First THE DAMN LOW review

Live: Trail of Dead + The Damn Low, Midnight Masses
I got to the [...and You Will Know Us by the] Trail of Dead show way too early and as a result, caught the entirety of the first band's set. The Damn Low are a duo who may not actually be a real band - the whole thing seemed to be some sort of inside joke I didn't care enough about to figure out.

The duo play a minimalist blues punk, a la the White Stripes (though I have a sneaking suspicious they might resent the comparison). It's easy material to play, but they were pretty ok at it and it all might have been good except for one thing - the whole thing was cloaked in some sort of "irony." Folks, irony is dead. This sort of thing has got to stop. The guy sang a song about his "two favorite things," as he put it: "guns and dogs." Har har, get it, cause that's so redneck, har har. I'm over it.

-friend, it aint irony.. my 2 favorite things ARE guns and dogs. Thanks for the ink tho, squirt.

http://radioflyerreview.blogspot.com/2010/03/upcoming-shows-drunkdriver-place-to.html

The End Of Days

Friends. It is the end of the road for me, publicly speaking. We pulled off the FIRST and LAST "THE DAMN LOW" show here in bklyn w ...Trail of dead and it was a smashing success. Ive got my fill. Special thanks to my drummer and new found bro Steve Hash for all the times we had building up to this point, although sometimes blue, it was all TOTALLY worth it for me. I could tell by the end of the night of THE DAMN LOW show it was for you too. Cheers brother.

April and I have recently purchased a nice acreage in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country. It felt good the day when the realtor called and confirmed this. All grown up.?! (look at my bank account sometime)

I think fondly to the future of weekend adventures (i was and am getting back into being an AVID outdoorsman), 4th of july cook outs, and playing all of my guitars and amps at the same time in the loft of our barn at full volume just to fucking do it.

Even as I announce all of this, folk have come up to me and told me i will never last or i will soon get back into "the game". Maybe so. Right now it feels so right to go away into the wilderness (literally) and explore new/old passions. That kind of feeling is what led me to playing all of those tours, in all those bands, in all those studios for all those years. It has been so much fucking fun, but the thought of going to ANY band practice tonight, or signing into a myspace page makes my neck hurt.

Maybe, and BIG maybe ill start a new blog about my new adventures moving to the country, buying and training a german short haired pointer, re-loading my own ammo, and making sausage. Thats if we can figure out how to install some sort of satellite-internet set up for the new house. TOTALLY NOT JOKING..its that remote.

ill leave you, fair reader/listener with a MOUNTAIN of unsold BLX cds, a few TBP cds, a few BLX LP`s ( i always knew you all were cool enough to buy the vinyl..even back when cds were king), and a quote from Mr. Bob Hughes, criminal, drug addict, and noted author. ... " Hey, I only know how to recognize the signs, and how to follow them to where Im supposed to be from one moment to the next". Hell yeah brother.

****i encourage you to go back and take a look at some of the older posts I have put up about all of this touring band moving to NYC stuff. It seemed to get more personal and less tactical as the posts matured. My favorite is the last one. AP

30 pack

Summer is fucking brutalizing me here folks. Swelter, sultry, un-relenting, bullshitted-ness. There is nothing like a NYC summer. Sure, I have never been to Vietnam, or say, Alaska, but this is one for the ages.

The funny thing about the NYC summer, to me (its my fucking blog here anyway), is that most of the businesses etc are hot inside. The A/C doesnt work, and when one inquires as to why this fucking A/C dont work you always get the same half assed "it`s working, cant you feel it?" or, my personal favorite, "if It is turned down any lower it will freeze up because it is so powerful".

I stand in awe of these people`s responses. They probably dont know any better.

I was raised by good, honest, hard working folks that finished the job that they started and stood by the finished job/task what have you. This is sadly missing amongst most of the work force here in NYC proper.

So, following the example of the very hard working folks and relatives I have in the great state of Montana (people who finish the shit they start and stand by their work), I have begun carrying around a COOLER FULL OF ICE FUCKING COLD BEER....to help me through this trying time. Fuck it, I`ll just be numb through the rest of the season. You can call me a pussy or whatever, but i bet you wont to my face. AND, in the same breath you will probably ask me for a cold one. See how you are? See how I am? Mates!!

This shit, however, doesnt seem to have any affect on Chaz or Wednesday (my cats). Actually they WANT to go outside into this swelter. I have tried explaining to them that once you go out there, inevitably, you will have to find a gainful employment...as this has been my experience.

Bah, fuck it.

So, in music news as it affects me, and I affect it, I have been writing a shit ton. Lots of new BLX songs in the toaster (so to speak heh), and an overload running off into a new project I am slowly starting up. You see kids, i have this sort of time to do 2ish bands. Working a fuck ton here to compensate for the outrageous fucking rent prices in this recession (really?), i still have time to make way fucking more. Everything always starts as a hobby to me and then I turn it into a fucking revolutionary and soulful career. Thats what you get for being born under a bad sign I guess. Actually I know NOTHING about the zodiac or anything. So never listen to me about that sort of thing. But keep reading.

I played through a JCM 800 the other night and I FUCKING HATED IT!!! Slick gain british tone but I couldnt pull a good tone out of it to save my ass. Never been a fan of this amp. AC/DC et al always sounded great through it, but me, never. I even brought out some modded OD pedals, both re-issue and vintage but still I couldnt work through it. I dug deeper into the cooler of beer. Ill take a minute and dig right now. Where are you?

Im waiting for this supposed storm thats supposed to happen here today. They said it was supposed to happen yesterday, but still I wait. There is this cold front that is provoking it. The pressure is killing me.

I finished this great book "The Worst Hard Time", by Timothy Egan. I really enjoyed it. Super depressing stories about the "dirty 30`s" dust bowl era etc. It kind of helped with the weather issues I have had as of late. Fast read too. Hard living people. Loyal. A good bit about "Black Sunday" too. I cant even imagine.

April starts school at Columbia University in a couple of weeks. I am so proud of her. I wonder what her first few days will be like. She can definately handle it. She can handle anything. Solid as a fucking rock. I have always admired that about her. Her schedule isnt too hectic so this shouldnt affect BLX too much.

April and I have been getting tattoo`d much lately. Lots of pain around the apartment lately.

Im shouting out to my bros here: Carson James, Steve Hash, Thad Sand, Spam, OJ, Chaz, Chico, John Goettle, Brent Gonzales, Joel Hill, Brian Force, Dave BKL, Mike Hill, Gospel Gossip, Erock, Jefferey, Jim Aquavella.....yep. Come by and get a cold one brothers. I got em waiting for ya.

RIP Les Paul.

30 Pack

Check the wild donkey photo. cool shit. I was looking into Antigua, where there are apparently tons of these creatures just roaming around doing donkey stuff. rad.

the new stuff is working. come check it out. im putting shows together all over the country now. we played in richmond va last sat. really really nice. jefferson plane crash rules. so does carson james from tombs. i love you brother.

i just want to write songs for my bros to jam to. that means you girl.

it seems that it is working.

im going to the mastering session of the long awaited 7" split with Thad Sand`s One Man Band on wednesday. The art work is set and it fucking rules. Rock to it. "Changra La" is the track on the record where we colaborate w thad. Fuck yeah. 300 copies folks. get some. we dont have the capabilities to make more. This will be avail on the may tour im setting up. it will be something like: chi, minn, indy, cleveland, philly.

its a booking frenzy around here lately. feels good.

we are really into the cheeseburger stuff around the apartment here lately. if you have seen the show "super jail",(adult swim) they did the theme song. this pretty much sums up the vibe.

we take brooklyn on april 9.

im feeling a little nervous about this blog lately. you have no idea how many things i have erased on this post alone. hope this will pass.

a beer and a smoke

the holiday break is over and we are back at it. my mother gave me a nice leather bound journal. i have been using it a lot.

finally we got some recording time to print up the stuff we have been working on over the last few months. the first of which will be the 7" w thad sand. i feel like the song we are putting on it is our best so far. i was kind of reserved about using it here for this and to save it for a title track or something but what the fuck. this shit may be over in a nano second so why not go for it right? anyway the track that thad is contributing is called breaker 1 9 and it is fucking solid. i needed to bring out some of my best if i am to compete w that.

all of my gear, well the stuff that i use w blx is getting repaired so the last rehersal was kind of funny sounding but in a good way. i broke out the old `71 sg and the `81 gretsch and ran through franks fender combo 10". not bad. so many options. i may very well incorporate the barrage of guitars into our tour next time. i will most likely bitch about bringing too much stuff when you see me next. fuck.

i have been spending my time learning ccr covers. along with, of corse, new blx stuff. i hope to have a few songs in the belt when we tour next to mix it up a bit. "commotion", "bootleg", and "dont look now" might be in on the next blx set.

brooklyn is looking pretty good lately underneath the frigid air and occasional snow. i fear the harsh summer that is inevitable. maybe we will go to europe then to avoid all that bullshit.

so anyway the three of us spent the end of last night at matchless laying out tour plans for next year. we will come to arizona and new mexico this time out. hopefully the new shit will be out for the sxsw folk to consider. you cant rush progress, as we all know.

damn, we are lucky sometimes.

holiday to do list

1. Learn, to the note, "Rolling Stone" by Muddy Waters and never play it with other folks around.
2. Fix that fucking guitar amp finally. stop talking about it. just do it.
3. Get all abroad parcels out before dec. 18 this time! (so they arrive by 12/24)
4. Figure out what April wants that you can actually obtain.
5. Try to be a little more like Frank DiRienzo.
6. Spin that Johnny Farmer Lp one more time.
7. Figure out EXACTLY what "Mojo" is, get some, and bring it with you. When you get there, use it. Use it all night long.
8. Stop hating on breast feeding mothers for a weekend or so. Maybe wait another month until the recession really hits everyone hard for that one.
9. When Dec 24 hits, dont skimp on the scotch this year. $60 is ghetto prices for this day. Write in and thank us on the 26th. The Highland variety is best for longevity..
10. Try to watch "A Christmas Story" at least 5 times before you open your ruck. TBS plays it 24 hrs on the 24th to the 25th religiously. Give Mr. Bob Clark your nod. You probably know that the other film he did was "Porky`s". Fuck, maybe watch "Porky`s" at least 5 times. With that scotch mentioned in 9. Do the latter. It always feels good.