Rd.3 Muscle Motors celebrates Grand Opening in New Lisbon with Skinny Molly concert.
By: Kevin Vickery
On Sunday, July 21st Jeremy Boling celebrated the Grand Opening of the new location for his motorcycle shop, Rd.3 Muscle Motors by hosting an outdoor concert with Skinny Molly, a band that features former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Foot. The event which was co-sponsored qby New Castle’s Stocktone Custom Shop, specializing in hand made to order guitar pick ups, drew approximately 400 motorcycle enthusiasts and southern rock fans to the new location for a warm evening of great music in New Lisbon.
After 20 years in the motor sports business, 6 of which were in New Castle, Jeremy decided to move to 6310 East Dublin Pike in New Lisbon because he found, “An awesome building to refurbish in a great community”.
I’d say he made the right choice as the building looked great and the selection of bikes in his showroom has something for everyone of all styles and price ranges. As of the Grand Opening, Rd.3 Motorsports which has been ranked in the top 25 nationally for customer service for the last 5 years is now fully open for business on Monday through Friday: 11am-6:00pm, and Saturdays: 11am-2pm.
Events like this always take a lot of work and with that in mind, Jeremy also added that the show was a success and was able to raise money via donations for several great organizations due to a collaborative effort of many local business like The Steve Alford All American Inn, Neal’s Scrap Metals, Boyd’s Construction, Fit Factory Gym, The community of New Lisbon and of course, Sherman Stockton of Stocktone Custom Shop.
Sherman is who turned me onto the show and to Skinny Molly in general. After seeing them perform and chatting with front man, Mike Estes, I’m very glad he did.
Mike was in Skynyrd in from 1993-96 and was featured on their 8th album, my personal favorite, “Endangered Species” which featured reworked, acoustic versions of some of the bands classics like, “Sweet Home Alabama” and, “Saturday Night Special” as well as then new material co-written by Mike like, “Devil in a Bottle” and, “Good Luck, Bad Luck”. I asked him what that recording process was like and he said, “I feel like that’s an underrated album, and it was like 90% live, which was great. All the music was done live in the studio while Johnny Van Zant sang. I think he may have went back, fixed a couple things, and that was it. I was in Florida with Ed King and Gary Rossington writing and they recruited me to engineer and record the pre-production sessions. That was a blast. Those cats were the best of the best at what they did.”
Mike also played a two year stint in Blackfoot from 2009-11. On that experience he said, “I loved playing in Blackfoot and Greg T Walker is one of my best friends to this day. We had a good run for a couple years, but Blackfoot’s original manager owns the trademark on that name, and he decided to put a band together of younger guys out under that name.
It’s too bad because I was just starting to come up with new songs with Greg and we were going to do a new Blackfoot record, which we were dying to do. The fact that it didn’t happen is to this day a huge disappointment for me.”
Mike then went on to form a band with original Molly Hatchet guitarist, Dave Hlubek, thus the name, Skinny Molly and under that moniker, they have recorded three albums, “No Good Deed”, Haywire Riot”, and, “Here for a Good Time”. Hlubek returned to Molly Hatchet and the current line up now includes in addition to Mike Estes on guitar and vocals, guitarist, Jay Johnson (also of Blackfoot and Rossington Band), Grand Ole Opry Bassist, Luke Bradshaw, and former Blackfoot drummer, Kurt Pierrot.
That line up along with guest guitarist, Sherman Stockton rocked New Lisbon with Skinny Molly songs like, “Two Good Wheels”, and, “When the Goin’ Gets Tough, the Tough Go Fishin’”. Mike’s low and powerful voice booms with southern rock authenticity and had the crowd singing along word for word to classics from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot as well as cool covers ranging from Waylon Jennings to The Rolling Stones.
Mike is a big fan of the guitar pick-ups made by Sherman at Stocktone Custom Shop and added, “I’m a Stocktone man for life now, as long as Shermie will put up with me. You can’t go wrong with his stuff. He’s basically a one man operation, quietly kicking everybody’s hind-end all over the place, and the word is getting out. I tell all the pickers I know about him, because I might as well. You can’t keep him a secret when it’s that great, though I wish I could. Plus, I want him to have all the success in the world, which I predict will happen.”
Skinny Molly has plans to finish a new album currently in the works but unfortunately, Mike’s battle with carpal tunnel syndrome and pinched nerves in his neck have slowed the process significantly. I asked if there was any update on that situation and Mike told me, “I’ve had two carpal tunnel surgeries, neither of which totally solved the problem. My Doc has come up with a non surgical fix that will keep me going, at least for a while. I start that treatment in a couple weeks. I’ve had to cancel tours because of it, and I’m not allowed to do lengthy tours again until they get a handle on it.”
I certainly hope that they do, not only so that Mike can get some much needed relief but also so that they can finish up and release the unheard Skinny Molly album. As a southern rock fan, I know that with the history and collective experience of this group of seasoned musicians, it will surely be a great listen.
To keep up with Skinny Molly, you can find them on all social media outlets or visit their official website at skinnymollyrocks.com
For more information about Rd.3 Muscle Motors, find them on Facebook or their website at rd3musclemotors.com
Like and follow Stocktone Custom Shop on Facebook to see the latest happenings with Sherman Stockton’s custom creations.
Make Some Noise 