Volume 15 – #12 – December 2012

Here we go. 2012 segues seamlessly into 2013. It’s time to let the old worn-out year drift away. Obama stayed President, sending a guy named Mitt to oblivion and the world did not end on December 21, leaving the survivalists and doomsday preppers with a lot of expensive, but drab, canned food to eat. Beyond that, the weather did weird stuff, shocking gun violence left us all depressed and angry, more good friends died and the music scene slipped deeper into a black hole. Innovations in technology continued to dominate all things as our desire to stay in touch with every person we’ve ever known, inexplicably, increased. Capping off the year, Brave Combo, once again, played a bunch of Christmas/Holiday shows around the country, to no one’s surprise but to everyone’s delight! I would say more, but I don’t like year-end wrap-ups. I’ll leave that up to the professionals who are desperate for something to write about.

In the earliest days of Brave Combo we played a little club in Ft. Worth called The Hop. Most of our nights there were pretty slow but on occasion the place would pack out and interesting characters would show up. On one night, in particular, one of the most unusual, unorthodox people I’ve ever known showed up and freaked out so thoroughly over Brave Combo that his impact would be felt by me forever. His name was Jim Wheat. He lived in Garland, Texas and had heard about this crazy new polka band and zipped over to Ft. Worth to check us out. I remember seeing him, all 100 pounds of him, going nuts, with uncontrollable joy, over everything we played. This guy got it! After that gig Jim and I became fast friends, realizing we could relate to each other on this intentionally absurd, yet quite serious, level. His view of the world was unique. He drank distilled water and ate seeds. He was very shy and spent a good hunk of his day meditating. He was always trying, as I was, to figure out what the hell was really going on, like in the big picture. And we both fell in love with Hayley Mills when we were young. I referred to him as my guru. He turned me on to the practice of jin-shin, showed me how to unblock energy meridian flow and to sync pulse points and gave me my first Ma Roller. This was, simply, life-changing. That was over 30 years ago and I am, to this day, never without a Ma Roller (buy one for yourself). Jim helped me put my stuff into perspective and understand the freaky things that were happening, such as all the doors that were swinging wide open for Brave Combo. Jim proved to me that there was another world, parallel to the one we all know and love (or hate); a truly mystical place. He studied, researched and archived, sometimes professionally, Texas facts, figures and trivia, including obituaries, ghost towns, post offices and anything at all about Dallas County. Local historians knew about Jim and asked for his help on a regular basis. He was also a brilliant writer and self-published a series of the most perfect little pamphlet-style books ever. One time, while working on the movie TRUE STORIES, I was honored to present a set of Jim’s books to David Byrne, knowing that he would gobble them up. I have a fond memory of seeing David, sitting in the back seat of a car pulling away from my house, deeply engrossed in Jim’s words. A year before that I had produced and released an LP of eccentric Texas musicians, which included a piece by Jim. The album, LIFE OUT THERE, I believe, figured into David’s decision to hire me to work on his movie. Jim’s topsy-turvy point of view made sense to a band like Brave Combo, especially in those “anything goes” years. Well, as it turned out, 2012 was the year that Jim Wheat would finally find the worm hole and eject himself from Earth. He died in February, but I just recently found out. We had somewhat lost touch with each other over the years (loud music became painful for him, so he stopped coming to shows), communicating occasionally, but not much. According to what I’ve heard, Jim had been ill for some time and had become even more withdrawn and reclusive. I tried to reach out and engage him, but could tell he wasn’t into it. I always thought he already had one foot in the cosmos and would, in this lifetime, transition away from our planet. I really wanted him to be interviewed for the on-going documentary about Brave Combo, but he wouldn’t do it, even after I said he could wear a mask and speak in a funny voice. Sadly, I think I’ve written him a couple of times since his death, not knowing about it. However, he probably saw my emails anyway and responded from his space ship or giant mushroom or magic bubble or wherever he is. I’m sure I’ll read them someday. They will be full of wit and I’ll laugh.

My good friend, Danny Jerabek, from the Wisconsin band, Copperbox, and I have a side project called THE NICE MUSICS. Our debut album is finished, mastered and sequenced. All that’s left is the artwork. You will love this record. It has everything, musically, you’ve been looking for, including two songs by one of our heroes and sources of inspiration, San Antonio accordion wizard, the late Esteban Jordan.

Speaking of groovy sounds, check out the Canadian-Ukrainian band, Zirka. http://youtu.be/5F_MotPNtAY

Eddy, the cat, is sitting on the printer watching the computer screen as I type, hoping I’ll click on some funny cat videos. He loves them and seems to be the only one of our six cats that can actually focus on the images. You know those cat-sitter videos of squirrels and fish and mice and birds? They work on him. He’s pretty fat and is also our only biter. You have to be careful when you pick him up (he will lick you affectionately a couple of times before chomping deeply into your skin) but he’s easy to catch. We saved him from last-minute death row a few years ago.

Brave Combo is entering our slowest time of the year, gig-wise. This is when we clean the office, learn some songs, do some recording and, hopefully, stream some live rehearsals, but we are still playing a few fantastic shows here and there, so please check our itinerary often or you might miss something super special, like our annual show at The Dallas Museum of Art in January or our performance with the Dallas Wind Symphony at The Meyerson in early February.

The beat goes on, Baby. And Eddy, my cat, is getting more anxious about the funny cat videos, so I’m going to sign off. Okay now Eddy is walking acroos the keybrd a ,po’..sp kdsl ; ,