The Crust Thickens!

Don't Forget. Dallas this Saturday at Club Dada. Be there!

Events

I was feeling bad around this time last week.

I was feeling guilty for comparing



to



Tom always seemed like a pretty likable guy.



He’s always holding his guitar and smiling.



I mean, if you're going to pick on someone, why Tom Petty? There are so many better targets.



So, I felt bad. Tom didn't deserve it. I even apologized.

Then, I started noticing things.

I noticed that Tom's name

Tom Petty

is quite similar to Pizza Hut's name

Pizza Hut.

Actually, the names are almost mirror images of each other. For example, there are five letters in "Pizza" and five letters in "Petty."

Moreover, each word starts with a P, has two vowels, and has double consonants in the three and four slots.

Then there's "Hut" and "Tom."

Three letters, two consonants, one vowel. And that T in both names.

That T...



That T...



The similarities were too compelling, so I delved further.

Which of course means I went to Wikipedia.

There I found a bevy of similarities.

For example, did you know both Tom Petty and Pizza Hut came to existence in the fifties?

Pizza Hut started in 1958 when Dan and Frank Carney borrowed $600 from their mother Kathy and purchased some second-hand pizza-making equipment. They took a family pizza recipe, rented a small building, and opened the first restaurant at a busy intersection in Wichita, Kansas.

Tom Petty "started" when Petty's mom and dad got together in early 1950.



It was also something of a family recipe.

In 1977, Pizza Hut was acquired by Pepsico, along with KFC and Taco Bell.

Also in 1977, Tom Petty’s single "Breakdown" was re-released and peaked at #40, beginning his two-decade “ownership” of the pop charts.

In 1997, the three Pepsi restaurant chains-Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell-were spun off to Yum! Brands, and in 2002, they were joined by Long John Silver’s and A&W Restaurants.

The years don’t correspond, but it’s hard not to notice the similarities between those five big restaurants and another “Big 5” that joined forces in 1988: Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, who were, of course, the Traveling Wilburys. I’ll leave it to you to match up each Wilbury with his correct fast food chain.



Hint: Roy Orbison is not Taco Bell.

Pizza Hut experiments with new products frequently. These include the Bigfoot, the 16 Big New Yorker, made with sweet sauce and a foldable crust, the Chicago Dish Pizza and Sicilian pizza, the latter also offered in 2006 as Lasagna Pizza.

Tom Petty experiments run the breadth of the entertainment industry. He’s explored many musical styles, with results that were, predictably, pretty good. He’s also had stints as an actor in movies such as The Postman, on TV shows such as It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and on cartoons such as The Simpsons and King of the Hill.

Wait a second.

King of the Hill.

This is starting to get interesting.

Until next week, when we’ll celebrate a very special anniversary. Anyone know what it is?

Art

My Apologies

OKC this Friday! Be there.

Events

You'll have to forgive me for last week's post. This was a good bout of silliness on my part, and I don't want my regular readers to think that I've sunk so low as to demean other well-meaning artists by comparing them to cold, faceless corporate retail chains.





I'm talking about true rock 'n' roll originals who deserve better than some punk with a computer taking cheap shots at them.





Who the hell do I think I am, anyway?





I'm talking about the great singer-songwriters, the great bands of ours or any generation.





These are irreplaceable pop music icons. We'll never hear music that wonderful again.



John Austin

They sure don't make 'em like they used to.



Dead Hot Workshop

Too bad no one is writing great songs today.



Stephen Ashbrook

Or making great records.







(The first two are out. The last one is in stores 6/17.)

So, no more clowning,

Until next week.

Art

Why Tom Petty is like Pizza Hut

My friend John Austin sent me this YouTube link today:



This is probably the most exciting song and video combo I've seen and heard in some time.

John and I had one of those back-and-forth email exchanges yesterday where you wind up saying things you may or may not mean, but they're fun to say anyway.

I compared Tom Petty



to Pizza Hut.



My feeling is this: Pizza Hut makes pretty good pizza. But it's pizza. Isn't "pretty good" the least we can expect?

I can enjoy frozen pizza,



Or corporate pizza,



Or shee-shee gourmet pizza,



It's all at least pretty good pizza.

But don't we want more from pizza?

John, of course, loves Tom Petty, and may have been a little offended at my comparison of Tom Petty to Pizza Hut.

I felt likewise when he claimed not to care much for Joni Mitchell.



I told him he must be lying, that he must be getting back at me for all I said about Tom.

He said he wasn't, that he'd simply already been through his Joni phase, and was sort of over it.

John likes "American Music."

Petty, Willie, Townes.



I told him I'd try some of that stuff, and I bet I'll think it's pretty good.

He's feeding me shee-shee gourmet, and all I hear is Pizza Hut.

My loss.

We both love Dylan, thank god.



But I think I've hit on what's changed so much in the music business in the last decade or so.

It's never been cheaper or easier to write a pretty good batch of songs, to record them pretty well, and to get them out to the world. Much easier than it used to be.

This is a good thing, but it's harder than ever to raise yourself above the din of musical Pizza Huts.

Cheap, easy to get, pretty good to eat.

Sustaining but in the end not really satisfying.

People seem to want something better--I know I do--but in the end we settle for Pizza Hut.

If you want to be in the next wave of great pop music--assuming there is one; there may not be one--you have to try something a cut above Pizza Hut.

What would that be?

I wish I knew.

Maybe California Pizza Kitchen.

Thanks,

Art

The Price of Freedom

First of all, Jon Grayson was kind enough to post our radio appearance on the KMOX Web site. Interested? You can stream it here.

Radio Show

I want to talk about free mp3s.

I like to give away free music, as evinced here and here.

(These offers are still good, by the way. Send me an email with "Birds Sing" or "Nickel" or both in the subject line, and I'll send you mp3s of "Birds Sing" and/or "Nickel." I have another free song, an outtake from Songs from Memory, I plan to give away later in the year. Stay tuned.)

But I don't like to give away everything for free. There are things, like Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory, I can't afford to give away for free.

In casual conversation, I've even been known to suggest that CD replicators offer the option to make your CD un-copy-able. The buyer can't download the songs, or duplicate them, or put them on his iPod or iTunes. You buy a CD, you can play it in your car or on your jam box or on your computer, and that's as far as it goes. "There's got to be a scrambling device that could make this a reality," I've said. "They do it for DVDs." If you want an electronic version, you can buy that too, but with some limit on how many times it can be replicated, if at all. I think iTunes does it this way, even if they don't like it.



In the last month or so, I've found a few people who disagree with me. At one point, one guy referred to me as "Lars," as in Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica.



Another guy said there's no sense in employing such a scrambling device, since people can always put a mic up to a speaker and record it anyway.

I did my share of this back in the day, or a similar thing.

The old "play/record" option on the jam box.

When I was 20 years old and first moved to Arizona, I had two Memorex cassettes with a total of four Talking Heads albums on them. I drove around the Valley all day, doing one of my many driving-related jobs, listening to those two cassettes. When one finished, I replaced it with the other.

It was my favorite part of going to work, listening to those cassettes over and over again.



So here I am, 18 years later, claiming to have stolen Talking Heads records and claiming to have listened to them over and over again for free and claiming to have loved every minute of it, and yet I talk of making my CDs so they're not replicatible.

What a hypocrite, right?

What's the difference?

The difference is, I never once had to worry whether Talking Heads would survive my two blank cassettes to make another record.

The Talking Heads were doing just fine; there was never a chance they wouldn't make records together, as long as they wanted to make records together.

(After a while, they didn't.)

Not so with the independent recording artist in 2008 (if ever). If we enjoy Dead Hot Workshop's new record, or John Austin's new record, or Stephen Ashbrook's soon-to-be-released new record (I've heard it; get ready), we probably should pay for it.

Metallica? Who cares? Go ahead and steal 'em, baby!

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Art

No Trust Fund Tour Wrap-Up

A couple of quick testimonials of Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory.

"Just wanted to tell you how much we love your CD. It is fantastic. We listened to it at least 4 or 5 times on our way home from Scottsdale and then it wouldn't come out of the CD player so we listened to it another 4 or 5 times until we got home. We love it. We are still playing it. So now we can sing along any time we want."

"I reread Stuck Outside this weekend, and am now enjoying Ghost Notes. I'm to the point in the book where you look at how much is left to read and you're torn. I wanna know what happens and yet I don't want the story to end. I'm really enjoying the book, your writing really makes it easy to identify with Hote's feelings."

The No Trust Fund Tour 2008 ended last night in Chicago with a rocking show, and what an amazing tour it was! Four cities, four gigs, one radio show, and a million laughs. It would be almost impossible to pick a highlight, but playing live on Jon Grayson's radio show on KMOX for 44 states--and the late night at BB's listening to Phat Noiz--has to rank right up there. I'd place playing "Carefree" in both St. Louis and Chicago a close second.

And thank you to all the dancers! I always say, heaven for a musician is having 10 people dance while you play. At that point, you know you're fighting the good fight. Thanks to all of you.

So, I guess it's all over, right? You put out a novel and a CD, you do some readings, you play some gigs, you tour, and then you fade off into the sunset. You feel good about your accomplishments, you brag about them to your family and friends, and you rest well at night knowing the law has been laid down by you with a resounding authority.

Hell no.

This is just the first of what I see as a six-to-eight-month promotional smorgasbord. There will be more readings, there will be more music, more band gigs, more dancing into the night and more work days ruined. Next is a little trip down south that will take me to Oklahoma City and Dallas within the next month or so for a couple of acoustic shows. I hear these areas boast the most cantankerous band of outlaws anyone hombre is likely to come across.

Sounds like a job for me.

Then, who knows? Maybe your city will pop up, again or for the first time. Don't be surprised to see me soon in your neck of the woods. Keep your eyes peeled for the latest at my Web site.

Thanks so much to all of you who came out to see the tour. I will see you again, and sooner rather than later.

Next week's blog? I have no idea. Maybe someone else from Gilligan's Island will get arrested.

Art

Mary Ann

Okay. I admit it. I'm worried.

What am I worried about?

Am I worried about the No Trust Fund Tour 2008, which starts TOMORROW NIGHT, 3/25, in Atlanta?

No.

Am I worried about Ghost Notes?

No.

Am I worried about Songs from Memory?

Am I worried about the ozone layer? Global warming? The upcoming presidential election?

No, no and no.

"Then what?" you ask. "What are you worried about?"

I'm worried about Dawn Wells.

Who's Dawn Wells?

Everyone knows who Dawn Wells is.

They just know her by a different name.

They know her as Mary Ann.



Unfortunately, Mary Ann was recently busted in Driggs, Idaho early in the morning. A cop pulled her over for swerving and found, in the back seat of her car, four half-smoked joints.



You know what happened next.



Five days and some $400 later, Mary Ann is out of the clinker, and moving beyond the episode.

I feel sorry for Mary Ann.

Word has it that the four half-smoked joints weren't even hers.

Someone left them in her car.

I have to admit I'm fascinated by this story, by Dawn Wells-Mary Ann.

But mostly I'm fascinated by that one strange detail.

Four half-smoked joints.

What happened? Why would Mary Ann have four half-smoked joints in the back seat of her car?

I have a theory.

I think Mary Ann had some company in her car that night.

I think Mary Ann had some old friends in the back seat of her car that night.

I think Gilligan, the Skipper, Ginger, and the Professor were partying with Mary Ann that night.

I think Gilligan said, "Let's all pile into Mary Ann's car and take the party to Thurston's house."

So, they all piled into the car, and Mary Ann, docile as ever, acquiesced.

Little did she know, the Professor, who'd been spending far too much time in his basement lately, broke out his latest hydroponic invention.

"You're not lighting that up in my car, are you, Professor?"

"Of course not, Mary Ann. We wouldn't want to get you into trouble, would we?"

And they lit up anyway.

The Professor, Gilligan, the Skipper, and Ginger all lit up.

In Mary Ann's car.

"Wow, Professor," Ginger said. "This stuff is really too much."

"Skipper," proclaimed Gilligan, curled up in the passenger's seat. "I'm getting paranoid."

"What I'd give for a nice, juicy steak," pondered the Skipper.

Then, the red lights flashed behind them.

"Headhunters," Gilligan exclaimed, and as Mary Ann curbed her car, Gilligan threw his half-smoked joint down and dashed into the night.

"Let's get out of here," Skipper said, throwing down his half-smoked joint and following his little buddy.

"I've got a pound of this stuff on me," the Professor said, throwing his half-smoked joint down and disappearing.

"Sorry, Dawn," Ginger said, "but it always pissed me off that guys liked you better." And Ginger threw her half-smoked joint down and sauntered away.

So, Mary Ann, innocent Mary Ann, took the fall for the gang.



That's my theory. I hope you like it.

Come see me this week in Atlanta, or Nashville, or St. Louis, or Chicago, and witness the law being laid down in a most pleasurable way. Click the link below for more details.

Web site

Free Mary Ann!

Art

No Trust Fund Tour 2008

First of all, thank you to those who came to see me this past week in AZ and Denver, and for buying Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory. I was using these dates as a guide to help me decide how I'd like to plan events for the rest of the year, and because of you I've come to this conclusion:

I want to play as much as I can in 2008, in any configuration, whenever possible.

That's how well it went.

So, you're going to see me in OKC, and Dallas (just confirmed), and probably Detroit and Des Moines and the East Coast, too.

And that's all before July.

You're also going to see me on the No Trust Fund Tour 2008.

"What's the No Trust Fund Tour 2008?" you ask.

The No Trust Fund Tour 2008 is a four-city tour from Atlanta to Chicago that will feature sets by me and co-headliner John Austin. Our fellow cohorts in laying down the law will be the inimitable Bret Hartley and the ever-funky Kevin Leahy.

Here are the dates of the tour:

March 25 Atlanta Smith's Olde Bar 9 PM

March 27 Nashville The End 10 PM

March 28 St. Louis KMOX (1120 AM) Live On-Air Performance and Chat with Jon Grayson 11 PM

March 29 St. Louis Lucas School House 9 PM

March 30 Chicago The Abbey Pub 8 PM

Check out my Web site or the individual club Web sites for more information.

In all instances, Mr. Austin will go on before me, and I after him. I'll be playing bass in John's band, and he's holding down rhythm guitar in mine.

"Great," you say. "I'll be there. But why do you call it the No Trust Fund Tour 2008?"

We call it the No Trust Fund Tour 2008 because the four of us are lifelong musicians and songwriters somewhere in our late thirties. We've all had some success in the music industry, but hardly enough to guarantee that we won't be delivering pizzas in the future.

So, we called our tour the No Trust Fund Tour 2008 to emphasize that we're on the road without a net, and that if you come, not only will you witness the law being laid down with authority, but also you'll be helping four guys do what they love to do.

"But what will it sound like?"

I'm glad you asked. To give you a hint of the full band onslaught, I've posted online the best live track from Jim Gerke's recording of the Last Exit show in Tempe last week, "Sad Songs Come and Go," the last song on Songs from Memory. It's at my MySpace Audio page, and features the ever-lovable Jim Gerke on rhythm guitar and class act Curtis Grippe on the skins. Enjoy, and get ready to duck in the second chorus when Hartley lets himself out of the cage.

It all starts in a little more than a week in Atlanta. If you're in one of these areas, come out, have a great time, listen to some great music, and know that your presence is appreciated by those playing.

Art