Sounds you can feel

Five long years ago, some stuff happened. This stuff would inspire much of the material found on a collection of songs that i wrote and recorded during the fallout. My friends Emily Rae and Old Man Johnson assisted with their hands and voices here and there during the recording process. Emily Rae (under a pseudonym) wrote some epic, cryptic liner notes. Upon release of the album, brothers from other mothers, Jason, Andrew, Ryan, and the Shuff joined me in sonic unison for a raucous rock show. The whole production and subsequent performance served as a sort of therapy.

Now, at long last, you can have a fresh copy of this album in the popular compact disc format. This limited edition of fifty includes a handprinted sleeve, a booklet with notes and such, a hand-painted disc, a miniature poster from the release show, and a handful of bonus tracks. You can get yourself a copy right HERE. Enjoy.

Most of the lyrics to the songs in question were composed on this electric Smith Corona whilst consuming an unhealthy volume of coffee.

Old Man Johnson pounds and kicks the old gretsch kit during the recording of "used to be so bored". See how the guiding light of goodness shines upon him trough the mustard room window?

Here's a candid shot of the banjo and i sharing an intimate moment during the recording of "through radio waves & passing sirens". Our relationship is frustrating at best, but we have our moments.

Here's myself and the brothers from other mothers kicking out the jamz while rehearsing for the album release party.

Later.

Doings & suches

Super-busyness has been the haps round these parts of late. A great deal of it having to do with having two little people running and rolling around, but another deal of it having to do with creating goodness for this event called INDY REFUGEE NIGHT. You really oughta make plans to be there. Especially if you're into changing the world and such.

The last couple of days have seen our entire downstairs overrun with holiday decor, framing supplies, and dancing monkeys. This dude is ready to radio-disney your tryptophaned arse outta that thar lazy-boy and into the new year. Boo-shocka-locka-lu-ya!!!!!!

P.S. Thanks Papaw Horrell.

Where you need to be

Peeps of all shapes and sizes, may i have your attention? Remember that time when you were asking me where you needed to be on the night of December 2nd, 2011? Well, i'll be a panda's pancreas if i ain't come to and suddenly up and remembered. Here's the skinny:

WHO? YOU, SUNSHINE!

WHAT? Photography, art, screening of Burma VJ, food, convo, jamz, photobooth, all in the name of raising awareness of Burmese refugees and their stories

WHEN? Friday, December 2, 2011 from 6:00 pm to the break-a-break-a-dawn (or around 10ish)

WHERE? Gallery 2 at The Harrison Center for the Arts in Indy(anapolis) (directions hizzle)

WHY? To change the world

HOW? Teamwork

If you're on the facebooks, soar on over to our page and punch "LIKE" right in the kisser. Also, you can read more about the whos, whats and whys at our website: INDYREFUGEE(dot)COM.

We can't wait to see you there.

P.S. You are the shiz.

Abandonment issues

Telling stories

We have amazing friends who have amazing stories to tell. We are falling in love with this family and they are teaching us so much. There are families all over indianapolis who have similar stories to there story. They are refugees from an oppressive, communist, military junta that has taken over their home in Burma. Too many of their new neighbors do not know their stories. They are a resilient, hopeful, and joyful people who have survived persecution for their ethnicity and religion for decades. With their help, we're hoping to create awareness of their journey, and avenues for action as we foster relationships with our new friends.


Please visit INDYrefugee(dot)com, y'alls.

By the way, that photo was taken by the always badass Katie Basbagill.

Just so you know.

Five long years later

College pix

An aural supplement, episode 17

Running Time: 53:17 | File Size: 61 MB

Download: .mp3

To subscribe to this podcast: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ARockeyHomeCompanion 

Just when you thought things couldn't get more irritating, the Laveta welcomes Ty Anaya, an old rival from his days at universidad, to bury another hatchet. Get ready to lose your teeth and scream, because that hardly-loveable scamp has missed you all and can't wait to tell you to get lost.

1. Gordon Gano & Frank Black "Run"

2. "Official Announcement"

3. Pixies "I Bleed"

4. Ralph Nielsen & The Chancellors "Scream"

5. Pink Floyd "In the Flesh?"

6. Tom Waits "Get Lost"

7. "The Vault of Horror"

8. Foster the People "Miss You"

9. "I Was a Teenage Werewolf"

10. Half-handed Cloud "Once, Twice, Three Times a Werewolf"

11. Daniel Johnston "Since I Lost My Tooth"

12. Richard Swift "Broken Finger Blues"

13. R.E.M. "Crush with Eyeliner"

14. Ryan Adams "I See Monsters"

15. Howlin' Wolf "Evil"

16. Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Go Away"  

What a ride

Thank you, saint louis cardinals, for one of the greatest series performances evah. Now we can start getting our kids to sleep at a more reasonable hour again like responsible parents.

Ship ahoy

Now, anyone who knows my wife and i knows that we don't spend a great deal of time in front of the television watching sports. Chicks sticking screwdrivers in zombies faces? Sure. Meth cooks beating the ever-loving crap out of each other? Absolutely! Oh sure, i'll cheer on indianapolis during the super bowl like a diehard fan. Why, i'll even spend a couple hours with my bro at conseco fieldhouse cheering on the pacers. However, when it comes to the st. louis cardinals, we're talking about something very different.

Last night during the epic homerun derby/bullpen battle that was game six of the 2011 national league championship, mama jane confessed her enjoyment of watching baseball. We've spent the past week together with our 3-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son cheering the cards on to victory over the milwaukee brewers.

Now we have at least four more late nights to look forward to as they head to the series yet again.

Squiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrel!!!

Swinging for the fence

Thanks to the inspiration provided by our pal, juli from cordinated, this dude will tell them how it is.

We make signage suitable for framing. Also, we sell tee shirts, just so you know, in case that wasn't clear.

Dr. Grabbyhands is moving up to the bigs as he makes the jump from the mommy juice right to gumming giant crispy bites of apple.

  

Baby jane has been acquainting herself with the game of baseball as we stay up late watching the Cards pound milwaukee into the ground to practice for the series against texas. Are we being too presumptuous?

The obligatory pumpkin patch post

We never know what to expect during the annual patch outing. Sometimes the weather cooperates and sometimes we wish that it would. This year, the sun joined us for Dr. Sebresian's first trip to the apple works. In case you're not up to snuff on your Rockey family glossary terms, Dr. Sebresian is just one of the handles that Nolan James goes by. That's right the sun was shining, the pumpkins were plenty, and we only suffered a handful of meltdowns. See those pumpkins lying behind Baby Jane? Those were the two she picked out for her and her brother, the good doctor. That shot was snapped immediately following her decision to no longer carry the load. 

Moments later... tears. 

I'm still not exactly sure why.

Check out this dude gettin' his chill on. If anyone knows an alpaca who needs a place to crash, you can totally throw my digits his way.

The doctor and i had to talk this guy down. We promised him that we wouldn't feed him gravel like all the others. Come on folks, show these dudes some sympathy. They don't possess the discernment which so many of you take for granted.

It's alright, goat. The doctor and i are here for you.

Look who's pleased with himself after another day's work.

That's a satisfied customer.

Now go out and grab yourself a gourd, cut its guts out and toast yourself some seeds!

Birthday wishes from the goose

Woops. Where has the time gone? We'll be selling some new and olde stuffs alongside our dear friend, Ms. Wendy, at the Harrison Center for the Arts next friday, october 7th. The event happens between 5pm and 10pm. Come check out all the rad vendors and meet new friends to share life with. You may slide on over to the IHE website for further details. 

Ready, set, go.

If you missed the preceding linkage, click this one.

In other news,

Hooray for wood. More of these guys will be making an appearance in future times. Although it's tricky finding time between catching up with Pawn Stars and doing crap like this...

To be continued...

Holla at yer bros

Get your holla for fifteen dolla. Choose your colour and we'll make it happen. Give a shout out to holla(at)themustardroom(dot)com to get the proverbial ball rolling, y'all.

Any guesses?

Nope. Try again.

Ooooooh! So close.

It's obviously a depiction of bunnies in the forest. And there's Yoda.

At least that's what the artist tells me.

Wished our dear friend K-baz fond bon voyage from the olde homestead as she prepped to travel the world once again. We spent an evening catching up with seasoned pals and acquainting ourselves with new ones. Check out our friend Zih chilling with Dr. Sugarman as Biak tries to pretend that he doesn't mind having to share. By the by, keep yourself up to snuff with what's going on with all these aforementioned folks involvement in the INDYrefugee project at indyrefugee.com. 

All right? 

Moving on...

This lil chick 'n' tiny dude are bros for life. 

Labor intensive

While other folks were busy taking a day off, we got busy getting it done. I'd like to say that we were responsible for the meticulously disassembled acorns, but that would be an obscene exaggeration of the truth. We met a group of young Chin girls at the park who deserve all the credit.

Lawn snuggling at the park is best when it's below eighty degrees.

In between taking walks to the park, sorting clothes, eating eggs, drinking coffee, balancing budgets, and sneezing our brains out, we managed to work some more on this song:

Now go open all your windows and sneeze your brains out.

I call him dad

Do i blog about my pops enough? That's a ridiculous question. Of course i don't blog about my pops enough. I should blog about my pops some more. He's kind of a hero of mine. Don't tell him i said that though. I don't want things to be weird between the two of us. Take a look at that picture of him holding his grandson like a pro. Clearly, this is a guy who's no stranger to holding a baby.

Do you wanna know what else he's not a stranger to? Being rad. Oh yeah, and being ordained as a teaching elder, minister of the word and sacrament, and installed as associate pastor at southminster presbyterian church.

Anyhow, i'm super proud of my old man. So when he asked me if i would perform a song at his ordination ceremony, i was more than a little bit honoured by the invitation. Per his request, i revisited the interpretation of psalm 63 that i composed many moons ago. Here is that psalm as performed at my father's ordination on sunday, august 14...

Psalm 63 - 8-14-11

All this and blueberry pancakes

We had us a mighty fine week full of tiny visitors from near and far. For the first time in baby jane's three years, we got to celebrate her birthday with the cousins from the pacific northwest. We call them robbie and kayleigh. We spent a great deal of time running laps through gramma connie's house and being schooled on the history of lego via a first-grader.

Our tomato garden was attacked by giant mutant caterpillars who almost made baby jane their dessert. Little did they know that they were being lured to their exit.

This little guy wandered far from home and found himself knocking on our garage door for assistance. Our animal rescue unit sprang into action and gave him a wet albeit non-private room where he could recuperate. Soon after, baby jane and i returned him to his natural habitat - the retention pond behind the vacant mexican restaurant.

Baby jane and her pal trotted off, hand in hand, to their first session of ballet class. It was a raging success full of pseudo-plies and dizzying spins. Despite baby jane's concerns with having a teacher in the class with her, she warmed to the young ladies leading from up front enough to not split early.

Finally, on the morning of august 23rd, baby jane officially transformed into a three-year-old. How else do you celebrate if not by sticking a giant 3 into a short stack of blueberry pancakes and lighting it on fire?

Say what you will about us rockeys, but you can't say we don't know how to party.

Eureka

I've been literally banging my head against the wall trying to find the right combination of thisses and thatsies to capture the sounds for this current batch of sing songs. Recording is oft a hodgepodge effort which produces a varying degree of listenable and unlistenable output alike. After days and weeks of playing and recording onto laptops and digital devices and magnetic tape, i have married together all these into a wired monstrosity which sort of looks like this:

And so, recording moves forward...

For now.

However, in the end it will all go horribly wrong after fire and pitchforks bring judgment down upon my glorious monster. This, as we all know, is how the story goes.

Blues runs the game

Dear people who may or may not frequent this blaugh (i will spell however i please, thank you very much), I'm terribly sorry for being such a stranger. I'll try harder next time. In the meanwhilst, please enjoy the latest installment of your favorite series of 39 second instructional videos.

An aural supplement, episode 16

Running Time: 58:00 | File Size 54 MB

Download: .mp3
To subscribe to this podcast:http://feeds.feedburner.com/ARockeyHomeCompanion

The future jamz start now. Wrap your talons around another hour of sweet sonic goodness and bickering amongst olde fiends. Will our host be thrown out the window during this less-than-epic bout or will he remain unfazed? Regardless of the way it goes, one thing is clear; He's the man who loves you. Think about it.

1. Wilco “I'm The Man Who Loves You”

2. Ryan Adams "Dear Candy"

3. Fleetwood Mac "Think About It"

4. Lowercase Sunshine "San Jose"

5. The Kills "Future Starts Now"

6. Violent Femmes "Out the Window"

7. Ben Harper & The Relentless7 "Boots Like These"

8. Wilco "I Might"

9. Dolorean "The Unfazed"

10. Lost Revelers "Without You"

11. The Kinks "Starstruck"

12. Elvis Costello "Veronica (demo)"

13. Bowerbirds "In Our Talons"

14. The Band "We Can Talk About It"

15. Cat Stevens "Tea for the Tillerman"

16. Gillian Welch "The Way It Goes"

17. Sandra McCracken & Derek Webb "We Will Never Have Tonight Again"

Dog star

This dude's got a real spuds mckenzie vibe going on. I believe he's waving the white flag of stardom. I uncovered this guy from a big box of prints and drawings dating back to over a decade ago. I think i scratched this guy whilst on a smoke break during my brief stint as a framer years ago. Check out those yellow teeth. Looks like he could've used a smoke break.

One louder

Eleven years ago today i sat and pondered the next eleven years of my life with Mama Jane. Here's to just getting started.

All right

Crucial, I think I wantcha

Ooooooh. So hott. Maybe we should print more and more and more and more and more of things gorgeous mamas. Oh yes, we mos def should. Rawr.

Hair by olivia

Mama jane sees a leaf, but i see a fairly accurate, slightly more balding likeness of dad's hair. Perhaps this may just be an illustrated prophecy of things to come.

The continuing story of a quack who's gone to the dogs

Almost a year ago now, my bro from another mo moved clear out to NY with his lovely family. When i discovered that they would be back in the g-wood for a hot minute (aka two weeks) i begged and pleaded for a few hours of his precious time to hammer out some tracks in the mustard room. Always the gentleman, Dr. Bob obliged and we ended up spending two morning/afternoons constructing a couple tunes with nothing but some guitars, a hammond organ, a wash bucket, and our childlike optimism. We laid some healthy foundation for a few pieces of the new record we're finally getting around to making.

I only wish we had more time, but we bid Dr. Bob and his family a fond adieu as they trek back to the NY. I'm thrilled to death that we were able to get a couple of days playing and recording together. It was also a great delight to all of us (particularly baby jane) to have Dr. Bob's boy Jake hang with us during the first sesh. Our deepest gratitude goes out to the entire Dr. Bob family. Why not follow Dr. Bob on twitter @RS_Freeland?

Here we are rehearsing one of the tunes we spent some time on: