Who’s Agnes

Agnes Stone (Angie’s Grandmother) was 96 years old. We named the band after her from a couple of very random happenings. It started out with us taking months trying to find a band name.  We were pretty much at a loss until One night we all got together with our friends at Bar Louie’s for dinner and drinks.  We started brainstorming some band names writing them down on a napkin.  We thought of resurrecting our old name “Tiki Lenny”, and then Ben suggested “The PickMeups”.  While all of this was going on, Staci and Angie were talking about wedding plans for Bryan and Staci’s wedding later that year.  Staci said “Angie, I’ve been hunting for Agnes’ address all week so I can send her a wedding invitation.  …Hey, Hunting Agnes… that would be a good band name”.  Angie wrote it down on the napkin and soon dinner had ended.  We then proceeded to the Shadow Box Cabaret for a show, dismissing the thought of settling on a band name that night.  When we arrived Bryan suggested we get a hold of The MC and ask her if she would do a crowd poll (a.k.a.  Applause-O-Meter) for each of the three names that we had come up with.  So he asked her, she agreed, and Angie handed her the napkin with the names on it.  The MC was totally into it stating she was kind of tired of the same old  birthday and anniversary announcements.   She took the stage and told the crowd what was going on.  She yelled out the 1st name “Tiki Lenny”… there were a few claps and hollers. Then she presented the second name “The PickMeUps”… there was a little more of a response to that one.  She finally shouted out “Hunting Agnes”.  The crowd literally went crazy.  So, we pretty much had our name figured out for us and it’s stuck ever since.

After that, the stories behind the name started to evolve. This was based on stories that  Agnes would tell Ben and Angie whenever they would go over to her house on Hunt rd…. HA!  They were stories of her getting chased by bears, deer, pit bulls and even gypsies on the old Mill Creek.  She even had stories of John Dillinger robbing a bank in Reading Ohio in the 20′s right in front of her very eyes (listen above).  They were all entertaining, and all had an undertone of adventure to them that implied Agnes being chased or “hunted”.   Agnes lived an amazing and long life.  After her husband (Chester) passed away, She lived all by herself, and at 96 years old she was still ornery as ever.  She died unexpectedly at her home in Reading, Ohio on Hunt rd. on Friday – October 24th, 2008.   This same night we played a show at The Blue Note on the west side of Cincinnati.  We got word of her passing about a half hour before taking the stage.  Needless to say, it was a sad time for all of us,  but we played a great show in her honor!