Apparently Andy's got a new axe! I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it's hot shit... Tommy's got a new kit! I've seen it, and it is hot shit... A band with new equipment, is like a painter with a new brush; team with a new stadium; a sniper with a new gun...

One of the things that's been most fun about playing in this band, has been watching, (listening to), our "sound" as it develops. Cowboy Messiah has really changed a lot, and because we started recording very early, and because some sweet visionary bothered to record our very first show, (when we were still, "First Day Kill", (formerly "Tom Cruise")),  it's been easy to keep track of that growth). A lot of the change has resulted from our development as players, both individually and as a band. Playing live shows really helps a band work together. And we play a lot of live shows. Practice is not the same thing. When we practice, we are neccessarily focused on the writing, tightening, and/or tweaking, of our music.We turn our amps inward, and can hear everything perfectly. We don't jump around. It's a considerably more cerebral part of the game. Although, Philip Toshido, in his very fine book, "Zen Guitar", states plainly that, "...there is no such thing as practice. Every time we do a thing, we are actually doing it, not preparing to do it at some later date...", (that's probably not a perfect quote, as i keep loaning my copies of his book out, and one has yet to come back), (no worries though, i currently have two of andy's books, and one of nick's), (though i do plan to return them all at some point), this being the case, (that there is no such thing as practice), it still bears mentioning that whatever it is we're doing when we sit down as a band to write, it is not the same as playing a show; it doesn't feel the same, and we don't sound the same. We don't "practice" the jumping around, or the witty banter, (hehe), and you can't practice the interaction with the crowd, that weird and wonderful circular energy that happens when everything is right, that feeling of connectedness, it only happens when we completely let go.
(*This has probably been the strangest aspect of existence, for me, so far. The fact that, for those moments when I am most alive, most present, when i am at my best, i am hardly even there. That is, the part of me that is designated by a name, is nowhere to be found. This being true for me, i can only assume that it's the same for everyone else, that we all have something we do best when we disappear. or things, the doing of which, causes us to disappear. Of course, everyone knows what happens when we assume).
So, we've developed, and continue to develop, on that side, on the biological side, if you will, and/or/but, we have also developed, just like the humanity itself, on the technological side. That is, we are all sporting new gear since we began as a band.
Andy's new axe will represent his third on-stage weapon; (in the beginning, Les created the Les Paul, and saw that it was good, and andy thought so too; then he switched to Leo's Telecaster Thinline, (the red one he usually plays now), and finally, the newest addition to his arsenal, a Dano, which i think is a reissue of a '56, and i have not seen or heard it yet, (but i think he was looking for black or blue). Also, his amp is new since the band started, a big-ass, bad-ass high-tech Crate monster combo.
Tommy has been playing Ron's kit since we began. His new kit is a Remo prototype, that was developed for some famous drummer for his "signature" line. We acquired the kit from Charlie Bongo, who is the drummer for Shoe. and for Super Dot, (all the "dot" bands), (Stewart probably plays for all the "com"'s), and Charlie knows the name of the famous drummer, but Andy and I don't remember.
Finally, while I am still playing on the same bass I've been playing since high school, (a Yamaha BB1600, which was endorsed by Billy Sheehan at the time), my head is new since Cowboy Messiah, and the speaker in my old cabinet came out of a P.A. speaker that was donated to the band, (Andy did the install).
So, we have come a long way, (baby), and I hope it keeps rolling in the same direction, (with comparable volocity).
This has gotten WAY out of hand. All I really meant to say, is i'm excited to hear Andy's new guitar, and I think we're all going to get to hear it tonight! (at Jacoby's, with Ryan's band, The Hotwalls, and Righteous Tongue, from Lansing). (Hope to see you there), and somehow it became a collection of reflections on the nature vs. nurture aspects of a rock band, (with no conclusions drawn). So, to put it all in rock n' roll terms: I love this band. I love playing this music. And I LOVE the people it connects me to.

With thanks, love, and respect,

j (bass)