"Easy"

Anything worth doing is worth OVER doing right? Well, the OakTeam had a rare practice this past Monday night and in the process we spent WAAAAY too much time learning “Easy”. Yeah, THAT “Easy”, “easy like Sunday morning” Easy. What a hoot! We’re gonna HAVE to record it at some point and maybe put it up on our MySpace page. Dave loves that solo and can’t wait to play it and he especially loves that little “ewww..” right before it. I love the bridge and I sing it like this.."I'm fiddin' to get high..so high.." It’s really a perfect encore song. And especially if it’s a late Saturday night gig, (you know, since it would be Sunday morning at that point)..so LOOK the hell out!

We’re off to the O.H. There’s a nasty rumor floating around that Dan will be in Wapak. No word at this writing if eVANgeline is gonna make it or not. Full report next week.

“THAT AIN’T HERS!”

Words. So powerful. Just imagine. The words I write influence and entertain people around the world! Fascinating huh?..yeah, whatever..
I was just thinking back on the cast of characters that my eyes immediately bounced off of in the grocery store tonight. Honestly, the redneck contingent gets to me every now and then. I always walk in the store with blinders on, trying not to look up. Hoping not to see anyone I know.
Ewww!! Snaggle-tooth haint at 3 o’clock! ..with tattoos! Shaped like a chicken, big ‘ol belly and bird legs..Yikes! Here comes the Mom with the uncontrollable kids! “Don’t touch that, thass licker!” she tells the little girl as she’s reaching out for a beer. (Oh, how she wishes!) The little boy is bouncing a kickball size ball in the wine section. I turn away. I can’t watch. I know disaster is eminent. But it never happens. Mom yells something at him that sounds like “Whing whong wing wang whine wang whong whang” and they soon leave the danger zone. Man with melted face walks by. He’s drank every drop he could get his hands on and smoked acres of tobacco. I get in line, stoic young girl with large breasts stands with perfect posture in line one lane over. She looks at me as if she’d like to roll her eyes at the same things I’m disgusted by. She soon stares off. In front of me is Granny, obviously with her addicted-to-something daughter. Granny, who’s been in a bar or two in her day, asks for coffin nails. “Gimme a pack of Marlboro Lights” “THAT AIN’T HERS!” yells the daughter as my stuff accidentally gets conveyer belted across ”the line”. Her temperament is such that she’ll fight about it. She’s screaming like her baby just fell outta the back of the pick up. The cashier pushes my case of bottled waters back. “3 forty seven”, he says as he slides his greasy blonde hair out of his eyes. “Damn! Y’all high down here in Bunn, ain’t ye?! They ain’t but 3 ten at Variety Pick-Up!” I’m seriously holding it back but I’m thinking it. “Well, why don’t you get your old dumb ass down to Variety Pick-Up then! If you so damn worried about that damn 27 cents!” Jeez!! Help me. I’ve become one of them.

bad rear end

 

Got the bad news last night, Dave's van, “eVANgeline” is in the shop. We have this trip to the OH coming up and there’s a chance that it may not be ready to roll by the time we leave on Thursday. Dave’s already called the rental joint and gotten their best price for the 4 days but still it would almost be disastrous if we couldn’t take her with us. I mean, she's PART of the band! And there’s stuff in there (the shop is way out in Apex) that we need to feel at home on the road. Let’s see, there’s the wiffle balls and bats, the real baseballs and gloves, the “Rock and Roll Cool Van” (loaded with tons of sampled metal guitar licks!) that sits on the dash, there’s the stuffed black panther that sits in the back door, the hotel room key tray that goes around the roof that we stick our room keys in, Dave’s cigarette lighter that pulls down from the driver side visor, and last but not least the service bell (covered by the dipping dots Mudcats mini batting helmet) that can only be rung if someone utters a word or phrase in the van that has never on this Earth been uttered (save your cow jokes!) before. These are things we NEED people!
We’ve all got our fingers crossed that Dave’s brother-in-law can get that new rear end in time. Y’all say a prayer for eVANgeline.

jax411

http://jax411.blogspot.com
OK, so here's yet ANOTHER intrusion into the lives of the OakTeam and myself.
Seems like everyday we just keep opening another door of our house to the outside world. We share everything short of the results from our proctology exams! This is Jack's blog about the goings ons of projects in his studio. As he mentions we will be in there soon and you guys can keep up with how the next record is progressing.
Should be fun!

hmm..should I answer?

Got a call from an old friend tonight. Uhh….so y’all will tell me when I get to that point where am speaking incoherently, right? Like if I was to call up drunk and start mumbling about getting’ a raw deal, about some dumbass songs I wrote or about how I’m gonna do this or that or start some supergroup or some other impossible shit that I could never do at my advanced age? I thought so, thass why I like y’all.
So what do ya say when that happens? Does it ever happen to you? Do you ever hate to answer the phone when it’s someone that you know that is gonna keep you on the phone with some pitiful and ridiculous under the bridge-bonfire-sleeping on a parkbench jibber jabber?
Ya can’t hang up ‘cause ya really DO care about’m but it’s hard to listen when you know how sharp they used to be. I guess as we age this kinda thing will happen more and more. But I think it happens more to people that don’t get out of the house much. They start simmering in their own self pity and the next thing you know they are curmudgeonly and cantankerous.
I just hung the phone up at the end of the conversation and was glad that I wasn’t drinking this week and thankful that I have what senses I DO have left…and for a WHOLE lot of other things..even as tough as it is for all of us.

word search

 

Don't just sit there! Find some words!

nick

 

So how cool is this? Philadelphia Inquirer writer, Nick Cristiano dropped me a note last week and saying that he would be in town this weekend and wondered if we were playing. Unfortunately we were not, but I was more than happy to meet with him for a quick hang on Saturday afternoon. He had said some real nice things about us in recent reviews so despite his Yankee garb I let him in my car for a ride over to Jack's house where studio magic is born. Jack and Jon were putting the finishing touches on the new Cartridge Family record as we walked in. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time shooting the shit about music, baseball and my disdain for hockey among other things. I'd like to thank the people of Raleigh for behaving themselves for the arrival of our distinguished guest!

European Bullride

Sounds like the next TA Yayhoos "EuroNovel" is gonna be more like a "EuroBlurb". Got this note from Roscoe today..

Trip is very short. one club gig in Lisbon and one at the Bospop Fest in Weert/Netherlands. We fly over there on the 6th of July gigs 7 and 8 and fly back on the 9th. We fly out of Lisbon to Brussels at 8:45 am on the 8th for the Bospop show. Could have been worse (5am flight) We'll be on stage at 2:15 in the afternoon.
Eat your wheaties...its gonna be a doozy.

Ride'm Cowboys!

Hey XM'ers!

Just got a note from Robbie Fulks saying that the 6 six songs that he picked from our set at Old Town School of Folk Music show in Chicago a couple of weeks ago are mixed and ready for airplay. It will be on 3 times during the final full week of July. I'll post the times as they become available.

catching up

It's a long way, but the scenery is nice!

 

I know, I know! I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But it’s kinda hard to blog when you’re driving to VIRGINIA twice a day. My son, Nathan is at Robotics Camp (and no Dave, they are NOT listening to Synth-Pop and DOING the “robot”, they are learning to BUILD robots!) and it’s on the other end of the county from me and the only way to get there is winding two lane blacktop, and you can be sure at 7am in the morning I’m screaming “Get your ass up the road!” at some dumbass rednecks.
Anyhoo..since the big drunk Father’s Day Mudcats fiasco I’ve been clean and sober and hope to stay that way for a while. We had a great Backsliders rehearsal last night before Chip (Robinson) headed off back to Brooklyn to live for at least the next three months. That show is coming up July 28th with the one and only…NIGHTRANGER in downtown Raleigh. Should be ignunt.
The one thing on my mind right now though is an Ass-Kickin’ what is fiddin’ to happen up in Cleveland NEXT weekend and then on to Wapakoneta OH (our adopted hometown). Weez playing the BIG room with Will Hoge on Friday night the 29th and then doing the 10th Anniversary party on the 30th for Ron and them at Rhythm and Brews. THAT is gonna get very stupid!

Dad and Grad

Happy Father's Day Diddy!

 

come on Dixie..

...who says you can't!
Dixie don't get around much anymore. Her bark is definately worse than her bite.
She's got a bad front "passenger side" wheel. I guess they call it Aarf!-iritus!

 

hog-a-tatious

 

let it rock!

 

y'all so crazthy..and swayze!

 

beach music frenzy

 

That Beach Music really works the crowd up into a frenzy!!

Heather Cox

 

Nathan with his new girlfriend, American Idol finalist, Heather Cox!
OMG!

Hog Day Afternoon

 

We went up to the Hillsborough NC today and rocked just about like ass! It was "hot as BALLS" (Big Daddy Dave's words, not mine..I don't even know what he means by that!) We started right after the Beach music band and I thought we might be in trouble when I noticed the whole crowd clapping on the beat during their set but most of the whitebread left afterwards and we got all the good folks..and the heat! 3:45 start time was pretty dang unbearable, about 90 degrees, it was like singing into a hot frying pan. And my face, at this writing, has taken on that frying pan hue.
We played damn purty and had a big 'ol bunch a fun at Hog Day!

PS..I have decreed it to be OakTeam Day at the Mudcats Ballpark, Five County Stadium tomorrow and weez all meeting out there. Some of us, including me, are bringing our Dad's..and kids. Join us, won't you?

Gamba Gamba Hey!

 

Sorry I haven’t had the chance to blog lately but I have a really good excuse. I was drunk. Seems that damn Monty Warren is up to his old tricks again and fancied that I would welcome a case of our favorite wine, well..shhh’yeah! This Gamba shit is the bomb! Lifeblood! Seriously, this Zin blows my other favorite kinda wine, Amarone outta the damn water, and at 15.9% alcohol will knock you flat on your ass! It’s a different drug effect than the usual drunk you get from your everyday “maintenance” wines too. But like everything that has been tweaked to perfection it’s gonna cost ya. I can’t in any way shape or form afford one single bottle! That’s why this gift was such a pleasant surprise. I’m not real good at saving a bottle of great wine (who’da thunk it!) and saving 12 of them is well…just..stoopid! So Grace and I have sat back for the last couple of nights and just really enjoyed life, the good life..and feeling all the more like one of Keith Richards’ bandmates in THE EXPENSIVE WINOS.
Thanks to Monty!

OakTeam in O-Hi-O!

Those of you who missed the OakTeam a few weeks back on that great Monday night down at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland get another chance, and this time on a Friday night. That Monday was so fun and so well attended that Miss Cindy wanted us back ASAP. So on June 29 we're headed back up that way to open for Will Hoge in the BIG ballroom. We plan on blowing it out, so spread the word Cleveland.
If you miss that show you'll have to drive two hours away on the next night down to Wapakoneta, OH to see us. We'll be playing Ron's 10th Rt.33 Rythm and Brews Anniversary throw down which should be a party of biblical proportions. I think Stacie Collins and The Dramms are also on that show. Hell, we might as well move to Ohio as much as we go there.
Let us not forget though that this weekend is the big "HogDay" show in Hillsborough, NC. The weather is supposed to be spectacular on Saturaday so get ya boys together and come on down and eat some hawg with us!

Breakin’ 2

Movie review: Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo

Last night I clicked upon what could very well be the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed on my 53 inch screen, the ‘80s fashion disaster movie called Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Evidently, there was a Breakin’ 1, which is a shame unto itself but I did find myself mesmerized by just how horrible this tax write off really was. First of all, everyone was dressed a WHOOOOLE lot alike. They all, boys AND girls, had brightly colored cut off shirts that showed off their chiseled abs, with fingerless gloves of 2 different sherbet shades, some kind of hat turned sideways and lot sequins sewn in randomly. It was your basic ‘80s mall rat garb. One girl had a fedora with the top cut out and her flowing black locks sticking out. Damn! That looked stupid!
The music was directly ripped from Prince’s dumpster. It was all of his sounds but none of his hum-able melodies, probably programmed by a local high school basketball team.
During the three minutes that I watched this train wreck here’s what I saw. It was basically what amounted to “this town ain’t big enough for TWO breakdancing squads!”
Two rival breakdancing teams met in an alley and instead of fighting they had this ridiculous and very un-”fresh” dance-off on a piece of plywood laying on the ground.
One of the teams finally admitted defeat and went scurrying off like wounded dogs. Oh my God! How damn stupid can you get? I’m sure they didn’t realize it at the time but what they were breaking was new horizons in stupidity. I fought with myself the entire 3 minutes whether I should keep watching the carnage or get back to the game.
So it turns out that the whole premise of this movie is that these kids use breakdancing to save an old school from being turned into a shopping mall. As noble as their efforts were I really would have liked flipping back over at the end and seeing them all being run over by the bulldozer that also succeeded in tearing down the school. THAT would have made it worth watching! If I was Ice-T, the only recognizable character in it, I would have bought every copy of this smelly turd and had a big ‘ol bonfire in the back yard with’m.
In my book because of this, he can NEVER ever be taken seriously as an actor again.

matters of life and death

As expected today was a pretty big day here at Anderson Central, and a very emotional one. We woke up 7-ish and I was soon informed that Will had to have black dress slacks and a new pair of shoes in order for him to graduate. So I got Will up and made him come with me to try on said attire. It went well but as expected we ran into a snag on the way home, a tractor taking up space all the way back from the Louisburg Wal-Mart and it was just like the song “there ain’t nowhere to pass you on this winding two lane..can’t you hear the horns?”
But we made it to the auditorium on time and despite the seating confusion we sat down and glowed proud as our son, Will walked across the stage to accept his award for fooling the establishment into thinking he was really really smart (just kidding he really really is!). We are so damn proud of him, hell I wouldn’t take a shiny nickel for him!!
We went to his church afterwards and hung out for food and various snackage. I found out that my friend and the matriarch of the family that I’ve been doing a lot of work for lately (including her!) had died on Thursday morning of a massive heart attack. Man, what a bummer. She was really cool. She spoke her mind and everyone either laughed or said “right on!, lady!” It was such a contrast to the mood I was feeling with Will’s graduation, the beginning of life..the end of a life.
So fleeting…We love you Will, we’ll miss you Lucille!

Refreshements (SWED)

Fan and friend Lachlan DeSmith sent me The Refreshments (Sweden) CD's and wanted to know what I thought...
OK, so where have THESE guys been all my life? Seldom does anyone send music to me that I don't skip through..next track..next track..This not only holds my attention but I demand more. It's insane to me that Swedes (no offense..none taken) could sound so American! The singing is incredible, the guitar playing is great (though not quite as heavy as I'd like..what's with the Strat?) but seriously I'm blown away by this stuff. I will study it like history.
Of course, you know what's missing from this and any other Rock and Roll that rips off Chuck Berry? Those ingenius lyrics that he wrote.
You know, the ones that made John Lennon and Paul McCartney jealous?
Awesome music though and I see why Dave Edmunds used them as his band recently.

RoBBieQ

 

Me and about 100 plus other patrons at the Hideaway BBQ, starved for silliness, shear talent and creative brilliance were given what we came for last night. Robbie Fulks and his buddy Robbie from Chicago traded licks and sang perfectly together like they had trained their whole lives for this one night. Robbie’s voice seemed strong as ever as he vacillated from character to character, Appalachian soul singer to German Oompah to Pavoratti. His songs too continue to blow my mind. Lines like “Alabama’s great, not the band but the state” are ones that all serious songwriters pray for. They are as elusive as a great golf shot and that’s why we keep going back. Well, lemme tell ya buddy. He hit a LOT of great shots last night and I was really glad I went, even though I had to work for my supper by getting up and singing a few numbers with him. We did “Church Folks” and after that I really wanted to hear him sing my song “Smile Anyway” as his band had been playing it recently and I had not heard it. It had been so long since I had heard it that I was really no help with the lyrics but somehow we struggled through without too much embarrassment. He finished the night as I had heard him do before with a rap-like flow re-assessment of the night’s festivities with constant merchandise reminders thrown in. It was, like he is, brilliant!

Hell! I Don't know!

 

Took a picture of this in the back yard of a job a few years back..
I gots no idea what it is..any guesses?

B-chains/Norway

 

Beware! Ballpark veggie dogs!

I had a few ideas about other uses for the $4 veggie hot dogs
Jack and I ate at The Asheville Tourists Ballpark.
They’d also make good:

1-tent stakes
2-dobro slides
3-horse bits
4-chisels
5-door stops
6-paper weights
7-weapons
8-golf tees
9-tongue depressors
10-paint paddles
11-garden tool handles
12-trailer hitches
13-toilet paper dispensers
14-log splitters
15-tool pegs
16-hat racks
17-piston rods
18-stickshifts
19-nutcrackers
and
20-brass knuckles

upset

I'm a little upset right now. I've just found out some bad news. NO! not like the bad news that Scott delivered to Tony last week. Here's the exchange that I overhead at the club:
Scott: Hey Tony! Come here man! I got some bad news. Real bad!
Tony mosies over.
Scott: Hey man, Windell's dead. (Tony slumps)
Yeah, sucks huh? (Tony begins to weep)
I know, tough..ain't it? It was about 4 days ago dude. Yeah, he's dead, man. Windell's dead. (Tony sobs)
Scott: Sorry dude. Sucks! I know! I told you it was bad!

No, not quite that bad of a news break but get this!..The dude what bought my Jerry Jones double lipstick pick up guitar up in Michigan...he's...he's....
PLAYING REO SPEEDWAGON ON IT! WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! IS THERE NO GOD!???
WHY MUST THE WORLD TORTURE ME LIKE THIS????
I want that guitar back NOW!! Sucka!!
If I'da known this before I sold it to him the deal would'a never..and I mean...NEEEEV...VAAAAHHHHH gone down!!!

yayhoos fun

come on boy! git ye some!!!
Yayhoos fun

sorry, Dad!

 

Having kids is such a joy. I went from celebrated rock star to cleaning up puke in about 24 hours. Here's how this morning went down; I felt a little old and crabby when I got up to make sure Nathan got on the bus in time. At 7am I asked the future underwear model what time he was planning on putting his clothes on. He said "7 oh 5". OK, so I go to back to lay down for 5 measly minutes when I hear a retching sound coming from the dining room. Sure enough he's spraying Cocoa Pebbles and chocolate milk all over the hall floor. About that time the bus pulls up, "Sorry Dad, I love you!" and he runs out, hops on the bus and leaves me with the goods. Humbling.

Holiday Inn!!!

 

The damn OakTeam finally gots the opportunity to rocks them some Holiday Inn!! That's it! The Topper-most of the Popper-most! We've hit it bigtime now! Don't talk to me. I'm here to tell ya that we were once again awesomer (that's a word, dammnit!)than hell! Even as a 3 piece we kicked 'er how many asses was out there at The Hangar (pronounced HANG-GAR by us)! We did three 45 minute sets (so that they could have the Hawaiian Tropic bikini competition between our sets. You DON'T wanna hear about just how damn ugly them girls were...do ya?) of original material and Dude said that Saturday night is usually sucky but we brought in the crowd and kept'm there. Granted, there were many (at least 10) of our own personal friends that showed up and it's 3 and a half hours from Raleigh). The dance floor (shown here) stayed occupied most of the night, sometimes full. Miss Suzy put us up for the night in her nearby mansion. Many many thanks to her. I met her on the Blues Cruise and she sometimes bartends at this incredible place.
The highlight of the day for me though was seeing this total moonshot homerun blast at the Asheville Tourists game before the show. Dude hit it OVER the lights in dead center field. It's prolly still rolling down the other side of the mountain as I write this. He smoked that sucka!
Busy Saturday fo sho'!

 

OK, see the lights that are on? Dude hit it OVER the trees behind it! It was OMG!unbelieveable!