Volume 7 – #1 – January 2004

It’s January, 2004 and I’ve already blown my first New Year’s resolution. I wanted to have the MACHINE’S PUMP posted by the 15th. I should be able to get these things written and up by the middle of each month, don’t you think? Changing this pattern is certainly about attacking procrastination, but it’s also about learning how to focus creatively when I’m not under pressure. I feel more open to the cosmos and seem to roll with less effort when my back’s against the wall. It’s funny. I work best under outside pressure, but I’ve always avoided job situations that are built around wisely established deadlines. Perhaps I should have been doing something else all these years. Whatever, there’s nothing I can do about the fact that Brave Combo has been in existence 25 years (whoa, it thrusts me into the Twilight Zone just to type that). We came into being and then we did things. I apologize to anyone who has suffered because we’ve existed and I hope those numbers are few. I can’t change what has already happened. And, to cover all my bases, I would also like to apologize if your stint on Earth has been enhanced by Brave Combo. That wasn’t our intention either. I’m uncomfortable taking responsibility for any aspect of anyone else’s life, good or bad. We just wanted to make money and have fun playing music. Any “good” that occurred was purely coincidental. However, as it turned out, for me, Brave Combo became much more than just a way to escape the peering eye of a boss. It became a vaguely defined mission based on my murky idea of what’s important. In 1979 I thought it would be cool and interesting to play polkas, and anything else the commercial world deemed square, in a “rock” band. In the very beginning, before I really knew anything about polka music, I was just following my nose. But the more I listened and the more I tried to “get it right” the bigger everything became. Suddenly, Brave Combo was part of a movement, and considered by some, leaders in that movement. It’s been exciting, fun, surprising, scary and weird. I love weird, maybe more than fun or scary. One time a fan sent us a Brave Combo bootleg cassette copy of MUSICAL VARIETIES that they found at a market in Taiwan. The sound quality was fair, but the artwork was obviously redrawn with very little attention to detail. It’s one of my favorite possessions. It told me that we somehow stumbled into a certain level of international fame and it also let me know how goofy and clueless all of us humans are. We just kinda wander around for a few years, eat a little, sleep a little, piss off some people, run into stuff, try to control our environment, enjoy a vice or two and die. If you can get far enough away from everything (like that Mars rover), nothing amounts to much. And, if I can lower my expectations enough, weird is something to embrace. My mother used to tell me that I asked, “What if?” too much. Now it feels like my whole career has been built around that question.

Anyway, back to 2004, this could be a busy year. Since it’s our 25th, we want to do a few special shows here and there. THE SIMPSONS thing happens in March. I have no idea how much screen time we’ll get or how much of our music they’ll use, but I guarantee we’ll make a big deal out of it. We plan to continue recording holiday songs for TM Century (Groundhog Day, President’s Day and Valentine’s Day are almost finished) and release them in album form. Also, we’ll be recording a new Brave Combo CD, POLKA’S REVENGE. And, of course, watch our itinerary, because we’ll probably be throwing a dance or a concert near you. And, by the way, you better show up. In addition to Brave Combo nonsense, I plan to finish my protestant hymn medley and release it in some form. It features the shockingly beautiful voice of Daphne Gere. Honestly, her performance is one of the most perfect things I’ve ever heard. And speaking of people I admire, percussionist, Mike Dillon, is recording an album with me (four tracks are well on their way) at the remote and mysterious Echo Lab (studio on a wooded hill about fifteen miles south of Denton). Also, I would like to build a fighting robot if I have the time. Any rich geniuses out there want to help me? Of course I look forward to having the occasional dinner with my screwed-up friends, playing with my dogs, worrying about my parents and driving Jane, my crazy wife, crazier. And, I’ll have to do other stuff, too. Like bathing, thinking, going to the store, calling hundreds of people, looking at a computer screen, pumping gas, driving somewhere. The list goes on and on. Life sure was easier when all a woman had to do was hit a man on the head with a club, drag him into her cave and make him cook and clean like poor ol’ Martha Stewart. Viva, Neanderthals!

Speaking of robots, I want to elaborate on the human technology crush I mentioned in last month’s MACHINE’S PUMP. We at Brave Combo Central Command talk to booking agents and promoters everyday. And one guaranteed topic of discussion concerns dwindling attendance at live music venues of all sorts (rock, country, death metal, West Coast bluegrass, boring top 40, jazzy reggae) around the USA. From small clubs to arenas, fans are noticeably absent. That universal phenomenon contributed to us pulling back from playing too many unpredictable club dates in 2003 (especially local ones) and going for festivals instead. Anyway, I have a theory that humans are currently so infatuated with technology and focused on intimacy with machines that people aren’t interesting right now. The human interaction that a live band offers just can’t compete with modern space-age stuff. And we’re all sucked in to a degree. Technology, it seems, has made us busier and I’m not just talking about the typical “addicted to the internet” kind of thing. I really believe we’ve been smitten by a new, subtle lover. We’re curious about the unknown the same way that The Beatles made us curious about the unknown. But a live band with real people is old news. You know, been there, done that. The avant garde is technology. The medium is the message. Marshall McLuhan was more right on than even he knew. He must be laughing in his grave. I bet a lot of dead people are laughing in their graves. That’s a creepy thought, but a good idea for a movie. THE LAUGHING DEAD, coming to a theatre near you. Let’s see, hmmm… starring Steve McQueen’s corpse, Bela Lugosi’s corpse and Jayne Mansfield’s headless corpse and featuring new music by Buddy Holly’s corpse. Wow, what kind of music would Buddy Holly be making now? Maybe something like Yanni meets Kenny G or Shakira meets Pavarotti or The Back Street Boys meet the banjo-playing chicken. I wish chickens had little arms and intuitively knew how to play miniature banjos. Boy, a chicken with a banjo would scare my cat, Biscuits. He would even be afraid of a chicken wearing a train conductor’s hat and a fake moustache. Actually, he would be afraid of just a chicken.

Speaking of animals, check out this link.
http://www.knowyouare.org/reue/english/enter.html

Hey, on February 20, we’ll be performing with the Denton Community Chorus again. We did this last year and it was a blast. Check our itinerary for details.

So, as many of you know, Brave Combo has been on something of a break. And although we’ve been doing some recording and are playing two gigs, we’re generally avoiding each other through the month of January. This is a good thing, because we will be getting in each other’s way the rest of the year. And a fabulous year it will be; full of lots of small celebrations and a few big ones. We look forward to playing your favorite songs, sharing some punch and cookies with you and kissing your babies. And, although I earlier apologized for intruding into your life I want each of you to know that I sincerely appreciate your help and support. The first 25 years have been great because you’ve been there with us. Okay, enough of this sentimental, emotional crap. Go do something important.