Nothing. Literally.

My backing band is no longer. (Yes, backing band. A decision was made that "The Cherry Darlings" as a name wasn't working, and my name had enough marquee power on its own. Which few seemed to notice.) Yes, I know things were going good. But it apparently wasn't meant to last. We broke up. And that's all I care to say about that. I wish the other musicians all the best, and I am moving on.

At the moment, I am not working on any music. I don't even own a guitar, thanks to the economic downturn. I couldn't even write songs if I wanted to, due to lack of anything to write them on. Hence, I am on enforced hiatus.

I will be relocating to Tucson in the summer, after my lease expires here in Austin. Once I'm settled there, I will resume making music and look for new musicians to work with. In the meantime, I will continue doing the "RADIO NAPALM" show weekly on www.woodyradio.com, as well as various writing projects.

Stay tuned to this space. Who knows when things may make a sudden change, and some new home recordings might be up?

Put on your high-heel sneakers and your wighat on your head. It's time to go stepping out and stepping to the choice sounds of four of Austin's finer punk-drenched combos: The Flash Boys, The Open Casket, Scrabble Robot, and (yes), yours' truly, TIM NAPALM! The madness kicks off at nine, with me and the boys hitting stage probably 11:30 or midnight. See y'all tonight!



Hosted By:
Tim Napalm (aka Tim Stegall)

When:
Friday, January 09, 2009

Where:
Beerland
711 Red River
AUSTIN
78701

Description:
Also The Open Casket and Scrabble Robot!

Click Here To View Event

Yeah, I know. Not a drop of info since announcing nearly a month ago that the Joan Jett And The Blackhearts phase of my artistic arc has now become my Joan Jett phase, with my Blackhearts no longer having a name. ("The Tim Napalm Band," I guess?) Which doesn't mean nothing is happening. If anything, it's a case of doing, rather than talking about it. (And also a case of being uber-busy with the new weekly radio show, as well, "RADIO NAPALM": Wednesdays at 10 PM EST, 9 Central, 8 Mountain, and 7 Pacific over www.woodyradio.com; please be sure to add the official "RADIO NAPALM" MySpace, if you haven't already.) But as far as me and the boys are concerned, we:

1) will be rocking Beerland on Friday, January 9th, with two killer local bands - The Flash Boys and The Open Casket - plus a new band called The Black Squeeze.

2) have four brand new songs to debut that night, including two new ones from yours' truly, one Ron Williams original, and a nasty, vicious rearrangement of the Rolling Stones' "Citadel." Which I like. A lot. It peels paint and decapitates cockroaches at 50 paces, dead easy.

3) will have our first recording session after the new year. We will be recording eight track analog, loud and raw, in our practice space, co-produced by Rick and I. Be expecting our first new tracks to be available next month.

Expect us to be gigging as often as possible next year, and a steady stream of releases. Touring? We will see. We do have a booking agent, now. Maybe you should ask her. *winks*

All I know is I'm having the time of my life playing with these guys, and seriously enjoy the music we're making. I hope you dig it, too. See you up front at Beerland.

No, the band hasn't broken up. Quite the opposite. But at Rick's suggestion, this has become a solo act, with an unnamed backing band.

Rick, whose instincts I trust without qualification, spoke up during tonight's practice and said he found the band name unwieldy. He said if we're just billed as "Tim Napalm," it's punchier, catchier, more succinct, and grabs the ear. Plus he added it will look better graphically.

Understand something: That's not a suggestion I ever would have made. Contrary to popular belief, my ego is not so large that I ever would have put my name out there without the buffer of a band name. But I can see Rick's view, and I agreed to it only after putting it to a vote from Ron and Al. Surprisingly, everyone agreed to it.

On the car ride home, I kinda muttered, "Wow. Looks like I've just gone solo." Al said, "Think of it like you've graduated."

So, that's it. No more pretention of trying to sustain a band through lineup changes, nor trying to accomodate disgruntled bandmates who can't hack the attention I've always gotten as the band leader and front man. I will still treat this as a band, splitting earnings evenly and not making a move without putting to a vote from the guys and the whole nine. But as of tonight, The Cherry Darlings no longer exist.

Hi, I'm Tim Napalm. This is my band. *smiles*

Rehearsal today and yesterday, after my first day of training on the new job today. Odd for me, once again coming in for the first time in years to rock after being up since 6:30 AM and putting in a full day's work. But, hey! Millions do, have before me, and will long after I'm worm food. Sooo....

The new material keeps rolling in: "I'm Sorry, I Love You" is absolutely polished and ready to go. Ron brought in a nice mid-tempo stomper with millions of chord changes call "You Call The Shots," with a main riff Rick ID'ed as pure Blue Oyster Cult. Yeah, but with me leading this band, I gave it an arrangement that owes a lot more to The Pixies than something that needs more cowbell. It's sounding killer. Now Ron needs to write some bloody words.

The highlight of tonight, however, started out of a goof yesterday while we waited for Ron (who was late, thanks to wonderful folks at Capital Metro). Al and I got to talking about Redd Kross, which led to Al and I off the cuff playing all six songs from the Posh Boy EP, plus "Notes And Chords." Which led to us to discussing their brilliant 1984 covers EP, Teen Babes From Monsanto (which needs to be reissued NOW), the highlight of which was a supremely trashy take on The Rolling Stones' "Citadel" (from what was arguably the Stones' trashiest album, Their Satanic Majesties Request). (And just for giggles, here's the Stones' original version.) Which, of course, led Al and I to start playing the fucker. So, naturally, I came home, found the words online, and started working on an arrangement to bring in tonight.

Nothing prepared me for what we've done to this song. This is what would have happened had the New York Dolls gotten their grimy paws on "Citadel" in 1973: Nastier, trashier, snottier, louder, angrier, harder rockin' than both versions combined. This shit is just filthy. I can't WAIT for you to hear this! Perhaps you will, sooner than you realize. Watch this space....

Yes, things have been quiet in Cherry Darlings land. We took two weeks away from our Cherry Darling duties. It should have just been one, but real life interfered. But we returned this evening to the shed (or rather, our room in the converted nursing home down South Austin way where we practice - we're just off the nurses' station, fittingly). We ran through the set, and there was no rust to be found. Then we set about nailing down my new one "I'm Sorry, I Love You," which didn't take long to become bulletproof. By the time you see us again (hopefully in December), we will be even tighter and more powerful, and chockful of new tunes. I know I have six more on tap, and Ron's got some, too. I even have another instrumental waiting to go (he types, as The Ventures twang away in the background)! We may do an all-instrumental release in the future, at this rate. Shut Your Mouth! as a title, maybe?

As I stated, it's not looking likely we'll be peeping our head above the parapet until December. I'm trying to get that booked now. Meantime, if you have a slot to offer us, please get in touch, even if you are in Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio. And don't forget: My radio show, "Radio Napalm," premieres Nov. 5th on the Woody Radio site, to run every Wednesday from 10 to midnight on the East Coast, 9-11 PM Central time, and 7-9 PM in the west. See you there!

The smoke is cleared, and I've finally fully recovered from last weekend. And I can see there's some people needing thanking for their role in making last week possible: First off, Dan Carney for use of your fine guitar. (What a beauty, she is!) Deborah Toscano at Devil Dolls Booking for putting the whole thing together - you are truly the booking queen! The Humpers, simply for being the fine band and extraordinary gents they are. Graham and the staff of Red7 and Veronyka and the staff at Rock Bottom for hosting all of us. Ken "Stagger" Dannely, for fine road managing and intelligent conversation. (And scandalous song parodies!) And all of you who came out or simply wrote in and wished us well. You've made it a very smooth, fun, and exciting transition back to the concert stage and public musical life, and neither I nor The Cherry Darlings can do it without you. Thank you so much.

We're taking a short break to work up some kicking new material Ron and I have up our sleeves before we see you again, hopefully in late November. Keep tuned in here: There's going to be a surprise or two popping up in the meantime! Stay Darling!

Yesterday's posting was just a taster. Here's most of the debut show, shot by JoceLynn Vee, the lovely wife of Cherry Darlings drummer Alan Vee. It's in bite-sized chunks due to the nature of  YouTube, and presented here in sequence. Enjoy!

"Cherry Says" and "Burn Victim":



"Castaway":



"Didn't Tell The Man" (Radio Birdman/Hitmen cover):



"Holiday In West Memphis" (for the West Memphis 3):



"I Fall To Pieces" (seconds after some comedian yelled out the South Park "TIMAAAYYY!" thing):