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January 25, 2010 @ late
ummm, it's a bummer...
hey gang-
so we are going and going on the studio and building and buying and building and buying and...
it looks like we are going to reschedule europe.
i know i should have not said anything before i was 100% sure, but oh well...
i know that i want the new sleepercar record done before we go on any tours and it just seems like we are not going to make it by the end of march, so i have decided to stay here locked up in west texas until we are done.
i have some new songs ready to go and can't wait for the final studio touches to be done so we can get cranking.
i would rather come to europe at full power and not thinking about the unfinished record and i would rather put all our energy and money into making this the best record we can...
so, thanks very much to frank turner for the invitation, it was not an easy decision, but had to be made...
see you soon enough...
here is some pics of the studio...
the board at the studio...
the new (old) hammond organ gabe just bought and the rhodes hanging out in keyboard row...
my amps and guitars enjoying fresh air after months in storage...
guitars...amps...it feels so good...
more guitar photos, sorry...
cases... i know this is getting boring...
the texas flag is getting the wrinkles out... some of this stuff has been in storage since the last sparta record...
i can't wait to clean it all up... a few more days...
the board...up close... seriously, i know this is getting boring...
January 12, 2010 @ late
hi.
hey gang-
happy new year.
the studio is getting close. i actually played guitar loud two days in a row... that is a good feeling. it is nice to hear some of the new song ideas loud instead of on an acoustic in my house.
that being said, we are now days away from actually starting the new record, which is a relief... i am incredibly ready to be a working musician...
in some other news, we have been invited by our friend frank turner to head across the ocean and play some shows in europe... which is going to be awesome.
sleepercar has never been to europe and we are excited!
i will announce dates soon.
here is some photos-
in preparation for my nieces 3rd birthday, my wife and i attempted a color swirl cake...
step one is to mix the batter into different colors and arrange in two pans...
step two, bake...
after the baking, we went to our nephews all star football game at the sun bowl...
this is how the cake turned out... our nieces were crazy cute and it was great hanging out with them... they liked the cake.
the studio is coming along... here is pre-floor photo...
floor going in closeup photo...
random picture of the train bridge going over the rio grande as seen from the executive/border highway intersection... epic spot...
probably the finest looking homemade breakfast ever made in our house... i kept breaking the yolks, but my wife got it right... that's veggie bacon by the way...
we got the floor in and finally got to take our mci console out of the storage and start in on it, here are all the channels, getting checked out...
big power amps that the console uses...
here's the console, channel-less for the time being...
this is our trusty sea container. it lives inside the warehouse that we are building the studio in.
December 18, 2009 @ noon-ish
plum wall victory.
hey gang-
i know these have been sporadic and i apologize. we have been getting to business down here in the elps, with the bar up and running and building the studio and all..
for the last few years i had a small home studio i called clap of thunder. the studio we are building is going to continue that tradition and keep the name. it is in essence my and gabe's home studio, only not at home and bigger... so not a home studio at all, but a studio... anyways, whatever...
CLAP OF THUNDER!!!
it is almost done, and for those of you wondering, clap of thunder is a phrase amongst the olden days of piracy to refer to a strong adult beverage. it suits us...
i like to refer to the studio as our undisclosed west texas bunker... but it is in el paso and it is way less than bomb proof...
i went to see kelly clarkson a few weeks ago, it was great, i enjoyed it immensely. i have some photos.
some food photos as well...
some studio in progress photos...
there is some exciting things in the works that i will announce as soon as the t's are crossed and the i's dotted...
be safe...
edamame before the meal...
close up!
someone asked me the other day which sushi i liked, i said tuna and they made fun of me because it is popular... i don't care, it's popular because it's good...
i like rolls too. i like a lot of stuff... why do you have to say the "coolest" thing, i'm a grown man, i can like tuna if i want...
pre-show lit curtain... i don't think it matters who is playing, i love the build up to a performance, so exciting...
the crowd before the show, i watched them sing along as much as i did the show, so entertaining, they were so into it...
curtain up, show starts, and bang!!!
kelly clarkson has an insane voice, whether you enjoy the songs or not, she and her band slay...
her guitar player broke out the eddie van halen guitar and chops on one song- they looked like they were having a blast...
good-night!
the show was in las cruces, which is about 40 miles from my house... i walked out to this snow storm, it was a slow drive back...
i got together with some friends for breakfast the other day, lisa made salmon-mushroom-crepes...what?!?! so good...
close up!
everyone at the breakfast was pretty much a music geek in one way or another, this was the ipod line up...
back to work... gabe has been working daily getting the studio up and ready... i came by and helped paint the other day...
greg and clint came by to check our work...
this will soon be a hardwood floor... right now it is a hard wood bundle on the floor, big difference...
this is from what will be the control room looking through the glass to the live room and the guys having a chat...
this wall has a ways to go... but it'll be epic!!!
gabe and i celebrating the plum wall victory...
December 1, 2009 @ early
snow shoes go!
hey gang-
i am safe and sound at home after a great tour, a long tour, but a great one. i made lots of new friends and had a blast.
i am happy to be home though. we have a lot of work to do to get the new studio up and running so we can start making the new records. it should be a very busy few months.
the bar is doing great, if you haven't been by, please do- it is a blast.
happy holidays everyone, it is pretty snowy here so be safe gang- for everyone outside el paso- i have included some photos of the snow. i will post more at the my town blog www.mytownelpaso.blogspot.com
see ya-
this is matt, our merch guy on revival, asleep in a ball on the couch in the bus' front lounge, the shoes he is wearing are my shoes from pony, that's why i took the picture, self promotion, you know?
the highway into st. petersburg, florida, seems to float on the ocean...
frank turner, front lounge, my shoes again, shameless...
this photo seems like it came from the 1960's for some reason...
this is a little lake by the state theater in st pete, i took a nice little walk around the area...
i found a park...
some boats...
chuck ragan playing guitar...
jon snodgrass...
dinner, yes! wild salmon with spinach and the best potatoes in weeks! yes!
back on the old southwest for the trip home. it was fun everyone, thanks for coming to the shows and singing along...
back to work at the bar, this is chris lewels making a hot concoction for a cold night, just add brandy and yummy!!!
7 am this morning in my neighborhood in el paso, yes, it snows here...
the mountains are not so easy to photograph with my little camera, i will get a better one at some point i hope...
cactus and snow, an epic pairing...
November 19, 2009 @ afternoon
burned...
i'm burned out.
ready to come home.
here is some pictures.
matt and i decided to walk from the venue in dallas to the sight of the kennedy assassination-
i'm a sucker for these old brick faded paint buildings... some day i will own one
this looks like an ordinary little nook in a park, right?
no, it leads you to this!!! in case you didn't know, this is the grassy knoll they speculate another shooter to have been...
that 'X' on the road is where the fatal shot came, there were families and people selling snacks and it just struck me as really sad...
the book depository where the shots came from...
they show the window open, far right side, 6th floor i think...
i was bummed out a little bit thinking about all that sadness, but this made me laugh, how bland do you have to be to not just name one store this, but the second as well...
someone tied a wolf to a pole...
someone is making their rap video...
someone is playing my banjo in the parking lot, it's our merch guy matt...
frank turner at the beginning of the night in memphis...
some of the fun decor in the bottletree in birmingham...
November 11, 2009 @ noon-ish
photos
hey gang-
i know i have been lazy and not done much on this site. i wish i had an excuse, but i don't. it is so easy to just sit on a tour bus and stare out the window. i do have a little bit of an excuse actually, the internet on the bus is too slow to upload photos and the last few clubs haven't had wireless.
it is a poor excuse.
now i am in the launchpad in albuquerque and the interweb is flowing full steam ahead!
yes!!!
tomorrow is the el paso show, i can't wait to see friends and hang out.
doors are 7pm tomorrow and we all start playing at 8 pm so don't be late-
here is some photos
once we got on the road through the snow, it was one breath taking scene after another...
more awesomeness...
when you leave the rockies and start into the plains of the northwest, there is this view, one of my favorites every time...
these two were playing some pretty good stuff out in the market near the river in portland
i tried to be discreet with this photo, this guy was charging 75 cents for a poem he would type right then and there...
i like bridges
this was some sort of day of the dead parade in portland that i stumbled across
mummies? i didn't quite get the whole concept
i flew home for a few days. this is ivan, he made the whales that hung at my show in may and now over the bar- he grew this sweet mustache and i thought the world should see it
i flew home to watch my nephews play their final regular season high school game ever- it was in the sunbowl, it was awesome
they won 41 to 13, it was really nice to see them win and be so happy, it made me miss being a kid a lot... then i had to go back to work
and by work i mean walk around the beach in san diego. i love the beach...
i went into an antique shop and this young lady was hanging out, she was very underwhelmed by me it seems...
vegas... the show was awesome here, one of the better one's...
this is a mural in albuquerque i just saw. it makes me uncomfortable for some reason and i am not sure why...
really?
lunch, pad thai... it was pretty good...
October 29, 2009 @ noon
salt lake cancelled...
Hey gang-
Same story. We're still stuck in nebraska. Still snowing.
Cancelling kills me but so does icy roads. Better safe than sorry.
So bummed.
Jim
October 28, 2009 @ noonish
denver cancelled tonight...
hey gang-
through the modern marvel of satellite internet technology i come to you from the plains of nebraska to let you know that based on safety we will not be playing in denver tonight. we are 100 miles from what appears to be a gigantic snow storm and reports coming in from denver are saying it is bad and getting worse. we are all torn up about having to make decisions like this and we were all looking forward to playing.
be careful out there.
October 24, 2009 @ early noon
this is where i am right this second...
i am searching the internet for more danzig...
this is matt and i at a coffee shop right this second. we came to watch danzig clips with fast internet and laugh out loud
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