Outlaw Dave made this Houston band famous
Remember the Cleveland Steamers? Former 101 KLOL afternoon DJ Outlaw Dave always has and always will I suspect, support Houston-area musicians and bands.
That’s just who Dave is. And the Steamers are proof positive of that.
Now, you might have read the band’s name on a slang website or heard the term on Howard Stern’s show thanks to Richard and Sal, but band member Mac McNulty said they actually took the name from a Tenacious D song.
The self-described blues/rock band also leaned on the fact they lived in Huffman, TX for a bit, which happened to be around 30 miles from Cleveland, TX.
The Cleveland Steamers
Mac McNulty- Guitar, Vocals
Ricky Thunder – Bass
Graham Tartar – Guitar
Michael Christmas- Drums
Either way, here is the tale, as told to me by McNulty, of some Houston-area dudes who were heavily influenced by Alice in Chains and Sublime, that got to live the local rock star life thanks to Outlaw Dave.
The Cleveland Steamers story in McNulty’s words:
“Outlaw Dave, KLOL, and the 420 break all had a huge impact on my life. My friends and I often listened to that rock station in the afternoons, especially at 4:20 when OD would play whatever satirical, funny song he had about marijuana.
I was young musician who saw an opportunity to get on the air. I had written this song and had won an open mic night contest that had giving me some free recording time (expensive back then). I recorded the song, mailed it to KLOL’s office, then dropped it off at KLOL, and finally was able to hand it to OD at a remote.
The next day at 4:20pm, my friend Clint and I had one of the best experiences of my life…riding down FM 1960 with my song playing on the radio.
It was an amazing experience, and it was really just the beginning of a great relationship with OD. My band, the Cleveland Steamers, played at several remotes, jammed in the KLOL studio, and even played at the last birthday bash at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on the side stage before Black Label Society, Slayer and Judas Priest. We weren’t that good, but we had a blast, and thanks to KLOL, there were people in that audience singing my song back to me.
When KLOL well went off the air, it was devastating.
I was involved on the early movement to bring KLOL back – we were pathetic :(. But when the internet came around years later – the spirit of KLOL came back for good.
Three cheers for that. ”
“Come Smoke with Me” was the song that Outlaw Dave played fairly often. You might have also heard “Whole Lotta Smoke.”
*edited for clarity