IndiePit | Remedy Motel

Remedy Motel

Country / Classic Rock

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Biography

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

In the spring of 2002, life-long friends Mica Johnson (vocals), Mike “Digger” DiGregorio (bass), and Nate Semerad (guitar) quit their jobs, maxed their cards, and formed Remedy Motel, a musical retreat of rock/alt-country/Americana that inspires a lazy afternoon on your front porch with a cold beer and your best gal.

It was a long-distance marriage…Mica and Digger were in Los Angeles, while Nate camped in Salt Lake City, but like all committed relationships, they made it work, and over the next four years released three critically-acclaimed albums, “6 Days in Westchester,” “A Better Life,” and 2005’s “My Favorite Record.” Over time they added French percussionist and drummer Matt Montaigu, and Los Angeles-area slap steel guitar pro Bart Ryan. A cross-country tour was born, during which they stayed at KOAs, cheap motels, and on strangers’ floors, but played some pretty cool gigs along the way – the 2002 Winter Olympics, South by Southwest, the Sundance Film Festival, XM Radio LIVE and the biggie, the 2005 Super Bowl SuperFest.

Oh yeah, 2005. The year of the grand theft larceny.

Right after the high of the Super Bowl and just before they were to enter the studio to begin recording the songs for “My Favorite Record,” everything the band owned, from instruments and recording gear, to merchandise and guitar picks was stolen from the band’s trailer in Salt Lake City. “We had no insurance, no money and now we had no instruments,” said Mica. “It kinda looked like the end of the band, to tell you the truth.” Yet proof of the band’s impact on their fans came when, after mentioning the theft during a show the following night (using borrowed instruments, of course), Mica was approached by a woman who handed him a $10,000 check. She told Mica, “[your] music means so much to so many people, it would be a terrible loss if [you] couldn’t play anymore.” Later, a visibly moved Johnson said, “It’s pretty amazing when something as enjoyable and simple as making music with your friends can have that kind of impact on people. It’s humbling, and we’ve taken it a lot more seriously since then.”

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