This is Justin's blog. Read it now, or we
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01.02.08 No matter how enlightened I like to think I am, or no matter how intellectual I think I am, or no matter what good taste I think I have, there are still some things that I have no control over being drawn to. Over the holidays I realized that one of those things is the movie Roadhouse. I know that it is a terrible movie. I know that it is badly written. I know that it is a terrific example of nauseatingly bad acting. I know that Patrick Swayze is the king of those actors. I’m not really into any action movies and I am not drawn in by violence or fight scenes either. I know that if I was, there are countless examples of movies with expertly and beautifully choreographed fight scenes that are truly great cinema. I know all of this. But still, if I were to be honest, I have rented Roadhouse probably 30 times over the last 20 years (I am much too enlightened to just buy it for $4.99 from the bin at the gas station). I also can’t help but watch it whenever it’s on TV. I watched it 3 times over the last 2 weeks. Once, I came across it while I was actually sitting down to watch something else specifically, but I couldn’t stop watching Roadhouse. Another time it was 2am and I really needed and wanted to go to sleep, but I stayed up for an additional hour and a half just to finish watching it. This isn’t a guilty pleasure. I don’t draw the blinds and clear an evening to watch it. It just happens and has control over me. I have favorite movies that I watch over and over. I’ll never get sick of the Godfather Part II or Taxi Driver, but I’m able to turn those movies off or walk away from them. So what the hell is it about this flick? Is it Sam Elliot? (I do wait for when his character arrives.) Is it the huge hair on the eighties women? (They do look straight out of a Great White video.) I’ll likely never know. So, my new year’s resolution is to not watch this movie in 2008.
I will walk away from it if it is on TV. That’s my resolution…it’s
okay, I never stick to them anyway. I’ll be sucked onto the trials
and tribulations of Dahlton and the Double Deuce by March if TNT or TBS
have anything to say about it. 04.05.07 I have been anxiously awaiting the new release from Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers called “No More Beautiful World.” I got the CD last week and have given it the requisite time to “grow on me.” I loved the Refreshments, the group that preceded RCPM a featured Clyne’s songwriting. When the new group appeared I loved every track off of their debut “Honky Tonk Union”. Their second release “Sonoran Hope & Madness” had to grow on me and although not my favorite record it has a solid place in my heart and include some of my favorite RCPM numbers. The group’s 3rd release “Americano” was perfect from the first second to the hidden track. This new record has a few signature RCPM gems like “Contraband” and “Hello New Day”, but there is a lot of the reggae feel that the group experiments with, but this album just has too much for my taste. My colleague, Ben Young, says this record has a lot of filler. I don’t know about that. I don’t want to discourage a group from evolving and I don’t expect 6 more “Honky Tonk Union”s, but I don’t want them to evolve in that direction. I was hoping for the Steve Larson guitar hooks that colored the entire last CD, but the guitar hooks for the most part didn’t help draw me in. I don’t plan on using this blog to review CD’s, but every spring there is a record that defines that year for me. I so clearly remember listening to Everclear’s “Sparkle & Fade” way too loud in my parents living room with the doors and windows open when it was 60 degrees outside and the March sun was beating down on the last thick blanket of snow that was forming fast, raging currents of water in the streets outside my childhood home. The same way I remember packing up my dorm room to my first listen on “Candy From a Stranger” the latest release from Soul Asylum. I was so planning on this RCPM record being my theme for this spring, but I don’t see it. I’ve never sought out a CD to fit the bill, one just appeared before me. I don’t like the idea of forcing it. What should I do? I have an ace in the hole, because I have not yet bought the last Golden Smog album “Another Fine Day”. I feel like that puts a lot of pressure on that record, but I have not been disappointed with that super-group yet. If that doesn’t work, Tweedy better get off his ass and finish the next WILCO record! I’ll keep you all posted. Happy Everything to everyone this weekend and I hope you all find your spring record with no trouble. If you are having trouble, I would suggest the latest Lazy Susan Band release or the new Doc’s Kids reissue double CD! Take care of each other… j bell
3/21/07 To whom it may concern, I recently started reading blogs from other bands and was strangely inspired. Here is my first attempt from our myspace page. 3/18/07 I've never posted a blog before, but I just read some other band blogs and felt some inspiration. I decided to just make an update about what's happening in this band. We have gone through some big personnel changes since the record came out in November. Longtime bassist, loadbearing member (so many jokes...) webmaster and friend Mike D. has begun his retirement. He made a guitar appearance in November and will join us again here and there, but the group is not the same without him. New bassist and long time collaborator Tom Adams has stepped forward to fill Mike's shoes and we are so lucky to have such a musical powerhouse in the group. Tom makes us a better band in so many different ways. I personally feel like a better player with him onstage and I feel like my playing is evolving again, something I haven't felt in a long while. Still, some energy and drive left with Mike... is there a balance? Also, after 4 years Rob Weaver has bowed out of the spotlite evil as well. It was a long time coming and I'm glad I was able to keep him around as long as I did. I will miss him just being a member of the group most of all, but I am already suprised by how I relied on his playing style for so long. Weav(e) really learned where the holes in my playing were and he had my back. We are doing some more trio shows as a result of the Weaverless nature of the group right now, but we are also being joined by an old friend and first Lazy Susan guitarist from way back when, Memphis Evans. We're still finding out ways to make that work, but it feels very promising and I miss playing with Memphis. Thankfully Ben is still playing with me. We are going on 10 years now. Ben knows how to support my weak spots on stage and I'm not sure that I could even keep up the pace without him. He would want me to say that he knows how to fill my holes, but I already gave that pun to Weaver. Tom and Ben are learning to gel better together and I'm hoping that Ben finds the same inspiration in Tom's playing that I do. Even with all of this change the group is strong. The new CD has only
been out for 5 months and it is selling better than I ever would have
expected. No one is throwing gold records at me and I am not pimping out
my Ford Ranger, but it is likely that inside of 6 months this record will
turn a profit. That's a record for me. More importantly, I'm really proud
of it. By the time it was done I was so sick of hearing those songs, but
with some time passage and fresh ears, it is really good. I've put out
some crap, but this is something I can stand behind. Take care of each other, j bell |