 14, 2013
3:48 PM
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"The Iceman" evolved over a small period of time.
Back in Detroit in the 80's, there used to be a jam session run every Tue. night in an upstairs bar in downtown Pontiac (can't remember the name). It was run by the guy that owns The Music Castle (on Woodward).....Tim.
It was here that I re-entered the music scene as a harmonica player after lying dormant for about 8 years.
I was improving and a local harmonica player, Buck Steele (his REAL NAME) always encouraged me. Buck was very tall and always wore a tall hat making him even more larger than life. He told me it was important to also develop an image along with musical talent.
Since I always had a real relaxed and cool stance on stage and since my last name is Eisenberg, he used to call me The Iceberg...I'd be playin' on stage and he would be yelling out from the bar "Ice'em down, Iceberg. You're COOL."
It started to catch on as a stage name...however, Iceberg is an inanimate object, so I morphed it into Iceman.
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The Iceman
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shbamac
341 posts
Jun 14, 2013
5:27 PM
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I've had so many nicks over the years. Most related to music in some way. For a long time when I was sitting in with a few different bands around town I became known as harp guy. I would walk into bars and the staff and owners would say "hey, harp guy... what can I get you?"
I've also been known to many as tl, legend, legend of the lake, snowman, the short attention span renaissance man...
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nacoran
6865 posts
Jun 14, 2013
6:16 PM
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I used to get called Smitty, and Natham or Naten as a kid by people who couldn't pronounce my name. For a while I was called 'Dupree' apparently after Marcus DuPree, the football player famous for screwing up his knee (I had a big knee brace I used to have to wear in school in gym class- high petela that would dislocate).
I'm trying to give my self a nickname that will help me with the ladies. Nathan 'Three-Legs' Smith? 'All Night' Smith? It doesn't have to be true, as long as it get's their attention! :)
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Nate
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FMWoodeye
664 posts
Jun 14, 2013
8:55 PM
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@Nacoran....Nate, if you want to attract the ladies, don't lie about (or brag about) your penile appendage.
Refer to money or jewelry, i.e., Diamond Nate, etc. Just as good pitching trumps good hitting, money and jewelry trump a big dick.
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12gagedan
259 posts
Jun 14, 2013
9:34 PM
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I don't generally cotton to nicknames. There have been attempts in the past. If you don't respond, or respond poorly, they go away.
Rod Piazza calls me "Shorty". Oddly enough, I am also big and tall (6'6"1/2, 260lbs) I think it's because he never remembered my name. The last time I sat in (vid is on YouTube) I handed him my card and MADE him say my name.
The 12gagedan thing was my idea for YouTube. Only one person uses it in real life. Chet Cannon in San Diego calls me "Shotgun Dan Gage".
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12gagedan's YouTube Channel
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Littoral
918 posts
Jun 14, 2013
9:57 PM
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Fire King
We were recording in a studio and during a break I was looking for a glass in the kitchen and I saw a vintage green dish made by Fire King. It's classic 50's utilitarian glassware that got sheik enough to be copied by Martha Stewart a few years back. I knew what it was because my father-in-law collected tons of it while his wife hunted depression glass. He did it because it was always 50 cents or less. NOT any more.
My enthusiasm for finding it in the cabinet generated some heckling from the band and they decided to call me Fire King after that. It was just fun enough for awhile until I decided that it fit. My job is to apply the heat as needed to fire things up. When a band is just going through the motions I'll go easy for awhile but then that's enough, I ain't having it. Fire King
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Jehosaphat
492 posts
Jun 14, 2013
10:43 PM
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In my younger days somehow Rick(Richard) became Ricardo
I liked it,sounded quite exotic down here in ethnically bland Newzealand.
Something to do with my colourful personality ,dark hair and olive skin(I hope)
Now my hair is grey and my skin is just skin I am back to Rick.(except when the wife is mad at me ,then it is Rick with a silent P.
And no you can't give yourself a nickname surely ..defeats the purpose in that it should be a reflection of how others see you?
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Kingley
2768 posts
Jun 14, 2013
11:43 PM
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An old guy I play music with refers to me as Rockin' because he thinks it goes with my surname of Routledge. He reckons Rockin' Routledge is a great name. Personally I bloody despise it and have told him so on numerous occasions. He still insists on introducing me that way when he's leading the band though.
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harmonicanick
1965 posts
Jun 15, 2013
12:45 AM
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Harmonicanick is my nickname. Started when the host of a jam kept calling me up as that and I've carried it on, a bit tongue in cheek, but it does give an indication of what they are going to get.
As most people have hardly seen a harp played at all this helps in pr
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nacoran
6868 posts
Jun 15, 2013
1:32 AM
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I do get Harmonica Nate sometimes.
I had a friend, and one Christmas I got an idea while looking in the refrigerator. I started calling him Nutmeg, and I got everyone else doing it. The whole gag was that no one would tell him why we were calling him Nutmeg. (Just because I saw it on the side of a carton of eggnog). Anyway, it kind of stuck. Last I heard though, he's in jail for a couple too many DWI's. It must have been spiked eggnog. :(
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Nate
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Gibbo
17 posts
Jun 15, 2013
8:06 AM
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Mine is simple enough, my last name is Gibbons and my hockey teammates started calling me Gibbo. Not the coolest or deepest nickname in the world, but what can you do.
In high school, briefly, I was "The Guy with the Hat" because I used to wear a fedora all the time and there were a couple people in my group who did not know my name.
I agree that giving yourself a nickname is not cool, but in fact a little dorky. There is a fine line between giving yourself a nickname and developing a persona which can be cool in my book.
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Gibbo
Harp Player in Training
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HawkeyeKane
1771 posts
Jun 15, 2013
11:53 AM
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"Hawkeye" came about back around the summer between my 8th grade and Freshman years. No, I'm not from Iowa like Hawkeye Herman. No, I'm not a M*A*S*H fanatic (though the movie is one of my favorites). It simply stuck because I've always had a sharp set of eyes, and folks noticed it from the simple tasks I'd perform. Like finish a word search in about ten minutes flat....identify constellations in the stars at night....and pick old bottles off the fence with my grandfather's BB rifle. Well, I attended US Aviation Challenge in the summer before my freshman year of high school along with some of my friends from 4-H. They gave me my mock-callsign of "Hawkeye", and the name stuck since my friends were along with me at the time.
Ironically enough though, in the last 7 or 8 years, there's been a DJ on the air at our local country music station going by "Hawkeye". Folks ask me if I'm the same Hawkeye because apparently he left the station a year or so ago. So nice to be missed on someone else's behalf I suppose.
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Hawkeye Kane
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thorvaldsen76
166 posts
Jun 15, 2013
1:47 PM
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Well, my nickname is "9 fingers". Simply, because I cut off my right thumb with a saw back in '96. So when we were discussing names for our band, the other guys insisted on "9Fingers" :)
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BronzeWailer
1029 posts
Jun 15, 2013
3:33 PM
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My middle name is Kelvin, after the scientist (Dad was a physics prof). One of my friends (middle name Irving) came up with Zero Degrees Kelvin, which I use in The Investment Buskers duo. You have to admit that is pretty cool.
I gave my guitarist the nickname String Theory.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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SuperBee
1222 posts
Jun 15, 2013
3:52 PM
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You are awesome at this stuff BW!
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BronzeWailer
1031 posts
Jun 15, 2013
4:32 PM
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Thanks SB. I am trying (very trying, says my wife).
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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Johncn
65 posts
Jun 15, 2013
4:56 PM
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Mine is sort of like Rick's...I'm 5' 7", about 155 pounds...and the one I was given was Big Johncn...so I feel a little self conscious about using it....for all the obvious reasons. I usually just use the second half.
Regards,
Johncn
Last Edited by Johncn on Jun 15, 2013 4:58 PM
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nacoran
6871 posts
Jun 15, 2013
6:40 PM
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Bronzewailer, as cool as you can get, in fact. My dad was, among other things in his career, a physics teacher. (He left teaching eventually to be a programmer.) Got to call him tomorrow. :)
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Nate
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Reed Triller
51 posts
Jun 15, 2013
6:52 PM
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Mine originally was "Big Daddy Ray" back when I first got into harp and signed up on HarmonicaSpace.com. Sort of a nod to a lot of the big blues artists who had such names.
One day a couple years ago that changed when I happened to sign onto Facebook and they gave me a notice that BDR was not a valid name now and I had to use my real name.
I already had a family account using my real name so after a few minutes of thinking of names that were harp related I settled on Reed Triller. Reed being a real legit first name passed through without a problem. I chose Triller for the trills done on a harp. I think it has a nice ring to it,lol.
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
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garry
412 posts
Jun 15, 2013
9:01 PM
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my stage name is Rick Davis. nobody knows why.
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Rhartt1234
87 posts
Jun 16, 2013
9:31 AM
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I don't have a music nickname. However,my father has given nicknames to my brothers, cousins and me. I was born 7 years after my last brother so my father calls me "Oops". I've heard him call me Ryan no more than three times in my life and it sounded weird.
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ReedSqueal
450 posts
Jun 16, 2013
11:56 AM
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No comment.
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Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy.
-Dan Castellaneta
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geordiebluesman
748 posts
Jun 16, 2013
12:15 PM
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At school my Nickname was Payney, my Surname is Payne but then some git said it should be Puny coz your so weak and undersized and that stuck for years till I was 16 and had just had enough of it so I declared during an afternoon out with all my mates," the next person who calls me Puny is gonna get knocked out", and I totaly meant it and it must have showed on my face coz no one tried they just decided to give me a new Nickname and guess what I got, Gus, because with my big lips they thought I looked like Gus the silverback gorrila in london Zoo!.
I gave myself the name Geordiebluesman for Youtube coz I love the Blues and I'm a proud Geordie and I like it but if I ever learn to play my 3 string Cigar Box Guitar I might change it to Seaside Steve, coz I live at the coast.
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andysheep8
31 posts
Jun 16, 2013
1:56 PM
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I worked in a casino but they didn't call me Maverick, they don't call me Curly even though i have curly hair; no- you shag ONE sheep!
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gene
1127 posts
Jun 16, 2013
2:16 PM
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The folks I worked with on the freight dock called me Lightnin' 'cuz I worked VERY fast. I was proud of that name! But I got older and kinda lost pride in it, 'cuz I didn't really deserve it anymore. I still outworked most (if not all) of them, but just not at the supersonic speed I used to work at. By my request, I went back to "Gene", though some wouldn't let go of "Lightnin'.
Last Edited by gene on Jun 16, 2013 2:23 PM
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garry
413 posts
Jun 16, 2013
10:15 PM
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how'd the black bear get in your underwear?
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BronzeWailer
1032 posts
Jun 17, 2013
2:05 AM
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@garry. Must've bought him a drink.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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HawkeyeKane
1773 posts
Jun 17, 2013
7:16 AM
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I, for one, wouldn't mind hearing how Barbeque Bob got his nickname. I'm sure there's probably a simple explanation for it, but you never know. It might be something you don't necessarily expect. Howzabout it Bob?
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Hawkeye Kane
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1847
845 posts
Jun 17, 2013
8:46 AM
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they used to call me "muddy"
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PASS THE HAT
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Rick Davis
1963 posts
Jun 17, 2013
12:17 PM
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Tim, I think he borrowed it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_Bob
Robert Hicks, better known as Barbecue Bob (September 11, 1902 – October 21, 1931) was an early American Piedmont blues musician. His nickname came from the fact that he was a cook in a barbecue restaurant.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
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HawkeyeKane
1775 posts
Jun 17, 2013
1:16 PM
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Well....simple explanation, yes. But still...not what I had expected. LOL
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Hawkeye Kane
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bloozefish
105 posts
Jun 19, 2013
12:17 PM
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I've been called "da Perfesser", as in "Perfesser's in da house." must be from my 30+ year day-job.
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nacoran
6875 posts
Jun 19, 2013
1:38 PM
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Not so much blues related, but musical nicknames and such:
Cracked
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Nate
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Mojokane
705 posts
Jun 19, 2013
8:13 PM
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Mojo (?)what exactly does MOJO mean? I don't know!
Kane(man)pronounced Kah-nee. Hawaiian for genius...
I gave it to myself one day when I thought my progress was due one. Couldn't come up with anything better....a friend calls me KaneMojo.
I kinda like that one better.
No beeg deal, though.
It serves a purpose when I use it for shows at a venue I play weekly. Example; Mojokane's Blues Wednesday!
The bar owner digs it, too. He wonders why I don't use it more often.
It does makes one wonder, how the Hawaiian's got the blues. Sorta like American indians...getting shafted by the "immigrants". Long story.
Why is it that we all just can't get along?<
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2chops
137 posts
Jun 20, 2013
9:29 AM
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2chops was bestowed upon me by some coworkers many years ago. A combination of my Native American and martial arts background. A secondary one a lot of my friends call is Bro. Ron. I like both.
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You Tube = goshinjk
I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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2chops
138 posts
Jun 20, 2013
9:30 AM
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2chops was bestowed upon me by some coworkers many years ago. A combination of my Native American and martial arts background. A secondary one a lot of my friends call is Bro. Ron. I like both.
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You Tube = goshinjk
I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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shadoe42
266 posts
Jun 20, 2013
3:15 PM
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My stage name started out smaller and grew haha.... When I first joined the pirate band i needed a name that was somewhat humorous, somewhat nautical, and a litte bawdy... I was thumbing thru a nautical dictionary and came across Cheeks... two small blocks of wood used to lash a spar to a mast or to stop the wheels of a cannon.... so that started it. Then the guys in the band discovered I used to do youth work at church and that I was a legally licensed baptist minister so started calling me Rev Cheeks.... then at one point after we brought harmonica into the picture we finished song one night where I had taken a harp solo and one of the other guys in the band was like.... Ladies and gentlemen the Dr. Rev. Mr. CHEEKS!.... and it stucks with the fans so I have just carried it over hahaha.
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Dr. Rev. Mr. Cheeks Miller
My Electronic Music World
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Georgia Blues
62 posts
Jun 29, 2013
8:13 PM
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I've always felt weird about the nickname thing. Dont even like people to abreviate my name an call me "Al". But my band mates started calling me "Professor" which is natural enough because that's what I am. After all these years... a nickname I like. Go figure.
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Alex
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Rick Davis
2032 posts
Jun 30, 2013
11:34 AM
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Georgia Blues, I get called "Professor" too. I don't know why. There is a woman in Denver, probably the best blues fan in town, who always calls me that.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Jun 30, 2013 11:34 AM
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Georgia Blues
63 posts
Jun 30, 2013
2:42 PM
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Rick, Well, one professor to another, or something... there was a musician I knew in Austin Texas, Dan Del Santo who had a world music show on public radio there. He also was a killer slide guitar player. Saw him open for Taj Mahal once and it was great. He fronted a band called Dan Del Santo and The Professors of Pleasure. Great name and it was s great band. Every time somebody calls professor it reminds me of Dan... RIP.
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Alex
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Rick Davis
2351 posts
Sep 13, 2013
3:58 PM
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Tim, your nickname oughta be Sugar, not Hawkeye...
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Sep 13, 2013 4:20 PM
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Barley Nectar
26 posts
Sep 13, 2013
5:23 PM
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Around here,most people have a nickname. My last name is commonly mispronounced as goosenecker. Hence, my sixth grade teacher started calling me Goose. Before that I was Rick, but there were 3 other Ricks so Goose I am. It is a family nickname. My Mom calls Dad Goose. This was not known by my teacher. I have a nephew called Goose that lives far away and my Son goes by Goose. Believe it or not, people call my one brother Bunny. Some of my buddies are Rat, Toad, Roach, Choco, Cock, Weiner (woman), Sarge, Shrine, Slash, Biscut, Hoss, Wojo, Hoopie, and their all over 50! LOL
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Sep 13, 2013 5:29 PM
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tbirdflier
45 posts
Sep 13, 2013
5:37 PM
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Dan the Man, coined by RC who is head guy for the group, "Daddy-O". Okay by me...
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garry
434 posts
Sep 13, 2013
7:17 PM
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i generally go by Garry "Oh please God not this guy again" Hodgson. or so i hear.
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PropMan
8 posts
Sep 13, 2013
8:21 PM
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Was known as "Orbit" back in the 70s for reasons unknown. It was Berkeley and it was 1972.
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garry
436 posts
Sep 13, 2013
8:56 PM
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@propman: that's reason enough. a friend of mine's name is Healfdene. it was berkeley and it was 1972.
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Leatherlips
223 posts
Sep 14, 2013
2:55 AM
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I guess my nickname is obvious to those who have high lip wear. I chose it because I thought it was funny and that I know of no-one else using it. Had it around 20 years.
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root
2 posts
Sep 18, 2013
4:35 PM
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Guy Davis gave me the coolest nickname I've ever had. My last name is Root, and he calls me "Root doctor"
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