Mike Welch

Location: Overland Park, KS

Paw Fan Since: 1991

Favorite Paw Album: Dragline

Top 3 Paw Tracks: If there were only three, I wouldn't be here.

Favorite Paw Riffs: Oh Lord that changes by the mood...daily. Today I'm feeling:

• Sunflower

• Year of the Locust

• Sugarcane

Favorite Paw Lyrics: Again ... impossible to narrow down, but recently, as the favorite riffs change so did the lyrics and Sunflower plays on loop in my head.

• "Give a little garden for the growin’ seeds, There's gotta be someone to pull the weeds"

Favorite Paw Memories:

• Every live show has been memorable in one way or another. Stand outs in my mind are the Bottleneck show after a dry spell from touring the Dragline album. "Uh...Y'all left with long hair...but hey that looks cool. Guess I'm cuttin’ mine off tomorrow!”

• Another amazing show was headlining the alternative stage at Spiritfest in KC. Mark comes out in angel wings. Good idea. Eventually dives into the crowd which was the thing you do when headlining a show that big. Doing it with the wings on didn't go so well. Watched Grant giving security hell the rest of the show but that's all part of what made the whole show incredible.

• My birthday gift was surprise tickets to the show at Liberty Hall on Saturday April 11th, 1998. My birthday was the following day, and out to dinner with about 12 close friends, I opened a card and inside was a ticket to the show. I promptly learned everyone there was going also. The show was amazing and the encore version of Hard Pig burned the place down.

Paw Wishlist: I'm good. But I wish them all peace, life well lived, and watershed of all they have given us.