8:30-Art Edwards and his Defunct Band 9:30-Buck Daddy 10:30-South Slope Cutthroats 11:30-Refreshments Tribute
My band was given the option to play later in the night, but I opted for the first slot because:
a) we're a trio, and something about fewer guys onstage makes going first seem appropriate
b) my guess is we're a just little quieter than the other bands that will play that night
c) it's our debut gig...earn your slot, rookie!
What does this mean to you? It means that, if you want to catch the debut performance of Da 'Funct, you can't lollygag your way to J.J. Kelley's that night. Get cleaned up, get some grub down your gullet, and get to the show!
And have you seen Randy's poster?
On a more bummer note, I'm sad to announce that Dead Hot Workshop will not be playing at my triumphant return to the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe on September 6th. We're working on filling the slot, but you can rest assured plenty of law will be laid down that night regardless. Phoenicians, have you marked your calendars? September 6th!
Finally, I've received the final proof of the revised Stuck Outside of Phoenix--which comes out at my Web site on Monday August 4 and will be for sale at all of my shows starting with LDL 2.0--and I'm freaking over the results. Curious? Here's a slightly pinkish version of the cover art:
That's it for this week, folks. Time for Defunct to rehearse!
The fellas in the Refreshments tribute band will lay down the law.
And my Defunct Band will lay down the law.
Who the hell is my Defunct Band?
The line-up of Art Edwards and his Defunct Band is set! We're a trio, and we're Art Edwards (that's me) on bass and lead vocals, the ever-steady Derek Feiza of the Mike Heaton Band on drums and vocals, and the cool and talented Howard Shaw on guitars and vocals. (We think of ourselves as the Police, only not so lame.)
At LDL 2.0 we'll play a set of Art Edwards originals, plus a couple of surprises. If you own Songs from Memory, you will be primed and ready. (What? You don't own Songs from Memory? Well, chop my head off. Buy it now!)
The boys and I are very geared up for our christening in front of a gaggle of Refreshments fans. We're out to win you over. Get ready for the 'Funct!
We love the 'Funct. Gotta have some 'Funct.
It's exciting for me to be back in a band. We spent Tuesday night playing music, joking around, reveling in our guy-ness. Rock music, for me, is about getting out and relating to the world. Being in a band is an important way for me to socialize, whether with others in the band, other musicians, people in the business, or people who come out to see the band play.
It's kind of like a bowling league for those who bothered to learn an instrument.
I don't know why these roles are important, but when we're not in one we tend not to know where to start. I mean, imagine walking up to a complete stranger and introducing yourself. The world would be a better place if meeting people was this simple, but it doesn't work like that.
So, come on out to LDL Part Deux, and say hello to the 'Funct, and meet some other Functy folks, too!
1) My good friend, the ever-lovable Jim Gerke will start the festivities off at the Yucca on September 6th. Jim's always been one of my favorite singer/songwriters on the planet...and I get to crash as his place!
2) New Phoenix Event!
Never happy with just one event per Phoenix trip, I'm thrilled to say I'll be performing Thursday September 4 at the brand new Stinkweeds on Camelback Road in central Phoenix. This will be me solo acoustic, reading from Ghost Notes and playing cuts from Songs from Memory. These solo acoustic events are my opportunities to really ham it up, so come one come all to this really cool new location for Stinkweeds, a Phoenix indie rock institution.
3) Stuck Outside of Phoenix back in print!!!
That's right, folks. A brand new version of the Phoenix rock lit classic will be out on my Defunct Press imprint in August! Stuck has been re-edited and comes in a new trim size and with a new cover design to match the style of Ghost Notes. I tried to wait until next year to drop this one on you, but I simply couldn't wait to see the two of them on the shelf together. The official release date, for Amazon and such, is August 18, but it goes on sale Monday August 4 at my Web site. (That's exactly six months after the release of Ghost Notes.) Stuck will also be for sale at all of my shows next month starting with the Second Annual Laying Down the Law Show in Lansing, IL on August 9. If you've never ventured into the world of Hote, this is the perfect excuse to do so. And you can start at the beginning!
And in case you're wondering, Novel 3, the next in the series, is coming along just fine.
I will make my encore appearance at the ever-charming Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville on Thursday, September 18 at 8 PM. I will be playing solo acoustic, and I will be featuring some new material, along with all of your old favorites, Refreshments and otherwise. I'm tempted to call this the Cubs Clinch the Pennant Show, but past experience keeps me from making such a stupid mistake. Suffice it to say you should mark this one on your calendars now before you forget and waste your Thursday night watching some inane tripe on TV.
When people ask me about being on the road with the Refreshments, I'm always ashamed at how little I remember of it. I don't want to continue the weird reverse-romanticism of the road being this awful existence. I don't think it is an awful existence. It's just that, unless you're Led Zeppelin, it's unmemorable.
Valhalla, I am coming.
I do have one very clear memory of being on the road with the Refreshments, and it seems a great time to tell it to you since it features Brian Blush, whose new band the South Slope Cutthroats has recently joined the line-up for the 2nd Annual Laying Down the Law Show on August 9th.
Flash back to the winter of 1995-96. The band had finished its debut record for Mercury, Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy, but the label had yet to release it. We were touring with local heroes the Gin Blossoms and Dead Hot Workshop, and we were traversing the western United States in our used-but-new-to-us Econoline van. This was to be an easy day; we had all day to drive from Seattle to Ketchum, Idaho with no gig that night. The drive was supposed to take about ten hours, but with snow in the Rockies it wound up taking about 14. We were just about to Ketchum, it was 1 A.M., when Swaff, Tempe legend and our road manager, pulled over to get some gas. Blush, who'd been sick for a couple of days, had one bench in the van to himself--I don't think I'd heard a word out of him the whole trip--and I had a bench to myself, trying to sleep a bit before Ketchum.
Everyone else had gotten out of the van except the two of us. Some clown had left the side door open, so I was getting a good dose of Idaho winter blowing in on me as I tried to sleep. I looked up to see what the deal was when I was affronted by the person at the pump across from us.
I don't know what he was doing--filling up a gas can, working with something on the ground--but in his arching over he exposed to me the largest expanse of plumber's butt I'd ever seen.
So I smiled and lay back down.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I heard this noise. It started as just a rumble, grew into a titter, and climaxed into a full-fledged giggle. It was Blush in the bench behind me, chortling at the bad moon rising just outside the van.
It seems silly now, but that's my most vivid memory of being on the road with the Refreshments: some Idahoan's butt crack at 1 A.M., Blush giggling like a schoolboy from the bench behind me, and me unable to keep from chuckling too.
I think Brian started feeling better after that, and so did I.
I told you about Art Edwards and his Defunct Band.
(Oh, actually I didn't. Art Edwards and his Defunct Band is my new Chicago-based band. The Laying Down the Law Show will be our debut performance.)
I told you about the Refreshments tribute portion of the show. (FFB&B in its entirety, baby!)
What I didn't tell you about is the fourth act on the bill.
I didn't tell you about it because I didn't know about it at the time.
I didn't know about it at the time because, well, that's just how life happens.
As of a couple of days ago, the fourth act on the bill is the South Slope Cutthroats.
Who, you ask, are the South Slope Cutthroats?
The South Slope Cutthroats are an ornery bunch of cusses who hail from Northwest Indiana.
They're also the new band fronted by Brian Blush.
Who's Brian Blush?
Aw, hell. Everyone knows who Brian Blush is.
Brian Blush was the lead guitarist of the Refreshments.
The Refreshments laid down the law big time in their day.
So, come to the 2nd Annual Laying Down the Law Show on August 9th and not only will you get the South Slope Cutthroats, you'll also get two Refreshments in the tribute band for the price of one.
We had a great time at Uncommon Ground on Friday! It was wonderful to see some old--and not so old--friends, and to play some songs solo acoustic for my new favorite city. And what a great turn-out! I'm always glad to see new faces.
If you want to hear a track from Friday, check out my MySpace Audio Page.
Rob, who came to both the Abbey Pub show in March and this one at UG, admitted he has two CDs in the visor of his car: Songs from Memory and Too Fast for Love by Motley Crue.
I have to admit: Too Fast for Love was always my favorite Motley Crue CD.
So, I'm honored and humbled.
Anyway, Chicago, thank you for treating me like family. We'll have to do it again sometime.
Like, how 'bout August?
The Laying Down the Law Show 2008
Randy Anderson, of Chicagoland's Buck Daddy, and I are teaming up to bring you a night of new and classic music. The date of the show is August 9th, a Saturday, and it's at JJ Kelley's in Lansing, IL, just south of Chicago. Events will include a set of music by Art Edwards and his Defunct Band, a set by Buck Daddy, and a set featuring me, Randy and a cast of musicians performing the Refreshments classic Fizzy, Fuzzy Big & Buzzy in its entirety! This is sure to be a fun night of music and memories you won't want to miss.
Last year, at the inaugural LDL show at Martyrs' in Chicago, we had a great turn-out, with lots of fun and plenty of rock to tame that outlaw inside of you. Many of the same performers have signed on for the Refreshments tribute portion of the show, including Bobby Shaw of Buck Daddy on drums, and Todd, the singer, who brings new meaning to the phrase "laying down the law" (he's a cop, folks). This is one you need to start planning on right now. I bet you won't regret it.
Saturday, August 9, 9 PM, JJ Kelley's in Lansing, IL.
First of all, I hope to see all of you this Friday the 13th (Oooo) at my Chicago show at Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville. The Cubs are in first, the weather is beautiful. It's the best time of the year to be a Chicagoan. Come out and celebrate! I go on at 9 PM.
And if you come, you will be the first to hear my next big announcement, which involves Chicago and laying down the law. Wanna know more? Great. I'll see you Friday.
We've lived in Chicagoland six months, and we're loving it. We spent all yesterday in the Hyde Park/57th Street area, and it reminded me of growing up in Moline, Illinois, pining to live in a place as cool as Chicago. Moline is about 135 miles west of the big city, and I always thought I'd eventually wind up in Chicago, drawn there by the Cubs but staying for something else. I wouldn't have been able to say what, but yesterday driving up Lake Shore Drive I realized what it was.
The place is big enough and diverse enough to allow for just about any whim to be satisfied. If it's available anywhere, it's available here. Need to buy a used PA system? No problem. Wanna jog the lake front? Check. How 'bout see a new movie that didn't cost a billion dollars to make? Yep. Wanna catch Wilco? Play an open mic? See classic artwork? Eat Lebanese? Browse an independent bookstore? You have it all, usually ten times over. If you're willing to put up with a little stop-and-go on the freeway, you can do anything you want.
That's something relatively new for me. Five years in Ashland, Oregon, which is at least four hours away from any big city, got me used to dealing with the limitations of being so isolated. Now it feels like there's so much to do. It's a little overwhelming.
And it doesn't hurt that the Cubs are here, either.
