Thoughts From The Townedger-February

The winter of suck continues.

I haven't worked a full five day in the past four weeks.  It seems that we have ice storm after ice storm after snow storm and polar vortex and I'm fucking tired of it all.  Everybody in the state is tired of this shit.  You can't play in it, you don't want to go out to a jam and participate.  I haven't done much with Julie either. It's a can't win situation

Craig Dewitte  is still alive.  He found his way home after being stuck in Walford without a ride home. Took him long enough to get home.

Glen Gardner has liked the Arizona scene so much this winter is that he's announced that he and Laruen will be moving there this year. I'm happy for them to leave for a warmer climate but I'm saddened that we lost a valued jammer and guitar player up here.  Stone City will not be the same without him.  Or the Artisan Sanctuary.  I don't blame him for leaving this hell hole state, perhaps I should have gotten a ride with him down there this winter.  Did I mention that this winter sucks?

The use of vacation days during the Winter Suck year of 2019 will limit me into playing on weeknights  and I'm not happy about this.  But I refuse to drive on ice covered roads.   Of course they can always come get me.  If they dare.  There'll be no open mic jams for me at the Artisan Sanctuary this month.  The days I had planned on have been used for the shitty weather this month, and we're not even into a week of February yet.

I got into a dispute with one of the Smokin Guns guys about the dim wit White house impostor.  I take exception about somebody telling me, that Trump Is My President.  No he's not, I didn't vote for him, just like I didn't vote for Phony Joni Ernst nor Chuckles Grassley, Russian puppets who don't care about my opinion or voice and always goes against my principals.  That said, I try not to talk politics, both sides suck, it's just the the Republicans suck even more and care less about us.  We have a right to free speech, it annoys me when this dude talks about us Socialists, it has nothing to do with Socialism but rather have a government that cares for the people and takes care of the Veterans who fight the dirty wars for Big Oil and Big Pharma.   We have disagreements and the country is getting further split apart.   I suspect this dude spent all day drinking GMO made Bud Light and getting drunk.  Again, Trump is not my President, I disavow anything he does, I voted against him.  Perhaps if the economy stays great and gas prices stay under 2 dollars a gallon and we get reduced drug prices I might cut him some slack.  So far, he continues to annoy the fuck out of me.  So I went against my better judgement and took the bait he dished out.  Later we both offered that in the heat of the moment we didn't think things out clearly and had a good laugh about it.  But I don't expect to play drums for them anytime soon.  Even if Mike did ask me to sub, I would have bow out, due to creative differences.

I love Bear Clair but had to censor him due to his Democratic bashings of late.  For somebody who sez both parties are nobody's friend he seems to forget when he went to Des Moines to speak for the veterans, for the Iowa Senate, they couldn't bother to listen to him.  Most were Republicans but he'll blame the other before he blames the GOP.

Julie remains a formidable music ally with me.  On her music of course.  She's had a good history with Ryan and of course nobody will compare to the times of  Kyle Oyloe and her were part of the music scene.  Yes, I wish that  Kyle was still alive, he died way too young.  One can imagine that the Mad Dogs will still be intact.  And I wouldn't figure into the equation had he lived.  Kevin Michel and Mike Serbousek are  vital to that band and spirit.  Still is today, but Kevin is now part of the CR Dicks band and Mike plays in a couple other bands, Smokin Guns being one of them.   I don't know if the Mad Dogs will arise from the ashes. Kyle is not replaceable and anything will be a facsimile of the original band.  I'm not sure if I'll be any help, she hasn't exactly warmed up to any of my originals and odd covers.  The better logic is to keep her and Ryan going in Dreams Of Arcadia. They're fun together.  The Acousta Crabbies I doubt will take off.

I've been asked time and time again if I'm looking for somebody new and I'm not. I love Julie to pieces but you have to understand that we're not the conventional boyfriend/girlfriend, we are safe friends.  I let her decide if I should spend the night with her or not.  I think she's a beautiful soul, I think she's good looking and sexy as well but that's my belief.  I know she's not happy about me playing drums for Boyscout Hippies this winter or helping the Sirenz this summer at selected dates, but as I told her, DOA or anything she does is first on my list.  Ron has done a good job paying me in my sit ins with his band and 100 dollars for three hours work is pretty good to a hobbyist.  I enjoy jamming with Greg n Brenda Mein as well.  As long as I play good drums why not grab the chances to make money and be heard right?

Throughout all this, The Townedgers had to take a back seat to Boy Scout Hippies, and the Acoustic Jams and so forth.  We have the songs to record the next album but time hasn't been allowed to really get things done.  I suppose the ice storms and other shit that kept me home, I should have committed a few songs to tape.  The reality is that nobody is really clamoring for a new Townedgers album.  Only ones that give a shit are Geoff Redding, Terry Bainbridge and Diggy Kat, I don't have that support from my musicians jammers and band mates.  We have things in the archives that can be released retroactive to 2018. But I need a week to find the good stuff and have Terry add his two cents to the mixes.  He's done great on the last three TE albums, he's been involved in.

I have to use a different mindset for the Townedgers, it's my music and it's the way I dictate how things will sound.  Dreams of Arcadia or Mad Dogs are Julie's and Ryan's.  Boy Scout Hippies, Ron n Dakota. Meinfield Greg n Brenda and so on and so forth.  I have no idea about The New Paraphernalia Band.  I haven't fully explained to Julie what The Acousta Crabbies are all about or if she's wanting to depart to a another level of craziness.   I like the song selection that Ron has for Boy Scout Hippies, the question remains if and when Ron reverts to his evil self that has dispense the other drummers to leave.   Julie has a eclectic song selection too, so far I haven't gotten her to sign off on the songs I would like us to do.  And it's frustrating when the one you love doesn't care for the songs that have been suggested.   I am dealing with alpha singers, the ones that want to do their songs.   Which helps their band but not the Townedgers.  But  I have dates with both bands coming up.  The Boy Scout Hippies partnership ends in March, but the option remains open for future dates if they haven't found the right  replacement for me by then.

The tentative title is Forward Looking Back and it turns out that there's many songs from Tales Of The Red Caboose or Postcards From The Edge we could use to update. For new songs there will not be many new songs, unless I sit down and write lyrics.  The archives of lyrics waiting for melodies are just about used up and what remains was sub-par anyway.  But I've been trying some off the wall ones, including the infamous Long Story Short, which clocked in at over nine minutes originally.  Terry implied that Tales Of The Red Caboose has some fine rocking songs that didn't turn out due to primitive recording means.  I still have Tommy Bruner's lyrics to Brief Shining Moment that we need to finish out the arrangement of the song.

Behold, my new Menil Bongos that I got for 90 dollars and will be put to use at future unplugged shows with Dreams Of Arcadia.  That way Ryan doesn't have to tote his congas all overt the place.


That's it from the winter wasteland.  Only 30 more ice and snow storms to go before springtime. I took a bunch of pictures in the studio, Since Facebook was down for the count, I decided to post them all here.  The latest glamour shots so to speak.