We had a lot of hardcore shows. One of the guys who would come a lot was named Derek. He hit me up one day and said he knew some kids in a band who wanted to play. I think this was going to be their second show. So he set it up, we had them play, the band was called the Ackleys. They were very new and young, but you could tell they really had it together. And they had a lot of potential. As soon as they finished playing, I spoke to Katie and said if they wanted to play again, to just be in touch. And then it kind of started with the Ackleys just being regulars and playing a lot at Cave 9. They were a kind of straight-up indie rock band, but they had a lot of punk and hardcore influences, and they were friends with all of those people. So they were at shows a lot, and they were around. Once they could drive, they started coming up a lot more. I think they were 15 when they played their first show there.

There was a lot of good music in town. But having all of the experiences I had, meeting the number of people I’d met, booking shows and having touring bands come through, going to other cities and meeting people... You hear so much great music, but there’s a point where, you hear things and think, “I’ve got something better than this, and everybody needs to hear it.” When musicians are as talented as they are, they deserve to actually progress, to get out in the world, to be heard by everybody. You kind of want to keep it to yourself, because that’s your band that you discovered, but you have to realize that they are going to get stifled and they just need to be out there. I felt like when I heard them, every time they wrote a new song it was better and better and better. It never got stagnant. They just needed to be out in the world. The Crutchfield sisters were destined for bigger things. They had to get out and be heard by other people. And anything I could do to help that, I wanted to do.

Reena (second bassist): Cave 9 was home for a lot of us. I spent more time there than anywhere else from ages 16 to 21... For me, it was really important. I was always bullied in high school. People were mean to me. I never really fit in anywhere. I was sad and lonely and pissed off, and I had a lot of loss early in life in my family. Punk was a good outlet. When I was around 15, I discovered DIY punk shows because I started hanging out at the mall. This was way back in the day before the internet, when people still flyered for shows at the mall. At Cave 9 it was just like, “Oh okay, here’s somewhere I don’t feel awful being all the time.” It was such a tight knit community. Being 16, it was so different to finally not feel completely left out of something. Aaron is like the entire city’s big brother.

Cave 9 is also how me, Katie, and Allison met and became friends in high school. I met them going to Ackleys shows. I remember the first time I saw them playing, thinking, “They are so cool, I would love to be their friend.” When they asked me to be in P.S. Eliot, I was 21 and they were around 19. I didn’t even play any instruments but I had been involved with the DIY punk scene in Birmingham. My involvement was always more supporting the scene, going to shows, putting bands up when they needed somewhere to sleep. Supporting all of my friends who were in bands. There weren’t really any all-female bands in Birmingham at the time. It was a very hardcore scene, very masculine, very gym shorts and tank tops and mosh pits. I started learning how to play bass for P.S. Eliot.