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From The Desk Of The Flat Five: Hot Stuff

In music, a flat five is a passing chord that harmonizes well with almost any sound. The singers in Chicago’s Flat Five—Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough and Alex Hall—are as versatile as the name of their group implies. They’re all well-known songwriters, musicians and side-persons in their own right, but when they sing as the Flat Five, they touch on something transcendent. Their complex, intertwining harmonies bring to mind the shimmering sounds of the Four Freshmen, Beach Boys, Lambert, Hendricks And Ross, Harry Nilsson and the Everly Brothers—singers who could create breathtaking emotional effects using nothing but their voices. The Flat Five will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand-new feature with them.

McDonough: As a traveling musician, I tend to eat a lot of meals away from home, or as my dad calls it, “shit on the road.” I’ve developed a good nose for sniffing out the right places, and cool joints in town away from the highway chains are always my first choice. However, one thing can make or break these experiences. I’m speaking, of course, about hot sauce. I love the stuff, and have for years. An interesting table top bottle can really make a meal sing, and my spicy food craving knows no bounds.

Ironically, my introduction to it was inauspicious at best. One day when we were kids, my brother doctored a piece of chocolate with Tabasco. When my turn came to grab one from the box, he somehow made sure that that was the one I grabbed. Not cool! It took some time, but I put this disaster behind me.

A few years later, I was at a diner with a pal. When the meal came, he doused everything with hot sauce. I had surely seen this done before and never thought about it. For some reason, this time I wanted in. One bite of hash browns swimming in peppery, vinegary goodness and I was hooked. Soon I was putting the stuff on  just about everything. I’ve even been known to drink it straight on occasion. Helps clear my sinuses for singing!

Then one fateful day in Virginia, weary of my whinging about the lack of options at the last meal, my tourmates presented me with my own bottle. It was Texas Pete, and it fit in my jacket. Now I could order with impunity wherever we went. A life-changing moment at a roadside gas station!

Since then, I’ve had a steady supply of Crystal, Red Rooster, Tapatio, El Yucateco, exotic local bottles from across the globe, and my latest Texas Pete, this time from West Virginia.

I even carried a flask of hot sauce for awhile. A friend gave it to me, because, as she said, “It’s funnier in a flask!” Sadly, I lost track of it in a saloon one night. I had shown it to the very friend I first acquired the habit from, and it never made it back into my jacket.

If you see it out there, hang on to it. We’ll be in your town sooner or later!