Road Stories: The Show for Nobody
As I’ve said extensively elsewhere, I used to play in a metal band called Black Spiral. When we first started playing together, we were about 16, in high school, and just doing covers of Metallica songs and such. Our first gig ever was at a Catholic church Spring fair, where we played two nights (my […]
House of the Rising Sun
We headed into the studio with ten songs to record for our next album, “The Ghost of John Henry,” but at the last minute, I decided to add an 11th to the schedule (we had to go up to 11, after all…). In a lot of ways, recording that last song — “House of the […]
Couch by Couchwest
Yes, SXSW is in full-swing in Austin, and while I once lived in Austin, that was a while ago. It’s cool, though, because the Couch by Couchwest festival is here for us all — those of us “too broke or too lazy to get off our couches and go to Austin.” Over the weekend, we […]
Here’s to Leslie Cochran
Leslie Cochran died today. Like many, many people who lived in and around Austin, Texas, for any amount of time, I had a chance to meet him on a couple of occasions. That was sort of his business, meeting folks. That, and rocking a thong, stuffed bra, and high-heels. For those outside of a certain […]
In the Studio, Final Weekend – Video Blog
We wrapped all of the recording for the new album, “The Ghost of John Henry” this weekend with our final cello, guitar, and vocal sessions, in addition to getting some miscellaneous percussion tracks. Percussion “instruments” on this record will include chains, old cast iron jail keys, artillery shells, homemade stomp box, a “thunder tube” (not […]
God Bless You, Struggling Stand-Up Comedian
One of the more perplexing things about being a musician in Los Angeles is how often I’m invited to play somewhere, from an open mic night to a booked showcase, only to arrive and discover I’m the only person performing who isn’t a stand-up comedian. This happened again last night, and made for a very […]
Great Album Reviews: Pictures at an Exhibition (Moussorgsky/Ravel)
Album: Pictures at an Exhibition Artist: Modeste Moussorgsky (composer), Maurice Ravel (arrangement) Genre: Classical Year: 1874/1922 Though originally written as a piano suite in 1874, way before anything like what we think of as an album existed, I don’t think it’s a stretch to call this an album. If you wanted to, you could even […]
For Auld Lang Syne
Spend any time at all on Turner Classic Movies, and you’ll hear Auld Lang Syne sung by a big group of folks. They’ll sing it on New Year’s Eve, Christmas, birthdays, or just when Henry Fonda or Jimmy Stewart has a nice day. It’s everywhere in movies made before about 1950. As someone who has […]
Road Stories: The Bombed-Out Whorehouse
Maybe the best sustained musical experience I’ve ever had was playing drums in the band Black Spiral from about 1995-1999. I was in and just out of high school, and the band started as Chris Crowson, Ryan Dawe, and I were just starting to learn our instruments. The first songs I was ever involved in […]
The Movie Poster Entry
No matter what the movie — comedy, drama, harrowing action film, indie darling — you can bet some studio exec desperately wants the movie poster to be nothing but the two stars’ smiling faces. As a moviegoer, I find this lazy and uninspiring, and as an artist I find it infuriating, but as somebody living […]