The Machine’s Pump Volume 29 – #1 – January 2026

It’s 3:00 a.m., and I just got home from the Brave Combo office/studio in downtown Denton. Everything has been covered in ice and snow for almost a week. Temperatures dropped to the teens, with wind chills as low as minus four degrees. Chances are, you experienced something similar. In anticipation of this exciting weather event, named Fern, I decided I needed to trap some of the feral cats I feed every day and get them out of the elements, and I was able to snag two of them. So they’re spending their winter break, warm and dry, with access to a lot of musical equipment. And Sunny, our regular office cat, who we rescued about a year ago, is there, too. The two newcomers are in big (separate) kennels with all the amenities, and Sunny hangs out wherever he wants. He loves the feel of keyboard bags. Another arctic blast is supposed to happen in a few days, and as soon as that is behind us, the two ferals will go back home outside, and Sunny will have the space all to himself again. Taking care of abandoned animals and being obligated to them helps me cope with all the horrible things happening to our country right now.

I’m very sorry my newsletter can’t be more about the fun side of life, the hilarious things that happen at gigs, and how great it is to be in a position to create stuff and present it to anyone who is interested. You know, something simple, without drama or trauma. Man is in band, band plays music, people listen and dance. Man and band and people all go home, safe and happy. I wish things were like that. But they are not. You know it and feel it, too. And being a left-leaning, free-thinker type, who believes in radical concepts like compassion and equality and the will of the people, I definitely need to be aware that I’m a potential target of the current government. Based on what we’ve all just witnessed, our dear leader, apparently, considers my ilk a threat. Sorta heavy. It just doesn’t feel like a good time to party like it’s 1999 and pretend everything’s coming up roses. Besides, when things are this funky, and I mean funky in a bad way, artists and musicians have a duty to protest. And, for what it’s worth, that can actually be a positive exercise; to be inspired and speak up through your work. Just puttin’ on a happy face and inviting everyone to boogie down, like KC and the Sunshine Band once did, ain’t good enough for 2026, even if you’re in a KC and the Sunshine Band tribute band. To live with yourself, you’ll have to work in something like “Eve of Destruction” (popular protest song from the 1960s, by Barry McGuire). There’s too much at stake, and the number of insane things being forced on us is insane. And I am sincerely blown away that the much-anticipated antichrist is so incredibly stupid. Who could have predicted that?

Okay, that’s all I’m gonna say, for now. No gigs coming up, anyway. Go do your part and do it tirelessly. Bamboozle the enemies of freedom! Confuse and disorient them! Don’t be a wimp!