Volume 15 – #5 –May 2012

SOUNDS OF THE HOLLOW, Brave Combo’s brand new album is now available. For a limited time, we’ll be selling it, in the somehow-still-popular-enough CD format (complete with photos and liner notes), at our live shows, for only $5. This is another good reason to come out and see Brave Combo live.

OBSERVATIONS:
We were flying home recently from a gig in Las Vegas and I found my seat, next to the window, before my mystery traveling companion arrived. On rare occasions the seat next to me is unoccupied, but I knew this flight would be full. So, I anxiously wondered who the lucky person would be. Before I knew it a large boisterous ranch-handy-looking woman stopped at my row and struggled to find a place to stash her carry-on. She was wearing a cowboy hat. Of course, seconds later, my concerns were confirmed. My new neighbor had arrived. As often happens, though, things aren’t as bad as you expect. It turns out, she was a cowgirl, of sorts, from Australia, starting her long journey back home by flying from Las Vegas to Dallas. We talked for two hours, non-stop, about lots of things, but mainly meat vs. no-meat and the conversation stayed civil. She even nodded several times in a way that seemed to indicate I made sense. But I noticed that every time she mentioned eating a good steak, which happened a lot during her USA vacation, she would make a wide pinching gesture with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand, as if to show how thick the piece of meat was. But it seemed to be more synonymous with how good she thought it tasted. Since then I have noticed that when most people talk about steak they make that gesture.

Jane and I were coming out of a drug store in Denton a few weeks ago and saw a weathered, Jesus-style, young man. He was heavily-tanned, wearing a heavy robe or curtain and holding a stick with a styrofoam cup stuck through the tip. Not a normal sight, but this is Denton, so it wasn’t that unusual. A few days after that my dogs went nuts at the front door, barking and jumping. I looked outside and saw a bunch of guys in a car, driving slowly in front of my house, taking a picture of something near the corner of my yard. Then they waved at someone or something and drove away, laughing. When I stepped outside I saw that same guy from the drug store in the same robe/curtain, holding what appeared to be the same stick and cup, examining a construction sign just down the street from my house, as if he were counting microscopic bugs imbedded in the paint. Then he walked on.

I heard sirens, ambulance wails and firetruck horns increase in volume as I got closer to the BC office one day. As I made the turn from Elm to McKinney I could see that all the commotion was right at our office and parts of the street were blocked off. I parked around back and ran to the front to find a motorcycle smashed into the back of an SUV about 25 feet from our front door. Then I looked across the street and saw BC bassist, Little Jack Melody, with his wife, Little Marlys Melody, talking to a policeman. It turns out they witnessed the whole thing (speeding motorcycle slammed into the back of an SUV that was stopped at a stop light, motorcycle driver flew, headfirst, into the back window of the SUV, blood followed). Poor Mr. and Mrs. Melody had to each write a report before they could ride their bicycles home. I volunteered my pen when the policeman came up one short, so it was a good thing I came along when I did.

As I write this newsletter, May is whipping up a storm outside. We’re enjoying thunder, lightning and rain; all of the essential elements. Unfortunately, not everyone at home is as happy as I am about this. Our four dogs are very upset. They can hear the racket a long time before we mere humans can (but I can check the weather app on my phone, so that makes me smarter). Anyway, once the fun really begins, half of our cats have joined the dogs in thinking storms suck. This can really kill a groove. I love rain. And it’s more than just being happy we’re getting free water for our yard. I’ve always loved it. It makes me feel better. And not just because it cleans the air and washes away the allergens. It’s more than that. Rain makes me feel small, in a good way.

My musical powerhouse buddy from Oshkosh, Danny Jerabek, and I have finished our album. At this point we’re calling ourselves The Nice Musics, and the name is likely to stick. It’s primarily a polka album, but much, much more. Photos have been taken and jacket designs are being considered. More on this as things develop, but we hope to have it ready to consume by September. Before that, Danny will be joining us for our East Coast dates in June and we’ll be playing a couple of songs from that new album, as well as almost every song from SOUNDS OF THE HOLLOW.

Speaking of SOUNDS OF THE HOLLOW, a live-streaming concert event, celebrating its release, is in the planning stages. We’re thinking between mid-June and early July and are currently scouting locations. Laundromats, rest areas, bingo halls and remote parking garages are all being considered. When I was a rock and roll kid, musicians in Texarkana would sometimes gather at a pavilion in Spring Lake Park to jam. This was the same park featured in the movie, THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, where the infamous phantom killer once murdered young lovers in the 1940s. Nothing like that ever happened at our jam sessions, though.

THE END OF AN ERA The big man, golden-voiced Chicago polka king, Eddie Blazonczyk, has died. This surprises no one, but deeply saddens thousands, because Eddie’s death represents more than just his passing. He hadn’t been seen much publicly since having open heart surgery and a stroke over a decade ago, but he was still breathing our air. Now he’s gone from this world. There were two revolutionary polka giants from Chicago. One was the rough and tumble, honky-fied, Li’l Wally and the other was the much smoother, much more sophisticated Eddie B. and although Li’l Wally is generally credited with making drastic stylistic changes in American Polish polka, Eddie’s influence was just as great, boldly working aspects of rock, R & B and country into the sound. At one of our earliest Chicago shows, Eddie and his scary entourage of large men showed up to check out this so-called polka band from Texas. He and his crew were all great to us and helped us, as much as anyone, gain polka credibility deep within the community. We learned a lot from Eddie and he personally went out on a limb for Brave Combo, hiring us to play several polka blow-outs, including the amazing Polka Fireworks Festival in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, where he introduced us to a somewhat wary crowd and basically asked everyone in the audience to have an open ear. We visited his recording studio/liquor and record store many times and he once tried to talk us into buying his old bus as we were hauling a ton of vinyl polka records to our van that we’d just purchased from him for about $2 a piece. Needless to say, I’ve been listening to a lot of Eddie Blazonczyk and the Versatones (his always-fantastic band) these past few days. You should do the same. His music is still out there.

As the thunder storm continues to rage, I will now close this edition of the Machine’s Pump. Please check our itinerary often. New dates are added every week and, you never know, we could pop up in your neighborhood when you least expect it. Sadly, there are parts of the country we rarely reach, but should play way more often, and we thank our fans all over for hanging in there with us. Inform us if you know of a concert series, a music event, a festival, a great club or whatever, that would make sense for Brave Combo and we’ll follow up. Of course, if you really, really want to experience our unique vibrations, save your pennies and come to us. We like that idea better. Sweet dreams, dreamy dreamers.