I had the pleasure of hosting a meet and greet with 311 for our radio station's listeners in December of last year.

I strolled into the venue around 5:00p.m., and was pleasantly surprised to hear notes of "Beautiful Disaster" drifting through the air. I glanced at the stage to my right, quite excited that I had arrived early enough to watch sound check. Nick Hexum moved around the stage, letting the music take over his body in a slow groove.

Later at our meet and greet, I worked my way through the crowd, chatting with our winners about the band and what to expect. Some had seen the band in concert multiple times, others were seeing their first live 311 show. I told the crowd it would be ten minutes until the boys were expected to roll up in a golf cart.

I took to the small makeshift stage and announced that the band would be coming shortly. I asked everyone to form a line, and have their poster ready to be autographed.  At the end, we would all take a large group photo with the band. I walked to the back of the line to have a poster of my own autographed, as well as one that would be framed and hung at the office. I quickly found myself chatting with lead guitarist Tim Mahoney about his tattoos. Both arms are fully sleeved, and all of the work was done freehand by the same guy in L.A., where the band lives.

I made my way down the line, thanking each member for coming on behalf of the radio station. I told Nick that it was my first 311 show, despite having been a fan since I was a teenager. He thanked me for coming, and for being a longtime fan. You can tell he and the rest of the band really enjoy meeting their fans. They were all genuinely nice guys.