You know how sometimes you end up backstage at a concert featuring two bands who've each got songs in the top 10 of the current pop charts? That happened to me a couple months ago. It was at a time when I was becoming jaded with the Rockstar Font Project, and bummed that none of my Rockstar font makers were at the top of the charts. This rock show was just what I needed to pull me out of my rut.

I've always got a few "emergency" Rockstar Fonts waiting in the wings, but nothing that was really hip and timely. Plus, I think it's smart to hang on to the more evergreen rockstar alphabets, just in case something newsworthy happens to 'em.

Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States of America admits that he is a "former rockstar," but when he delivered a handwriting sample to me, he assured me that he was working on a project with Sir Mix-a-lot and would be a rockstar again someday real soon. My lawyer discourages me from releasing my Negativland font since every project they're involved in generates a lawsuit of some kind. Vinnie & the Stardusters' faux-Hebrew font will be released as soon as Howard Stern is man enough to play "I Saw Mommy Fisting Santa Claus" and turn America on to these modern masters of pop rock. In the meantime, I'll just hold on to these b-grade fonts until the time is right.

What I was looking for in this month's Rockstar Font was a TRUE American rockstar. Somebody beautiful at the top of the charts, with a gaggle of gleeful groupies backstage every night. I wanted Ricky Martin, but he's not returning my phone calls right now.

As fate would have it, however, I found myself backstage at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul for the Sugar Ray/Everlast concert. You know these guys. Sugar Ray's got the hottie who sings about his girlfriend's four-post bed. And the mellow, melodic, acoustic funk groove "What It's Like" is Everlast.

For those of you who don't keep up with current pop music trends, Everlast is the former frontman of House of Pain who currently enjoys a successful solo career as a kind of post-punk Beckian bluesman. His new album "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" is a genre-jumping hotdish which peaked on the Billboard 200 chart at #9.

With a double platinum CD under is belt, Everlast is a dedicated artisan. He wears his rockstar tatoos like a cop wears a badge — it's part of the uniform. He approaches touring with the grim diligence of a construction worker. Brick by brick, a building needs to be built. City cu city, Everlast builds a fan base. Being a rockstar is a fun job, but a job nonetheless. Touring sells records. When artists play in a city, the radio stations play their music, more people hear it, and they sell more CDs. The harder they work on touring, the bigger their paycheck.

While Everlast does a good job maintaining his rockstar image, he is also quite sincere. His songs are full of soul and depth, and he shares many of his memories and emotion. Still, it seems like he's holding something back. A little handwriting analysis can confirm that. Some handwriting analysts say that a backwards slant means that you're hiding something. To me, Everlast's ever-so-slight backwards slant signals a shield of some sort, a certain shyness that I was made certain of when I met him backstage.

But hey, after surviving a heart attack that resulted in open heart surgery, the guy's got to protect himself. He's also got a lot to live for which is obvious in his music and handwriting. Everlast's wide letters show that he is grounded and solid, as does the low x-height (a measurement from the baseline to the crossbar or the top of a lowercase letter, based on the lowercase x). Straight crossbars and stylish, soft curves echo his confidence and creativity. The clarity of his penmanship reflects a need to be understood, which is to be expected from such a prolific songwriter and all.

In short, Everlast's handwriting makes a font that is fashionable, strong, and expressive — just like him. I'm proud to present this double-platinum font and you should be proud to use it. And, hey, if any of you out there in cyberspace ever talk to that cute singer from Sugar Ray, could you please tell him that Dino accidentally lost the alphabet he drew for me, and I'd really appreciate it if he could draw another one and fax it to me? Thanks!

Click here to download Truetype Whitey Ford for the Mac.

Click here to download Truetype Whitey Ford for Windows.

foreverEverlasting.com
Check out the new font in action at the official Everlast site.

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
Hear Everlast in RealAudio at CDnow.

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Make Your Own Handwriting Font
Use the Check out Chank's online fontmaking tutorial on Tripod.