So, 2019 arrived as a newbie just minutes ago, it seems, and now its old news already. The government shutdown kinda killed everyone’s groove and reminded us we’re still in an identity crisis funk. I hadn’t planned to spend two years, being forced to witness a non-stop examination of the limits (or non-limits) of the human ego, but here I am. You know, people are just bumbling masses of fat and muscle and bone; almost shapeless. Most of us have two little beady things on our head so we can see stuff and two holes on the sides of our heads, so we can hear stuff and a couple of nostrils and a mouth for a few extra functions. And that’s about it. Our brain imagines things and solves things, like how to get to the gas station, and tells our body what to do, like “go find your keys.” It sits in our skull and runs the show, constantly scheming; reminding us about our comfort zone and desires. If left unrestrained by something like a conscience or empathy or intelligence or chains and a gag, a person just might become 100% self-centered, convinced of his or her “superiority” for no reason other than he or she likes the feeling and can, somehow, get away with it. Can you fathom such a thing; a big blob of human matter, with no sense of direction, thinking it’s in charge? I can. It’s what each of us could become if we abandoned principles, compassion and rational thought. Whatever, the “crazy clown” show goes on. But, I guess everything does boil down to “me, me, me.” Our oldest cat, JJ, is having to share “her” space with a couple of recent rescues, a mama cat and her kitten. It’s a big room and the newcomers are usually confined to a large mesh playpen. But JJ is not happy. Tonight, she was growling while she was eating. Mama and kitty were obviously not a threat. They were lounging inside their little apartment watching cat-sitter videos on Jane’s laptop. But there was no reasoning with JJ. There never is. She always thinks she’s right. Her point of view, despite logic, is the only correct one. Good thing she’s not a human being, with the ability to actually hurt people, huh?

Hmmm. BREAKING NEWS! I just noticed the room didn’t smell so good and saw the new kitten stepping out of her litter box. I think I know what happened.

Speaking of time zooming by, 1999 was twenty years ago, which means that whole “END OF TIME” Y2K freak-out is way in the past now. Damn, that’s amazing and creepy. NYE 1999 we were playing a ritzy party at a ritzy house/mansion, expecting everything to go dark at midnight. Nothing happened. In fact, all of the partygoers stepped outside at 11:50 to watch the fancy private fireworks show on the estate grounds, leaving us alone in the ballroom to play our fancy samba version of “Auld Lang Syne” for no one. It’s good to be humbled on occasion.

And speaking of time REALLY zooming by, Brave Combo turns 40 this year. We are, of course, planning to do something special; something out of the norm, like a tour of laundromats or tedious time-lapse video of us setting up sound gear or some fresh hot recordings with no commercial potential. Lots of ideas are swirling around, including this. We would like to post photos of Brave Combo fans, wearing their favorite Brave Combo T-shirts. I run into people at every gig, beautifully adorned by the shirts they’ve lovingly taken care of for years, or decades, even. So, please put on your shirt and pose as you wish, in the location of your choice, with or without your pet(s). Take a picture and send it to info@bravecombo.com. If a bunch of you guys do this, we will make a big deal out of it and post all of the photos in some grand manner. If only three or four show up, you’ll never hear about it again.

Check this out! Fry Street Fair was a Denton free-expression hippie-fied festival for many years until it outgrew its ability to contain itself. Filmmakers, Des Smith, and Melanie Little Gomez Smith, under the name Artlab 3000, have created an amazing clay-mation music video about the legendary street fest. Brave Combo makes a prominent appearance, as does Pops Carter. If you have a Facebook account, here’s the link.

On February 23, Brave Combo will be performing with the Odysseus Chamber Orchestra in McKinney, Texas. We’ve had many of our songs scored for symphony orchestra, but this is a rare event. It’s a lot of work. Dozens of people involved. Music stands. And, we will be debuting brand new collaboration.

Okay, let the fun begin! Please keep your eye on our itinerary. Dates are being added weekly and the studio recordings are in full swing. Now go to sleep or wake up. Be thoughtful and compassionate toward other people and if you see an animal in distress, help it out. Sweet dreams.

So I guess another year is wrapping up and, once again, a new one is ready to take its place. I’ve seen this before. Everyone looks back at the previous 12 months because we, apparently, can’t help it. I suppose it’s important to us to assess what just happened. The older I get, the more I feel like everything just happened. Twelve months feels barely longer than two. Plus, I’m just not past-oriented. I don’t long for the good ol’ days, whenever they were. There are certainly many events I remember fondly and I suppose, if I could hop into a time machine and walk around my hometown in the 1960s again and look at it with modern eyes, it would, admittedly, be entertaining. However, I have somewhat recently cataloged all of the Brave Combo videos, going back to our first rehearsals, and I gotta say, I don’t want to relive a single minute. The experience was pretty overwhelming and, ultimately, rather nauseating. Too much to take in. Lots of places and miles and situations and people. I was surprised at my reaction. I probably tried to watch and label too many at a time, but boy-o-boy did I get tired of myself. There were moments it didn’t look like anything to me. But mainly I was just happy I still had a reason to keep making new stuff, because I love making new stuff. And I know I drive everyone crazy with my desire to constantly create and change things up and, on top of that, be as perfect as possible, but that formula seems to work for me. In just a few months Brave Combo will be 40 years old. That’s four decades of imagining what doesn’t exist. That’s a pretty long time, right? I mean, that’s nothing compared to how long dogs have been domesticated. But compared to how long it takes to eat your average meal, it’s an eternity. Plus, most of our songs are on the short side, so a night of Brave combo involves roughly 45-50 songs. Multiply that by 40 years. Okay, I’m starting to feel nauseated again. Whatever, if I were to do a year-end round-up, I think it would be something like, “We live in a Twilight Zone-style cartoon and 2018 was full of stupid shit!” But with the new year comes new hope and, I must say, I am sorta optimistic about 2019 and very grateful that Brave Combo still has so many opportunities to perform and to be self-indulgent. We’re so appreciative of the support which continues to come our way. I’m always amazed I actually make money doing this; enough money to support a bunch of animals, including several who don’t live at our house. They have no idea how expensive they are. They don’t even know what money is. They just know I am, somehow, there to take care of them.

Speaking of 2019, we will be updating our itinerary soon and adding lots of new dates. As usual, we are on vacation for most of January and February, but on Saturday, February 23, we will perform in concert with the Odysseus Chamber Orchestra in McKinney, Texas. Symphonic arrangements of Brave Combo songs, with us playing along! We seriously dig hearing our music played by lots of violins and oboes and harps and french horns and then singing along with it, karaoke-style, in front of an audience. Pretty thrilling stuff for us. Mark it on your calendar.

LET’S GO SHOPPING. We ordered a bunch of IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN! CDs (1990 release, contains original BC recording of “Must Be Santa,” which our friend, Bob Dylan, covered) for the season and they were a hit, so we are going to try expanding the BC store to include vintage vinyl, cassettes, publicity photos, posters, and myriad oddball things. The Brave Combo office/studio is about to pop with stuff. Jeez, that TV show, HOARDERS, even called about shooting an episode (just kidding). We’ll let you know when the inventory is ready to check out and clear out, hopefully by mid-January. Start getting excited now, though. In the meantime, we do have a few copies of IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN! still in stock. It’s a classic album and, as Brave Combo says, “Christmas is always just around the corner.”

JOE CRIPPS’ BIRTHDAY PARTY. Our friend, a comrade in music and fellow traveler, Joe Cripps, has now been missing for about two years and two months. In October of 2016, he just disappeared. He was living in Little Rock at the time. Joe played percussion with Brave Combo for over two decades and was a partner in the band, as well, for several years. We toured the world together. January 5, 2019, is Joe’s birthday and on that date, an army of his fellow musicians will gather at Dan’s, in Denton, for the second annual commemorative blow-out. At that event, an announcement will be made about a scholarship which is being established in Joe’s name. Although the reason we will all be getting together is sad beyond words, Joe was bigger than life, so we plan to rock out and make a lot of noise in his memory. Several bands are playing. You should come out and party with us.

I am working diligently on my new project, The Carl Finch Sound, and now have about 60-70 new songs/ideas/pieces almost ready to perform. As well, I am returning to the studio in January to finally finish work on twelve new tracks. I remember, when I was about 11 years old, realizing I wouldn’t have time, one summer, to do all I wanted to do. I made a list, including lots of fun stuff, and barely accomplished anything. It’s still the same, over fifty years later. Forever hard to complete things. This is everyone’s burden. Revved-up in the beginning, worn out halfway through. You gotta dig deep to tie up all the loose ends and when you’re dealing with something like music, it has to be, at least, recorded and performed well and should be, at least, a little interesting. This is a tall order these days, considering how much music and art is being produced. Here’s a shocking fact which should discourage anyone from considering a career as a musician/artist. Spotify uploads 20,000 new recordings every 24 hours.

Hey, Bubba Hernandez and Jeffrey Barnes are still hanging around, playing fantastic shows with Brave Combo. We do three-part harmony, like the Chordettes. Or were they four-piece? Well, we can do that, too, if we want, like the Chordettes, in case they were a four-piece ensemble. Speaking of the Chordettes, here’s a song by another singing group from that era which probably wouldn’t fly in 2019. HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all!

I am so tired of thinking too much. I’m so tired of checking the news to see what new depressing thing has happened. I’m so tired of trying to wrap my head around the thought processes of evangelical Christians. I’m so tired of disliking others because they’re idiots. It feels like, in 2016, we all moved to a weird, distorted version of where we had been living. Indeed, something has allowed, even encouraged, the worst side of humanity to rise to the surface and feel just fine about it. October has been a horrific month in the USA. I guess the killing of eleven people in a synagogue is part of making America great again. I feel like we are witnessing the dissolving of American society and the de-evolving of humanity. The explosion of social media, a platform designed to “unite” us, has mainly been about the explosion of ego. Me against you. Now that Pandora’s Box is wide open, a dangerous, fear-spewing monster has been put in charge of the country. I just need to figure out a way to embrace all the crazy stuff going on and be thankful and honored to be living in such a bizarre, volatile, out-of-control era; to be alive at the actual tipping point of climate change. And to actually see the USA flirt with becoming controlled by right-wing nationalism. How special is that? No matter what, I have to stay a little attached to this ridiculous realm. I still have to write up contracts and make business phone calls. I have to set up gear and plug in cables. I have to pay bills and drive within the lanes. Friends and family, including lots of animals, depend on me every day. So, there are many reasons I must keep it together. But it’s become harder to find anchors; reliable stuff. And we’re all learning too much about how to con people and how to live comfortably with lies. Okay, now I am tired of this paragraph. Jeez, go vote!

Check out this song, “Shprayz Ikh Mir,” by the Klezmatics. Viva music of immigrants!

Hmmm, David Byrne is about to release the entire TRUE STORIES movie soundtrack, including the stuff I wrote and recorded. That explains why Warner Music has been calling and sending me forms to fill out. Okay, that’s very good news.

LET’S not POLKA! The 2018 polka-blitz season has officially come to a close. This was one intense bunch of gigs! So many notes! Thank you to all who came out to our shows and dances and got down with us.

Did you know that a classic line-up of Brave Combo has been performing together most of this year and will continue to do so in November and December? I’m talking about Jeffrey, Bubba, Danny, Alan and myself. The five of us recorded two Grammy-winning albums not too long ago. Don’t know what 2019 will bring, so you should scramble to check us out before the year (or time) comes to an end. Hear songs you haven’t heard in a long-ass time or maybe ever.

Speaking of classic Brave Combo, our beloved musical brother and long-time BC member, Joe Cripps, has been missing for two years. It’s just as hard to believe now as it was in October of 2016. I can’t believe Joe hasn’t been around since the presidential election. Man, oh man, he would have had some choice words for certain people in high places. We all miss him and hope we can, someday, know exactly what happened.

Speaking of the past, above is a gig photo we unearthed from the 1990s. Over the decades Brave Combo has performed at, perhaps, hundreds of wedding parties. One time we were playing such an event in Dallas and the groom asked if his dad could sit in on a few songs. Of course, we said yes. It’s his wedding. The father turned out to be Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. So, indeed, we played a mini-set of his hits. From left-to-right, it’s Jeffrey, Bubba, Roger, Mitch (on drums in the back) and me on piano. We were so cool at that moment. All five of us!

Please check our itinerary often. Dates pop in when you least expect it. Of course, holiday shows are around the corner. Make your plans now!

Also, my new side project, The Carl Finch Sound, will be performing one more fabulous show this year, in Denton, at LSA (south side of the downtown square), on Thursday, November 8. I have been in the studio recording new material from this endeavor and hope to release it, with videos, early 2019. As well, good ol’ Brave Combo has recorded several new tracks, including our latest version of “The Clarinet Polka,” featuring Robert Hokamp flying though the melody on guitar. I gotta get busy and pull this stuff together.

And speaking of good ol’ Brave Combo, next year, 2019, will mark 40 years of nuclear polka. I may not ever mention that again or we could wind up throwing a bunch of celebratory bashes. I can’t really dwell on this too much, though. Not yet. But I’ll probably get myself psyched up for it. It’s no big deal, really. I mean, it’s not like it will be our 43rd year or anything like that. Everybody calm down.

For now, let’s focus on the present and what’s right in front of us. If you have not voted, do it now! Then go have a nice dinner.