Brave Combo

Grammy Award-Winning Band from Denton, Texas

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The Machine’s Pump Volume 26 – #1 – January 2023

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If you are hip, you’re cool. And you might be hep to something, and be a hepcat or even its origin, a hepicat (one whose eyes are open). Dig? So, is this important; to be hep (in the know) or hip (on top of the trend)? I’ve always been fascinated about what motivates people to do whatever. And I’ve wondered if desiring to be “in the know” or “on top of the trend” was always about being too self-aware and, really, too insecure, or if there is a transcendent aspect to constantly redefining and following trends, evolving attitudes, and shifting priorities. Does boredom alone drive fashion, for instance? And, indeed, has social media destroyed any sense of unified community, when it comes to changing trends? Maybe so. There’s so much of too much, one would need, at least, 100 hours every day to stay on top of everything. I know it’s totally impossible, but I do like the idea of 100-hour days. I almost never want to go to sleep at night. Never did. Ever. I am 100% undisciplined when it comes to responsibly shutting down the day. That’s the most rock and roll thing about me. I hang with the raccoons and possums and spiders and wild cats. But no need to wander further down that off-the-topic path. I do know people want to be accepted and respected and feel like they’re important and to certainly not be viewed as hapless idiots who are just taking up space until they die, finally getting out of everyone else’s way. Somehow, our existence on Earth must be a bigger deal than just each of us having to constantly be reassured that we’re not meaningless. Maybe the mystery can be fun. I mean, we’re all stuck here, anyway, so we might as well give the “fun angle” some thought. Of course, there are only about a billion online whomevers, ready to tell you the “truth,” but the only source for that wisdom would be you, yourself. And you can’t get answers without asking questions.

It’s pretty easy to see that, truly, before long, there won’t be strong distinctions, physically, between all the different races and nationalities. The blending, mixing, movin’ and groovin’ can’t be stopped. Jeez, look how many airplanes are in the air all over the world every minute, transporting people around, from hither to yon. Humanity, believe it or not, may be zooming toward one mindset and one point-of-view and it’s A-Okay, because this is where the changes and shifting attitudes end up, when all other angles and directions have been exhausted. And that’s where it probably becomes transcendent and, in fact, part of some inevitable master plan, based on physics, not religion. We’re gonna end up where we’re supposed to end up and everything which HAS happened or IS NOW happening and/or WILL happen all makes sense in the big picture. As horrible as the war in Ukraine is, the most glaring takeaway, no matter what, is that Russia is much weaker than anyone expected. Hmmm, that’s interesting. China is a bit of a mess, too. So, focus on the images provided by the James Webb telescope. Get hep to that and get hip. Dig?

As you know, Jeff Beck died. I loved The Yardbirds. Everything about them. They were some of the earliest practitioners of blues/rock psychedelia and Jeff Beck, especially during his time in that band (he replaced Eric Clapton), was a sound innovator, as well as a guitar wizard. He pushed it all forward and created new things with his instrument. I saw The Yardbirds once, in a gymnasium, in Magnolia, Arkansas, with my brother, when I was about 12, I think. They were part of Dick Clark’s big touring show, Caravan of Stars. Also on the bill were Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, Bobby Hebb and Brian Highland. All were current hit-makers and, as I remember, were all very good. Unfortunately, I mainly wanted to see Jeff Beck and, sadly, he had just left the band. So I was stuck with Jimmy Page, who was wearing very purple bell-bottom pants with the biggest bells I’ve ever seen, to this day. Of course, he pulled off all the important hooks and I enjoyed the show just fine, but not ever seeing/hearing Jeff Beck during that period is one of my little disappointments in life. Oddly enough, four or five years later, the first Led Zeppelin album came out around the same time as Jeff Beck’s new heavy rock album with Rod Stewart. I seriously LOVED Led Zeppelin’s debut and just sorta liked Jeff Beck’s rival release. After that, I saw Led Zeppelin three times. Fickle me, none-the-less, I always put Jeff Beck at the tippity-top of the great rock guitarist’s heap. I’m sure Jimmy Page does, too. This is one of my favorite Yardbird’s hits. Both Jimmy and Jeff were in the band at the time.

Brave Combo’s reach often astounds me and, frankly, entertains me, on occasion. The mainstream music world has never figured out how to deal with us, although many fine folks have tried. Still, we’ve managed to get out there a bit over the band’s 44 years and, it appears, we’ve amassed a few followers along the way; enough to keep us on board creatively and interested in making money in this bizarre manner. Here are a couple of recently posted videos of fans enjoying, indeed, employing our not-normal sound.

Although the world of live music appears to be opening up a little, you’ll notice Brave Combo is not performing much right now. We did not forget all of our songs! Our woodwind player, whom you all know and love, Jeffrey Barnes, injured his shoulder recently and cannot play for a while. It will take him a couple of months to recover. So we decided to lay back and go covertly subversive through March. I wonder what I mean by that. Our live shows roar back in April, so keep an eye on our itinerary. Dates will be added while you sleep.

The Machine’s Pump Volume 25 – #12 – December 2022

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Okay, Christmas 2022 is behind us! The ultimate, and colorful, orgy of consumer lust winds down for another year, as the year itself winds down, or rather, withers. We are a corny bunch of beings, aren’t we? Corny and frightened, with complicated defense mechanisms, racing, sorta, to the end of something. In this case, I guess the end of the year is a logical goal. I don’t like end-of-the-year wrap-ups, though. They’re lazy; a waste of energy and time. Plus, we just lived through what happened and, in a way, any event, at any time, in 2022, feels like it happened yesterday. But perhaps that’s just me. Maybe everyone else likes to curl up with a warm mug of mug liquid and recall the joys and sorrows of the previous 12 months….on their phone, of course. Lots of lists out there if that’s your thing. Start reliving. Maybe things like Christmas and all the hoopla around starting a new year are supposed to be necessary speedbumps in the normal flow of things, to slow everyone down and reminisce. But, who the hell ever slows down between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve? Plus, in a time when no one can agree on reality and so much of the info is so clearly biased, what’s the point in hearing anyone’s recap of anything? Okay, enough of that. I didn’t mean to bitch so much about something so underserving of ANY attention, but I can go on and on, as too many people are aware. My apologies to everyone! Whatever, reflecting can certainly be a good exercise, but you can do that by yourself. You don’t need instructions or reminders. In fact, you can straight-up THINK for yourself, too. And, don’t get me wrong. A yearly ritual to be kinder and more accepting and to give from your heart can’t be bad. How many Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas/Holiday movies have YOU seen this season? You do know there’s no hope, right?

Speaking of losing hope, let’s do the lighten up. Jane, the person to whom I am married, still gets her hometown newspaper from rural East Texas. They recently ran a photo of the cutest little local 10-year-old girl, smiling and obviously full of pride, holding the dead head of a dead deer, by its antlers, which she shot all by her cute self. This is common image during the holiday season; photos of kids who are extremely happy they’ve managed to take something’s life. And then, it’s celebrated by local media and everyone is delighted. Can’t teach killing too early in Texas. Now, to me, that is so absurdly misguided on so many levels, I can either be constantly fuming mad or try to be entertained by how ridiculous we are and realize I can only do so much to move the needle. Beyond that, I better find some humor in even the most screwed-up stuff. Dig?

Brave Combo is a band of people which plays notes and chords and rhythms, and also sings. It has forever been our goal to attempt capture the unique elements of certain styles, sounds and musical points-of-view, then run them through the Brave Combo filter after we think we’re getting close to the something. As intentionally self-indulgent entertainers, we want to communicate what WE are hearing and feeling. Over the decades, we have been led to believe what turns us on just might turn you on. So we are our own guides and try to be simultaneously plugged in, yet quite removed from what’s “popular.” If we ever get close to something which sounds too mainstream-familiar, it’s either part of some bigger picture, a well-performed joke or we could be moving in the wrong direction. On the other hand, a lot of very cool sounds are happening all over the world, in every nook and cranny, which are rooted in musical traditions but 100% modern and future-oriented. Mixing this with that might make something brand new; something never before considered. So, WTF? Bring it all on! Brave Combo says, “Everything is sacred and nothing is sacred!” Therefore, musically-speaking, anything goes! I enjoy taking chances and risks, as a performer and am usually always ready to go out on a questionable limb during a show, especially if I don’t really have a plan. And if something ultimately sucks beyond repair, we’ll usually just laugh at the concept of perfection and start over anyway. Gotta keep the folks guessing, you know.

Speaking of the unexpected, Brave Combo’s former drummer, Arjuna Contreras, was recently the guest drummer on LATE NIGHT with SETH MYERS!! He was right there, behind the drums, playing along with the other musicians in the fabulous 8G Band and nailing it every night for a week! He looked and sounded just like himself. Each of the seven (can you name them all?) BC drummers has/had a unique sound and feel, especially with the snare. Just take all 45 or so of our albums and listen to them, back-to-back, blocking out everything except the drums and you’ll hear what I mean. Kudos to Arjuna!

I think you’ll agree, it’s been another strange year. It’s a good thing my world is already strange, by choice. Otherwise, trying to keep five feral cats alive during last week’s arctic plunge would have been even more miserable. They all made it, which is great, but being out there at 2 am, getting hammered by a minus 2 wind chill as I’m putting out fresh food and checking my handmade shelters full of straw and foam, wondering if any of it mattered, did make me think about little kids shooting deer and how the sanctity of life must mean different things to different people. Different Strokes for Different Strokes, huh? Well, get funky then! Good luck!

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The Machine’s Pump Volume 26 – #1 – January 2023

If you are hip, you’re cool. And you might be hep to something, and be a hepcat or even its origin, a hepicat (one whose eyes are open). Dig? So, is … [Read More...]

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