Just a few things to report:

Saw a version of The English Beat a week ago at the Granada (I’m going there a lot these days). Songs were good. Show was mediocre. I guess when you only have 1 original member – Dave Wakeling, the performance won’t live up to the memory of the band you’ve romanticized in your head for 20 years. Still, I had forgotten how great those songs were. Oh how I wish David Steele had been there. My 3rd favorite bassist behind Bruce Thomas and Colin Moulding.

Came back to Granada this past Friday for Chris Holt and the Egos, opening for Charlie Sexton. Eric is becoming the fan favorite. He’s definitely a rockin’ dood. Carter Albrecht played in all 3 bands that night, though like a true pro said it wasn’t rigorous at all for him, as he’s been playing 3 hour plus shows on tour for quite a while. Shannon McNally appeared between the Egos and Sexton, with the same lineup as Sexton. Great voice, I just couldn’t hear the lyrics. I need to listen to her cd. Charlie Sexton was pretty damn good. I’ll admit that his music isn’t quite my cup of tea, but the live energy of the band kept me interested throughout the set.

Spent yesterday in front of the computer, writing a string arrangement for this song called ‘Hollywooden Dreams’ . I was in a foul mood beforehand and that tiny bit of writing killed a lot of the negativity. Songwritin’s fun PeeWee. The tune is meant to be a kind of supermarket shopping song, so the keyboardy strings sounded perfect alongside the goofy organ part I had written earlier in the year. Gonna edit the hell out of it today. Its easy to go overboard and keep adding parts to a song until you’re left with this miasma of crap and the original ‘good’ idea is nowhere to be found. So no horn parts ok?

The rest of this week should be kinda mindless, but I know Friday night at the Elbow Room will be a lot of fun – A new cd called ‘shuffled’ by my old pals Gentlemen Losers will be released along with several crates of free beer. Can’t wait to hear the new stuff. I’m sure I will love it like all previous albums. Two great songwriters that always manage to release a cd every year. More on Gentlemen Losers later in the week.

This past week I saw several great bands. Thursday night, I stopped by the Cavern Club and listened to Kristy Kruger. I admire her fans – they actually refrain from chattering up the place and give her their full attention. I guess when the performer is good enough, that will happen. I hadn’t seen her in at least a year and she brought several new tunes to my attention. Some traditional folk numbers and a few german circus sounding tunes. High quality material. She had a guitarist named Eric Neal who played with her. A great bassist too!

The Lonelies followed her with a really solid set. Bandleader Doug Burr is a top-notch songwriter with a unique voice – something really haunting about it – need to hear more. They had a guitarist, Chris Holt, who added a ton of ambiance to the otherwise straightforward instrumentation. I hadn’t seen these guys in a long time either – they’ve really moved in a different direction from what I remember hearing before.

Friday was more Greenville Avenue goodness. Saw this band called Olospo at the Granada Theater. They are an extremely popular band with the Dallas kids. Everyone was dancing and grooving. Perfect venue for these guys – though the guy in charge of the smoke machine must have forgot how to turn the thing off hehe. My friend Trey and I hung out on the balcony as the sound was much cleaner up there.

Olospo knows how to perform. The years of touring really show. Moving from a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover to their own hit ‘Step Up’ was no problem whatsoever. I doubt any genre or song would trouble them. Lots of extended solos and jams. I forgot how fun it was to watch them, especially keyboardist Britt Morris. Everyone is way too talented and I feel like a hack every time I see them. One of the few bands that can rock hard, feel loose, but still be perfectly in sync and tighter than whatever metaphor you’d like to insert here. I’m glad they decided to continue on – the fans demand it.

I left the show early to catch Oliver’s Army – the Elvis Costello Tribute Band – at of all places, Stan’s Blue Note. I can never get enough Costello. Joe and Mark were having a great time. I wish Russell would slick his hair back and put on some fake glasses like he used to. Still never hear enough keyboard in the mix. But despite these nitpicks, I had a ton of fun smokin’ and drinkin’. So many of the songs are flawlessly represented. I always enjoy the segue from ‘Less than Zero’ to Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’. ‘You Belong to Me’ is greatness.

Alas, there was no Sorta show to round out the early portion of the weekend. Still need to get Trey to play me some of the forthcoming cd. Their new stuff on myspace sounds like the sorta everyone knows and loves.

Enough gushing – smoke break.

Doh! Thought I had already posted this last entry.

Ok – tracking complete! Mixing to begin December 5th. Overall, I’m really happy about what we accomplished. There were no loose ends.

I’ve compiled a list of minor tweaks needed before actually mixing the songs. A few keyboard and guitar parts to edit or fix. A few ending phrases to remove or edit down to make the song a bit shorter and less jammy. Several vocal comps need to be redone. I also set up a closed, mini forum for the band to make additional comments too. I think Holt is gonna modify a few piano parts during his studio visit while he’s working on his own project.

The rough mixes are um rough of course. the auditory experience varies greatly from place to place. Sounds terrible in the car, ok on the stereo alarm clock, flat on headphones. Some songs sound a lot better than others. “little doll” sounds the best IMO.

I’ll letcha know more details when mixing begins. We aren’t slated to play anywhere. If you’d like to book us, email me