Thoughts Of The Townedger-October

On Monday, I checked myself into ER after going through chest pains and stayed in the hospital for a couple nights.  The prime result was high blood pressure and I basically took it easy among walking around in those skimpy gowns the hospital gives you when you go there.  So I'm supposed to take it easy, so here I am, a couple hours released from the hospital.  Being tired somewhat from not sleeping very well, nobody ever sleeps in a hospital, I believe that I will make it.

Lucky Star Radio has been very helpful in promoting the new TE album, with key album tracks being played at random.  Diggy Kat has been gracious in giving me my own show on net radio, called (what else)  Townedger Radio, to promote the TEs and other forgotten music.  The first show went on without any problems and if I'm not dead yet, more shows will be on the way, third Wednesday night of every month at Midnight CST.

I'm committed to put out a new TE album next spring as well.  Hasn't been much going on in discussions with Martin or Geoff, being that Geoff is more into getting his daughters' band going more than hanging with the TEs. But there's no riff between him and Martin.  It has also been proven that we could do it on without Geoff on a complete album.  Highway Home and Pawnshops For Olivia come to mind.  My best friend Russ has expressed a desire to help out on anything new and if there's a song that's right for him to play on, we'll give it our best shot.

There's not much for extra tracks from Forthcoming Trains left.  I used End Of It All, an outtake for the first TE Radio show and got good feedback from it. There's a couple alternative takes of some songs but we were working on a strict time limit to get things done and only used two cassettes for the four track recordings. Richard Dennanbaugh is a bit more different as producer than Hugh McConnell who busted our butts on Forthcoming Trains, he lets me take my time better in making new albums than McConnell, but then again McConnell had the same theory as he did when he worked on the 20 album or Weather On The Nines although while the latter album took about 6 months to complete, the majority of it came from a straight two week bunch of sessions in late October, early November.

Other things, Russ is doing his best for us to get back together again and jam with a couple new guitar players he knows about.  None of them Alex Ballantyne, a co worker who wanted to get something going but never got back to me about doing anything.  One thing for sure, he plays a mean air guitar.

Every Hour On The Hour, the 1986 farewell shows of here before a failed move to Arizona I came across by accident while compiling TE Radio, has not been transferred over to CD.  Problem was the original master to that has been misplaced leaving only a cassette copy that I played a lot when I was living in Tempe that year.  Upon listening to it, I just didn't feel it was worth to issue on CD.  The old cassette to cassette recording of it really was piss poor and the performance of the songs was a product of the times.  It shall remain cassette only and out of print.

Likewise the Tyrus farewell Live Under A Full Moon. I still insist that Tyrus/Paraphernalia was one of the best live bands of the 80s but there's not much of a market for bar band rehashes of Sharp Dressed Man or Rocky Mountain Way.  We would have gotten better had we all stayed together but LUAFM only hints of what could have been.  Having reunited with Shawn Ster via Facebook was a fun event, but his political thinking is a bit too right wing, especially the Obama put downs he usually posts.  I don't think he'd be a good fit if Tyrus would reunite on stage.  But don't hold your breath on that happening. We have a couple of guitar players who are very right wing and FOX news watchers.  They tend to not focus on the music. Politics was a reason why the band got put on a hiatus that hasn't changed in 30 years.  Of course it's easier to blame it all on the POTUS and not on a worthless congress that sits on their hands and ass either.  And I'll doubt it will be any different either.  It's like Sammy Hagar rehashing Van Halen Reunion rumors, more or less the Me factor.  As long as everybody is still alive, there's always the chance of reuniting.  In our collective minds of course.  Reality, not much so.  Unless it's a slow news day and somehow the topic gets brought up.

On a positive, Shawn says he's given up drinking and is an a relationship once again.  From what I remember of Shawn when he was in the band that he did consumed a lot of beer and did some drugs upon hitting the stage.  He has his own acoustic show that he plays around the area from time to time.  For musicians like us who are past 50 years of age, there's still a few that still hit the jam sessions and bands in the area but each year we lose a couple more, Scott Murray comes to mind.  He passed away earlier in this month.  Looking back perhaps I should have done more jamming around the area and being more acquainted of the area's fellow musicians, but I more inclined to follow my own music muse.  It didn't make me rich, but it did allow me to make some decent homemade recordings of Route 66 who eventually became the Townedgers because of many other bands using Route 66.  If I had the cockiness of Shawn, chances are I would be better known.  But I was cursed by shyness and hid behind the scenes. And behind all them cymbals.


With that said, I do think Forthcoming Trains is one of the best albums of 2014.  My best of list will probably be the only site that gives mention to this album.  Diggy Kat and Lucky Star Radio has had Wolfie in their regular rotation the past month and I thank them for continuing to play it and anything else off the new project.