The music world has lost a great asset in the last week. For those who knew him, Dave Williams was the kindest, most honorable man to ever walk the face of the Earth. He truly was. I know that I will miss him, as well as everyone else who knew him.

I met Dave about a week after BFD. That was a local concert put on by KEGL. I was outside working on my car when he strolled on by. As a matter of fact, he asked if I needed any help changing out my headlight. I said 'No thanks,' but he stopped to talk anyway. We started talking about BFD and how excellent it was. At that time I did not recognize him. I proceeded to tell him that the main reason I went was to see Drowning Pool, and that it was the best part of the day when Darrell and Vinnie from Pantera got up on stage and played 'Walk' with them. With the little half smile that Dave was always famous for; he looked at me and said, 'Nice to meet you, I'm Dave Williams, vocalist of Drowning Pool.' At that point, I just about let everything loose in my pants. I couldn't imagine that I was standing there talking to him. Well, we chatted for a while, then he left.

Afterward, I started thinking about something that had happened in the past, and to this day, I don't know for sure if it was true or not. A while back, I would have to say sometime last year; I had my profile up on a musician website because I was looking for a band. I play bass, for those of you who don't know. Well, I had received an e-mail from someone listed at DrPool, asking if I would like to come meet the band and that they were looking for a bass player. About a week or so before that, my car was broken into and my bass was stolen. So I didn't have the chance to join this 'DrPool' band, but I'm still wondering to myself, 'Was that Drowning Pool???'

Dave has had an impact on everyone's life that he has come in contact with, or even if it was just someone who listened to his music. That was obvious when I attended the memorial service yesterday at the Plano Center. There were many people there; a lot of them were just fans of the band. Most of them had never even met Dave, but they felt like they needed to be there. There were many eulogies, but I think one of the best was from his Uncle Bill, or Uncle Ill as Dave would say. At one point, Uncle Bill began to talk about a band in heaven, and how great it is. He concluded by saying, "If there is a band in Heaven, it just got fuckin' better." At that point the whole crowd stood up and cheered, while crying at the same time. Later the Chairman of Wind-Up Records had a speech. At one point, when Drowning Pool had just gotten signed by the record company, Dave was asked what he was going to do with all the money that he was going to make. Dave replied that he was going to buy a nice house for his parents to live in. Well, Dave had agreed when the first album was released to sell it at a lower price so that more people would be able to enjoy Drowning Pool's music. So, in turn, they hadn't made that much money off of it, but they were going to start making the big money with the second album. Dave never made the money to buy that house for his parents. So, later this year, Wind-Up Records is releasing a Drowning Pool DVD, with live shows and interviews with friends of Dave. The first $250,000 in sales from that DVD will go toward a house for Dave's parents. So, I encourage everyone to pick that DVD up, so that Dave's memory will live on, not just in a spiritual sense, but there will be a structure built on hallowed ground in his memory.

Many people have had things to say about Dave in his passing. Justin Rimer of Breaking Point, Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, Machine Head, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag of Pantera, John Connolly of Sevendust, and Skid Row to name a few. This is my dedication. Dave, you will be truly missed. I just can't wait until the day that I will get to see your smirky half-smile again, and laugh at your jokes until I fall over from stomach pain. Rest in peace, and don't forget to show Heaven how to ROCK!