Michael Anthony didn’t want his roadie to retire at 70.
Kevin Dugan, who worked with Anthony for 43 years, is thinking about retiring. “When I first told Michael that I wanted to get off the road, he said, ‘I’m not going to do that, why should you? I’m still going to be out there,'” Dugan told The New York Times.
He continued, “And I said, ‘Michael, are you trying to compare your day to my day? You come out and do the show. You leave in a limo, go back to the five-star hotel, or go back to a private jet … and fly home. Your day and my day are worlds apart.'”
Dugan also said the long hours forced him to change his lifestyle, explaining, “I’ve pulled way back on drinking on the road. I cannot fathom working with a hangover. I did that for a lot of years. And when you’re middle-aged, you can bounce back from a hangover. But now it takes too long.”
In a 2021 interview with Ultimate Guitar, Dugan was asked whether he would continue working for Anthony. He replied, “I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t work for Michael until he stops playing. As far as the road goes, I’m 68.”
“I’ve talked to Michael about this, just because of the physicality of it, I want to make it out on the road until I’m 70. When I’m 70, I want to retire from the road, but not from working – I still want to manage Michael’s warehouse and work on stuff and, whoever his road tech becomes, I want to work with them and train them in,” Dugan added.
He also noted, “I mean, my first touring gig, I was 17. That was 50 years ago… 53 years on the road is a pretty good run. That’s all I wanted to do – I wanted to travel and meet people. I’ve been around the world many times.”
Besides Anthony, Dugan also worked with Fleetwood Mac, James Gang, the Raspberries and Rainbow Canyon.
