The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 14: The American Rock Star

Episode Date: April 26, 2016

His music career really blew up.

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The toilet had never done anything to Jason, but Jason was nevertheless determined to blow the toilet to pieces. His reasons were those of a moody kid plagued with enough teenage angst to fill the entire state of Washington. So Jason lit the fuse of the M80, dropped it into the bowl, closed the lid, and walked out of the restroom. A minute later, the toilet was gone as a deafening roar echoed through the hallways of his junior high school. Today, a stunt like that would land Jason in jail. Luckily, this was the early 80s, and the principal decided on a week's suspension instead. Luckyer still was his grandmother's decision to make Jason talk to a counselor. And luckiest of all was the presence of a guitar in the counselor's office.

Jason was immediately taken with the instrument, and the counselor invited him to pick it up and start strumming. Before long, the two were jamming for most of every scheduled session, launching what his grandmother would later call the most expensive guitar lessons in the world. By the time he finished high school, Jason still had some angst, but he also had a plan. He was going to be a rock star. His first band made a splash in the Seattle grunge scene and showed real potential, but there was something in Jason that still wanted to blow things up,

and this time it wasn't the play. plumbing. It was the opportunity. Jason became difficult to collaborate with and even less fun to be around. His friends and family could do nothing, but watch in horror as the promising band eventually had to replace him. But destiny was not done with Jason. After some genuine regret and self-reflection, the rock star in waiting was given a second chance. This time, an older band of more established musicians saw his undeniable talent and welcomed him into their midst. Overnight, Jason was playing to sold-out arenas, standing ovations, and glowing reviews from everyone in the industry. But again, Jason couldn't seem to handle the success he thought he

craved. Maybe he was depressed, or maybe he was just a drag to be around. Whatever the case, Jason retreated into himself once again, and his bandmates had no choice. but to replace the moody bass player. Sometimes when you hit what feels like the bottom, it's not enough to simply start over. Sometimes you need to go in a completely different direction. So Jason did something most aspiring rock stars don't do. He cut his hair.

He lost the nose ring. Then he enlisted in the United States Army and applied for a fast-track program into Ranger's School. Not only did Jason get in, he excelled. From Fort Benning, Georgia, it was off to Fort Lewis, Washington, not far from where he blew up the innocent toilet 10 years earlier. There he completed his ranger training and got a round-trip ticket to Latin America where he fought in a number of covert drug wars. Then it was off to Asia to fight piracy on the high seas. Jason served with distinction, but he wanted more.

So a 26 years of age, old for a soldier, he applied to the special forces and got in, completing his final phase of training on September 11, 2001. In no time, he was up to his neck in the world's most dangerous places. In Afghanistan, Jason smelled the poppy fields of Kandahar and came face to face with suicide bombers and learned the local language. He helicoptered in for midnight raids and fought from horseback in the Pashtun. Between deployments, he was in Iraq, firing grenades from a Humvee in the front line of America's biggest conventional military operation since World War II.

Basically, Jason was on the world stage, playing with a very different kind of band, a band of brothers. Again, you won't hear the details from Jason. most of what he did is still classified. But the medals and photos covering the wall in the cabin he calls home are both numerous and hard to discount. The coveted combat infantryman badge sits next to a photo of Jason with Donald Rumsfeld

and another with General Stanley McChrystal. You might say that in blowing things up, Jason finally found a career he couldn't destroy. And by hitting the reset button when he did, Jason did something rather extraordinary. Because while Jason is certainly not the only one to ever sabotage his own career, he might be the only one to do so in such spectacular, incomparable fashion. If you thought Pete Best blew it with the Beatles,

consider this. The first band that Jason bungled sold 30 million records the year after he got himself fired. Yeah, 30 million. And the second band? Don't even get me started on the second band. Ultimately, Jason Everman, the guitar player everybody wanted, missed out on more than a hundred million albums sold and many, many millions of dollars. But what he wound up with was a hell of a story, the only guitar player to wash out of Nirvana and Soundgarden, but still go on to become an American rock star. Anyway, that's the way I heard it.

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