Indiana native W. Axl Rose has popped up at a Korn tour-announcement party and a Victoria’s Secret event in recent weeks, fueling speculation that Guns n’ Roses’ long-delayed “Chinese Democracy” album may be released sooner than later.

Let’s add a field report from the Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band to the stack of growing evidence.

The Big Damn Band, an Indianapolis-based roots blues trio, served as the supporting act for the Derek Trucks Band Feb. 23 at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. Rose caught Trucks in action, and then hit a VIP party at upstairs bar On the Rox.

Big Damn Band members the Rev. Josh Peyton, Breezy Peyton and Jayme Peyton also attended the party. Beyond the high-profile gig on the West Coast, the arrival of Jayme’s birthday at midnight gave the group reason to celebrate.

“(Rose) heard us say that it was my birthday, and he came over and bought me a couple of shots of Patron (tequila),” Jayme says. “I thought that was real nice.”

Photographic evidence of the drink can be viewed here.

Rose, sporting the cornrow hairstyle he unveiled during a brief Guns n’ Roses comeback in 2002, displayed a good sense of humor, according to Jayme.

After Rose mentioned his own recent 44th birthday, Breezy jokingly said, “Man, that is old.”

“(Rose) looked at the bartender and said, ‘Hey can I get a Geritol over here,’ ” Jayme says.

Naturally, Rose and the Big Damn Band bonded because of their shared Hoosier roots. In the old days, Rose told concert audiences that his native state of Indiana was Auschwitz revisited.

“I don’t think he really said anything bad about Indiana,” Jayme says of the Hollywood meeting. “Maybe he didn’t say anything especially good, either.”

Jayme says the party eventually moved to Trucks’ tour bus, where Rose produced a CD and previewed some of “Chinese Democracy” -- which the singer said will be sold as a 3-disc collection.

“He still has the ‘Axl voice,’ ” says Jayme, who recalls the 1991 Guns n’ Roses album “Use Your Illusion I” as the first CD he ever purchased. “He was in the bus singing along. I couldn’t believe it was still Axl’s voice, all these years later.”

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