Cassettes In The Mailbox

Revival of the Fittest...

2011-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm about to leave for the Sept/Oct Revival tour on Thursday night. I always get the jitters before we leave for a tour after a long time off. It used to not bother me when we toured ever waking second of the year, because it was normal. Now, I have a home and a dog and I see my friends and it's weird to have to pack up and leave all the time. I know now why most people can't make it in a band, it's not for lack of talent, it's because not a lot of people can tough out the touring that it takes to survive and keep your band in the public eye. It takes a desire beyond the norm to do this kind of thing all the time. You have to have an unending desire to share art. That's what this is about. It's easier when you have nothing, but it's also harder to have nothing.

Tomorrow I get to go see PJ20 in the theatre, one night only. So awesome. Lord willing, I'll be writing songs on the Revival Tour and we should start getting together and rehearsing and making demos when I get back. I'm fixated on the Pearl Jam songs "Go, Animal, and The Fixer."

I certainly hope I can rope some of that vibe into our new songs. I'd like to have a record that had that kind of ferocity. I'm also currently obsessed with the Foo Fighters songs "One by One, the Pretender, and Times Like These." That would be six songs to a fantastic half of a record.

I know one thing, we're looking into how to carry on our sound, how to stay exciting, how to improve, how not to loose the intensity because we're older. I feel like we have more to prove now than when we first put out Sink or Swim. We've been given a gift, now we have to deserve it.

Stay Hungry, Stay Inspired. Here comes the future.

- Be good.

Brian

The Horrible Shows

2011-08-08T06:54:00.001-07:00

Thank you very much to everyone who bought tickets to our New York and LA shows!

We're going to be playing the whole record at these shows and we're working on some very interesting covers to play for you too.

Expect lamps and dim lights. Wear something pretty, and boys, don't forget to shave...

See you all there!

The Horrible Crowes

The Gear Talk...

2011-08-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

For those who're wondering and have been asking...

Here's the gear I use...

Guitars:

Butterscotch Nash TK-54 w/ Humbucker in the Neck (Keith Richards style.)

Black Nash TC-63 w/ Humbucker in the Neck

Mary Kay White T-52

you can find these guitars from the good folks at Nashguitars

Amps:

For Europe and the UK I use a Marshall 1974x 18watt Combo.

Yea, even for the big shows. 18watts is PLENTY!

For the US I use this little lady... Billy Penn Bandmaster

For Pedals:

This changes quite often, I'm a freak about pedals, but the mainstays are:

Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe 2

Fulltone '69 Pedal

T Rex Reptile 2

T Rex Comp Nova

Analog Man King of Tone

Analogman Mini Bi Comp

I also love the Fulltone Cables, they don't break.

There you go. Have fun.

Radio Radio

2011-07-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Dear DJ... please do not put music on the internet that you know you're not supposed to.

For once can someone have the respect of an artist or band to let them release their creation in it's entirety when they deem it ready? I understand people are excited, but if I was waiting for a movie to come out, why would you want to download a chapter of the whole? You'll miss the point and you'll miss the intent of the whole. When a single is officially released, it's like a trailer... it's thought over, and it represents a mood or a sum of the parts... it's a statement.

If you respect us at all and our music, please don't download or listen to anything that's not official. Especially not when you take an MP3 stream, hook up coaxial cable and run it through a board and broadcast it. It sounds like garbage, and I know Myself, Ian, and Ted certainly didn't agonize over the sound of the record to have it played through a tin can telephone. The internet is great for somethings... but it's taking the magic out of music. There's no surprise and no mystery of art when people take it upon themselves to do things.

Revival Tour Update.

2011-06-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who's been excited for the Fall Revival Tour in Europe! We can't wait to get over there, we all are thrilled about it. This tour will be following the release of The Horrible Crowes debut album "Elsie" and Ian and I will be performing songs from the Horrible Crowes on the Revival Tour. I'm sure as Revival Tour goes, we'll have some help from Dave, Dan, and Chuck on some of these songs as well. It's going to be a great tour and the first tour where you can hear songs from The Horrible Crowes.

We're looking at some other select tour dates for the US and Canada as well as our dear friends in the UK and Europe for later this year and early 2012. I will say that there will not be many dates, but we're considering some plans.

Previews

2011-06-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

So we have the first preview up for you now, it's from a song called "Black Betty & the Moon."

This is only a preview and will be followed by a different song which will be released as the first single soon. Enjoy!

Recording Complete!

2011-05-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

STUDIO UPDATE: 8 THE HORRIBLE CROWES

We finally finished up after about seventeen days of recording for the record. It's scheduled to be released on September 6th on Side One Dummy records. We've got 12 songs, and we're all very excited to have been able to do this record. Thanks to everyone who helped and who's watching!

There Was Blood on My Teeth...

2011-05-19T20:57:00.001-07:00

STUDIO UPDATE:7 The Horrible Crowes

Well, now we've done it, we've crossed the line into strings and we can never go back, we had the Parkington Sisters come in and play some of the most beautiful strings I've ever heard. They also laid some of the wildest accordion down since Tom Waits. We have one more day of recording and then Ted's off to mix it and then it's a waiting game until September when it comes out.

Here we go!

You Cry All Night Long Keepin' the Horses Alarmed...

2011-05-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Studio Update 6: The Horrible Crowes

Now we're cooking with gas... bullet mics and gospel singing. We went over some vocals and did some retakes of the stuff that was sounding too clean with a Shure Bullet mic, which you normally use for harmonicas, but we use 'em for vocals sometimes 'cause it sounds awesome. We used TONS of Fuzz pedals, and got maybe one of the coolest guitar tones ever with a JMI Rangemaster that Ian bought me last year for my birthday. Benny Horowitz is coming down tomorrow to bang on a big huge drum and to help us stomp and clap.

This record has bunch of twists and turns, some songs sound like the darkest soul music since Black Love by the Afghan Whigs, some of the songs are Tom Waits and Neil Young's band that never was... and there's some stuff to make PJ Harvey proud. The Record carries out like a novel, there's a beginning and and end, a fall from grace and a little salvation. Son of a Preacher Man... and we're shooting for a September release before I hit the road with Chuck on the Revival tour. Almost done...

Birth Of The Cool...

2011-05-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

STUDIO UPDATE 5:

THE HORRIBLE CROWES

Today we moved into a new studio to complete the final stages of the record.

We had Adele Jensen come in to play trumpet, and it sounds amazing! Like Miles, and Coltrane...

There's some big stuff coming this week, we have strings, Benny's coming to play a HUGE tympani drum, it's out of control. It's coming together in an amazing way, and you're going to be very excited.

We're not releasing any previews, or sample tracks or anything prior to the first official single. The reason is that this CANNOT be heard in any other than it's proper form. We'd be doing a great injustice to release a demo version or anything less than the final product for you to hear. It's been a long wait for all of us, but it's going to be so very, very worth it when you see the artwork with the actual record or cd and play it for the first time. Thank you for your patience and we're very grateful for everyone's interest in what we're doing here, we're so proud of it and we hope you will enjoy it. We sure have had a blast making it so far and we can't wait to put the final touches on it.

Sympathy...

2011-05-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

STUDIO UPDATE 4: THE HORRIBLE CROWES

We're completely in overdrive mode now, all the basic tracks are done, all the vocals are done, I can't believe we got it all in there so quick... we've been in the studio for less than two weeks. Right now Ian's in there working up his guitar parts, slides, delays, tremolos...and one mighty red ES-335. We're also going to be moving studios on Monday to do the final overdubs, backing vocals, and noises... bottles, breaking glass, the ocean, slamming car doors... that sort of thing. Expect everything.

Organ Grinders...

2011-05-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

STUDIO UPDATE 3: The Horrible Crowes

Well, we're moving along. Today was Friday the 13th... Anyway... Today we did a TON of stuff. We laid down about five vocals, more guitars, and knocked out the last of the old Hammond B-3, which is an amazing instrument, and I've found myself pretty attached to it, which I'm sure will end up on the next Gaslight record, which we plan to start writing as soon as I'm done with the Crowes record. Onward and upward... about a week left!

The Place I Used to Stand...

2011-05-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

Studio Update 2: The Horrible Crowes

Today we did guitars and more guitars... for the

gear people, we're using:

'51 Supro Spectator

'63 Supro Thunderbolt

'66 Super Reverb

Dr. Z Route 66

It's very careful with the guitars, each song has different need with this record. Most of the time I just grab one amp and one guitar and bang out a record. Today alone I've actually recorded songs with two Nash Telecasters, a '58 VOS Gibson Les Paul, One Nash Strat, One Gibson Blues King, and an ES-335. All that for about five songs, I haven't even gotten to the other five that actually have guitars in them. There's two songs with no guitar at all. Not to mention Ian's done all his bass tracks, and Steve's done all his drum tracks. I've played the drums, and Ian still has his guitars to do. It's a whole lot of instruments on this one. We've also put the drum loops and programing in there as well. Get ready, and hold on to your seats.

This is a record to ache to.

Studio Update 1

2011-05-10T20:59:00.001-07:00

Studio Update Number One - The Horrible Crowes

Coming to you from a secret location in the Shore of New Jersey,

we have begun recording for the Horrible Crowes.

So far we've got the drums, percussion, and drum loops pretty well wrapped up in bow

thanks to Steve Sidelnyk. Ian finished all the bass parts yesterday and today, and I've done 60% of the Piano work and about 80% of the Hammond B-3 Organs, it's been a pretty productive not-even-first-week.

The piano you see pictured above was also used on a record called "Bat Out of Hell" by a guy named Meatloaf, which is one of my top twenty albums of all time.

We've got amps upon amps and noises upon noises, the exciting thing for me is this is coming out better than I could have ever dreamed. Benny came down today to hang out and we had a great time listening to all the parts we've laid down so far. There's an electricity in the air, the weather's breathing warmer, and the ocean is at my fingertips again.

It's good to be home, it's good to be back in the studio with Ted Hutt and Ryan Mall,

and this record is going to make the old women blush and the young girls scream.

Like Greg Duli says... "does he love you? cause if he doesn't I'll be here all night."

-More...

It's always about the, ahem, Birds.

2011-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Absolute Punk found me out, I was keeping this a secret just doing the back room legwork getting everything ready, well, why wait... I remember I used to have to set myself on fire to get somebody to find out about my band, either that or play with Bruce Springsteen! (wink) so I'm pumped people care enough to find out before I even told anybody outside my little circle. So thanks for caring about what I'm up to, I appreciate that a lot.

Anyway, so here's the deal... the "night time music" is myself and Mr. Ian Perkins, and what we're doing is writing songs and making demos at the very moment. We hope to put out a full length record sometime this year, before it gets cold again, I don't know with whom, or when exactly it will come out. But the point is, it's coming out. We're calling ourselves The Horrible Crowes.

The name comes from a poem called the Twa Corbies, which means, "two crows." Check it out,

it's a dark commentary on life. A knight dies, his woman runs off on him, and two crows sit by discussing how to devour his remains... pretty gross. Pretty accurate about how we struggle all our lives for gain and greed, etc, etc and in the end, to quote Tom Waits, "we're all gonna be just dirt in the ground," while the spirit moves on and can't take a bit of the material with it.

Yet I've found we all do this, and mainly in relationships, we end up the devourer or the devoured. That's what we're singing about, it's the darker side of soul music, it's slow, it slithers, and it's raw. At the same time, the melodies and pianos are a juxtaposition to the topic material because it's eerily soothing. I'm really proud of what's been coming out and we'll see how it goes, but it's in the works and it's heading for an actual record.

Now how's this going to work with Gaslight, well it's easy, see, every time I write a creepy Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Mark Laneghan type song, I get an idea for a ripper which goes straight to Gaslight. So we're writing for both now, but Gaslight isn't planning on recording until the fall, for a 2012 release. Now I can't sit still so I'm doing this for fun, nothing more. We might do a few shows with the Crowes, maybe select cities in the US, Can, and Europe/UK, but not major touring like Gaslight does. This is my "for me" record, Gaslight is my baby, no mistake.

I always said I never would do a "solo" record so that's why I found a partner in crime in Ian. So it's not going to be the acoustic Brian Fallon road show. There's organs, pianos, even (gasp) strings!!! There's drums, everything. So don't expect a folk record. Here's a good description, if Tom Waits, the National, the Afghan Whigs, Bon Iver, and Nick Cave made a band with Percy Sledge that'd be called The Horrible Crowes.

You can find us on Facebook, and we have a blog that will eek out little bits as we progress and serve as a news point, so all breaking news with come from The Horrible Crowes blog.

Now for you cynics, it's spelled "Crowes" because Ian's English, and that's fun to me because I'm American and think everything English people do or say is amazing, you do to, admit it. So put that in your pipe and smoke to the filter.

We'll put some music up closer to when we figure out when we're recording. Because you internet whiz's are amazing at stealing. I'm truly impressed, but hyper afraid of you, so let's just say we'll put out some demos when we're ready to be hacked to death.

And yes, I have the Gaslight Anthem's blessing because they know I love them more than Ian.

I just said that because it's fun to see Ian's face when reads this. (Hi Ian.)

So let's have some fun and put out some great music this year while we get ready to write the best Gaslight Anthem record yet!

We'll see ya out there on the road!

Thanks everybody,

Brian

No New Music?

2011-01-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

So there's always somebody complaining how's there's no new music that is good to listen to coming out, well, this month, I don't think it's true... check these out if you're getting a little tired of you music collection.

1. Social Distortion - Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.

I know your first thought, is Social D? I know what they sound like... no you don't. Buy this record, it's maybe their best record yet. It shows growth and the songs are great.

2. Dave Hause - Dave's got a new record coming out this month from Paper and Plastic. This is the best group of songs I've heard in a long long time. Treat Yourself.

3. Cold War Kids - Next week you can have your minds blown, or you can miss out. Your choice. Just buy the record.

There's some more out there as well, I love the Phoenix record, the Black Keys album Brothers is great, I heard the new Cage The Elephant single and that was awesome, also there's a great punk band called Red City Radio, that's a great band. Love it or learn to love it.

Tarred and Feathered.

2011-01-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, happy new year. So here's some quick updates, long update to come.

Gaslight's working on new songs, I'm working on other new songs, Alex Rosamilia's working

on a great band called "Something About Death Or Dying." and we're still gonna manage to play some shows for 2011. There's some special events, and a couple tours. We may even try to do a DVD! I would be super excited about that, we'll see how that works, and we'll keep you up on it. Now, I love you Punknews, but don't promise a DVD just yet, this is only pillow talk so far... you know, like Bruce Campbell.

But to all the kids who voted us #1 record for 2010 on Punknews, thanks a lot. You might not think we pay attention, but it means the world to us to know people are behind us. So thank you all!

So there's tons of music being worked on for you all, it's very exciting. We're going to get it all together and hopefully, this year and next we'll have some things for you to listen to.

I can say right now about my night time music, that Dylan Thomas described it better than I could by saying:

"If you heard those old birds in the night, you'd wake me up and say there were horses in the trees."

More to come. Goodnight Gracie.

I think I can reach the other wall...

2010-12-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we've gotten some stuff up now on ebay... the auction is here.

The stuff that's mine is labeled as such, the only other thing that's

mine up there is the Danelectro.

I may be able to see the other wall in our garage. There's more T Shirts in

here than I've ever worn in my life.

Again, please do not bid unless you want this stuff, don't use it as memorabilia.

I've gotta get a bigger garage, but then again I don't have a car, so that's cool.

Next blog.... actually about music.

We're a Garage Band, We Come From Garage Land.

2010-12-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, so everybody's had a lot of questions about our garage sale.

Basically, we're over piled and we can't fit our stuff in the tiny garage anymore, so we're

selling off the stuff we don't use to make some room. The sale will be on Ebay done by

our good friends at Raritan Bay Guitar Repair, I'll make a post on the old twitter when it all

goes up. We're selling a couple amps, one speaker cab, one guitar and some other stuff. I'll make sure to let you know when it starts. Do me one favor, don't buy something because you

want a keepsake, it's not cheap stuff, and we're not looking to cash in on anybody's affection

for our music. If you want a keepsake, come to a show, we'll hang afterwards, we'll sign whatever you want for free and then you can have your own personal memorabilia that doesn't cost you anything. This sale is gonna be for people to get some high end music gear that's new or very near new at a discount, and it helps us make some room. But if you're not gonna play the stuff, don't buy it... I don't want you spending you hard earned cash on stuff you're not gonna use.

One thing that's real cool is an amp that I built myself, it's a copy of a 1965 JTM 45 Plexi Head, and I seriously think it's one of the greatest sounding amps out there without the price tag of a 45 year old Marshall. I build amps for fun sometimes, and this is the first one I built to sell. The amp I used to record the '59 Sound was a Tweed Bassman I built, that one isn't for sale though, I gotta keep that one. Who knows, maybe I'll build amps one day for real in my downtime. But anyway, that's the point of the garage sale, I just don't want anybody breaking their banks here because they like our music. But gear heads like myself, well, we'll break the bank anyway, cause we're obsessed with tone. Ask Johnny Two Bags from Social D... him an I in a guitar store... well, let's just say it's bad for both our bank accounts.

Go listen to "Audience" by the Cold War Kids... it's killer!

The Band is Blowing Dixie, Double Four Time...

2010-12-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everybody... welcome back to the mailbox of cassette tapes...

Did anyone see the American Atheists billboard that says "You Know It's A Myth," over a picture of the wise men going to see Jesus's birth... well, that's just like an Atheist to pick on a baby.

Now, in all seriousness, you don't have to believe in any age Jesus if you don't want, but it makes me pretty ornery when people are condescending to someone else's beliefs. I don't care if you pray to wood, or robots, I might not agree with you and I might even tell you I don't agree with you, but I certainly wouldn't look down on you. So thanks Atheists of America for being so "tolerant" with all the tolerance you've been looking for all these years. Here's to you this Christmas, maybe next year you can put a commercial in Saturday morning cartoons that says "Santa isn't real." Kids'll love that, since you like picking on babies.

Next topic... two for one in this season of giving!

Dire Straits... best band no body talks about. When we start writing our new record, which should be around the 1st of the year or so, I'm thinking of really taking Dire Straits and the blues much more seriously. I think there's been a lack in blues music's updating for the last few years. There was Jack White, which was cool, but I think I'd like to hear blues songs with chorus's. That might be my new goal. Which kinda reminds me that Mark Knopfler was a genius and people don't say that enough. If you're looking for some new music this year, I suggest you check out his new record. It's called Get Lucky. I love it. And also check out "On Every Street, So Far Away, and Romeo and Juliette" by Dire Straits.

other great records so far in 2010...

The National - High Violet

Fake Problems - Real Ghosts Caught on Tape

I'm gonna try to write more blogs since I'm off the road for a while.

Merry Christmas Everybody! and yes, Even the Atheists of America! XXOO!

What's up? This is what's up.

2010-09-13T01:06:00.001-07:00

This is just a quick update on what's going on lately...

1. I'm gonna do JBTV with Brendan and Toby... look for that soon.

2. Setlists: We've been pulling out a lot of old songs we haven't done for a while,

we have some new covers coming up as well.

1930, High Lonesome, and Meet Me By The River's Edge are actually

in retirement from our sets right now. Just fair warning, if those are the three

songs you're coming to see, we're just letting you know we're not playing

them at all before you spend your money on a ticket. Pretty much everything

else is fair game for the sets on the rest of this year's tours.

I usually check the @briangaslight twitter before sound check everyday (3pm) to see

if there are any song requests for that night that we need to practice. Use that,

because yelling the whole show will never work.

3. Working on the "night time" music I spoke of last blog... I'll update that part very soon.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For... or FAQ Part 2

2010-09-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, thanks for all your questions, it's pretty cool, I'm getting to think about things I've never thought about, plus it's nice to have some different questions, for a change...

so here we go with part two...

1. Does it bother you that people say you guys are a punk Springsteen/or compare you with The Boss?

Well, there's kinda a couple parts to this answer,

a.) no, I don't mind it, Bruce was my hero growing up, it was Bruce, Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Mike Ness. So to be compared in the same realm as one of the biggest influences you could have, it's redeeming, and to have his approval is validating in a way that allows me to not care what people say about it, because the man likes us, and he invented it, so that makes it legit in my mind.

b.) Yea, I'm tired of people inventing a genre called Springsteen Punk, which goes onto the Hold Steady, Against Me, and all sorts of bands, even the National. It's silly. It's not a genre, and it's disrespectful to the many other great artists like, Hot Water Music, The Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, The Replacements, Leatherface, Husker Du, etc... etc... etc... that helped shape all of our sounds. They're also neglecting Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and countless others before Bruce... he's great, don't get me wrong, but we're not ignorant to the many things that make up what we do, but "genre corralling " is the media's kool aid, and everyone's drinking... always has.

I will say I'm glad it's Bruce, because he's legit. He's an honest, kind, and truly amazing person, so better him if it's gotta be one guy.

c.) but even after all that, it's still so rad that he likes my band, that I just don't care what anybody says.

2. How do you deal with releasing your art to the public and having it scrutinized by critics?

Well, there's a great lyric Conor Oberst wrote, where he says... "I do not read the reviews, no I am not singing for you."

3. The Chuck/Brian record, what's up?

We're going on tour for a month in Oct. and I hope to write all the songs with Chuck on that tour.

4. What do you eat on tour?

We eat pretty healthy, most of us watch what we eat pretty well, junk food and sugar make you really tired on tour, but we like pizza, and we're not afraid to eat a taco or twenty.

5. What song to do you wish you'd written?

Well, it changes all the time, sometimes it's Layla, but right now I'm totally mystified by the song Blood Bank by Bon Iver. Also, I always wished I wrote "Nineteen" by Tegan and Sara.

6. If I ever got to play with Pearl Jam on stage what song would I sing?

"Smile" for sure.

7. What song are you most proud of?

Maybe Great Expectations. That one is special to me.

8. How did you balance music and work while you were working?

Well, I'd work two jobs and save enough money for one tour, then do the tour, then go back home to work and save up again. It was rough, you gotta want it more than anything.

9. How long does it take you to write a song?

It's different, like The '59 Sound I had that title for a year, then the song popped out in 15 minutes, but say... Old Haunts... that took forever, weeks.

10. Do you collect vinyl?

I don't, I have a few records that I love, but I don't really collect it... Benny and Alex R. are avid collectors though.

11. When did you learn to play guitar and did you take lessons?

When I was 11 my parents moved from the shore to a town called Hackettstown, NJ where I spent my high school years, and it was rough there, not much to do, very woodsy... not what I was used to coming from a shore town. So when I was 12 I started taking lessons from a guy named Tim Fogarty who probably is my hero, because he taught me everything I know, and had the grace to help me stick to it. God bless Tim Fogarty. But after that, there were so many people who helped me on my way, there was an author/chef named James Kaleda, a songwriter/producer named Chris Eissing, there were honestly too many to even name, but it all happened one year at The Timestill Cafe in Panther Valley, NJ. and I wouldn't be here without them.

12. '49 Mercury or '68 Charger?

'49 Merc, Candy Apple Burgandy, done by Selinas Boys Customs... but also a '68 Shelby Mustang, with a 396, flat black, double white racing stripes.

13. What's your favorite guitar?

I love the '56 and '58 VOS Gibson Les Pauls. I am also sucker for a Bill Nash T-52 or T-57.

14. What is the main thing that drives you to continue living?

Life is amazing, even when I had no money and no band, and worked mornings at a gas pump and nights at a pizzeria, my friends and my wife, my family... it's the best, nothing beats a long drives in New Jersey, and when I can finally afford a classic car, it'll get even better. but I'm also on an endless search for redemption, I come from a real old school religious family, one foot in the otherside always. The rest of the boys in the band come from all sorts of faiths, so I'm not answering for everyone here, just me... I found this early on, the why's and the how come we're here stuff... it's what I've found to be true, I don't expect everybody else to agree with me or think how I do, but I'm all right with that. I feel like I'm working toward something. I doubt I'll ever get it right.

15. What is the Bad note Pig?

I have no idea? where is that from?

16. Some guy hassling me about baseball in the comments...

dude, I answered you in the first FAQ... you gotta realize that when I say things on stage, it could mean anything... have you heard some of the craziness I've belted out over the years? snakes and fireworks and all that? that particular instance was an inside joke between myself and benny, we do that from time to time, no harm, no foul.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...or FAQ part 1

2010-08-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Good morning, today I'm gonna do a FAQ Section...

I'll do this in two parts... you can post questions on twitter @briangaslight

1. Where did the name The Gaslight Anthem come from?

There was a club in New York City from 1958-1971 called The Gaslight, where Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Odetta, and other great folk artists got their starts. To us, it seemed cool to refer back to when people who became legendary were just starting out, everybody starts from somewhere. It also was a collective, each person learning from watching others, honing their craft. The "Anthem" came from the central song, or idea of this place, which reminded us of our basement collectives we had growing up, throwing and playing shows.

2. How do you write lyrics and music and put them together?

Usually, I'll be just playing and something will stand out to me, a chord, or a note or something

and I'll play around with it for a while and then you kind of start humming or mumbling words until something starts coming out. Usually, you figure out what the song's about after you write a few lines down, and then you go back and kind of massage things into place. It's 30% craft of knowing how to move things around and word play and 70% Divine Intervention. I don't think man in general can take too much credit for the art they produce, it certainly seems bigger than anything I can comprehend.

3. Who are your inspirations to write lyrics?

The big three are Tom Waits, Bruce, and Bob Dylan. My ideal would be to be a mix of the three. I like the heartfelt, odd poetry of Tom Waits, the sympathy in Bruce's lyrics, and the absolute clarity of thought to get straight to the point that Bob Dylan has.

4. Will you ever record an acoustic or solo album?

I doubt I'd do an acoustic album or a "solo" album, but I would like to make a record people can listen to in the night time. I think I'd like to do that with a band name and some friends

where we can dress like the Bad Seeds, in suits. Seriously.

5. What's your favorite new band right now?

My favorite new(er) bands are The National, the Arcade Fire, and Lightning Dust. I also think the new Fake Problems record is amazing!

6. The "we" in Diamond Church Choir is anybody who's every gone for it.

7. What inspired you to play a Les Paul/why don't you play tele's anymore?

My first real guitar was a Les Paul that my father gave me after about 10 years of playing. Alex and I both feel that they suit most of our songs better, sonically, and they're made to a quality that I haven't found in many other places. I also will say that I like to work with companies who have like minded people working with us. Gibson has been amazing to us, and I believe they are one of the only companies making instruments with the same, if not better, quality than they did in the 50's. I do, occasionally, still play a T style guitar but it's hand made at a company called Nash Guitars in Olympia, WA.

6. What inspires you outside of music, and will the Yankees win the pennant?

I get inspired by all kinds of things, by books, scenery, and people watching a lot. I invent little stories about people's lives I see all the time, I've always done that, since I was a kid.

It get's me thinking. ...And you bet your bottom dollar they will win that pennant!

(side note: I love the Yankees, however, in all good fun, I love the teams that hate the Yankees and try to beat them, because it keeps the Yankees from getting lazy. Gotta stay hungry, plus who doesn't like a friendly game? It's all part of the fun of being a fan.)

7. Pimp hat vs. trucker hat?

Seriously? is there any other choice but the pimp hat?

8. How do you overcome writer's block?

Now in all seriousness, this is the worst feeling for a writer, but my answer is a.) keep listening to everything, constant input... and b.)you have to write through it, write the bad so the good can find it's way out.

9. Why is there an FC St. Pauli flag on the amps?

It's Alex's amps, he loves that team...

10. Is that Riki Rachtman in your twitter photo?

No, that's Andy Diamond, but how awesome would it be if it was Riki?

part 2... to be continued...

the day I tried to live... I learned that I was a liar.

2010-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

what is it Seattle week with me? I guess so. it's actually always Seattle week with me.

anyhow. I'm in Tempe, AZ, and it's 106 degrees outside. We're on tour with two of the best artists I've ever loved growing up. Chamberlain and Tim Barry. you come to these shows early, or you do yourself an injustice. I've never publicly written about opening bands on our tours, but the reason we pick them are because they are truly worth your time. Remember, you're new favorite band is one listen away.

I'd also like to personally and publicly thank two interviewers I sat with this week.

1. Miss Liz Trinnear from Much Music who was exceptionally well informed about us, as a band, and thoughtful in her line of questioning, without playing it safe. - Thank you Miss Trinnear.

2. Mr. Alan Cross - wonderful to speak to you always. very knowledgeable about music history

and an excellent insight.

Play for the Lovers...

listen to: "The Day I Tried To Live" - Soundgarden - Superunknown

...And The Dead Lay, In Pools Of Maroon Below.

2010-07-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today's gonna be books, not songs...

People say the strangest things about you when you're in a band... I know because my hobby is reading biographies on my own favorite bands...

I recommend these, by the way...

1. Conversations with Tom Petty

2. Scar Tissue - about Anthony Kiedis.

3. Redemption Song - about Joe Strummer

But the one I just finished, and I read this one in three days, including time off to have dental surgery, still finished in three days... was Kim Neely's book on Pearl Jam called 5 Against 1.

It's amazing.

Now I read biographies because they show the people in a new light in my eyes. You find out more insight into the whole person rather than in a magazine article, which is hard to do with 500 words, so it's not really a fair comparison.

So what I thought was especially great about Neely's style of writing, is that she told it well. She didn't show the band in a perfect light, she showed their flaws, but not in a trivial way that you find a lot with some writers where they pick like someone displeased with a meal they've received. She, instead, showed the weaknesses of the people from a reporting standpoint, as if I said to you... "you're shirt's on backwards." She also showed the triumph of a band defining a generation, all while the members were barely defined to themselves. It's pretty amazing.

I think one day I'm gonna do a reporter blog... where I write about writers... and they things they ask us. Maybe I should do that on this tour, we leave tonight for Canada and we have

a lot of interviews to do... maybe that's gonna be my new blog topic for tour... we could call it "the old switch-a-r00" who doesn't like that?

I'll take my notebook with me to interviews... It'll be good. Then we can compare notes when the articles come out.

Oh, boy... there's gonna be some people who don't like this idea...

today, there's a great song from Pearl Jam called "Smile" check it out.

"I miss you already, I miss you always... this is how I feel."

Tell your Mama, that I'm here to save somebody tonight...

2010-05-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

"and if you knew just how smooth, I could stop it on a dime...you can meet me at the scene of the crime..." - Crime Scene Part One - The Afghan Whigs

Today, I'm writing the article... So you know and so I can't say I don't...this is where you can go to hear it from the horse's mouth. I'm gonna talk about what actually makes me put the pen to the paper... the bands and artists I could never do without. I may be letting you into my trick bag too much, but that's kinda the point... to pass on the good music... that was the point all along. So here we go...

In no order the ten bands I couldn't do what I do without...

1. Tom Waits

2. The Clash

3. Greg Duli (Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers)

4. The Bouncing Souls

5. Bruce Springsteen

6. Chamberlain

7. Hot Water Music

8. Social Distortion

9. Bob Dylan

10. The Rolling Stones

Those are the foundations, the absolute necessary ingredients, there are others, but these are the ones that have impacted me the most... here's why...

1. Tom Waits is the guy that taught me to mix everything... put the blues in the soul, the punk in the doo wop, the folk in the novel. The first record I bought of his was Rain Dogs, when I heard Downtown Train I was about 17 and I couldn't find my fingers after that... every opening line I've ever written has been trying to come up with something as good as... "Outside another yellow moon has punched a hole in the night time, yes." And Tom inspired me to sing with carpet staples and gospel. Listen to "Anywhere I Lay My Head"

2. The Clash is obvious... I learned energy and forward momentum of songs from the Clash, the big burst right out of the gate, no filler. Step on the gas and go. I didn't learn the politics, it just never sat with me. I'll do my politics one person at a time, find the need, meet it. Melody, and vocal harmony... all right here... Listen to "Safe European Home"

3. Greg Duli in all forms taught me how to reinvent... soul, mainly. The Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers both did this. They showed me how to put a spin on the motown sound, and taught me you could update classics without being "new country" which is good. Though Brad Paisley's cool. Also Greg's lyrics were critical poetry... it was romance and the dark. Like Dante. Listen to - "Teenage Wristband" - The Twilight Singers

4. The Bouncing Souls - on more levels than one... lyrically, They taught me how to keep the past by your side and always look to the future. Old men in young bodies, that's what we are.

They were the same as me, grew up the same, loved the music... never took themselves too seriously, never forgot where they came from. My first love, the Bouncing Souls, in local music that is, which I never knew of before them. They showed me to get in the van, stay TRUE, believe in yourself, and drink lots of coffee... Greg, Bryan, Pete, and Mike... thanks guys.

Listen to - "K8 Is Great" - The Bouncing Souls.

5. Bruce Springsteen - always. But people don't get the meat of it... they think it's all Born in the USA and Thunder Road, and it is... but there's too much more... Bruce was my mother's...

she loved him, she taught me all about him... she played me "Backstreets" when I was a kid. That was me in my mind... "One soft infested summer... I hated him, and I hated you when you went away..." those were the words born on my tongue... My Mom and me are a team musically, we share things, she gave me Bruce, and I gave her American Steel, hope it's a good trade...

Now, here's the thing... people have over done this one to death, but I get it... it's like when people said Bruce was like Bob Dylan... it was everywhere... people need that comparison, well some do, but at the end of the day, it's a pretty good comparison... you can't really complain... and he is after all the Boss, which maybe I can be the "assistant manager" one day. But after all this let's not miss the point, Bruce is a great writer and that's why he's the best... he is, there isn't anyone better... but it's the secrets that sometimes speak louder than the hits... listen to "The Promise" - the 18 Tracks album version.

6. Chamberlain - I found the record "The Moon My Saddle" when I was 18. I was into punk all around, I had forgotten all things my mother taught me about folk, and blues, and gospel, and all that, until I randomly found, on the Doghouse 50 sampler, Chamberlain... I bought this record and it put me right back on course, I knew I had to blend everything. I knew I had to be playing like a punk band, and writing like a poet, or at least I would try my best... Chamberlian spoke straight poetry, the music, the words, blows me away every time I hear that record, 12 years later. It's life altering... Listen to "Try For Thunder."

7. Hot Water Music - without this band, there would be no anybody we love, they changed the world like Fugazi changed hardcore. They broke every rule, they could play, they could write, and they had solos and songs longer than 2 minutes. They were the FIRST bearded punks. They were the best. They EXPLODED with pure emotion. They mixed the hardcore with the melody and I never heard it like this before! Now, sure there was Rites of Spring, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc... but Hot Water Music inspired a whole generation of music fans... invented a genre, because they took what these other bands did before them and they perfected it. I will never forget the way my mind exploded the first time I heard them, funny enough, it was track two on that same Doghouse 50 sampler... good job guys. I heard "Better Sense" from the album Forever and Counting and never have I ever been hit so hard, I listened to that song about 50 times in a row. They defined me growing up. This band changed my life... 'till the wheels fall off.

Listen to - "Better Sense"

8. Social Distortion - now this band made me know what I wanted to do with my life. I loved folk and country and rock and roll, but I wanted a more explosive sound if I was gonna be in a band, but I hadn't found anything more than Nirvana, and that was weird to me... I didn't understand them at first... long hair, flannel? what? that sounded like what my mom made me wear 'cause it was cheap and my dad's hand me downs. Then I was staying over my friend Joe's house and we were watching 120 Minutes late at night, and I see this video for "Story of My Life" come on, and I knew right then, I'm getting tattooed and I'm gonna play rock and roll! It was everything I was looking for, it was melodic, there were stories, and they looked awesome!

It was Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Elvis sounding like The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols, I WAS IN! I know no one ever thinks about looks right? Right. Dickies and t shirts... still wearing it to this day... listen to "Story of My Life."

9. Bob Dylan... this was the first sound I heard that made me understand that lyrics were more important that hit singles. I was 12, I listened to Guns and Roses, like everyone else in 1992. But I was driving with my mother doing a paper route in January at 7am on a Sunday in freezing cold New Jersey... "Just Like a Woman" came on the radio and I'm pretty sure that was the moment I found out that you could sing songs that could really move people beyond anything I ever knew. You could protest, you could cut down, you could lament, and you could laugh... all in songs... I never realized this before and this set me out on a quest to be a good lyric writer, now I'll never be Dylan, but he inspired me to try. Listen to "Boots of Spanish Leather" - try not to cry.

10. The Stones, change, but always stay yourself. Spit it all out, all the trouble, all the fear, just spit it out... The Rolling Stones might be more punk than everybody. except Fat Mike, but sans him, say what you want, but the rolling stones have put out some of the most raw and real music ever to be put to tape... they hold back nothing, they reinvent and then throw it all away. They build the house and burn it right back down, just to see what it'd look like. I'm not sure there ever was a band more pure in what it was doing. there's no catch, there's no fine print, it's only rock and roll... you know the rest. Listen to "Heart of Stone"

That's what I think, hope you found some new jams. I'm gonna go back to my Bruce shrine and polish Clarence's sax.

Brown Sugar, How Come You Dance So Good...

2010-05-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

"Moses said to Pharaoh, "Let my people go," Pharaoh, he don't listen, but someday he's gonna know. Who's that parting the waves of the mighty red, red sea? Moses can ya ask the Lord, for a dollar for baby and me?"

Today I think I wanna talk more about the Rolling Stones. It seems my friends, and maybe my generation, missed the boat on them, but I think there's more rubber under those tires. I think people only see them as they are now, like a touring hits band, but today I want to give the Stones a little light. Shine A Light, if you will...

Now, I've never heard it written that Mighty Mick Jagger was a great lyricist, but I'd beg to differ...

and I'd like to address this, among other selling points of my beloved Rolling Stones. Hear ye, Hear ye...

Exhibit A: I'd like to present to the court, Gimme Shelter... circa 1969. Album: Let It Bleed.

First off, the Beatles go and make a killer record called Let It Be, now this was later in May of 1970... but here's a big parallel, they say Let It Be, and although one of the all time classic songs, and wonderful as it is, I'm way more interested in something that says "Let It Bleed." Let It Bleed?!? Yes, I will, that sounds like me, let it bleed all over everywhere, the stage, the walls of your room, let it all bleed out everywhere, everything you're piling up inside, everything that makes you mad, everything that hurts... the loneliness of teenager-dom, yes! LET IT BLEED!

I'm with you... so ok, my 13 year old ears are ready to go! Now I hear this hypnotic riff, here check it out... NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! My 13 year old body and mind felt like I was in some kind of emotional war zone, maybe I was gonna get slashed down, and blown to smithereens tomorrow! My future, what's gonna happen, will I succeed, will I fail? This is what my brain was doing at 13 when I first heard Gimme Shelter, now as I got older the meaning and the song grew with me, changed with me, moved with me... it was always there, I wanted to play music for a job, my whole career scope was 100% RISK! and the failure rate was 99.9% So yes, "A Storm is Threaten' My Very Life Today..." YES NOW!... "If I Don't Get Some Shelter, Lord, I'm gonna fade away." RIGHT ON! That's only talking about my future as I saw it at a young age... forget about everything else! I was clearly being spoken to here...

Moving on...

Exhibit B: Beast Of Burden... now this song is for the ladies... it's not, "I love you so much, I'm so in love, look at me, mushy mushy!" ... it doesn't promise any great feats, no dashing good looks, no flowers, nope, all it says is... gimme all you got, I'll take it all, all your trouble, all your sickness, all your undesirable." Ain't I rough enough? oooh. Ain't I tough enough? oooh.... it's all in the "ooh's" sung very un manly, in falsetto... but so PERFECT! "All your sickness, I can suck it up. Throw it all at me, I can shrug it off, all I want, is you to make love to me." - that's any good marriage I know... The thing I love about this song is that... it promises NOTHING... except, I'll never be the thing that drags you down... I'll never be your beast of burden... brilliant. check it out...

Exhibit C.... FINAL.... 100 Years Ago... from the album Goat's Head Soup. Let me present you with some words...

Went out walkin' through the wood the other day
And the world was a carpet laid before me
The buds were bursting and the air smelled sweet and strange
It seemed about a hundred years ago

Mary and I, we would sit upon a gate
Just gazin' at some dragon in the sky
What tender days we had no secrets hid away
Well, it seemed about a hundred years ago

To me, that is my youth... I travel at lightning pace these days... I never see my friends, or my mom, I rarely have any time for long walks or anything of the sort... If you're an adult with a full time job, I'm pretty sure your life is similar... ps- call your mom. but when I was very young... I remember summer... I remember summer so well, I remember long days, and hours on end with nothing to do but live, it was awesome... and it seemed about 100 years ago...

I'm not saying to you that every Rolling Stones song is great, there are some bad ones, there are some bad lyrics as well... but there are some gems in there, and if you're willing to use the preview button on itunes, you can find the really good ones...and there are SO MANY! They say some things I don't back, but there's a lot I do back, but I do feel that my generation hasn't quite found the richness that is in the stone's music. It's in a ton of stuff. AND, even some of the later stuff is pretty amazing... go see for yourself.

Song of the day: "The Moon Is Up" - Rolling Stones, Voodoo Lounge.

Born Under A Bad Sign...

2010-05-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

"I been downhearted baby, ever since the day we met, our loving ain't nothing but the blues, baby, how blue can you get?" - BB King.

Ok, everybody, strap in, we're bringing it back over the pond to the shores of American Traditional Blues, and the kings and queens thereof. Now, I'm not gonna mention everybody,

but I wanna talk about how the blues is the music of the guts. It's not dressed up in pretty lyrics,

it's not very poetic sometimes, it's rough and it's tumble, and how I love it so... so we'll do some modern examples as well as the oldie goldies. Strap in, and watch me for the changes...

Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign, - did you know... that My Main Man, Eric Clapton, lifted his most famous riff from Albert King? Check this out... at about 1:24...listen to the first vocal line... now speed it up... kinda sounds like this doesn't it? Don't believe me? Well, EC admitted it, already... lookout.

The influence of the blues reaches so far and so deep that it surprises me at every little turn,

check this out... BB King's song "How Blue Can You Get?" - quoted and sung not only on the Cosby show many years ago, but also here in this song which you may or may not remember...

Ch Ch Check it out.

Like I said in a previous post, the most exciting thing about discovering new music is also discovering where they came from... it always makes me wonder how people found all these records before the interweb. They would order through the mail, imagine Mick Jagger as a teenager sitting by the mailbox waiting for some record he'd never actually heard but had the instinct to know he needed. Those were the days, when music was something to be pined over.

Today, we download our singles, everything is immediate... but let me challenge you...

Take this week and find some old record, or even some record you've never heard, but that one of the bands you like cites as an influence. Go buy it, now, i don't care if you buy it on vinyl, tape, cd, or itunes... who cares, I'm not selling puritism here, I'm just selling excitement.

Now when you pick this record, imagine it's the only thing you can hear for the next week, so try to pick one you think you'll really love, then pine over this thing... take it with you like an old lover. Carry it around everywhere you go, try to find out what the artist was trying to say to you the listener as you listen. Here's a cool thought, as a writer, you're always trying to reach one person, and that's the listener... if you're Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, or MGMT, I don't care... you're always only reaching that one person who's hearing you at that very moment with a record... so embrace that, accept the invitation and step into the artist's living room for a moment and hear the conversation. Feel it one time. I know it sounds like hippy business, but shake off your sarcasm for one hot minute and try to narrow down the onslaught of information we have these days. Enjoy something to it's fullest. Life is moving ladies and gentlemen, you only get one. So let's do it like they did it... no overload, just one record, one week.

I know Robert Johnson didn't have too many distractions other than women, booze, and the devil, and look what he did... he did this, ladies and gentleman, he wrote this song... and here's how it was heard and pined over and interpreted a million miles and 30 years away by five kids from London...

"And the blue light was my baby, and the red light was my mind."

The Rolling Stones - Love in Vain.

Let's not forget the songs...

2010-05-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Excuse me, got sidetracked...

for today... I want to turn you on to the band Lightning Dust's song "Antonia Jane."

On itunes it's listed as "June" but it's not right, it's typing error.

Because I have felt close to home...

and Antonia Jane will rise again.

Step Right Up, There's One Born Every Minute...

2010-04-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Crazy people out there, ladies and gentlemen, there's one born every minute, watch this hand and I'll sell you three for five. I heard it's sweeter than honey and finer than gold, you can't even look upon it with the naked eye...

Today I'm gonna talk about white blues and Les Paul guitars... so bail if you want, no harm, no foul...

Now everybody ever born knows that the blues is not the white man's, it's too awesome for any pale skinned man or woman to have come up with. It belongs, whether by birth, invention, or sheer perfection of the art, to a few people, some of those being, Robert Johnson,

Muddy Waters, and BB King. There are many many more, Big Bill Broonzy being a big one...

Now my favorite originator of the old school - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - take one short moment and peep this.

Now, from all these came my personal hero, Mr. Eric Clapton... circa 1962-1973 era, except that whole Cream bit... I don't go for that at all, I'm talking John Mayall's Bluesbreakers Beano Album and Derek and the Dominoes masterpiece, Layla and Other Love Songs Album... this is where it started for the white man who found peace in the blues. Eric was the first guy to take the blues to the world. I don't care what you've read, it's a lie, this is true... Eric also did something else... while every one's beloved Jimmy Page was goofing around with a telecaster,

big Easy E-Rock Clapton was smoking all those English kids on a Les Paul. Now at this time,

the Les Paul was not a guitar people cared about at all... especially not a sunburst model.

But this English kid of barely 21 years of age, picks this thing up, plugs into a tiny little Marshall combo and CHANGES THE FACE OF MUSIC FOREVER! All these dudes heard Eric play on that first John Mayall record that he did and all of a sudden, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, etc, etc... go out and buy these Gibson Les Pauls and start making some pretty well known history.

now, comes my point... these original Les Pauls of the 1958-1960 breed can sell for upwards of $300,000! I don't know about you, but to me that is an absolutely inconceivable amount of money. I will most likely never see that amount in one place ever, and most of you won't either.

Fortunately, the people at Gibson are hip to this fact and make a pretty amazing Reissue that to my ears, serves me just fine. I'm reading this book by Tony Bacon called "Million Dollar Les Paul" I'm obsessed, I know, be glad you're not my wife... anyhow it goes into great detail about how these guys buy one of these old guitars, and then they want another, and another, and another, because the flame of the wood, or the sunbursts are a bit different on each one...

WHAT!? There are people starving to death down the street from me, and people are blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars on a guitar!?! Get serious about your whole life right now.

I love guitars maybe more than anyone you know. Maybe, Johnny Two Bags might love them more, but unless you know him, I'm all you've got... but my point is this... at what point to you get so hungry in your soul for something that you are willing to spend what some people make in four years as a salary on a piece of wood with strings... and the worst part about all of this, is the people who own these masterpiece guitars.... THEY AREN'T IN BANDS!!!!!! you'll never hear them on the radio, you'll never see them at the Knitting Factory, or the Stone Pony... never. Because all they do is buy these things, strum them every two weeks, and then put them back in their little vaults of gluttony. I can't understand how people will just spend and spend on things they'll never take with them. That's my rant. Live with it. There's a fine line between collecting, appreciation, and just crazy.

"Hell and Destruction are never full, and so the eyes of a man are never satisfied"

Song - "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" - Derek & the Dominoes

Brendan Kelly Has A Posse...

2010-04-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm on a mission to rid you of aweful music... so here's the good stuff....

Brendan Kelly fact sheet:

1. Is in the Lawrence Arms and The Falcon, and sometimes plays under his Christian name.

2. Is a better lyricist than you or I.

3. Has a great blog here:

This is the music that without, lots of bands wouldn't be here... Go buy the records and read the lyrics, sit down with them, in a quiet place where no one knows you've gone... have yourself a rest and listen to the songs and follow along with the words. Pretty profound. Life changing maybe... midwesterners... like the Replacements... I'd say the Larry Arms are one in the same to our generation. If you don't agree, I don't care, this is my blog and I'm right here. It's the only place I have such liberty. For you folk who haven't heard, or who've heard and looked over, do yourself a favor. Those guys are the finest... best punk rock band going. So go buy their records, go to their shows, put up with their nicknames, ignore that they spit when they talk.

Don't say I didn't tell you.

Hi Brendan.

Proof:

The Falcon - Unicorn Odyssey.

The Lawrence Arms - Boatless Booze Cruise Part One

What's under the hood...

2010-04-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

welcome to the mailbox. I'm gonna write about things here, some of the things you won't care about at all, remember you can always go outside, the internet will be here when you get back. Here's where I'll tell you stories, and talk about things that I think need talking about. Mostly I'll respond to my surroundings. there will be many misspellings... basically, I'm going to tell you what's under the hood here... any hood I come across. If you send me a topic, now by topic I mean a complete thought with "" wrapped around it, I'll dig up some dirt and I might use it.

I'm also gonna put a song at the end of each Post, you should go buy it and listen to it.

If I recomend it, it's not a "shout out" or a "hook up" to one of my friend's bands that I try to help, it's a real song that I think you should hear...

So here goes, today's topic is going to be called:

"If Your Dad Has A Guitar Under His Bed From A Long Time Ago, You Should Tell Him To Call Me."

Now don't call me if it doesn't say "Gibson" across the top. I don't care much for the 1980's metal scene, except for Skid Row, so I don't want a Hammer, or an Ibanez, or what have you. I want pure angel baby guitars like Eric Clapton had in the 60's. If he doesn't have one under the bed, tell him to buy one, put it under his bed, and sell it to me for sentences, I'm all stocked up on sentences here. will travel.

Song: "All Your Love" - John Mayall's Bluesbreakers feat. Eric Clapton.