I really thought the pandemic, in the United States, at least, was sorta winding down, despite the anti-vaxxers best efforts to thwart the positive progress. Things were almost looking up. Ah, yes, I remember it well. It was a time for cautious optimism. I even stopped wearing a mask at stores for a couple of months and laughed at how many unopened ones I still had. The same with bottles of alcohol and antiseptic wipes which destroy both bacteria and viruses. It was great! But, noooo! No need to elaborate further on the frustration. You know what’s going on. And you know where you stand on this. However, I guess I have to crawl back inside my head again, imagine stuff and keep working on creative things I can do without an in-person audience. This means, back to spending lots of time playing around with video and trying to figure out how to have impact and make interesting sounds and images which will resonate with someone else. This is the goal of anyone who puts it out there for others to see/hear and judge, but making it to be viewed only on a screen is, obviously, challenging in different ways.

Whatever, I learned a long time ago I can only be myself. Some people love me, some people like me and, unfortunately, some people don’t get me at all and that seems to irritate them. It’s a good thing developing a thick skin also goes with the territory and if one does not develop a really good sense of humor, this biz will never work.

So, here are examples of what I’ve been doing and enjoying. These are just the tip of the iceburg, but a lot of my videos suck, even to me. Anyway, I am getting revved up and am excited to continue exploring this medium, especially if Covid gets out-of-control again and gigs start cancelling. Oh, the future just loves being a mystery. We try to make plans but the next several months look pretty hazy. I’m sure you feel the same. “Que Sera, Sera,” Baby! Embrace the ?

1. “Hora Bialik” is an Israeli folk song and it has an accompanying dance you should see sometime. I screwed around with it a bit.
2. “Expanding Crate Mystery” is self-explanatory and very short.
3. “There Is No Happy Love (I’l N’y a Pas d’Amour Heureux)” is a song I first heard by a French folk/pop singer named Francoise Hardy, when I was in high school. Somehow, I had a couple of her albums, and they were often my just-before-bed listen. This song, in particular, has stayed with me over the decades.
4. “Flying Saucer Verse 3” I composed for a fan of Brave Combo who was in the last months of his life. He’d been around forever and I would talk to him in Austin at our gigs for years. 2020 was not a good year for him. I found out he wanted to be an astronomer when he was little. So did I. Both of us knew a lot about outer space in grade school. He got to hear the verse.
5. “Can’t You Tell, etc.” explains me perfectly, in case you’re curious.
6. “Levan Polka” Well, this is a standard in some circles now; old news, actually. Here’s a snippet of me rehearsing it. It’s a catchy little thing. Have you heard it before?
7. “All My Trials” is an old Bahamian lullaby, which has been adopted by myriad causes. It became an anthem for civil rights in the 1960s and has often been considered an old-style spiritual and some people claim it’s in their hymnals. Elvis even included it in his medley, “American Trilogy.” Basically, the original is about a dying mother, telling her children it’s okay and to not worry about her because better things come in death. Kind of a downer, but it’s a great song. At this point the video is just a bunch of images; a vehicle for the audio. Some may make it to the final edit, but maybe not. Don’t worry.

Two quick news items. We’re currently working on some unreleased Tiny Tim tracks and it appears our recording of “O, Holy Night (Cha, Cha, Cha)” will soon be in another movie.

Okay, that’s it. Please check our itinerary. We are adding dates like crazy for the fall and keeping our fingers crossed that they don’t have to cancel, yet are safe to attend. No matter what, believe it or not, it’s still a wonderful world, even if you do have to go back into your head again. Just make that a fun place. You’ve certainly had plenty of practice by now! Let’s Polka, I hope!

Sometime in August, about four months ago, Texas was really hot. I was concerned about our AC at home. It shouldn’t still be working so well. We thought we might have to replace it years ago, but it just keeps on doing its thing. Anyway, Christmas Holiday music seemed a long way off. Polka season hadn’t even happened yet. Slowly, but surely, though, time marched on. The days got shorter and by October the temperatures began dropping dramatically. Not much Autumn in Denton this year. September was stupidly warm, then, suddenly, it was cold. Then everyone was anticipating Halloween and once that happened, the flood gates opened. Halloween equals Thanksgiving equals Christmas equals New Year’s Eve. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam! Everyone’s all revved-up now, ready to travel in bad weather and spend, spend, spend. An unseen force has taken control and is moving us along. I find this phenomenon both curiously entertaining and curiously annoying. No one can really escape being involved to some degree. Our poor little town is bursting at the seams and it appears Dentonites are hitting the stores in record numbers this year. Why not? We have Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Rooms-To-Go, Party City, Macy’s, Guitar Center. You name it, we’ve got it. Just like you, wherever you are. We even have our token struggling mall and two different theaters where you can eat a full meal during the movie, just like watching TV at home, without the luxury of being able to pause it. This town is full of stuff, ready for the masses to buy and take home. And the masses in Denton number about 10,000 more people than were here in 2018. Whatever, during this “most wonderful time of year,” stuff is definitely king. New things in boxes give us a thrill. We simply LOVE boxes with stuff in ‘em. The problem is that we sorta do this all year long. Most of us, if we can afford it, treat ourselves every day to special things. According to reruns of the old TV show, THE RIFLEMAN, back in the wild west days, for Christmas, you might only get an orange. I know, I know. This isn’t a new observation. People have been trying to get back to “the real meaning of Christmas” and away from over-commercialization since I was a little kid. But, apparently, a healthy economy depends on all of us spending extravagantly as much as possible. I mean, would things fall apart if we didn’t buy tons of new crap constantly and then, at the end of each year, go consumer berserk? It doesn’t matter. I’m just thinking out loud. Nothing can change, so it’s hardly worth pondering. And besides, the holiday season has been very good for Brave Combo over the years. It has added about 30 songs to our permanent repertoire. Bob Dylan even covered one of our arrangements (“Must Be Santa”) for his Christmas album a few years ago. We did a whole tour of Japan in support of our album, IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN, a year before we even released it in the USA. Did you know Japan goes Christmas bonkers, too? Maybe even more so. But Jesus isn’t really part of the festivities. Love hotels are, though. Anyway, I’m always thinking about how to improve something or make it more efficient or, perhaps, even more meaningful. It really bugs most people around me that I’m constantly unsettled. From my point of view, there’s always something different around the corner, waiting to be discovered, created or fixed. The world is forever new. Merry Christmas!

Speaking of now, Brave Combo has some super-duper shows coming up. The Holiday Funhouse is waiting for you! On Friday, December 6, we return to Andy’s, in Denton, for our annual hometown bash. On Saturday, December 7, we’ll be at Poor David’s Pub, in Dallas, for our annual North Texas bash. On Friday, December 13, we are really excited to bring the funhouse to Knucklehead’s, in Kansas City. Our good friend, Mike Dillon, will be joining us for this show. If you live within 100 miles of KC, you must attend this event! On Saturday, December 14, it’s the ultimate Christmas happening, at mighty FitzGerald’s, in Berwyn (Chicago), Illinois. Another good friend, Danny Jerabek, will be on stage with us, playing some excellent notes! And on Sunday, December 15, it’s matinee party time at the Zoo Bar, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Get off your butt and come out and party with us. You can sing along with everything! “O, Holy Night (Cha Cha Cha)!”

Speaking of Christmas music, we have just received a shipment of IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN CDs. This has been somewhat tricky to order in recent years, so we’re glad to have a decent stock for the holidays. BUT, do not tarry, if you want one. They tend to sell out. It’s a classic. Go to our store right now and order several today!

So, here we are, nearing the end of another year. Things seem hopeless, in many ways. The United States is divided into two tribes and, it appears, the best we can hope for is “our side” keeping a lid on “their side,” whatever that means to you. Unfortunately, winning-at-all-costs doesn’t really work anymore, especially when our enemies are the people with whom we share the country. I think people want to get along more than certain people in high places would have us believe. When I’m walking my dogs, and cars pass by, I usually wave and smile at the drivers. Almost every time, even if those people don’t look anything like me, they will do the same. Most people want you to like them and they want to please you, believe it or not. We are united in our insecurities and long for acceptance. This is a wonky world and no one knows what will happen next. It might behoove us to concentrate a little more on the ways we’re all similar. For instance, I’ve had a pretty terrible cold for over two weeks. I bet we can all be united in our desire to not catch really bad colds. See, that’s a place to start. Most of us like our favorite foods and hate road construction. We all, I assume, hope to sleep well and wake up refreshed. And I’m sure we would all like to put five dollars in a slot machine and get back five thousand. That would put almost everyone I know in a good mood, even if they had a headache. Oh yeah, no one likes headaches, probably. We can agree on that, right? Okay, you can take it from here. Have a Damn Happy Holiday Season. Make music part of your fun. Yes, fun! Have some fun!