Song from Memory now Available on iTunes and at CDBaby!!!

Yes, the good news keeps coming in the land where the law is laid down with such sweet and blissful authority.

You can now buy my debut solo CD, Songs from Memory, at both iTunes and CDBaby.

At both places you can listen to portions of every song on the album, and at CDBaby you can hear a full two minutes of each! So, if you ever wondered how deep the record is (don't you hate it when you buy a record for one song and that song is the only one you like?) go to CDBaby and get a good chunk of everything on the disk.

I was always proud that Refreshments records were solid from beginning to end, one of those road trip CDs you can put in and not have to worry about skipping tunes. That same care went into Songs from Memory. Do yourself a favor. Find two minutes you don't like. Hell, I challenge you.

And if you love buying music on iTunes as much as I, take a spin on Songs from Memory there. You'll be glad you did.

Finally, if you're one of those who actually goes to a store to buy a CD (you're still out there, right?), Songs from Memory is for sale at East Side Records in Tempe.

And just so I'm giving fair airtime, you can get Ghost Notes at a few places on and off the Web. There's Changing Hands in Tempe. You can also order it at any brick-and-mortar bookstore just by giving them the ISBN (978-0979906619). Then there's Amazon, where you can get both Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory. (Buy them both and they ship for free!)

Finally, lest you forget, both Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory can be bought at my Web site. And not only will I give you the best deal anywhere, this is the only place where you can get your book signed!

Just in case you wondered where to get your summer music and reads.

Did I miss anything?

Art

Buy Ghost Notes



Buy Songs from Memory

Yucca, Yucca, Yucca!!!

Back in March, I played a gig in Tempe at Last Exit with Bret Hartley, Jim Gerke and Curtis Grippe. We had a great time. Actually, you can hear one cut from the gig at my MySpace page, and the same song at my MySpace Audio page.

I loved Last Exit, and I loved playing Tempe again. But I have to admit there was something that caused me a bit of regret.

About a month before the show, Rodney, the owner of the Yucca Tap Room, shot me a message. Rodney thanked me for posting my blog on the good ol' days at the Yucca. He, like many, has fond memories of those days. He understood I was playing at Last Exit this time through, but he wanted me to know he'd be happy to have me back at the ol' stomping grounds sometime in the future.

The future is now...or September 6th.

Yes. Bud will be laying down the law again at the Yucca Tap Room on Saturday September 6th! There will be other bands involved and more details between now and then; all we know right now is we're firm for 9/6.



Regrettably, Mr. Hartley will not be making the trip out from Atlanta for the show, but Gerke and Grippe are signed on, making us the most blistering trio this side of the Rio Grande. Just like the Chicago show at Uncommon Ground on Friday June 13th, you'll hear Songs from Memory songs, and Refreshments songs, and covers. You'll also get to watch me be a ham.



So, mark it on your calendars now! Write something like, "Art slays in the name of the crown at the Yucca" in the space under "September 6."

As you can see, the summer is shaping up rather nicely for yours truly. Make a point to come out and see me! I'll have more firm



dates in more places as we go forward.

Thanks,

Art


Buy Ghost Notes



Buy Songs from Memory

New Chicago gig, plus Sting is a Fraud

There are some special things that come with promoting a novel and a CD. The best part is that I get to play gigs, and the next gig is booked.

It's in my hometown of Chicago at a place called Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville.

And here's the best part of the best part: the gig is on Friday the 13th.

Ooooooooooo.

What kind of crazy shit am I smokin'?

It's true. Friday the 13th at 9 PM is the date and time of my next show at Uncommon Ground. I'll be playing solo acoustic, and two other solo acoustic fellas, Christopher Joel and Brooks Geenen, will go on after me. This is going to be a great time, and it's a small place, so make your reservations now. (They don't do tickets there but reservations. O, la la. Bring a date!) You'll hear Songs from Memory songs, and Refreshments songs, and songs that are just as good but neither Songs from Memory songs nor Refreshment songs. Come and see me! It's a Friday night, and I'm known to ham it up pretty good.



And if you're not in the Chicago area, don't worry. I've got at least one other gig to announce...but not until next week. This week, I need you to feel the full effect of Chicago at Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville.

Feel it? Okay. Onward.

Also on the music front, Radio Free Phoenix has kindly picked up three Songs from Memory for its rotation. So, check out Radio Free Phoenix and prepare to be entertained.

Finally, and perhaps least importantly, a gentleman in Nampa, Idaho claims that Police songs were stolen from him by Sting. This guy "wrote" them by telling Sting about his life one night in Reno, Nevada in 1977, about a his girlfriend Roxanne, and the message he left for her in a bottle. Sting then composed songs from the stories, and this guy feels jilted.

So, Sting's a fraud. Everyone deal with it.

Too bad the rest of his work doesn't measure up.







In retrospect, it's so obvious.

Thanks,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes



Buy Songs from Memory

Albert Hofmann Dies

First of all, read this new interview with me at the very cool Spraygraphic. We cover all the important stuff, Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory, the Refreshments, Dead Hot Workshop and the conflicts of rock 'n' roll heart. Enjoy!

This week, Albert Hofmann died.



Who's he?

Albert Hofmann will forever be known as the inventor of LSD.




He was 102, and smiling in every picture.



You would be too if you invented LSD.

Funny, but Tom Petty is always smiling in pictures, too.



Hmmm.

Anyway, LSD has always been a fascinating subject to me.

I've never done it.

Too square.



But, as a rock musician, you'd have to be living under a rock to be unaware of LSD's profound effect on rock music.





The shit was everywhere.

As a teenager, I wanted to know what an acid trip was like, and I hassled some "experienced" friends of mine, soliciting their opinion of me trying it. They all said the same thing.

Stay away from it.

(Some friends, eh?)

Seriously, they said, "Forget it. It's not for you."

Not for me? Why not for me?

Because I'd freak out, they said, and they'd be forced to deal with it.



So, reluctantly, I took them at their word and gave up my quest. I'd never be the lizard king.



It was tough to deal with at the time, but it's kinda cool now, especially since the lizard king is now worm food.



Still, who wouldn't be fascinated by LSD?

Opening the doors of the unconscious.

Freeing your mind from the chains of linear thought.

Letting all the bats loose in your belfry.



Woo hoo!

Unless you're a nerd.



D&D, anyone?

Art

Ten Years!!!

As many of you guessed last week, today marks the ten year anniversary of the Refreshments' last gig.



So, Art, how do you feel, ten years removed?



Proud.

Proud of a band that put its indelible stamp on Tempe, Arizona and rock music in general?



Yep.

Proud of having written and recorded 30-some songs together, compiled into two records and change, that still get played ten years later?



Very much so.

Proud of having laid down the law with such sweet authority from coast to coast from 1994-1998?



Bet your ass.

Would you ever reunite with your old bandmates?

(Sigh.) Don't do this to me.

Well, I think people want to know where you stand on this.

How 'bout this: not never, but not imminent either.

You're being evasive.

I'm tired. I had a gig last night.

Where'd you play?



Fun?

(Art smiles.)

Anything else you'd like to add on this momentous anniversary?

The most moral way I know to honor what the Refreshments did is to keep doing it.

Doing what?

Inventing new forms of art and entertainment, writing new books and songs and blogs, performing for people; in general, creating "that which did not exist before," as Faulkner said.



Who's Faulkner?



He was in Gunsmoke.

One more question.

Sorry. Lunch time.



Art