Volume 5 – #11 – November 2002

Ladies and Gentlemen! Drum roll, please. The new CD is finished. Well, almost. After a few minor tweaking issues, Brave Combo’s salute to classical music will be sent to Rounder and the manufacturing process begins. Since it’s ready before December, this will probably be an April 2003 release. We had hoped for March (fewer CDs glut the market that month), but that’s probably not going to happen. Anyway, we’re very happy with the results of our time in prison, I mean the recording studio. For many days we went in around noon and reemerged close to midnight, with dismembered fragments of songs slamming around our heads. The studio is not just a good place to be creative. It’s also perfect for eating, dozing, reading fluff, jotting down lists, losing faith and staring into space for long periods of time. It’s fun to record a track, realize how much you suck and wonder why anyone pays attention to your music at all, try it again, suck again, move to another part of the studio and try it again. You want it to sound good and groove hard. Playing live is one thing. But, playing the same song under the microscopic scrutiny of a sterile environment is another thing altogether. Whatever, I think we did it. The final product will contain 14-15 cuts, exploring the fruits of Bach, Ravel, Brahms, Satie. Tchaikovsky, Rossini and more. And to spice things up a bit, this time I played keyboard and guitar, Bubba played bass, Jeff and Danny played horns and, at the last minute, Alan decided to play drums. We should do a gig with this configuration sometime. Wouldn’t that freak everyone out? Okay, so all we have to do now is come up with a title for the album. Any suggestions?

Mark your calendar and make your plans. We will be returning to the Ft. Worth, Texas Sokol Hall for New Year’s Eve this year. We are the only band playing and will begin the merry-making around 9:00 PM. As we start to put 2002 to bed and wake up a young, fresh 2003, we all wish for happiness, prosperity, good health, a sense of purpose and slashed prices everywhere. More on this next month.

THE STATE OF POP MUSIC (as if it mattered). Well, Christina Aguilera just got too big for her britches, assumed everyone wanted to see more of her barely post-teen body and, and in an apparent attempt to outdo her peers, decided to pose nude on the cover of ROLLING STONE magazine. And in her new video for the song “Dirrty” (that’s how she spells it) Christina shows us how she would look having sex with sweaty models. And, although it’s sadly provocative, it’s also sadly clichéd and predictable. If she truly wanted to be edgy and controversial she should have been humping some famous Walt Disney character in the video, like Goofy or Donald Duck (he doesn’t wear pants anyway). This is perfect for a pop star with no sense of direction. I guess all these squeaky-clean Mickey Mouse Club graduates are really as shallow as we originally thought. However, I will say, Christina makes Britney look like a genius. Although I’m somewhat embarrassed to take the time to even comment on this nonsense, I have to point out what disturbs me the most. And my concerns are not particularly unique, I’m sure. Little girls are encouraged to dress like whores (I mean, hos) and sing like Mariah or Whitney (or Christina, of course) or any female that’s ever graced the stage of the Apollo Theatre on amateur night. That wiggly waggly swoopy anti-melody fake passion stuff has done irreversible damage to the musical development of an entire generation. But back to Christina and her nasty ways, it irritates me that just because she managed to sell a ton or two of CDs to impressionable 12 year-old girls, we have to learn that she has 11 body piercings (one, we’re led to believe, is in or on her vagina). Maybe she uses a particularly fashionable dildo. We would all like to see a close-up of that. Parents should be constantly concerned and outraged at how the mainstream media wants to convince us that, ultimately, girls are objects to be used and discarded and boys are mindless predators. Once again, frat house philosophy rules! Let’s get drunk and watch GIRLS GONE WILD. Is my discontent conservative or radical? Am I just whining because I can’t manage to sell millions of anything? Perhaps, but the dumbing down of our culture should get everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, we’re all too busy trying to be sexy ourselves. Pass the porno.

Tell me what this means. We’ve played three gymnasiums in the last month. One in Millersville, Pennsylvania (college homecoming party), one in Gainesville, Texas (college international party) and one in Dallas (Hockaday girls high school party). We rarely ever play in gymnasiums. The sound is very tricky; too soft and too loud at the same time. When I was about 13 or 14 I went to a couple of touring rock shows at a gymnasium in Magnolia, Arkansas. One time I saw Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and The Yardbirds on the same bill. I don’t remember the sound being good or bad. I was too excited about seeing The Yardbirds.

Also, when I was a kid, I use to go to my friend Cliff’s house. His mom always kept a well-stocked snack pantry. And his dad was way into ham radio and the police scanner. They had a lot of electronic gadgets going at once over there. It was a fun place to hang out. Cliff and I played games, listened to music and messed around with magic tricks. When we got older, we drove around in Cliff’s dad’s car and took the party to the streets. Snacking our way down Stateline Avenue was great. Texarkana was full of neon in those days and the world wasn’t so angry and suspicious. I mean, you can’t get any more innocent than 8-track tapes. Unless it’s 4-track tapes.

Sometimes I like to watch people interact when I can’t hear them. I really enjoy seeing the morphing of a smile into a pleasant face into a non-emotional face. It’s fascinating to me, but I can’t explain it very well. Sometimes I like to watch people’s eyes in a cafeteria line as their selections are being plopped onto the plate. Anticipation into contentment or disappointment. Sometimes when I see someone from behind it brings out the compassion in me. Back to the smile thing, whether it’s real or not doesn’t matter so much to me. It’s all about reaction and settling down of facial muscles. Cool, huh?

So, check the itinerary my friends. November is a light month for public shows and a good month for recording. On the other hand, December will give you plenty of opportunity to see Brave Combo weave it’s wicked spell, starting with the annual Christmas on the Square concert (Thursday, December 5) in downtown Denton. Joe Cripps will be playing percussion with us and Bonnie Norris will be performing with her brother, Nick, right before our set on the same stage. I can’t believe we have to brush up on all that Christmas music again. Hmm…maybe we can get by without playing any this year. I’m just kidding. I love the holiday season. Just kidding again. Happy trails, little aliens.