Way Fewer Than Six Degrees

Goober and the Peas were one of my favorite regional bands when I was at Kent State in the early '90s, a strange and fun mix of faux-hillbilly rock from Detroit. (Their "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"/"Whole Lotta Love" medley had to be heard to be believed.) They released a couple records, the first one produced by one of my heroes, John Wesley Harding, and they faded away. As part of their schtick, everyone in the band had nicknames of the hillbilly sort -- Goober, Junior, Shorty, Boss Hoss -- and they went through a string of drummers, all of whom were called Doc. They broke up sometime after their second album's release in 1994, and most of the boys moved on to other things. Singer Dan "Goober" Miller and his wife now front an alt-country group called Blanche, which sounds sort of like an Appalachian cousin of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Goober actually introduced me to the music of Uncle Tupelo, albeit unintentionally. I was waiting for a Goob show to start one night and really enjoying the record playing on the PA before the show, so I asked the bartender who it was. He said the band had put it on, so I asked Goob, who told me it was Uncle Tupelo. I'd heard one song of theirs (on a soundtrack I bought because fIREHOSE was on it, you see how this chain reaction stuff works with me?) but hadn't gotten around to getting a full-length record yet. I bought the first Goober & the Peas record at the show and an Uncle Tupelo record the next day.

So anyway, last week I'm reading an article about the Cincinnati music scene, comparing today's scene to that of a decade ago, and I come across this exchange:

City Beat: If you could go back 10 years, would you change anything from a musical standpoint?
Randy Cheek (Ass Ponys): No, I wouldn't change a thing. I wish I'd been nicer to that band Goober and the Peas, so I could borrow money from the guy who's in the White Stripes now.

Sure enough, the last "Doc" was a young lad named Jack Gillis, better known these days as Jack White. I've owned this record all these years, along with the White Stripes' records, and never put that together. Thanks, Randy. Turns out Goob/Dan and the Peas' old engineer/producer Dave Feeny even appeared on that Loretta Lynn album Jack produced last year. Not too shabby for a guy who used to throw hay around onstage and sing about chasing Grandpa through the woods.

Almost everything Goob and the boys recorded can be downloaded here, and the rest is here. Be sure to check out "Funky Cowboy," "Druthers," and "Killing Is Bad."

No Reply Necessary

A few years ago, here at AcousticRoss.com, back before we had a sophisticated mailing list, we had what became known as the Reply All Incident. I'm not going to go into great detail about it, because it was a big mess and caught me at the worst possible time, leading to a bit of over-reaction on my part. So instead, go read this story at McSweeney's, which cracks me up and hits WAY too close to home, and laugh at my misfortune.

Out the Windu

Every year when my magazine subscriptions come up for renewal, the only one I never consider letting expire is Entertainment Weekly.

posted 5.28.05

Pictures & Sounds

New pictures! Damon goes to Thailand and the original AcousticRoss.com sticker makes the rounds. Check the PICS page for great new pics.

Past shows! In other news, Math Lab's debut was big fun, and it was great to see namelessnumberheadman in Tulsa. Thanks to all those who came to the show! More Math Lab shows should be coming soon, we'll keep you posted.

New shows!! Yep, I've got TWO solo shows coming next week -- in fact, they're back to back, the same day. Special late-afternoon time slots! Check the SHOWS page for details. So much rock I had to take a half-day off work. And get some repairs done on my lightly battered guitar. See you there!

The Smoking Gun has obtained, in that crazy way they do, over 1000 letters and emails received by Duluth Police and city officials in reaction to "Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks. They've posted some of the best -- my favorite one gives advice on how officials should charge "that wild eyed girl with some kind of crime" then the letter's author muses that he wouldn't have searched for her as much if he'd been the jilted fiancee because she's "kind of a bowser."

posted 5.10.05

Fun & Games

BIG SHOW ALERT!!! Math Lab's long-awaited debut. This Saturday at 8:30. Also the Tulsa debut of Kansas City's best-kept secret, namelessnumberheadman. Click the pic to see their site, or check the shows page for details. It's gonna be a blast! See you there.

I've gotten pretty hooked on Jason Zahn's Game Show. It's a bit like the old Match Game, where you get a short phrase with a blank in it (Dog ___, for instance) and you try to guess what the most common word to fill in the blank will be. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, and takes all of about 30 seconds each weekday to play.

And I'm still quite addicted to Ben Garvey's Odd Man In. It's gotten pretty big now -- 123 players in the current game -- and it keeps getting better. Ben's continually upgrading things and adding new features, and soon there will even be an option for private 'side' games alongside the big main one. Great stuff.

posted 4.28.05

Episode Whatever

Pick up the first three Star Wars flicks on DVD yet? I still haven't. I probably will, eventually, but I'm not in a big hurry.

In fact, I'm protecting the old VHS editions I got in college, because they're the only way to see the original versions anymore. Granted, the 1997 Special Editions made a lot of improvements -- although the Death Star's big gun is still fired by a Grass Valley 1600-7k television switcher like the one we used in Steubenville (see bottom of this page) -- but George Lucas refuses to stop tweaking. The new DVD's, as everyone knows by now, aren't the original versions and they aren't even the 1997 fixes, they're new versions with even more changes. These folks have posted an extensive side-by-side comparison showing how the new versions compare to the 1997 versions. They've also posted a lengthy review of the whole DVD package here.

Now I can't wait for Episode III to come out and disappoint me as much as the last two. As for Lucas, you know he's not gonna stop until he adds Jar-Jar to the bar in Mos Eisley and reshoots all of Alec Guiness' scenes with Ewan McGregor in bad old-age makeup.

posted 4.16.05

A New Venture

I lovelovelove the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. SOOO many great shows...

Good: Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
Better: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law; reruns of Futurama & Home Movies
Even Better: the first couple seasons of Sealab 2021
Best: The Venture Bros.

'Venture Bros.' rocks on so many levels. Up front, a parody of the Hardy Boys, Johnny Quest, and pretty much every other 'formula' adventure show; but more importantly, a brilliantly scripted and acted deconstruction of the entire hero/villain concept. There is nothing about this show that doesn't crack me up. The one with the pirates pretending to be ghost pirates may be my favorite... although the one where they get trapped on Dr. Venture's late father's space station is right up there too.

They have a knack for using sub-Scooby Doo plots and twisting them into completely new satire. Unlike most shows, which take sub-Scooby Doo plots and stay there. Even the casting is awesome. Dr. Venture's bodyguard Brock Samson is voiced by the guy who played the Tick and Seinfeld's Puddy, because, really, who else are you gonna get to voice a big tough bodyguard guy like that? Dr. Girlfriend I won't spoil for you in advance, but she's unique, to say the least.

Wisely, the Cartoon Network has finally agreed to bring the show back for a second season. It's the least they can do if they're gonna keep crap like Tom Goes to the Mayor on the air. And renewing Sealab so many times after it went downhill Simpsons-fast. (And don't even get me started on Family Guy. Ugh.)

Almost forgot. The Adult Swim website is loaded with free games, including two Venture Bros. tie-ins. My favorite is the Home Movies 'Look Alive!' soccer game. The instructions are, and I quote, "blah blah blah use the mouse blah." Coach McGuirk hurls insults while you try to kick the ball into all the other kids as they run in front of the goal. And don't be fooled -- kicking the ball into the goal counts for nothing.

added 4.13.05

La La

The Smoking Gun has posted a copy of Ashlee "Acid Reflux" Simpson's tour rider. Among other things, her backstage requests include Red Bull, Pickle Relish, Skittles, and Ricola Cough Drops. I enjoyed the soundman's laid-back descriptions of his audio requirements. Take a look.

posted 4.12.05

Future Flash

A few years back I met this band from California called The Red. At the time they were touring as an acoustic duo -- I remember shades of Michael Hedges and a mean cover of "Little Red Corvette." These days they're a full band and a bit mellower, and their new CD "BURN" is an interesting little modern-day item. You can pick it up either as a standard CD, or buy it on a USB flash drive. The USB version is decorated just like the album cover and has all the same stuff. Plus, once you've got it, you can move all the files to your hard drive, and still have the flash drive to use for your own sordid file-transfer purposes. This, to me, seems like an extremely cool marketing idea.

posted 4.12.05

Math Lab Update!

If you weren't among the lucky few who came to the show last month, you missed a great time.

If you were there, you know how true that sentence was.

Regardless, I've got something bigger and better to talk about anyway. Four words: FIRST. MATH. LAB. SHOW.

It's true. We'll make our big debut at the end of this month at the Sidewalk Cafe in Tulsa. Better still, we'll be sharing the bill with my good friends from Kansas City -- namelessnumberheadman. It's their first gig in Tulsa, and it should be a great one. Check the shows page for details.

In other news, the new Golden Republic album is fantastic. Like your indie rock with a hint of Marc Bolan in it? Trust me, you do.

Gotta go now. Hooked on Grand Theft Auto III.

posted 4.9.05

Show News!

Hi folks. Just posted a new show, it's coming up on the 18th at local luminary Joe Cinocca's new place. Should be a blast!

Also another new X-Ray went up today, that's three in the last week. We'll see how long I can keep up the pace. Also posted a newly discovered review of the 918 UFN EP from Urban Tulsa Weekly, it's over on the Press page.

If you're near a radio this Friday morning around 8am or shortly thereafter, tune in to the Edge (104.5FM). I'm told a certain Tulsa antifolkie is going to be featured as a "Homegroan Hero" that morning. Homegroan's new host Big Jay (who you might know from his other life in HotrodboB) also played "Swept Down the Plain" this week. Tune in on Sunday nights for an hour of local goodness.

The next game of Ben Garvey's Odd Man In should start soon, but you've still got a couple days to get registered. Congrats to my friend Steve on getting to the finals in his first game.

Finally, did you hear about the college coach who confused basketball and hockey?

posted 3.1.05