I never saw them live.  I was sixteen when I got a hold of a homeboys tape, and all I can tell you is that it pretty much ruined my life.  Growing up  in the eighties with stadium tours and hair bands, etc... I don't think most of my peers considered playing live music in real bands as a viable possibility in a small city like Knoxville.  The Homeboys changed that for me.  School became secondary, the thought of a job was only to help in pursuit of playing music. I wore that tape out!

I couldn't have told you what the homeboys were going for, or their influences at the time. When you are 16, music isn't some critical sport, or some ladder to climb.  I just knew that it felt good, made me feel good, and my mother didn't like it.  The music rocked and the lyrics actually meant something.  Real people singing, real people playing... for me this was "first contact"

As I said earlier, I wore that tape out. I hadn't heard the Homeboys  in about 10 years.  Recently, I got a hold of a cdr and put it on,  when "sell it for less" came on I remembered what compelled me to join a band in the first place. The Homeboys gave me something intangible that allowed me to start playing music and of course ruin my life. - Bill Warden.