A Love Story With Whole Damn Mess

I shared my 20 part love story here, and then went for a long honeymoon story in Alaska! When I meet people, I love to ask them how they met. It’s what keeps me going – the storytelling. I love to tell my own stories, and I love to tell other people’s stories. I don’t know if it’s the writer in me, the photographer in me, or just the ME in me that is so fascinated by love stories. It seems so ludicrous – that you could love someone SO MUCH – and then that the same person could love you back. Right?? Ludicrous! And yet, it happens every day. It happened to me. It happened to Don Miggs and Lisa DeBartolo.

Last month I was thrilled to review Whole Damn Mess’s new album: The Queen And The Outcast. Today? I’m thrilled to share that there’s a beautiful back story behind the band, and it’s romantic and fateful. The album is a unique love story for rock and roll dreamers. The name of the album actually came from the love story of singer/guitarist Don Miggs, and his wife, Lisa DeBartolo – the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer and former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo. Biggs was a Long Island boy and not from a lot of money, and this unlikely pair inspired the course of The Queen and the Outcast.

All of the songs on the album are deeply personal and thrillingly infectious, and Miggs admits that he lives in a mansion because he married a rich girl, and not because of the hit record. That said, he still put all of his heart and soul into this record. And he was helped by co-writer/producers – Mighty Mighty Bosstones guitarist Lawrence Katz and songwriter/producer C. Todd Nielsen. When you go through a deep life experience, it imbues everything you do. For me, that’s photography and writing. For Miggs, that’s music. Every song on the album tells a story of his love and life.

I think that’s why the songs resonate. We’ve all been there – in love – maybe with someone from a different kind of life. We’ve broken hearts, had our hearts broken, taken leaps of faith, and thought about the craziness of the world. Lisa struggled with postpartum depression, and Miggs wrote “Be Good to Yourself” about that song. I have worked with people with postpartum depression, and sometimes they wonder how it affects their partner. I LOVE this song for its depth and sensitivity. And I really love that this album is based on a love story. A real love story. Real love stories are messy and beautiful.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out the album. I’d love to hear the songs you love on it, and the stories you hear when you listen to the lyrics and imagine the meanings. So good!