When you're a kid, you can't wait to bring your mom the picture you drew, or sing her the song you learned. You live for her approval, that smile of pride.
And later, that support can steadily make you more and more into the artist you will become. One day you're singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and the next you're all loud and shirtless and edgy and sweaty with sex and stuff.
What happens to your mom then?
"Rock Star" is a nocturnal occupation, and as we all know, our parents have never stayed up late, had sex or ever been cool. They're not going to come out to a dive bar and to see us strum and scream, and if they did, we'd be sooooooo embarrassed.
"Honor thy parents, brothers and sisters," Joey "the Lips" Fagan once said. "They were hip to the groove once too, you know? Parents are soul."
Then again, it's kind of neat when you're mom finally comes to see you perform as an adult. One of Rocks Off's favorite memories is David Arquette keeping our lead singer's mom company on the curb while the rest of us tried to get her door open after she'd locked her keys in her car.
Kris Krunk is another local legend who give props to his maternal support system. She was there when he was an all-region tuba player in school, and was an avid attendant when Krunk did solo acoustic sets at coffee houses. But what about now, when Krunk is indulging in more mature-minded material?
"When she comes to a Krunkquistadors show, I get a lil' embarrassed," said Krunk. "A lot of our songs are ok to play when she's there, not too many drug, sex and alcohol references, but when we play songs like 'Put Your Lights Out,' 'Bad Bitch,' or 'Sweet Sweet' I always try not to make eye contact with her while I do my verses and choruses.
"Something about saying 'Sticky Icky Icky, come and get me when you see me, I'm always flying high first class straight to Philly' or 'Ooh Girl go and gimme that Sweet Sweet, You know I need that Sweet Sweet' makes me feel awkward in front of Mom," he adds, inexplicably.
"I always hope that she is old enough not to pick up on some slang, but then again, she isn't dumb! Even though I do get red in the face, I still appreciate the fact that she comes to support me, whether she likes the music or not, because she is my world.
"I'll make it up to her when I have kids and start writing kids' songs... Yeah, I said it."