One of the heaviest challenges that have faced Tiger Army in the past few years happened in the spring of 2003 when drummer Frank Telles — who goes by the stage name Fred Hell — was shot four times during a botched home-invasion robbery.
"That was definitely the worst thing that has happened to us," said Nick 13, the band's founder/vocalist/guitarist.
Telles underwent surgery and, with a bullet still lodged in his brain, managed to recover, 13 said during a telephone interview from a stop in Detroit, Mich. And Telles is now back on tour with the band.
"Other trials haven't been as extreme," 13 said. "There have been so many times when I felt like we were on the brink of packing it in, but there was always another record or another tour to do, and that gave us the motivation to keep moving. And another thing is, I want this band to keep moving forward and upward."
Nick 13 is the only constant in the band since its formation in 1996. He's also the sole songwriter and the band's producer. But, he said, he's not a dictator. "I write all the songs, and all the music goes through me before it goes onto the CD, but the others (Telles and bassist Geoff Kresge) all bring their own personality and technique into the sound. And it has worked well for us."
The band has been on the road for nearly three years but did spend time to record and release its third album, "III: Ghost Tigers on the Rise."
"All the songs were written and ready when we went into the studio," said 13. "The difference with this one and the last one was the fact that we had more time to work on this one. And the fact that we had the accumulative experience from the other albums to look back on when we were making this album was also very helpful."
The guitarist said he likes all the band's albums — "Tiger Army," "II: Power of Moonlite," "III: Ghost Tigers Arise" — as well as the few extended-play CDs released over the years. "I look back at them and might say about a song that I would like to do that over and better, but our albums are basically a document, a photo of where we are at a certain time in our career. And I'm looking forward to making better albums in the future."
If you go. . .
What: Social Distortion, Tiger Army
Where: In the Venue
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
How much: $25
Phone: 467-8499 1-800-888-8499
E-mail: scott@desnews.com