Local businessmen rock the stage as ‘2 Drink Minimum’
TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – It is a Friday night, and 2 Drink Minimum is about to take the stage in a packed house at Romie’s.
The band has a 44-song setlist, and Vocalist and Guitarist Scott Reed is asked about audience requests.
‘We always take requests, and stuff, we almost never play them. But we love to know what you want to hear,” said Reed.
2 Drink Minimum has built a following with their high-energy covers of classic rock, easy listening, and blues. The band is made up, primarily, of middle-aged professionals, except for Reed’s son-in-law.
‘Hogan has reduced the average age of the band members; he is 27, an incredible lead guitar player, and he somehow wants to play with us. I don’t understand that either,” Reed said.
Reed formed 2 Drink Minimum nearly twenty years ago, which, as he points out, eclipsed another band, with a steady following.
‘This is our seventeenth year together, twice as long as The Beatles. I am not saying we are as good as them, but I am just saying we lasted twice as long as them,” Reed said.
The band is a favorite at clubs, festivals, and other events. Reed says there is a big need for more live music in Tupelo and the area, and that is one reason he formed The AMP Foundation.
‘One reason I started The AMP Foundation, which is trying to support live music, is because it is really hard for bands like us to play in places like Tupelo and get the money we need to pay all the band members, if we could get people, if it could become a habit, to pay a cover to get in, I think we could really get more good live music,” Reed said.
A 2 Drink Minimum show is as much fun as it was conducting this interview, and for Reed and Drummer Todd Hunt, keeping the audience engaged, with a great show, is one of their main goals.
‘First of all, I love music, and trying to create music, and to make it good. We have a desire to be good, the other thing is, with all things in the world, my business, family, once we hit that down beat, for the next two or three hours, I can’t think about anything else than making that show go well,” Reed said.
“It gives people a chance to forget about their troubles and enjoy themselves for awhile,” Hunt said.
And if you’re lucky, you might even get some 2 Drink minimum merch.
“We have t shirts with our world tour,” Reed said.
Where was that? ‘Most of it is around here,” he said.
They may be mostly middle age, but 2 Drink Minimum proves that the rock and roll spirit is timeless.
You can keep up with 2 Drink Minimum and their schedule, and music releases on their Facebook page.
