Photo by Austin Miller

Godsmack's Sully Erna

It's 2:45 in the morning and you're stumbling to the bar. You've had a few to drink, and you just got your face rocked off by your favorite rock band in the universe. It's time to have one for the road and then get on home (responsibly, in a cab or on a bus, of course).

You look up to order and think, "What do I even want? There's too much to choose from." Suddenly, Sully Erna, lead singer of Godsmack, walks up to you. He says, "friend, never feel like you have to stand alone again. Here, try my tequila."

This is a fictional story, but it could happen to you this Friday night. From 6 to 8 p.m., Sully Erna, who also happens to be the President and CEO of the 8:15 Pura Vida Shot Club, will be appearing at the downtown location of Spec's (2410 Smith) to sign bottles of Pura Vida Tequila, a tequila that truly stands alone in taste.

In the spirit (ugh) of the occasion, here's five musicians who have dipped their toes (hopefully not literally) into the business of alcoholic drinks.

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Art by Marissa Paternoster

When they hit the stage and do what they do, it's easy to forget that our musical heroes are basically just talented, driven and very lucky human beings. They're flesh, blood, bone and the right type of grey matter, all formed into a singular unit designed to delight us all with their extraordinary gifts.

Because they're sculpted from basically the same Play-Doh as you and me, they too are prone to illness. Like chronic disease sufferers everywhere, these people beat back their ailments daily to continue pursuing their passions.

It's not a new phenomenon. Since Beethoven began noticing his own hearing loss (and even before that), musicians have set aside their own maladies to continue entertaining us. The list is long and includes superstars like Elvis Presley (back pain/migraines), Pete Townshend (tinnitus) and Patti LaBelle (type 2 diabetes).

Following are ten artists who are presently active and actively battling chronic diseases. Some are just beginning their careers and must endure symptoms as they tour and try to win new fans. Others are better known and are using their celebrity to bring attention and advocacy to their illnesses.

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Photo courtesy of Molotov Compromise

Molotov Compromise's Jeremy Pacheco

Billy Munoz wants to reassure you would-be skankers to just get on the dance floor and do your thing. He won't judge you.

"It doesn't matter what you look like as long as you're moving," he says. "The goofier the better. We feed off our audience."

Andrew Garrigan agrees.

"Is there really a way to skank that doesn't look a little wonky?" he asks.

Munoz and Garrigan are Houston musicians, both well-qualified to speak on the subject. They're members of area ska bands and both agree they are seeing more fans attempting to skank because they're seeing more fans at shows.

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Photo by Craig Hlavaty

The great hope of rock and roll critics at the start of the 21st century, the Strokes, released their newest record Comedown Machine last month. It was met with the sort of lukewarm reviews that the band has been receiving for years now; about the greatest compliment anyone can give it is that "it's better than their last one."

What went wrong? Prior to their break from releasing albums between the years 2006 and 2011, the band had been critical darlings and the hippest band to like since Pavement hit the airwaves. This was the band everyone had been waiting for to prevent the death of rock at the hands of R&B and hip-hop. So what the hell happened?

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Photo by K. Shilcutt

I went to see Paul McCartney at Minute Maid last year. A friend bought the tickets, and I asked if he'd mail mine so I could hold it in my hand and marvel at this new, treasured souvenir. He said he would just e-mail it to me as a PDF once he'd received a confirmation in his inbox.

Rewind:

Last Night: Sir Paul McCartney at Minute Maid Park

Paul McCartney: What Becomes a Legend Most?

Attending a concert in Houston 30 years ago was, as Chuck D. once said, the best and worst of times (yes, that Chuck D). Epitomizing it all was the first and necessary step of securing a ticket, a practice far more involved than it currently is. It could be an inconvenient pain in the ass, but more often than not, it was a memorable event, and one that today's concertgoers are largely being deprived of.

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Okay, let's get this out of the way right off the bat. That headline is hyperbole. I don't think one man could possibly ruin the entirety of rock and roll. That takes the combined effort of a movement, such as hair metal in the '80s or nu-metal in the late '90s.

Danger Mouse isn't a movement. He is, however, representative of an increasingly aggravating and desperate production trend.

Danger Mouse hit it big early in the '00s when he did that original mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' "White Album" to make the Grey Album. Speaking for myself personally, I never thought it as a particularly inspired idea and I never liked the mash-up trend to begin with. Perhaps for the novelty though, it spread like wildfire across the Internet, especially because the record companies got involved and made a martyr out of the Mouse.

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Photo by Julian Bajsel

The xx at House of Blues in February is but one of the dozens of sold-out shows Houston has already seen this year.

Regular concertgoers in Houston have probably noticed more sold-out shows in the area over the past year. Just a few years ago, sellouts were generally reserved for the biggest marquee acts at Toyota Center, Bayou Music Center, and Reliant Stadium's RodeoHouston shows.

These days, though, it seems every giant hip-hop or indie show is selling out within a few days of the on-sale date. Nearly every big traveling Fitzgerald's indie show has sold out recently, most notably Tame Impala, Local Natives, Toro Y Moi and Alt-J the past few weeks. The April 26 Atlas Genius show has been sold out for weeks.

Other smaller acts have stirred up sellouts too. Those mentioned above are now what you would call festival bands at this point in their development. Even former club acts such as Muse, who played Toyota Center last week, are now arena bands.

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Kellychristinephoto.com

Where the weed at?

This week -- today, in fact -- the Golden, Texas native Kacey Musgraves finally releases her eagerly-awaited debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park. Indeed, it's fitting that she's from a town named Golden, as the new album is but the most recent example of some serious Solid Country Gold that's come from the younger generation of major-label maidens.

To add to that, one of Miranda Lambert's fellow Pistol Annies, the uber-talented Ashley Monroe, released 2013's first, great major-label country album, the stellar Like a Rose, just a couple of weeks ago.

The Monroe and Musgraves albums are different in a number of ways. Monroe is all-twang, all-the-time on Like a Rose. Whether she's singing about lovers from the present or past, or telling trashy stories just well-enough to be entertaining instead of, well, trashy, It's unlikely a more thoroughly entertaining country record will be released this year (though, the upcoming Pistol Annies album is sure to entertain, as well).

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Photo By Groovehouse

Unpaid royalties have long been a problem in the music industry. Artists, songwriters, and producers miss out on millions due to the misappropriation of funds at the hands of shady labels and music executives.

One of the most recent instances of this is the ongoing dispute between pioneering funk artist/producer George Clinton and his former friend Armen Boladian, owner of Bridgeport Music.

In late 2012, George launched his "Flashlight 2013" campaign to shine some light on misappropriated copyrights for musicians, songwriters and artists.

He gives the following statement on the campaign's official Web site:

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I have to admit, I'm not the biggest My Bloody Valentine fan in the world. I thoroughly enjoy Loveless and their newest record, mbv, but they're not my favorite band.

I guess that's why I wasn't aware until the band released a statement about it that people are selling that new record for assloads of money on eBay.

The funny thing is, out of all those people selling those ridiculously priced copies of it, none of them actually has the record. Yes, before you get your hopes up, as the band said in that statement, all those auctions are fake.

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