Through these songs we hope we shed some light on you, Lynn. We hope we see you in a better place. Love Mikey, Tumor, Shannon and the rest." - Mikey Doling, Snot founding guitarist

James Lynn Strait left a lasting impression on everyone he met, especially among the musical community as the uninhibited frontman of multifaceted L.A.-area hard rockers Snot. His magnetism and free spirit were infectious and he oozed a natural kind of cool most cock-rocking singers would kill for.
"He was a cross between James Dean, The Fonz and Elvis Presley," says Doling. Many music fans, however, never really got a chance to bask in Strait's glow. Just as Snot was on the verge of blowing up following the well-received 1997 Geffen debut, Get Some, and the touring behind it (including a slot on the 1998 Ozzfest), Strait was gone.
As he was driving from his hometown of Santa Barbara to Los Angeles on December 11, 1998 to work on Snot's second album, the 30-year-old Strait was involved in a car accident that killed him and his constant companion Dobbs, the boxer whose lemon-balancing snout graced Get Some's cover.

"He died really young, which sucks. But he lived his life doing whatever the fuck he wanted to do." - Shavo Odadjian, System of A Down

Strait's musical and spiritual legacy, however, will live on, thanks to some of the friends and cohorts he made along the way. A year after his death, more than a dozen of them joined forces to honor his memory: friends like Ozzy Osbourne, Korn's Jonathan Davis, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray, Brandon Boyd from Incubus, Max Cavalera from Soulfly, Corey (#8) from Slipknot, Serj Tankian and Shavo Odadjian from System of a Down, Lajon Witherspoon from Sevendust, and a host of others.
Called together by Doling and Snot bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock, all lent their vocal and creative talents to Strait Up, an album that pays tribute to Strait, without being a typical tribute album. Done in the same spirit as Temple of the Dog, the Seattle music scene's salute to Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, another young rocker cut down before his prime, Strait Up celebrates Strait's life as much as mourning his loss.
Strait's friends and peers provided their own words. The music was written earlier by Snot for a second album that, with his death, seemed destined never to be made. In many ways, Strait Up is that second Snot album, but blessed with the personal touch of all involved.
"They sang over our music, but they brought to the table the best of what they do," Tumor says. "We [he, Doling and Amen drummer Shannon Larkin, a longtime friend who helped bring Snot's East and West Coast components together] had written nine songs that we were demoing. Mikey was just finishing his last guitar track when he got the call that Lynn had passed away. "A little while later, Mikey and I put our heads together and decided, 'Well, we've got these songs, why don't we have all our friends come in, sing over this and dedicate it to Lynn.'"

"The fact that they did pull it together is incredible. It's such an emotional thing. It all comes from the heart, and I think a lot of it is part of the grieving process for all of these boys. Here they are, impervious to everything because they're well-known rock stars and I think they see something happen to one like them and it's really a shock and it brings everything into perspective. It's a grieving process and they needed to close it." - Marie Anne Strait, Lynn's mom

The results speak for themselves. Emotional and heartfelt, yet brimming with energy and exuberance, Strait Up is testament to the strength of Strait's character and the effect he had on those who came to know him.
"It's basically what Mikey and I envisioned when we first thought of his crazy idea, it's exactly what we wanted," Tumor enthuses, ?rybody coming together and uniting."
"I hope people can go to this record for a little bit of help," adds Doling. "It's a record for people that have lost people, not just for Lynn and us."
In typical Snot fashion, Strait Up is all over the musical map: from the ominous rampage of Davis' "Take It Back," the rap-core bombast of Durst's "Forever" and the turbulent tribal metal of Cavalera's "Catch a Spirit" to the punked up "Until Next Time" with RKL's Jason Sears, McGrath's power poppy "Reaching Out," Boyd?legiac ?ided??d Witherspoon's beautiful acoustic eulogy "Angel's Son," the album's most somber moment. Snot's final recording with Strait, the rambunctious "Absent" - a rough version of which was on the "Strangeland??undtrack - was remixed and serves as the album's musical finale.

"The only star shining bigger than everyone on this record is Lynn and I think that's why you see such a huge representation of people doing this. When you see the turnout of people here, you can see Lynn's legacy." - Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray

Strait Up truly is a labor of love. Though they were busy with new bands - Tumor with Amen and Doling with Soulfly - the pair worked with Snot managers Nic Adler and Sean Henning to put the album together on their own time and with their own money.
Everything from the initial demos, contacting the participants and getting them the music of their respective songs to 16-hour-a-day recording and producing the sessions with Jim Wirt was done without any record label support. Immortal stepped in as the project was winding down and will release Strait Up on November 7.
"I don't want people to think we put this together for publicity or the money, it's solely in memory of Lynn and for Lynn," Tumor says. "We were determined, this had to be done, so we fucking did it."
"The reason we did do the record is because Lynn's energy was so intense, he made such an impact on our lives, we felt he could have made the same impact on the whole world," adds Doling. "We wanted to give him that second chance."