Sevendust visits Area IV, gives free show

CAMP CARROLL, South Korea - "It was the Marines back then," said Lajon Witherspoon, the lead singer for Sevendust. "I had a recruiter coming to the house every weekend and I was really interested and really wanting to do it, but I kept dabbling more and more in the band. "He was like \'Yes, you can do a band for the Marines,'" said Witherspoon with a smile, not sure if it was his type of music. "Then I went a different route." Witherspoon said sometimes he still wishes he'd joined the military, especially after visiting AfA,A!ghanistan and Iraq. "Being with you guys makes me feel like I wish I'd had been there because the energy is so incredible being around you cats," he explained. "It's a life changing experience and we really appreciate what you all do," said Witherspoon. Sevendust held a concert at Camp Carroll's community activA,A!ity center July 2, as part of their tour of the four military areas throughout South Korea. This was Sevendust's first time being here in South Korea and they stayed in a hotel in Seoul during their tour. Witherspoon talked about staying in the hotel saying, "I would rather stay on base with ya'll because that's where it's at. When we get to the base it's like hey, the first person to see us is some cat from South Carolina that saw the show three years ago and that just makes us feel more at home," said Witherspoon. "I just like being on the bases with you guys. It's very cool," he said while a smile spread across his face. When asked which one of his songs meant the most to him, WithA,A!erspoon said, "A song called Prayer because it was a prayer for my little brother and the Angel song too. There's so many of them, but those songs to me hit closer to home with things that have hapA,A!pened to me personally in my life," said Witherspoon in a somber tone. "If that makes sense, the loss of different people and the loss of my brother. I feel like kind of in a sense the more people you meet, the more people you tend to lose. "I feel like we celebrate them in life with songs like the Angel song," said Witherspoon. "Even though death is sad, we have to get past that and say they are in a better place and that is where they are supposed to be." Witherspoon spoke about how it was to be away from his family while on tour saying, "You know what, I can relate but then I can say I can't relate. "When I was in Afghanistan I was talking to the wife and she said, 'I can't believe you're gone. I miss you so much,'" said WitherA,A!spoon. "I told her, 'You know what, straighten up right now. I'm looking at Soldiers who haven't been home in a year.' We kind of understand it, but we don't. You guys are a million miles away from home taking care of our lives making sure we're safe," said Witherspoon. While Witherspoon said he misses his family and it's hard to be a dad that's out there on the road, but he tries to spend as much time with his children as he can. "We bring them out and as we've gotten older it's really beautiful to get together and see all the kids, because you get on the tour bus and they are playing on the bunks and TVs," said Witherspoon of the band members and their families. "When you're older it's cool and we try not to tour as much as we used to." Witherspoon closed out the interview talking about the Soldiers saying, "We come over here and you guys say thank you, it's like for what, no thank you man," he said. "You guys are stars as far as we're concerned. You guys are top, in a league of your own." "Every single time to us it doesn't matter where you are we'll be there for you, said Witherspoon, "None of the Soldiers have to pay for tickets to a Sevendust show." "It's especially bad when we go to a town near a base," said WithA,A!erspoon with a chuckle. We tell the promoters you have to pay but the rest of them don't." Witherspoon's final message to the Soldiers was, "Thank you but I don't think thank you is enough to say, we appreciate, I appreciA,A!ate everything you have done for us and me in my life."