Who Wants Chicken?

Gasoline Chicken singer/guitarist Chris Crow says he has dealt with the demons that led him to get into eight fights at Scolari's Office (four during Gasoline Chicken gigs). He says his "almost a year" of sobriety has taken him away from the lifestyle that triggered barroom brawls at Winstons in O.B., Pounders in Escondido, and landed him jail terms in California, Texas, and Mexico.

Crow describes an incident brought on by his short fuse:

"We were playing at Scolari's and this little punk bitch was hanging on the rafters, swinging around annoying us. I took it as an insult. I picked up a Les Paul and slammed his chest and knocked him to the floor. I see [drummer] Jonathan [Crow] dive across the drum kit and nail the guy."

Jonathan is Chris's older brother. Chris says bassist Aaron Witherell is the only easygoing guy in the band.

"People go around talking shit about me, saying I'm a greasy junkie loser," says Chris. "[A local rockabilly band] wishes they were me but they can't be me. They built their whole image around what my life has been about. They want to write songs about drinking and drugging and going to jail, but they never walked a day in my shoes."

Regarding Scolari's: "We're still welcome to come back," says Chris. "But if we're playing a show and you give us some heavy hatred and you feel like you want some, we'll give you some."

Gasoline Chicken appears Wednesday at O'Connell's and August 22 at the 710 Club.