Back in ‘99, Todd owned a head shop around the corner from
the Wreck Room and hung out there often. He seemed to like
my songs and the certain brand of bullshit I throw down. My
first encounter with Todd was when he insisted on buying me
a shot. He asks what I like to shoot and I said, “I don’t care,
how about tequila?.” He ordered two shots and we downed
them, and Todd immediately vomited on the bar. The bartender quickly cleaned it up. Todd looked at me and said that
he had a quick gag reflex. I told him that I had heard about his
gag reflex in prison. He thought that was pretty funny, and he
started crying from laughing so hard and almost puked again.
The next time I saw him, he bought us shots of crown instead of tequila but still managed to ralph on the bar. No one
kicked him out. No one said a word to him. No one gave him
a hard time or anything. They just laughed and cleaned up his
mess. Then they got him another drink. I immediately liked
him.
The Basement Bar was owned by, the late Todd Osborne.
Todd was a dear friend of mine for the last 15 years and
sadly, he passed away this past year on April 14, 2014.
He was only 41 years old. His next door neighbor, Joe,
also happens to be his father. Joe found Todd that day. I
hate that. Those of us who knew Todd well, knew he liked
to party and to have a good time. He also insisted that
those around him have a good time. He lived fast and
hard, and although the news of his death was a tough pill
to swallow, it didn’t surprise us.
I first met Todd sometime in 1999 at The Wreck Room.
The Wreck, as it was affectionately known, was a little,
dirty, rough, grungy, beautiful rock and roll bar in the
cultural district. It was there that I had my first ever,
weekly gig in Fort Worth which I somehow managed to
keep for 7 years. I actually lasted longer than the building
which was demolished in favor of $2000 a month condominiums and fucking sushi bars.
The Wreck Room was owned by another good friend of
mine, Brian Forella. Brian now owns Lola’s Saloon and
also sold the Basement Bar to Todd in 2007.
Todd went on to buy quite possibly the coolest house I’ve
ever been in. A party pad of all party pads fully equipped
with a swimming pool with slide and diving board, an indoor
hot tub, regulation pool table, and an incredible sound system. Todd threw some of the most memorable parties I can
remember and some of the most memorable parties I can’t
remember. I tripped on mushrooms floating in his pool on my
41st birthday for hours, watched several different naked women slide down the slide at many other parties, and have been
in the hot tub wearing nothing but my birthday suit with 12
people in the same attire another time. Todd gave me permission to use his swimming pool anytime I wanted no matter
what time of day it was. I only took him up on his offer a few
hundred times. 40 or 50 of those occasions came between the
hours of 2:00 a.m. and sunrise. I remember one time during
an afternoon barbecue at To dd’s, he asked me to play a song
I had recently written called, “I Drink and I Think”, on my
guitar and sing it for his 12 to 15 guests while he videoed it on
his phone. I told him that I was hung-over and didn’t really
feel like it. He said, “Well Cope, maybe I didn’t feel like letting
you swim in my pool 300 times, and maybe I didn’t feel like
giving you free booze for the last 6 years.” I played the song.
Point taken, Todd.
Acoustic Drive | 15