123118 More Pro Tools Insertion Follows Playback nightmares. The option is right below the little pencil icon. If enabled, your recording point isn't where you set it but rather where you last pressed stop. Maddening. Link Timeline & Edit is also evil. It's right under the little hand icon. 123018 Sent Allen versions of the 4 songs with no drums, just clicks. 122918 Did 2 long sets at a private party. Played nearly everything we knew. Wonderful having Danny Button sit in for most of both sets. Pictures up on our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. 122818 I don't try to write popular music and my music is not popular. You might think this is liberating. It is not. Making descisions is difficult when anything goes. Often I am in a field, not on a path. I find that, for me, the real craft is creating a unique trail for each song. This involves a lot of flailing, floundering and failing. This is the part where I'm might say "...but it's worth it." Well, sometimes it is. Upgraded vocals on Sweet and Low, Beat Box Caveat and Mars. Sent all 3 along with That Doesn't Turn You On to Allen Johnston. Every Penny is going back to Girl for Samson. 122718 Dug out the Cry Baby and Electric Mistress and added guitar bits to Sweet and Low. Also added acoustic drums and more vocal takes. By the way, this song was built from some noodling I did on John McConnell's resonator guitar in September. The instrument was tuned to open D. Looks like the KC Midwest "Peoples Choice" Fashion Awards are being moved to March 2nd. Venue still in play. Again, note to future self - SSD Trigger is located in the Dynamics list. 122618 Spent the day at war with Sweet and Low. Getting close to an arrangement. 122518 Spending the day getting 5 songs ready for Allen and other contributors to work on by the weekend. This mostly means getting everything tight and, while I still don't have words for anything, making sure the scratch vocals don't hurt anyone. The 5 songs are Sweet and Low, Mars, Beat Box Caveat, Every Penny and That Doesn't Turn You On. 122418 Worked on Mars. Bought a power supply for my Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger. Sounds great and I'm sure I'll use it once and then pack it away. 122318 Midwest Fashion Awards have been postponed until March 1st, 2019. Watch for more updates as the venue may also change. Up early and whispered reference melodies for Sweet & Low and Mars. Much of the spam the Johnny Marie e-mail account receives concerns finding hot women for hot sex in my town. The static variables in every subject are Hot, Sex, Women & Town. I love the focus on supporting local businesses. 122218 Bryan, Shannon and I got together to hammer out some vocal arrangements. Bryan, with my encouragement, introduced a "snare" to his set-up. Why is snare in quotes? Because it was one of the 7,000 tambourines from his collection with snare bands stretched across the head. It sounds great but with Dave now playing exclusively playing upright bass it's too much so he switched back to the classic Mace set-up. 122118 Worked on Mars most of the day. Tried some vocoder bits on Sweet and Low. 121718 Recorded more backing vocals for Beat Box Caveat. Added some melody sketches to Mars. Got my Electro-Harmonix power adapters. Fooled around with the Electric Mistress, Doctor Q and Small Stone phase shifter. Added the Small Stone to my pedal board. 121618 Added loads of guitars to Beat Box Caveat. 121518 Finally added a noise gate at the end of my pedal board chain. Bought some power supplies for some of my vintage Electro-Harmonix pedals. 121418 How do I mark the end of a song in Pro Tools so that bounces aren't padded with silence? Mark the end of the song by going to the start and pressing Control/Shift/Tab. Then select the portion of the song you want to bounce by highlighting the song in the measures bar. Bounce that mofo. 121218 Mailed out another pile of CDs to local radio stations. Sometimes the identity of the song is revealed straight away. Is This Your Thing? was Is This Your Thing? the moment I hit the first guitar chord. Beat Box Caveat is proving to be a bit more challenging. Should it be super synthy or drums and wirey? All I can do is thrash at it until I see a face I recognize. That's where faith plays a role in songwriting. Not faith in Jebus, Martin or Buddy. Faith in the birthing process. 121018 Worked on Beat Box Caveat and Blind Jehovah Monster. Reviewed Every Penny, Doesn't Turn You On and Sweet and Low. Adjusted the email handing program. I've been getting spammed pretty relentlessly and was perhaps a bit too aggressive with the barbed wire. 120918 Mailed out another pile of "Land Ho" CDs to community radio stations. 120818 Sent out another wave of CDs to radio stations. 120718 How lovely that Barry Lee played "20,000 Days" leading into a block of Buzzcocks/Pete Shelley songs. Thank you to "Signal to Noise" and KKFI for promoting local music. Signal To Noise #695 "Winter Dreams" playlist 12/07/18 SIGNAL TO NOISE - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018 Farewell to Pete Shelley 1. Cassandra Wilson//Beneath A Silver Moon 2. Iron and Wine//Someday The Waves 3. The Cocteau Twins//Great Spangled Fritillary 4. Courtney Barnett//Sunday Roast *********************************************************** 5. The Essex Green//Sixties 6. Donovan//Celeste 7. Volebeats//September Spell 8. Desi & Cody//She's No Good For You 9. The Splatter Pattern//Raining ************************************************************* 10. Leon Redbone//Diddy Wah Diddy 11. David Bromberg//Mr. Blue 12. John Prine//Eggs and Daughter Nite, Lincoln Nebraska 1967 13. Tony Joe White//Can You See The Lightning ************************************************************** 14. Jason Beers (Mrs. Helen Marf)//The First Noel 15. Howard Iceberg//Christmas In Missouri 16. The Monkees//Snowfall 17. The Forty Nineteens//It's Christmas Time Again ********************************************************* 18. Yo La Tengo//Shades of Blue 19. Janelle Monae//Afraid 20. Jack White//What's Done Is Done 21. St. Vincent//Slow Slow Disco 22. Girlyman//Caroline ********************************************************* 23. Gullywasher//Returning Softly 24. Ryley Walker//On The Banks of the Old Kishwaukee 25. David Bowie//Weeping Wall 26. Johnny Marie & The Lonesome Petunias//20,000 Days ************************************************************* 27. Buzzcocks//Lipstick 28. Pete Shelley//Twilight 29. Buzzcocks//I Don't Mine ************************************************************ 30. Mark Rubin//Spin the Driedel https://www.facebook.com/notes/signal-to-noise/signal-to-noise-695-winter-dreams-playlist-120718/10161108794100184/ 120618 I don't know why but Pete Shelley's passing has really struck me. He was a very underrated tunesmith and if you aren't familiar with his work start with Singles Going Steady. This is not punk rock. This is pure pop. 120318 Tune in to Barry Lee's "Signal to Noise" on KKFI this Friday night at 9 PM, because it's good and because he'll be playing a track from "Land Ho". "Slip sliding deep into winter with warm music and good thoughts. Bolstered by Iron & Wine, Cassandra Wilson, Volebeats, The Splatter Pattern, Leon Redbone, John Prine, The Forty Nineteens, The Monkees, Howard Iceberg, Jack White, St. Vincent, Gulleywasher, Johnny Marie & The Lonesome Petunias, Courtney Barnett, The Cocteau Twins, Jason Beers, Janelle Monae, Mark Rubin, and more.." Got a Roland Jupiter 6 sample pack and love it. Already smearing it on songs. 120218 Experimenting with some vintage synth sample packages. 120118 Recorded scratch vocals and keyboard parts for Beat Box Caveat and Sweet and Low. Added synths to That Doesn't Turn You On. 113018 Bought a Ibanez TA 35 acoustic guitar combo amp. I like how they sound with the Epiphones. Also bought the Samples From Mars set for some of the cool vintage synths. 112918 Worked on Turn You On bridge and some backing vocals. Added too new chord/melody bits to another unnamed song. Petunias pracitce. Focused on vocal arrangements, 112818 Re-cut all of the guitar parts in Doesn't Turn You On with the Strat. Added new percussion, bass and scratch vocals. 112518 12/1/18 private party in Kansas City, MO moved to 12/29/18. 112418 Upped the tempo of That Doesn't Turn You On and recut demo guitar and vocals. Worked out some melodies last night for another song and recorded a few takes. It started off sounding Pink Floydie but I'm inching away from that with the new bits. 112318 Sent out another large load of promotional CDs. 112218 2nd to last rehearsal before playing a private party on the 1st. That's right, if you are having a party in the Kansas City metro you can hire a quirky, energetic band to play original music in the corner of your living room without fear of neighbors buzzing the fuzz. 111918 What I do today? I came up with two chords and a melody on the piano for a bridge in That Doesn't Turn You On. Lord. 111618 First rehearsal at our new space. I want some real keyboard players for the next album. I'm talking to a few people but am delighted to announce that I got a commitment from Joe Salvato. I'm excited to write some songs that will feature two-handed piano parts! 111518 "Land Ho" has been out a month and there still isn't a single counterfeit copy of the CD on eBay. They still have plenty of bogus copies from the rest of our catalog, so hope is strong. 111418 Started mailing out CDs to Kansas City radio, clubs and electronic media. Normally I just move right on to the next record but I want more for this album than just abandoning it to chance listens. 111318 I was researching what we should charge to play at private parties. The first result from the search inquiry read: "Local jazz combos or acoustic bands may cost between $750 and $1500, while the region's most popular and exclusive party bands may cost $10,000 or more. On average, most great dance bands for weddings or special events are likely to cost between $2500 and $7500." We must be the Dollar Store option of "Local jazz combos or acoustic bands". 111118 CDs are ready to go out tomorow morning for website sales. Also sending out packets to local radio stations. 110918 Went to see the The Groove Pilots at Mike Kelly's Westsider. They graciously invited us to do a few songs during their break. Bryan wasn't there but Danny Button joined us for Sultan Eyes, Kitty Can, Trashbag Launderette and Land Ho. Terry Gann mimicked his beautiful pedal steel part on a lap steel. Thanks as always for a good time, Terry, Tim, Joe, Danny and Dave. 110718 Did "Capers", "20,000 Days", "Repeat" and "Kids Are Alright" at the Piano Room. 110618 "Land Ho" CDs will be here on 11/9. Will begin shipping on 11/12. 110218 Adding some new titles to the live setlist this afternoon. Oh Nellie from "Land Ho", White Girl from "Gardenaire", something that's still hatching intended for the 5th album and Brandy by Looking Glass. 103118 CDs ordered and should ship on the the 5th. 103018 Doing a short set in-between presentations at the Midwest Fashion Awards at The White Theatre at the Jewish Community Center on January 5th, 2019. 102818 Submitted artwork and masters for CD printing. Still on target to start shipping CDs in early November. 102618 Noisy electric guitar practice. Decided to do a few songs from Land Ho at The Piano Room on 11/07/18. 102318 A reminder that the only place you can find Johnn Marie & the Lonesome Petunias CDs is here. "Land Ho" was only distributed digitally. We'll have plenty of CDs on hand just after Halloween. Boo. 102218 Pro Tools: The minutes and seconds ruler option annoys me greatly. Sometimes if you click on the drop down menu to remove it the option is grayed out. Just click on the bars and beats ruler and then you can uncheck minutes and seconds from there. Heck yes! Another one. Pro Tools keeps starting at the beginning of the song rather than where you place the Timeline Selection Point. Just go to options and check Link Track and Edit option. Dammit. Pro Tools. The grid lines have disappered. Go to the Grid/Nudge/Counter and click on Grid. 102118 Will set up an option today for selling physical CDs. Had brunch with Allen Johnston. Friend listening to "Land Ho" in Tel Aviv. 102018 Great time playing at the Brookside Farmers Market. It is so moving how generous all of the vendors are. It's really touching. Land Ho release day. It's already starting to find its way around the world: Spotify Pandora Napster Slacker Deezer YouTube Band Website There is a topic linking issue with YouTube that I have contacted the distributor about. Songs are up, just not on our channel. YouTube issue is fixed. 101918 I am planning on re-releasing a few of my favorite songs from Her Bows with fresh mixes drums and other performances. I'll drip them out as singles while working on the new album. Thinking Billy Corgan's Cadillac, Ordinary Guy and nothingood. Talked with Michael and he confirmed that he wants to release physical CDs. Should have those by Halloweenish. 101818 Last rehearsal before playing on Saturday. Shannon Swift will be singing with us. 101718 Added and replaced bits on some of the new material. 101618 Pre-order Land Ho on Amazon.com 101518 I have 7 hunks of songs in the works for the 5th album. Today I added bass and piano to Better and guitars, bass, percussion and harmonica to Blind Jehovah Master. Found out that Michael is coming later this week to listen to some of the new stuff so cleaned up a few things and added a scratch vocal to That Doesn't Turn You On. 101418 Last of the YouTube samples of songs from Land Ho. 101318 Posted another collection of five 45 second samples of songs from "Land Ho" on our YouTube channel. I have a free day so going to record the guts of 5 or 6 new songs, sing a Girl for Samson song and work on getting Land Ho distributed. And digital distribution launched. 101218 Kind of a dark day in JMLP history. We ordered a large pizza during rehearsal and they brought a medium. Despite the significant disparity in size everybody still politely refused the last 2 pieces. For a minute. 101018 Posted five 45 second samples of songs from "Land Ho" on YouTube. Bryan re-mastered Blister Beetle, Long Dry Walk and Capers to address some minor issues. 100918 I have Land Ho masters and a commitment from Patrick to mix and master the 5th album. It's a good day. 100518 Bryan sexed up my Strat so I went electric for part of our rehearsal last night. Michael hung out with us and shouted at us like a personal trainer. "DO IT AGAIN!" 100218 Signed off on the mixes so now Patrick will begin mastering all 15 songs. 092818 Bryan sexed up my Strat. Now I'm thinking Newport 1965. 092718 Bryan and I listened to the Land Ho mixes last night and I sent Patrick a few more revisions this morning. And revisions are done! 092618 Sent Patrick notes after listening to the second set of mixes. It sounds so good. 092518 Got the 2nd mix of Land Ho songs back from Patrick. Heck yes! Recorded the guts of a song I made up on John's resonator when I was in Colorado. Had a dream that provided the missing Blister Beetle line. Sung it as soon as my morning voice evaporated and sent it off to Patrick. 092418 Struggling with replacing a line in Blister Beetle. I want to but don't having anything inspired to put in it's place. 092018 Sent mixing notes to Patrick. I miss things from our live versions of the songs that aren't on the recordings so Dave and Bryan sang some of their parts from 20,000 Days and Repeat. First rehearsal in a couple of weeks. Crusty but fun. Renamed "It's Wandering" to "Wake for Wanderers". 091918 Michael coming over to listen to mixes before I send notes Patrick. 091118 Listening to Land Ho mixes! 090518 Should have Land Ho mixes to listen to next week. 090318 Thank you to our friends who spent their Labor Day holiday with us at the SantaCaliGon Days Festival this afternoon. You're amazing. 083018 Good rehearsal ironing out some of the newer stuff for theSanta Cali Gon Days festival. 082818 Patrick indicated that he thinks he can have Land Ho mixes for me in 1 or 2 weeks. 082518 Thank you to the Brookside Farmers' Market and it's vendors for hosting us for a few hours today. It was wonderful getting tips in long beans, beets, Asian eggplant, potatoes, okra, peppers and sunflowers! Thank you also to the people who toughed out the set in the relentless heat. It was great seeing all of you. See you next holiday weekend at the Santa Cali Gon Days Festival. 080918 Productive rehearsal. Spent some quality time on harmonies. 080518 Someone suggested that we should take credit cards when we're selling CDs. I have a PayPal business account so bought one of their credit card readers and while waiting for it to arrive, attempted to load the POS software, PayPal Here, on one of our phones. Doesn't work on my 2 year-old Android or 4 year old tablet. Aborted. Signed up with Square Up and was able to process credit cards in about 10 minutes. 080418 Doing a long set at the SantaCaliGon Days Festival on September 3rd at 2 PM in the middle of the square. Sent Allen the guide file for Every Penny to record drums to. Fifth album is officially under way. 072818 Bought a card reader to marry with our new sexy CD sales stand. 072718 Lovely album feedback on Twitter. 072618 Made it through the full set. Bryan thinks we have about an hour and a half of material. 072518 Important update about our CD sales. Spent the day tracking vocals for Girl for Samson songs. I think I'll resurrect The Wall for our live set. 072418 "Land Ho" is now "Land Ho" and should be available around the world and in your town in Autumn 2018. 072318 Playing at the Brookside Farmers Market from 11 AM to 1 PM on 08/25/18 and 10/20/18. The market is located at 6321 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO. 072218 Got the guts of Every Penny down and added a few piano parts. 071918 Lovely turnout last night. Perhaps our largest gathering of friends and well-wishers to date. Thank you to everybody who took the time and troubel to be there. 071818 Doing a few songs from the new album tonight at the Piano Room. Drop by to express your appreciation for our marvelous catalog or to throw something potentially injurious. I think I have finally bumbled upon the right artwork for the new album. 071618 Some of our European friends are suddenly able to listen to our catalog on YouTube. That's a good thing. 071318 Did the first bit of recording for the 5th album. 071218 Good rehearsal. Added Push Past and Long Dry Walk to the set. Doing a few songs at the Piano Room next Wednesday. 070918 Added 957 more vocal ` takes of Long Dry Walk. All shite. Writing the session files for the whole album out now to take to Patrick tomorrow. 070818 Sang more takes of Blister Beetle and Wrong Star. Will do more takes of Wrong Star and Long, Dry Walk tomorrow before writing every thing to an external drive for Patrick. Michael came by to show me some guitar bits he has for the next album. Played him Push Past for the first time. 070718 More vocal takes of Nellie Ordinary and Push Past. Kevin added harmonies to Is This Your Thing?, Boyfriend and Blister Beetle. For tomorrow - add a few more vocal takes of Blister Beetle. 070618 Planning on doing a few songs at the Piano Room on 07/18. Sorted out some issues with Blister Beetle and sang a few more takes of Land Ho! 070518 First rehearsal in almost a month. Added Long, Dry Walk and Push Past to the set. 5 days left to finish this album. I think these songs will make the final cut: Land Ho! Blister Beetle Repeat Capers 20,000 Days Nellie Ordinary Parasol Is This Your Thing? Push Past ...and 2 or 3 of these: Glad To Pass On It's Wandering Long Dry Walk Wrong Star Boyfriend Bon Voyage 070418 Covered a bit of a Bruno Nicolai song in the bridge for Boyfriend. Got a new follower on Twitter that had a Bruno Nicolai song pinned to his feed and I recalled how much I liked his stuff. Rachel came over and recorded vocals on Long Dry Walk, Boyfriend (soon to be Bidanzato?), Capers and Push Past. 070218 Countdown to Turd Polish Day looms. Added guitars to Boyfriend, Long Dry Walk and Is This Your Thing? There is a thread about one of my early bands on a Facebook page deditcated to the first wave of local punk/alt clubs in Kansas City. It's interesting to see what people recall about the band and the music. Clearly, the more you repeat a phrase the more likely people will remember it for the rest of their lives. "I didn't know about 3797, 3797, 3797, 3797..." 070118 Probably spent too much time trying to get Boyfriend up to code. I think tomorrow I need to bravely chop out some bits that are troubling me rather than trying to make them work. 062818 Chris Ruzich added harmonies to Capers, Wrong Star, Long Dry Walk and Push Past. Added chimey guitar parts to Wrong Star, Capers and Long Dry Walk. Vocals after lunch. 062718 After some hand-wringing I decided to rebuild the song around Bryan's part. Dave came over and added more bass parts. Committed to capturing a tight vocal today. 062618 And now tornado warning sirens howling mercilessly. More vocal takes for Long Dry Walk. Having a go at Push Past once the thunder stops. Real thunder, not digestive issues. 062518 Found another Long Dry Walk Take. This one by Allen incorrectly named as Blister Beetle. I might be able to salvage this song with just a few tweaks. Made sure that all of the songs have at least one drum take imported and that the take is named so that Patrick can match it with the folder of drum files. Still need to re-sing a lot of things. 062418 Starting to clean up sessions for Patrick. 062218 Going to try to start over on Long Dry Walk and see if can match the spirit of Bryan's drum part. 062118 Dave knocked off 7 songs in a 4 hour session: Capers, Repeat, 20,000 Days, Blister Beetle, Bon Voyage, Push Past and Boyfriend. Bryan sent me takes for all 3 songs that I sent him. Will give him Push Past tomorrow to toy with . Added piano to Push Past. 062018 Did more work on Push Past. Dave coming over tomorrow to finish bass parts. 061918 Sent Bryan a mix for Blister Beetle and a tighter mix of Long Dry Walk. Recorded more vocal takes for Nellie Ordinary. Added more vocal takes to Push Past. Also added acoustic guitars, bass and acoustic drums. If I can learn how to sing it well it should make it in time to be included for consideration for the new album. 061718 Sent Bryan fresh mixes of Boyfriend and Long Dry Walk. Reviewed everything I have from Allen and sent him some notes. I like this record. 061418 Bryan Mace is going to drum on Boyfriend and Long Dry Walk. 061318 Tried a couple of new songs live tonight. It's Wandering was, but Capers came off really well. Play live and learn. In the last mile of a head cold and sporting fresh stitches in my lower lip. 061018 Got everything that Allen was able to finish minus Long Dry Walk and Boyfriend. May do those myself or find another contributor. If I scrapped them for this album I would still be giving Patrick 12-13 songs. 060918 Regarding performance set lists: 060818 Songs I want you to hear. 060718 Croaked my way through some of the new songs. Trying to see what we can get away with playing next Wednesday. 060418 Strugging with words for Push Past. Add vocal takes for Capers and Around the World in 20,000 Days. 060118 I've discovered that people residing ouside of the United States are unable to listen to our music on YouTube. According to Google: Video not available in my country Some YouTube videos may not be available in your country for the following reasons: 1) Video owners have chosen to make their content available only to certain countries (usually due to licensing rights) 2) YouTube may block specific content in order to comply with local laws 053118 Spent four hours really working on some new stuff for our live set. Decided to do another short set at McGuire's Tavern, the only planned performance for June. 053018 Recorded the frame for another sad song for the new album. 052418 Piano Room Video | Pictures I realized this morning that we've performed half of our one hour set over the past couple of months. With a few more rehearsals we should have an hour ready soon. 052318 Very short set at the Piano Room. We did Brought A Little Something Down, Kitty Can and Trashbag Launderette. Lots of good performers. 051918 I have hundreds of performance and rehearsal tapes from my music history (The Wilsons, Porps, This Jungle, Boxes of Love, The Waldinis, etc.) stored on cassette tapes. I'm torn between just discarding them, digitizing them and then discarding them or digitizing them and keeping them. Or stuffing them somewhere in my house and letting my heir sort it out. 051718 Did Maryland Mansion, End of Summer, Kitty Can, Toast & Marmalade For Tea, Trash Bag Launderette and 20,000 Days. Danny Button sat in for Trash Bag, though I neglected to give him any cues for when to play. You can identify pros by their reaction to nincompoopery. Pictures on Facebook and Instagram. Piano Room next Wednesday sans Button. 051618 Set list printed, gallons of water dumped into my torso, salad and poor sea creature consumed, voice warmed up to near croaking - get me to the arena, Mr. Henry. 051018 Added a couple of dates for May. Got through the whole set and was able to give some attention to On, Capers, Maryland Mansion and Blister Beetle. Sang along with Bryan playing Beatles songs after. 042518 Did 4 songs (Billy Corgan's Cadillac, Kitty Can, Around the World in 20,000 Days and Trashbag Launderette) at the Piano Room. Thank you to Karen Baum for accommodating our larger than normal set-up. 042218 Dave and I went to see Bryan's other group give a performance. Bryan is absurdly talented and it's laughable and marvelous that he's our percussionist! 041918 Book Johnny Marie & the Lonesome Petunias live shows here. Number 2 on Reverb Nation's KC alternative charts. 041618 "Dear Johnny, where can I get replacement tuners for my Epiphone John Lennon signature model EJ-160e?" About a month ago I broke a tuner on my Epiphone EJ-160e John Lennon acoustic guitar. I searched forums for a tip for a suitable replacement and only learned that the brand was Kluson. I gambled on a used set taken off of a Gibson Les Paul and failed because of a collar that prevented the post from making it through the hole in the headstock. I then found a vintage box of Klusons on eBay and they fit perfectly and the key is exactly the same shape and color. You can't tell the difference between the originals vand the replacement. There isn't much information on the box, but there is a hand-written model number which is SD90SLN. This model number is your friend. 041418 More drum takes from Allen. Here's where we stand: 20,000 Days (6 drum takes) [no bass] Around The World In 20,000 Days (3 drum takes) [no bass] Blister Beetle (0 drum takes) [no bass] Bon Voyage (4 drum takes) [no bass] Boyfriend (0 drum takes) [no bass] Capers (3 drum takes) [no bass] Glad To Pass On (7 drum takes) [has bass] Is This Your Thing? (0 drum takes) [has bass] Its Wandering (2 drum takes) [has bass] Land Ho! (0 drum takes) [has bass] Long Dry Walk (0 drum takes) [has bass] Nellie Ordinary (1 drum takes) [has bass] Parasol (0 drum takes) [has bass] Wrong Star (5 drum takes) [has bass] Number 6 on ReverbNation's Alternative rankings. I suspect that has more to do with content and distribution than popularity. 041118 Added Blister Beetle to the live set. 040718 Video stills from the McGuire's Tavern performance up on Instagram
040518 Cellphone video of our set last night up on our YouTube channel. 040418 Just finished our set at McGuire's. Yay for us. 040318 Doing a few songs at McGuire's Taven tomorrow evening. 040118 Finished arranging Blister Beetle and putting down some basic parts. Still needs more words. Even I know that. Fished out the Takamine for the live set on Wednesday since the Epiphone has a wonky tuner key. 033118 I'm still waiting on bass and drum parts for several songs before this album can be put on Patrick's plate so I'm going to try to dash off one more song. Will record the bits for it today and think about how it should be arranged. 032918 Ran through the set and the repeated the stuff for the live set that we'll do next week. We'll probably have to cut something but the current set list is: Little Something Sultan Eyes Kitty Can 20,000 Days Around The World In 20,000 Days Trash Bag Launderette Ask Wrong Star 031518 Ran through the set. Picked some songs for a shorter set. 030918 A raucous but spirited performance of the set last night and now the boys are getting anxious to go do this somewhere in front of something other than dusty living room furniture. Look out thin, disinterested crowd in a small, brackish bar somewhere in the city! Your day of reckoning is drawing nigh! 030118 Rehearsal with Dave and Bryan. Listened to more takes from Allen. 022818 Listened to some of Allen's recent takes. Some of the songs are really starting to come together. 022418 Had a chat with Allen about yesterday's notes. The "20,000 Days" and "Around The World In 20,000" days thing is already creating headaches. 022318 Getting drum takes from Allen again! Sent off some notes. 022218 Ran through all of the songs live again. Bryan insisted we rate what is working and what isn't so that we can focus on the troublemakers next time. 021418 Ran through the set with Dave and Bryan. Michael came by to check on our progress. Added Maryland Mansion to the set. 020818 Rehearsal with Dave and Bryan. 013118 Hey Pa Time to leave us all It's a short flight See the feathers fall Forgive me for saying But you lead the way And though I'm behind you It's too soon to join you 012918 Struggling with Capers. It's in danger of getting the Pool treatment. Pool was a Costello-esque rocker that got over-thought into electronica. 012818 How do you work a new song into a setlist without a vote? Pretend to play it absent- mindedly in-between songs. If someone joins in then you can add it to the list with confidence. If everybody stares at you blankly then you have failed. Again. 012518 Ran through the set with Bryan and Dave. 012218 Worked on the call in response in Is This Your Thing to my satisfaction. Recorded the guts of a new song. 012018 Added piles of Capers vocal takes. 011718 Yes, sang more lead vocal takes for Glad To Pass On. Added some harmonies to Capers. Taking some mixes from Allen's Glyn Johns set-up to Patrick for feedback. 011618 Added some more convincing vocal takes to Glad To Pass On. Also added backing vocals and hand claps. 011518 Worked a bit on the lead vocal for Glad To Pass On. 011218 Learned how to use Beat Detective vs Quantizing to adjust the timing of audio rhythm tracks. 011118 Sorted all of the buses and committed all of the mellotron parts. Added some shakers and cabasa to Nellie Ordinary. 011018 Added another dozenish takes of the lead vocal for Land Ho! Listened to 30+ It's Wandering lead vocal takes. Drilled it down to 21 that have useful moments. Teleconference with Allen. Tweaking the balance of click track and reference drums. 010918 "It's Wandering" needed a better vocal take so of course I added a cabasa track instead. And maracas. 010818 Allen sent 6 takes of 20,000 Days for my listening pleasure. Finished lyrics for Capers and tried a few vocal takes. Settled on verse lyrics for Boyfriend and sang about16 takes. Had to upgrade my DropBox account to accomodate Allen's drum takes. 010718 No blog entries means nothingood. 010418 Bryan and I ran through the set. 010218 And I did. He now has everything until somebody tells me I need to write more songs. Sent Allen: Wrong Star Long Dry Walk Boyfriend Need to sex up It's Wandering and Capers before sharing. 010118 Allen sent me some test files to make sure we were going to be able to communicate. And I did. Intend to send Allen 4 or 5 more songs today. Likely: Nellie Ordinary Glad To Pass On Parasol Bon Voyage Is This Your Thing? I still need to do work on all of those but they are together enough to drum to. That just leaves: Long Dry Walk Wrong Star It's Wandering Capers Boyfriend