Volume 16 – #5 – May 2013

It was 1999. I was driving south on Carroll Boulevard, which is a major road that cuts right through central Denton. Jane was sitting in the passenger sear. It was raining pretty hard, as it had been doing long enough for the culvert running alongside the street to be channeling a four-feet deep (and growing) raging river through town. Suddenly Jane saw something. It was a big orange cat clinging, flat-bellied, to the slippery concrete side wall of the culvert at one of the steepest points, about to slide into speeding water. A girl was standing at the top staring down on the frightening scene, apparently too scared to help. We stopped the car and I don’t remember, exactly, climbing down the embankment, but there I was, about two feet from the wide-eyed cat. I’ve had lots of cats and was trying to figure out, quickly, the best thing to do. If I reached for him, he might jerk away and slide immediately into the water. If he bit me on the way in, I would then be facing rabies shots, because he would be gone in an instant. Once again, he slid further down, about two inches, and I asked Jane to get a towel out of the car. She threw it to me and I figured, since it was relatively dry, the cat would instinctively grab for it, so I gently tossed it on him. He did exactly what he was supposed to do, held on for dear life and I pulled him up to safety. Once we had him at the top he hyperventilated for a while. We dried him off and took him directly to animal control. He was a beautiful, well-cared-for animal. He had long orange and white fur and was pretty darn fat, so we figured whoever he belonged to would certainly be looking for him. I went by everyday, during the four-day waiting-for-the-owner-to-show-up period and he was dramatically happy to see me each time. Of course, no one ever came by, so on the fifth day he was available for adoption and came home to live with us. We named him Biscuits because he did that kneading thing cats do, but excessively. He was a superb masseuse. I guess you can see where this is going. We had to put our super sweet little boy to sleep this week. As far as we could tell he was somewhere between 16 and 18 years old. A few days ago he fell off of one of his favorite perches and seriously hurt his back and couldn’t walk. We rushed him to vet, but he was just too old for surgery and his back, too deteriorated. In shock, we had to let him go. I wrote about finding Biscuits in THE MACHINE’S PUMP that year. At the time I don’t believe we’d even named him yet. We were calling him Droolie, because he drooled a lot while he made biscuits. Droolie was not a good name. It sounded bad and was hard to say. Biscuits deserved better. So he got a good name and a really good life. Now, even with our house still way full of critters, the place is empty. Biscuits got along with everyone in our cat/dog family and spent a lot of time in our laps. He loved it when our also-now-deceased shepherd/beagle mix, Cookie, would groom his neck. They got down! Biscuits had a distinctive meow, as do each of our cats, that could drive you nuts if you weren’t feeding him fast or often enough, but now we really long to hear it. Funny (but not in a “ha-ha” way) how this whole life/death thing works, huh? In a few days we’ll have yet another little cedar box full of ashes to add to the pile on the shelf. We’ll feel better then.

The twist is 50 years old. Everybody can do the twist. It’s the ultimate “groovy” all ages dance. Close your eyes and imagine someone doing the twist, then do that with your body. It’s easy. And it’s not necessarily a couples dance anymore. You look just as cool doing the twist by yourself as you do when you’re twisting with someone else. So celebrate the twist by doing the twist. Brave Combo plays lots of twists. Here we are performing the Perez Prado mambo standard, “Patricia,” as a twist. http://youtu.be/buLbwUCFsSU We also do twist medleys. One of my favorites is “Ein Prosit/Hava Na Gila Twist .”

Here’s another challenge. Turn off your cell phone for two hours when you are not at work or doing something important. Look up and out. Leave your brain alone. No fair running to your computer or TV. Just notice what is going on around you. Bet you can’t do it.

Most people think of me as a musician, but it’s hard for me to see myself as one. I can sorta sing and sorta play a few instruments well enough to get by, but my value as a performer in a band has more to do with something else; not as a musician who has honed his craft. I can talk the talk, to a point, but I lose interest or something just goes beyond my ability to comprehend and/or execute. I’ve always been surrounded by amazing players and I’ve often wondered how I’ve pulled that off. I do have lots of ideas and seem to have some persuasive abilities from the stage. Many audience members, inexplicably, are happy to follow my orders. All the smiling seems sincere and everyone appears eager to keep going. I like to make up stuff and figure out how to de-construct something and rebuild it a new way, but I’m not keen on practicing scales or trying to sight-read anything. I don’t know any serial numbers or model numbers or names of any keyboards or amps, except the ones I actually play right now. I can plug chords in correctly and take gear to the shop when it stops working. I can change my strings and tune my guitar, but it’s doesn’t always sound perfect. I wish it did, but there are so many variables. Making up a new song sounds way easier.

Speaking of the search for perfection, many of our albums, which have previously been out of print or unavailable in a tangible format, can now be downloaded, including the mysterious KISS OF FIRE, featuring Lauren Agnelli, one of the coolest BC recordings ever. Go to the BC on-line store and see what’s there. Pick up a few other items, as well. And if you need to go to the bathroom while you’re at our store, it’s toward the back, behind the T-shirt rack. 

Denton’s main post office now closes its lobby, which houses the Brave Combo P.O. box, from 8 PM until 5 AM, due to people coming in late and peeing on the floor, in the corners of the rooms. This is bad news for someone who usually checks his box at midnight.

Okay sisters and brothers, I’m gong to leave you with my favorite music video this month. It’s the second half of an episode of DER POPOLSKI FAMILY TV Show from Poland, featuring some famous pop violinist, named David Garrett. http://youtu.be/Z_FpsrZiRz0 Please check our itinerary. In addition to playing around Texas, we’re heading up to Lincoln and Omaha in June and will be making a swing through the mighty Midwest in early July and will then immediately zoom out to California for some fab shows for some fab fans. Be yourself and nobody else.