Hello again my friends in 311 nation! Happy belated 311 Day! I hope all that went on the 311 Cruise to Cozumel had as an amazing time as I did. I got to meet so many of you in person! Including this weeks awesome fan spotlight. Say a very excitable hello to Christa Dohy!
How did Christa fall in love with 311? Well she said she’s a total bandwagon fan. “I always liked their music, but for whatever reason didn’t start following them until I started dating Aaron about four years ago.” Aaron has been a fan of 311 since the 90’s and because of this 311 went on Christa’s live shows I want to see list. So in 2015, Christa went to her first show, which just happened to be Red, White, & Boom in Vegas. “We literally bumped into a couple excitables in the Mandalay Bay while trying to find the venue and were introduced to a ton of other people who we now consider family. We thought we were just going to a concert, but it turns out that we joined a cult of awesome!”
Since then, Christa has been to 11 shows. “I love the energy in the music – Do You Right has always been one of my favorite songs to bounce along to.” Favorite event she says is probably the cruise that she just got back from. “The cruise is in a class by itself; it’s not even comparable to anything else.” Outside of the cruise she said her favorite show is 311 Day 2016 night one. “The band played a lot of my favorite songs that night.”
Song that she says is her jam is “Neverending Summer.” “Every time I hear the ‘3-11, 3-3-11…’ whether live or just in my car, I get the chills. Between summer tour and my love of warm weather, it’s the perfect song for me.” Favorite lyric? “I met some weirdos and had myself a real good time.” “Pretty much sums up my excitable experience so far.”
Christa grew up in Northeastern Ohio but said she never really felt like she belonged there. So in her early 30’s she had a “mid-life crisis” and moved on out to Seattle. Then through life’s twists and turns, she had a son (who is now 11) and now has a new husband (Aaron and Christa just got married 3-11-17 so everyone say congrats!). Her son now also loves 311 and he went to his first show last summer.
In 2012 Christa developed a spinal condition that required surgeries and by the time the found it, she had developed permanent nerve damage in parts of her body, mostly her legs. “I do my best to control it with medications, but I’m somewhat limited in some things that I cannot do, like jumping up and down and standing on my feet for extended periods of time. So if you see me chair dancing at a show, I’m not just being a lazy bum, I do try to hang with the party as much as I can. Besides, I don’t drink so I’m a built in designated driver too!”
Unique attribute for Christa? She said it’s mom skills. Seriously! “Seriously, ask my friends, it’s a thing. Although it’s probably just my extreme OCD when it comes to planning and organization. You need help planning something I’m your girl. Some of my friends refer to me as the den mother because I keep things organized. Oh and another nickname I have is Mary Poppins because I always have good surprises in my bag at shows.”
Guilty pleasure for Christa is that she loves puzzle games. “Every piece of electronics that I own has Frozen Free Fall installed on it!” For other music and artists that Christa loves, she said she came to 311 from a harder/punk music background. “I love Social Distortion, Authority Zero, Deftones, and Ballyhoo! But I’m also digging the reggae bands that seem to come with 311 like Rebelution and Soja.”
To 311, Christa’s words are these: “Thank you for all of the good times and helping me find my tribe.”
To the 311 fan community:
“Money is better spent on memories than on stuff, because you can’t take it with you. And to all of my Excitable family, I can’t wait to see you all during the summer tour!”
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Thank you Christa for sharing your story and congrats to you and Aaron on the 3-11 Day marriage!! This fan community, in my opinion, is the best ever and I love learning about you all and sharing your stories. Never-ending fan spotlight! That’s my goal! Until we meet again my friends, go be awesome and spread the good karma.
Much Love – The Runt