We managed to get the lion's share of parts tracked for "Without Closure" which leaves us with, I believe, two tracks to lay down. 

Closer and closer to the big finish...

You know how it is...life happens!

Happily, I can disclose we will be reconvening next Saturday in an effort to finish The Wilderness once and for all!  I know we're excited. 

And soon, hopefully, we can get some more live dates up and going so we can enjoy your lovely company out and about once again!

Still respecting you in the morning,
Jack, Mark, Paul and Dana

Jack:  So, what's changed in the Cold-Blooded Three since we last shared a bill together?

J.D.:  Not a whole lot- we have a new keyboard player now, Jason, and Justin's playing more sax, but that's about it.  It's still basically the same old song and uncomfortable white-guy dance.

Jack:  I think "Uncomfortable White-Guy" should be its own genre.  Memphis is kind of a tough town musically.  What would you change if you could to make it better?

J.D.:  Well, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "tough" - there is some competition here, in the sense that the average Memphis musician/songwriter is significantly better than his/her counterpart in another city, and maybe that raises the bar a little.  But it's still nothing like a major market.  For better or worse, there's a bit of a "small pond" element to Memphis as a city.  And to be honest, compared to the other places I've been around, the music scene in Memphis is fairly easy to navigate.  But that's just my opinion.  

I will say this:  Memphis has a pretty poor self-image.  We're like the Chicago Cubs of mid-major cities - deeply entrenched in a culture of losing.  That's what I would change - our outlook.  

What do you find difficult about Memphis?

Jack:  The apathy of its denizens, which could be due to…I wish more people made it out to shows.  I wish we got to put on earlier shows, cause I think there's a whole audience that no one's getting to.  Try getting a bar to have an 8:00 start time, though.  

Is sharing a bill with The Original Cyndi and Shortwave Dahlia the closest you've gotten to doing another Johnny Romania show?  Are the other Romanians still playing shows and making music?

J.D.:  For those who don't know, I guess I could explain that Johnny Romania was a band that I had going with Justin from the Original Cyndi for a while, kind of a synth pop/experimental thing that you, Jack, were also a member of for a few minutes.  

Jack:  Literally!  I had to take a bathroom break and never looked back!

J.D.:  I guess this would be the closest we've come to an official re-union, although, in all honesty - Justin and I never really stopped making music together.  The other guys who were in it for a while make up a virtual who's-who list of marginally successful local musicians, including members of Snowglobe, the Rockwells and Shortwave Dahlia.    

Jack:  How flattering of you to include us with those other guys – they were all probably in JR a lot longer than I was!  You have a significant part in the running of Makeshift Music, don't you?  What's the best thing about running a label?

J.D.:  I guess you could say that.  Makeshift is really more of a collective, but we do have somewhat of a label also.  I don't know if there's an really interesting "best thing" for me to mention, but the work is rewarding.  I'm passionate about the music that my friends make, for the most part - I've been really lucky to meet and befriend so many talented folks.  It's humbling for me, and, come to think of it, maybe that's the best part.

Jack:  Speaking personally, we've met and played with some phenomenally talented people in our short time on the block.  Lastly, what is the worst (to other people, at least) music that you actually like?

J.D.:  Well, there's probably tons of stuff in my record collection that some people might think of as "uncool" - the Monkees, Herman's Hermits, John Mellencamp, Phil Collins, Faith No More, Depeche Mode and I could go on and on.  But truthfully, I don't care who thinks it's bad.  Well, except for me.

Thanks, Jack - looking forward to the show Saturday!      

J.D. Reager & the Cold-Blooded Three on MySpace

(we think!)

A Novel Idea
An Unfinished Man
Automata (a new version)
Baktun
Horizon Line (a new version)
Paramour
The Last Time
The Optimists Are Dying Out
Without Closure
Words
You Are the Answer

It's an album about identity.  The above is not the track sequence, by the way.  I'll post that when we figure it out.

Okay, so here's how this is going to work.  

The Wilderness is expected to be rolling out in August or September.  A pre-order price of $10.00 gets you:

-    A compact disc of the album (remember those things?  shiny platters of digitally coded music?)
-    A selection in the weeks before the album's release of downloadable practice sessions, in which we roll through the new tunes as well as some old favorites.
-    Inclusion on a special e-mail list with which we give you news on the album's development.
-    Last but not least, your very own shortwavedahlia.org e-mail address!  Now your spam has somewhere new to go!

PayPal your money over to shortwavedahlia@yahoo.com OR e-mail me at jack@shortwavedahlia.org if you need a snail mail address.

So what do you say?  Ready for the next phase of Shortwave Dahlia?

http://www.scfilms.com/ZM2ickeyZone6508pvt.html

Just watch it...

It would appear we haven't blogged in a bit, huh?  Sorry about that, friends.  There has been activity in the SD camp, though.

First off, we've been writing and recording The Wilderness.  I think it's going to have 11 or 12 songs - the only ones that will have appeared on anything before will be "Horizon Line" and "Automata" (both of which will be new versions and will incorporate new member Dana Liebchen).  The rest will be newer tunes - those of you who came to the shows in September through December will know several of them. 

Let's see...there's a show coming up at the P&H July 5th with our friends J.D. Reager & the Cold Blooded Three as well as The Original Cyndi.  It will be a night to remember, so drink but don't drink too much!

More later,
Jack @ SDHQ

Last weekend was a blur of delightful insanity--thanks to J.D. and the Ginsus for delivering some true quality entertainment in every sense of the word!  Perhaps even in some senses of the word that haven't been considered until now!  Hopefully we'll see some of you Central Arkansas folk in the Spring as Ginsu Wives have warmly invited us to play with them anytime. 

The 2007EP is now on iTunes as well, so if you haven't picked it up and you're an Applephile you're finally in luck!

And more?  You need more?  As always, the message board could provide you with endless entertainment and, possibly, some new friends.

xo

I can't believe I haven't updated this blog since before the September 21st gig.  We've had two shows and I haven't kept you up on things!  Shame on me.

So yeah, we've had two knockout gigs:  one at Neil's (the usual place, yeah?) and one at the P&H Cafe (tiny stage, good crowd), gained a new band member and are gearing up for another Neil's gig this Saturday.

We've been busy.

I hope to see some of you at the gig this weekend or on our new message board at http://shortwavedahlia.org/forum

xo

Well, for about one whole day we had an entry on Wikipedia that was deleted because we are not important enough in the scheme of things to merit an entry there. 

No problem, we've started our own!  http://shortwavedahlia.wikispaces.com is the address, and this will serve (in my mind at least) as THE bible of all things SD.  If you have something to contribute, please do.

Speedy deletion, my ass.  lol

xoxo Jack