Laurence Could Have Been Somebody!

...well, maybe not, but Sam Seder DID read my e-mail on the air on yesterday's Break Room Live:

Twitterboarded

Not bored enough?

Well then today is your lucky day!

Now, you can follow me on the Twitter!!!

Have fun with that.

I Am So Lame

You heard me.

R.I.P., B.B.Q.

So it's bad enough that my garage roof blew off - AGAIN - as part of the annual Western Washington December Stormfest.

Then I find out that my favorite BBQ Restaurant was also destroyed in the deluge:

“I just lost my whole life,” said Amy Anderson, who has owned the popular restaurant and catering business with partner Melanie Tapia for four years.

...and the Olympia area has lost the "Best Rack in Town"...

We wish Amy and Melanie the best.

It has been a bad day.

So, in the spirit of catharsis, we present:

SAMIAM: Bad Day

"Removalism"...

...is the working title of the new demo I've been slaving over for a few weeks.

...and you probably thought I was dead...

Anyway, all of the songs are new, and while things are going slowly as always, I'm fairly confident that the music will be some of the best I've written in recent years. I'm definitely confident that the guitar work is my best ever, and hopefully the few who get to hear it will agree.

As for the lyrics, well that's still anybody's guess at this point. To be honest, I haven't even started that process yet. There's something about being married and more-or-less content that makes it difficult to find things (outside of the daily political atrocities) to get worked up about -- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. To those who suggest that I should then attempt more angry political songs, let's just say that I've tried to do some political songwriting over the years, but as it isn't the sort of music I generally like to listen to, it's just that much harder to get motivated about following through on that stuff...

And then again, how "content" am I, really? I'm in a happy marriage, but everything else is pretty damned scattered. We just bought our first house, we're always broke, I can't stand my job most of the time, and I'm having a Hell of a time adjusting to life in this tiny rural "community".

Yeah, I know, these are the problems most people would LOVE to have, but what point is a blog if I can't whine a little?

...indeed, what point is a blog at all?

At any rate, none of these issues, however depressing they may seem at the time, make for gripping songwriting, so perhaps therein lies my source of my writer's block. Maybe more whining will help...

...on that note, I'm off to write a thrilling ballad about sub-prime mortgages...

Delays

Sorry to be gone so long. We'll be back in full swing sometime soon. Big news coming...

Acoustics

The Snowglobes made their accidental Olympia debut last night...

Andy and I went out drinkin' at a bar that happened to have an open mic going on, and after three Maritime Imperials, I signed up. I only played a couple of songs, both of which have recently been posted in demo form here. The audience was kind, but that's all I really remember at this point. That's what I get for breaking my New Year's Resolution...

Anyway, it was a rolicking night of drunken fun, complete with a tipsy old guy who decided he would be Andy's friend and then started creepily hitting on the women at the bar.

If you happened to be there, let me emphasize: we don't know the guy!

Viva Olympia!

Celebrations

Good news!

I am pleased to announce that my computer has finally been fixed! I can finally get back to churning out as much shameless self-promotion as I possibly can. I may now also be able to finally respond to some of the e-mails that have been piling up around here lately.

In other news, I decided to take Amanda's name off of the Snowglobes Myspace page. It's not that I don't want her to be there, but the fact is that we really aren't working together now and probably won't anytime in the near future, so I guess I have to face the fact that I need to find another vocalist. Any suggestions?

Speaking of the Myspace page, I'm posting new demos there ASAP. I'm also going to be posting some of my artwork here and also on the Myspace page. I'm sure you'll prefer looking at cartoonish drawings far more than looking at pictures of me anyway, so enjoy... ...just don't use them for anything commercial as they are worthless for such endeavors (and, more importantly, the boss will get pissed).

More updates as events warrant.

Changes...

I'm still tweaking the template here. So far, I think I like this "harbor" design the best. It reminds me of Maine, and since I wrote so many of the songs there it seems only appropriate that our blog should have a lighthouse on it. As I get better at screwing around with these templates, the design will be likely to change again. Try to live with the suspense.

The band will also be changing, frankly. As you may have noticed if you've visited our Myspace page, Amanda is still listed as the vocalist, despite the fact that she and I now live on opposite coasts and the band had a different name (if any) when we were playing together in Damariscotta. I felt that listing her as a "current" member would be the best course of action for now because "Bandages" was the first song that I posted on the site and there is simply no doubt that Amanda was integral to that song's development. In fact, it was the first song that we played together, if I'm not mistaken...

So, for the time being, Amanda will have a place on the Snowglobes' Myspace page, unless and until she objects. After all, it's still my hope that she will be singing on the upcoming CD as well.

I'll keep you informed.

The Web Adventure Begins!!!

...eventually...

Until then, you can keep up with us here and here...

TTFN!!!