kp: You have rules about not being able to participate more than once. Have there ever been any exceptions?
cw: NO EXCEPTIONS!

kp: What are the other rules?
cw: We choose five people who are primarily drummers to do the picking - they draw four other names out of the hat. That way each band has a drummer if they want one, although who-plays-what is totally up to the new band. Also, there is a one-cover-song limit.

kp: Quiz. What band featured Corn Mo, John Freeman, and Mike Rudnicke?
cw: Code Name: Fuck

kp: Matt Pence and Sam McCall?
cw: The Saucer Section

kp: George Neal and Angelique Congleton?
cw: La Cheenies De La Boonies
kp: Which later re-formed (as La Cheenies) for real.
cw: Yep.

kp: Erik Thompson?
cw: Not Yet, Maybe.

kp: Will Johnson?
cw: Magic Johnson: The Gathering

kp: That's my favorite.
cw: It spawned a lot of similars (Gee Gee Allin Alda, The Jackson Polyp 5). I also liked Dong, USA 666, Return of the Don't Talk Backs,...

kp: Choad Blast and the Chapstick Factory...
cw: Colin Carter and his Underage Boys Next Door, Gay Gaye, "The Cave, The Canteen", and January 1, 1957. And so many more.

kp: Who is hosting this year in Seattle?
cw: Like the first two, there will be no host.

kp: You are very protective of this idea - have you had run-ins with copy cats?
cw: I have heard of Rock Lotteries all over the country and I think it is mostly good. I know the one in Baltimore this year gave us a "thank you" on stage, although they thanked one of the past venues rather than Good/Bad. But it is the thought that counts.

I only get protective and angry when it is a local copy cat. In 1998 right before Rock lottery 3, [Dallas's] Curtain Club announced "The First Ever Rock Lottery". So I made some phone calls (lawyers, the press, Curtain Club bookers) and put some pressure on them to at least change the name. Their version was so watered-down that ultimately I didn't care. The new-formed bands were not randomly selected; they had a week or two to practice, and they could do as many covers as they wanted. Let them do it.

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