Hey! My new disc, box elder, is out! By which I mean it's done and in my hands. And available online. And soon to be available at all the usual places (iTunes, Amazon etc.) for download. You can't buy it in a store. You CAN buy it at a gig, or when you see me on the street. Well, if my car is nearby. This is some SERIOUS distribution, people. Some folks have bought theirs already!

Go back to my profile and read the little blurb right on my page as you listen to Driver On and Faded Stain, two tracks from the disc. Then click on the "buy CD" icon, and you'll be taken to CDBaby, where you can read the ridiculous blurb there, and get one. It's easy. It'll come in a few days. Then you can burn it and share it with all your friends. You know you're gonna do that. It's 2009 fercryinoutloud.

I love the disc. 11 (or 12 if you count what has been referred to as "the ghost track") tunes. Lots of electric guitar. Three very different drummers. A song about a guy who dies from a shaving accident. A song about a vibrating chaise lounge for infants. Casio! Ricky Drake! You guys are missing the boat if you don't get one of these.

Quit foolin' around. One guy who bought one already told me that he was borrowing his mom's car and left the disc in her CD player, and even SHE loved it. Get one for your mom. Now.

I will not mention this again. Unless you are at a gig. In which case, you can count on me making the pitch at some point. It's part of the fun. In fact, it's so fun, that in honor of Barack Obama's inauguration this week, if you contact me directly, here at myspace and mention this special offer, I'll haggle with you and eventually give you a buck off the already low low price of 10 dollars (plus shipping, if you are not within pickup or delivery distance of me). Whew. Did I say low low price? Awesome.

11/28/08 - The new record, "box elder," is done. Shipped off the master today. Should have the product in hand by say, December 22nd or so. Included on the disc are guitarist Bill McDavid (ex-Sleeman Gulch Blues Band), harmony singer Ricky Drake (The Fidgets), drummer Greg Grossi (ex- Apples of Discord), drummer Brandon Zimmer (Certain Molecules, Joan Zen) and drummer Travis Yost (Tom Catmull and the Clerics, The Fidgets). The record has 11 songs. I played and sang everything except for McDavid's electric on the tune "Handful of Dirt," Drake's harmonies on three tunes, and the three drummers listed above. One of my favorite things about the disc is the contrasting sounds of the three drummers. Lots of different sounds on this disc. I think you'll like it. It will be available at CD Baby, and for downloads at iTunes, all by the end of January or so. I've posted track 2, "Faded Stain," on my page. Check it out, and let me know what you think...

 

The Night Sky

…holds the moon the way a lap holds a head.

…is the night sky until a certain time each morning.

…drops the rain.  Looking requires "taking it in the face."

…is there past the ceiling past the attic past the roof.

…can never hold a rainbow.

when you can see all the way back to the beginning…

…when it fills with flocks of geese heading one way or the other.

…only gives you one star at a time when you are in, say, Chicago.

…accompanies you home if you let it.

…has satellite cancer.

Warning: Objects are colder than they appear.

...is for falling through forever.

Haven’t posted anything for a while, thought I’d rub out a few lines....

First: While driving on Monday, I saw a white llama sitting alone in a field as night fell. There were bare poplars silhouetted against the last light of the sky above the llama. I continued up the road and delivered Italian food to a guy in a condo. He said he was an engineer, but had trouble adding his tip to the credit card slip.

Second: John Sporman, bassist for Tom Catmull and the Clerics, was sick as a dog this last weekend. Tom called me on Saturday night and asked me to sub for John at a show in Whitefish on Sunday night. I did. It was a rare treat to play with Travis, Gibson and Tom. I still know a lot of the songs, and I had fun faking the ones I didn’t know. Um, "Fraulein?" I can’t even spell it. It wouldn’t have been a Catmull show without something like that. Thanks, Tom. And I really hope John feels better now.

Third: Does anyone have a concept of how to rebuild a staircase at less of an angle?

Fourth: A nice lady with a camera and a lens as long as the member of a whale informed me as I was chatting with her that I was standing under a Great Grey Owl recently. I was, and it was special. I’m not telling where it was. The owl looked me in the eye, reminding me of some stuff I needed to remember.

Fifth: After being a greedy milky-bear and consuming mass quantities of mom’s milk from a bottle for me, day after day, my daughter, now a bit more than four months old, had decided that she’s gonna wait for mother to get home and get it straight from the source. I feel very complicated about this, and am considering disappearing before she becomes a teenager, and presents me with something that might actually hurt me a lot.

Sixth: I wrote a song about a guy who dies after cutting his lip shaving. Story was inspired by what a friend told me about his boss’ shaving accident, and his refusal to get it stitched. In real life, I don’t think the guy is dead, yet. Next up: A song about a couple who, at their own wedding, get the cake too far up their noses while playfully feeding each other, and die from some weird infection, or perhaps a wayward icing-rose to the brain.

Last: The falafel plate at Scotty’s Table.

Well, here I am. Wife is back at work full time and I am home with Judy during the day. She's 11 weeks now. We had a bit of a struggle getting her to take the bottle, but all it really took was a couple of days away from Mommy's, er, food dispensers. Judy is on the bottle now like an MIT student on a blackjack table. Or something...

And lo and behold, I have two new songs. I can push and push and get nothing, then, even in the midst of this BIG CHANGE time, with not a lot of time alone to write, I come up with a couple of new ones. You must look away to see, grasshopper. I have a little demo of one new one that I aim to mix and semi-master and post here in a few days. The other one needs some time to get recorded.

And a lot of solo acoustic shows coming up in March - back at it again. It looks like Debbie and Judy will be able to come with me to Red Lodge, where I'm playing at Snow Creek Saloon, a venue I've not played before. Though Travis and Tom (Tom Catmull and the Clerics) claim I played there with Tom. And perhaps I do have a vague recollection of going to Red Lodge, but not much else. And this would have been after I quit drinking and all, so really there's no excuse. Anyway, taking the family on the road gig. Fun to be had by all.

This blog is the straightest thing I've ever written, excepting the MIT/blackjack reference. Pretty soon I'll be writing love songs and shit. I do believe that moon still rhymes with June, doesn't it? Screw that, I'm pretty sure it's not gonna happen that way.

Oh, yeah. One last thing. A while back I posted an older song of mine, Hurt Tomorrow. It's still up. I just realized that I ought to credit Greg Grossi, drummer for Apples of Discord as the drummer on that song. We recorded his drum part in the basement of 820 Gerald, here in Missoula, back in '98 I think. I still love Greg.

Milk is good.

Well, we've got the baby now. Fatherhood is proceeding in grand fashion. Debbie and I are happily figuring the whole thing out, day by day. The cliches are flowing. Music? Not so much. Hanging in with bass playing with Mike Bader, and doing the occasional solo acoustic show. Not booking hard for the next little while, I must say!

On the other hand - a project I've been working on with my friend BZ, a little thing we are calling Certain Molecules, is up and running. A bunch of experimental/improvisation recordings done over the last year and a half. Six songs are posted at the above link, and the physical CD will be available, free, in a month or two. There is a track, "One" that features Cole Moeller and Treb Day Cobb, two local circuit benders, and another track, "Some Notes On How We're Doing," featuring Travis William Mateer, a Missoula poet friend of mine. You'll dig these pieces, I guarantee it! Good stuff! It's the sound of  freedom and friendship. Check it out.

Meanwhile, diapers and love. Let the cliches roll.

I've been doing a weekly solo acoustic gig at Paws Up, an extremely shwanky (is that a word?) resort in Greenough, about 30 miles east of here. I play for the guest "barbecue" on Wednesday evenings. Good gig, pays well, and I get to meet a lot of nice folks from all over the world. You know, playing outdoors, kind of background music for the well-to-do resort goers. Today, after playing to a large gang of families with kids, some from Canada, some from England, some from the US (there was an Italian family, too, very european footwear, but unrelated to the other group) and watching probably 20 kids raging around on the grass for two hours, I was packing up my gear. A little girl, who identified herself as Emma, age 4,  from London-on-something (I'm guessing a part of London) and who had a great little voice with an awesomely perfect British accent, asked me what kind of games I liked to play....

I was totally stumped for a few seconds. They had been playing hide-and-seek for a while, and I had observed various circular formations, lines and I suppose other not-even-recognized-as-actually-named games going on while I was playing music.  No clue. I haven't played a "kid's" game for... um... erm.. a really long time!! "I like to play cribbage," I smartly said. And got a blank stare from Emma. "You know, it's a card game... you know, cards? Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs...?" No glint of recognition from the little girl in the pink dress. "Um, (I'm making card-dealing hand motions here) you know, the Queen, King and Jack...?" She pretends to know what I'm talking about, and begins to lose interest, walks away looking for some other kids to make a circle and start whatever that game was again.

I need to zero in a little here. Were my wife not pregnant, my first kid not on the way, I probably wouldn't have given the Emma exchange a second thought. But now I have.

My other favorite kids tonight were the two British guitar-playing boys who I met separately: The first one, came running up and stared at my hands as I played, maybe "Ice at Home." His mom encouraged him to talk to me, which he did, saying that he plays guitar. They sat directly in front of me and I played Red Gremlin Blues, and they both loved it. The kid wouldn't stop looking at my hands.

Later, another kid came up and announced that he, too plays guitar. I asked if he knew the first kid, and he said yes. I asked if they played guitar together, you know, jammed. (these guys are, oh, maybe 7 years old or so...) The second kid says no, they don't really play together because "I play songs and he just plays music." I asked if he meant that he sings and plays and the other kid just plays, and he confirmed that that was the case.When asked what kind of songs he does he replied...."Dixie Chicks." I love this shit. You can't make it up.

Returned today from a little road trip to the west of here. Played solo at Far West Billiards in Spokane on Thursday night. What a nice place, filled with nice people. No shit. Friday afternoon I went and saw Mistress and the Misters at Spokane Falls Community College, where they were part of some end of the school year music fest or something. Their new rhythm section has them firing like a TDI Kriss Super Vtm.  And of course Seth and Chris (perhaps I'll need to start calling him "Kriss") were exhibiting full potency, as well. Fun! Played a little show at Ionic Burrito that night, and met some more nice Spokanians, and had a very special HUGE burrito. Stayed with my friend, the photographer Carey Eyer, and his fiancee, Lara. What kind hosts. Really enjoyed walking around Carey and Lara's neighborhood - tons of old (hundred years) houses, most with very interesting trees, plantings, stone walls, fences and other unique details... kind of felt Berkeley-ish in the heat on Saturday morning. Had breakfast at...um, Molly's, and sat across from a 73 year old guy eating with his 96 year old mother. THAT was impressive. Heard "The Entertainer" coming from an ice cream truck. In the afternoon I headed to Sandpoint to hook up with BZ and Mike, to do a Mike Bader Band show at Eichardts. Got in early enough to walk to the beach (Lake Pend Oreille) and have a little swim. Nice heat-beater. The show at Eichardt's was really slow, not a whole lot of folks there, and we all got a little depressed. BUT, afterwards, the owner had liked it enough to bump our pay and invite us back. All was not lost.  Was awakened in Sandpoint at 5:30 AM Sunday by some douchebag washing his car at the car wash behind the motel. Must have clean car for church.... Saw at least one yellow-headed blackbird each day on the road, except of course, for the day I spent entirely in Spokane - Friday. Thanks to Debbie for the superlative snack-bag. I have to mail Carey his housekey tomorrow. Ooops.

SO, there I am, Whitefish Coffee Traders. The usual solo gig scene: empty room, heard that there was (name event here) happening down the street, "it's never been this slow..." Funny thing is - the six or eight folks that were there were all so nice.

I'm bad with names. The dude who was into the "rock" tunes - I love that guy. He gets it, and he's why I drive two and a half hours to play. Thanks 'rocking the guitar' guy. You are cool.

And that couple who sat right in front of me for an hour and like EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE songs - they liked Steam Locomotive, a seven minute story song in 3/4 time. A slow song. A fucking folk song for crying out loud. (Well, except for all the chromatic movement in the bridge, heh..) Friendly couple in the front - YOU are cool. I love you guys. Write some more songs, man half of that couple. Go ahead, friend!

And the older guy on the couch for the first hour. He was inside the songs, every one of them.

And employee dude who bought Ice at Home - This guy was all over the polka song. He wrote down the chords! In case you lost the napkin, employee dude, it's: G B7 E7 A, C G A D. Rinse and repeat. I love that guy.
I'll drive and drive, because you folks are so nice. Thanks, wherever you are, for NOT attending (name event here) and coming to hear me instead. Much love - Larry

Keeping the blogging strictly to business, ya know. No fucking around! So If ya wanna hear me play live, do the solo acoustic thing, (and who wouldn't?) you might want to check the calendar and see when and where I'm bringing the one ring circus soon. I'll be able to hand you a copy of Ice at Home, sign it with my cool new silver sharpie (looks great on the black inside of the disc), and play you all your new favorite Larry songs. Songs like, Mexicali Army, a tune inspired by an NPR report on the health of the Salton Sea, in which some fella who's lived around there all his life mentioned  the fact that when he was a kid, they used to find a shitload of headless, armless, legless plastic army men floating in the weeds along the shore... I was inspired by the image.

Songs like With The Horses, a tune inspired in the spring of 2006 by the sweet, large souls of Rusty, an Oregonian horse pictured considering the meaning of life with me on the back of the CD cover, and an anonymous Missoula foal who connected me with some things at just the right time.

I'm telling you - Unless you live in Hot Springs or Hamilton, you don't get the chance to see me play that often, so come out and soak up a bunch of songs that'll make you wonder what the hell you've been listening to, performed in, trust me, a unique and highly specialized manner. See you soon, and thanks for listening - Larry