Bruce Springsteen - "Lost in the Flood" from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

The Boss' first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., has been compared to Van Morrison's seminal Astral Weeks (1968), and with good reason.  Both albums came early in their respective composer's careers, both contain extraordinarily dense, poetic lyrics dealing with similar themes of alienation and unrequited love, and both pay homage to their composer's hometowns (Springsteen's Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Van the Man's Belfast, Northern Ireland).  Both albums also share the same bass player, but that is little more than a neat-o coincidence.

Born to Run (1975) is widely regarded as the album that "made" Bruce Springsteen.  It is a fine album to be sure, but Greetings is just as good, if not better.  The lyircs (arguably the most important part of the early Springsteen canon...I'm not familiar with his post-70's stuff) on Born to Run are oftentimes lost in the too-busy arrangements.  This is not the case on Greetings, where the words are far clearer, except of course for the famous deuce/douche chorus on "Blinded by the Light," but that is an entirely different discussion (not really...it's "deuce," for the record).

The "flood" in this song is of the metaphorical variety.  My reading of the song sees it as a suffocating flood of humanity in which one feels trapped.  Each of the song's three verses is about a different character, experiencing increasing levels of this anomie.  In the violent final verse, "Bronx's best apostle" reminds me somewhat of Travis Bickle in that he seems to be a crusader for the good, he wants to "wash the scum off the streets" in the same way Bickle did in Taxi Driver three years after this album's release.  At the risk of veering entirely off topic, Martin Scorsese has said that Taxi Driver is in part based on the aforementioned Astral Weeks.

Or maybe "Bronx's best apostle" is just another gang-banger.  I dunno.

Either way, the climactic last verse is about the the urban alienation so familiar to us big-city dwellers.  One often feels invisible in the constant presence of so many strangers, and some feel like the only way they can get people to notice them is to go on a shooting rampage.  Fortunately, most of us have the presence of mind to avoid such things.

Buy the Boss

Posted by Adam

There are a bunch of LSA 1/2 jobs coming up at Millennium this month, and careful analysis has shown that I'm not likely to get any of them. There are three packages and at least three pages with more seniority than me applying. The only reason I got so close last time was because the girl with the most seniority had been on vacation and missed the posting. The last couple of days my shifts at work have just dragged. Nothing's different. Just one of my periodic dissatisfaction arcs I guess.

So what else is new?

Not much.

Gary Trudeau thinks a good blogger can write about a new flavor of Kispy Kreme.

Ever tried to find a Krispy Kreme lately?

Yes, they rarer than Obama Sock Monkeys

What about Top Pot?

Well that is always a good idea, but sometimes even that won't stop writer's block.

OK

So let me not be the first to introduce you to a good relatively new, seemingly hip Dough Nut. From where else but Seattle.

Actually I passed it while dragging the monorail and had to come back for the notable Neon Sign. Alas I had found stacks of thick-skinned, fresh and crunchy cake donuts; best branded donut I can think of.

So needing to change a five toon in Vancouver I ducked in a Starbucks and their was Top Pot again, complete with ironic, heroic, hipster logo, and good substance—that didn't mind a night in the car.

Apparently a chief mermaid tail-parter at Starbucks discovered the chain and they are spreading out from the west. Not with the veracity of Krispy Kreme, but what would appear to be a longer shelf life. So then a few days later I found one at an SBUX in Murray (Reminds me that "Tits from here to Murray" is a funny way to describe a gal, especially out of state.)

Now here is the quote for Ted Scheffler. "Cake donuts have always held a certain personal mythology with me. They are something that seems to translate well into one's imagination." Seriously I read some cool books about malfunctioning cake donut machines when I was a kid.

Yea Steve, but it took you Top Pot to remember it.

P.S. They like an good northwesterns are pimping their coffee. Not so much for me, it would be better used stripping airplane parts a Boeing. That Pot was way too strong for me.

I have experienced only one 4th of July in Arkansas.  The crowds that flocked to the airfield to watch fireworks are noticeably different from the folks that come out of the woodwork in Kansas.  Both crowds are excessively amusing to me.  The former is fond of Razorback decals in excess, orange fake tans, children with interesting patriotic clothing ensembles such as "These Colors Don't Run" t-shirts with matching shorts and Crocs, and finally the fathers, uncles, and grandfathers sporting their Confederate ball caps - because, you know, the South may rise again...but thank God it isn't British.  The latter crowd in Kansas is fond of suburbans driven by dads in cowboy jeans and tucked in t-shirts, toddlers in cowboy boots trying to run (this results in all the little children looking like they are running in scuba flippers), failed Victoria Beckham haircuts, and of course the much-loved USA t-shirt in 3 color options.

Happy 4th, wherever you are observing it.  And God save the Queen.

Well, the answer to the question is, art school kids, fucking weirdos who work for the department of homeland security, gangsters and foul mouthed children. And also no, bitches stay jockin' on Morg.

The Old Step-Stone is the fourth full-length recorded example why Southwest Ohio's Ann & Phil Case are one of the very best old-time duos working today.

Ann plays a 1929 Martin 0-21 guitar and a handmade 1903 Audinot copy fiddle; Phil plays everything else: a Wildwood 5-string open-back banjo (1993), a 1921 Gibson F4 mandolin, guitar, harmonica, alto and tenor saxophones and bass.

On instrumentals like the sprightly "Shoo! Fly", the play-party tune "Go In and Out the Window" and the sublime, gentle "Crystal Stream Waltz," Ann & Phil put those instruments to expert use.

But it's the vocals and vocal harmonies that make "The Old Step-Stone a true delight, with the title song serving as the cornerstone of the album and one of about a half-dozen heart songs that, with Ann's tender lead vocals and Phil's plaintive harmonies, recall the parlors and drawing rooms of old as much as the back porches and barn dances.

"Rainbow 'Mid Life's Willows" is a stunning a cappella; "The Baltimore Fire" is, pardon the pun, a real barn-burner.

The 14-track disc closes  on a gorgeous note with the lushly arranged "Let the Rest of the World Go By," whose wistful lyrics float along on a bed of saxophones, a fiddle, a cornet and a Hawaiian Dobro.

by Aaron Keith Harris

I have been listening to Gibbs' debut album, "My Fellow Sophisticates", since Thursday and am LOVING IT! Check out his Myspace page and listen to the eclectic mix of straight up indie Americana ranging from the funky bass laden track, Streetfighter, through to the song that sounds like it's straight from the old school, good time stops along the Mississippi, Here Comes Your Steamboat... and everything in between. The album is even more eclectic than what you can hear on the Myspace page.

I thought I'd throw into the post a couple of videos of Gibbs doing acoustic tracks. Neither of these are on the album. I'm loving the lyrics to the first - Keys to the Kingdom:

And I love the riff in this - Diamonds and Coal (For my music loving friend, Rhett - yes, it does share the same name as an Incubus song):

PS - You can get his debut album, My Fellow Sophisticates, by paying whatever you like at www.noisetrade.com I'm also enjoying the Dawson Wells album I got from there.

The Gibbs album feels like a golden find. Don't ya love those... those great albums you find when you just happened to be having a look around to kill some time, but weren't expecting much - a curious expedition that turns over an unexpected diamond. Brilliant.

Yet replica war is the most popular aspect of our Independence Day celebrations. I realize that fireworks are a wonderful curiosity all around the world and I am personally fond of large professional fireworks displays. The thing about fireworks as they relate to our celebrations that piques my interest is the overwhelming amount of personal or family displays. The city of Chicago really feels like a replica war zone on the 4th of July (and even the days preceding it).

First of all, the really funny thing to me is that, for the most part, fireworks aren't even legal in Illinois. Beginning as much as several months before Independence Day residents of Chicagoland must make a pilgrimage to either Wisconsin or Indiana in order to procure their colorful explosives. And yet on the Fourth, as the sun sets, all hell breaks loose. Why are the fireworks even illegal? It's obviously no deterrent and the police have no interest in enforcing it, even they could round up everyone in violation (which seems like practically everyone).

I have a hard time understanding what all the fuss is about anyway. What is the satisfaction in launching a bottle rocket into the night sky? Is it really worth the risk of blowing your hand off to see a few small colorful bursts from a roman candle? Apparently it is, but the reasons escape me. After seeing major fireworks displays in cities all over the country, these noisy little firecrackers just seem particularly disappointing. Then there are the people who drops tons of cash on the super cakes in an apparent attempt to rival the Navy Pier fireworks display in their own cramped neighborhood. But no worries; It's not like there was ever some Great Fire that destroyed a large portion of Chicago.

These weapons-grade fireworks are ridiculously loud. They've even had the audacity to name one of them Wake the Neighbors! And so, on nearly every street corner in the city people gather to detonate their teeth-rattling payloads.

I'm not kidding when I call it a replica war zone. Certainly it's an exaggeration: the casualties are fewer and much less grievous than on a real battle field and the sounds of the explosions aren't as loud or terrifying, but there is no shortage of heart-skipping moments as loud, nearby explosives unexpectedly rattle windows. In the background the faint reverberations of far-off bursts underscore the cacophony. The racket continues in fits and starts throughout the night, like the exchange of an indeterminate amount of volleys back and forth. The following morning the streets are littered with remnants of spent fireworks and a nearly undetectable scent of gunpowder sits lightly on the air.

This is what Independence Day amounts to for me: not a celebration of the ideals of The Enlightenment, or even the history of the birth of the U.S.A. It's just explosions, meat, and beer. (And the meat and beer are no different than any other day in America.) Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, in fact I know I am. Frankly, I'm not even sure what I would like a Fourth of July celebration to be like. Then again, I've never been much for nationalism or patriotism and I suppose that speaks quite a bit about why I feel the way I do. Nationalism and patriotism are but precursors to war, even if it's just a replication.

But nevermind me. I'm no fun anyway. Light up the night sky!

Anyway... here's some photos of the book - to see my images in it, check out my website under "Work"

This is a picture of the store, bedecked with the stars and stripes.  We WILL be open on Saturday, July 5th, our regular hours, 9am - 4pm.  Stop on by!

By way of: hey holiday.

[audio=http://stevejerman.com/morecando.mp3]

I'm trying hard to let you go
But it's more than I can do
And every day or two
I wind up right back where I started

I'm trying not to let you know
That I'm still in love with you
I can't just sit home blue
'Cause there ain't no rest
for the brokenhearted

Just because you won't unlock your door
That don't mean you don't love me anymore

I'm never gonna let you go
No matter what you do
Because you know it's more than I can do

You told me that I got to stop
But it's more than I can do
And that ain't nothing new
'Cause we both know that I'm crazy about you

You said you're gonna call the cops
But I ain't gonna run
Because you're the only one
There ain't no way I could live without you

You left me just when I needed you
So l ain't even close to through with you

I'm never gonna let you go
No matter what you do
Because you know it's more than I can do

Steve Earle

Bob Dylan and the Band - "Tears of Rage - Take 1," "Tears of Rage - Take 2" and "Tears of Rage - Take 3" from A Tree with Roots [Basement Tapes sessions, 1967]

The Band - "Tears of Rage" from Greatest Hits comp [2000], orig. on Music from Big Pink [1968]

Happy Independence Day from your patriotic friends at SWR.

Here are a few takes of a Dylan/Band classic from A Tree with Roots.  A cleaner version of the third take later appeared on the official Basement Tapes record released in 1975.  Bob shares a writing credit for this song with the late Richard Manuel who sang "Tears of Rage" when the Band recorded it for 1968's Music from Big Pink.  Dylan's efforts, while insightful, never really matched the pained plaintiveness of Manuel's pinched tenor.

More Tree with Roots at SWR

Buy the Band

Posted by Jordy

He was not Bozo in New York, I think, so he wasn't all Bozos to all men, yet as the AP story points out, "Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one."

I was on the Bozo show in New York. Just in the gallery; you won't remember me. (Unlike my turn on Birthday House, when I got my head stuck for a couple of seconds in that fence on the front step.) I did not achieve my dream of being "Butch" for that day (explained here; scroll down), but I had not let my hopes get that high; that sort of thing, I already knew, doesn't happen to me.

But my brother did win a Marble Raceway. Yep, same episode.

Sad, how life can be. July 4th and we gained liberty, but lost Jefferson, Adams ... and now, Bozo.

Cross-posted on Dean's World.

Where am I going with this?  People out here still hold Independence Day in high regard.  It is not a day to buy a mattress, a new couch or even a car.  It is a day to reflect on what we have and to celebrate our separation from British tyranny.  You see, these things are still taught out here.  Children are taught that this country was built on the concept that the people are the sovereign and government is the servant of the people.  That's why when Iowa flooded you didn't see people sitting around on rooftops waiting for the govnm't to rescue them.  You didn't see the mayor of Cedar Rapids standing on broken levy talking about how it was all George Bush's fault.  You didn't see the Governor of Iowa blaming the FEMA for not helping soon enough.  No, the people out here still realize that it is the people (neighbors and friends) that are the first responders to a catastrophe not the govnm't.

Today I will go to the parade and when I do I'll be watching small town America pass by.  As it passes I'll smile and thank my God that I live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

This is not about what I miss—like all those outdoor, backyard barbecues and cookouts with Mom’s potato salad and Dad’s charbroiled burgers or watching the skies explode in star-spangled bursts of red, white and blue. Sure, I miss all of those things and more and who wouldn’t when you have been away from home for as long as I have.

What I have discovered about living outside of the land of the free and the home of the brave is that I am more of American now than I was when I lived back home.

First of all, I have never been what you would call a flag waver. I mean, before I decided to come overseas in 1989 and spend the past 19 years teaching English, I was at best moderately patriotic. I pledged allegiance to the flag and raised my right hand to protect and defend the United States of America serving my country honorably in peacetime in the United States Air Force from 1976-1980 and a year in the Air National Guard 1982-1983. I don’t know if you would call this patriotic or not, but if I hear the Air Force Hymn or see a fighter streaking across the sky I still get goose bumps.

And I suppose when I feel that swelling in my chest when I’ve heard our national anthem being played at sporting events, especially in the Olympics or in Korea in 2002 before the US-Portugal World Cup Match that’s also patriotic. And after having grown up with our race to the moon in the 60s, to this day I still get goose bumps when I watch the Space Shuttle lift off.

Then again, maybe it’s not really being patriotic but just caring a lot about my country. I weep when our nation loses a native son or daughter; I weep when I hear of a disaster striking whether it’s a hurricane in New Orleans, flooding along the Mississippi, or a tornado hitting Utica, Illinois—just a few miles from my home.

I am proud to be an American even though I might not show it all the time. What I am proud of is that my ancestors had the chance to come to America and have the chance for a better life and with each generation the chance to experience a little bit of that “American Dream.”

However, I am not proud for how our country has sometimes behaved in the past and the way it behaves now. I am embarrassed when I think about our dismal health care or the way minorities have been treated. I am saddened when I hear of another person being killed by a firearm or another person losing a job. I am disappointed when bureaucratic red tape that slows down everything like what happened when aid was slow in getting to New Orleans after Katrina struck.

I am angry when we let the lobbyists dictate policy. I am depressed at how slow we respond to atrocities being committed around the world when our government expects everyone else to follow our lead. And I get just as angry and upset when we send our men and women into harms way without first finding a diplomatic solution to whatever crisis has flared up around the globe.

Still no matter all these shortcomings I have faith in my country and our leaders. I just wish some of them would wake up, smell the coffee and get with the program.

In the past I might have been called a “bleeding heart liberal” but as I get older I am just an American who cares and loves my country a lot and wants what is right for all of us. Perhaps, as I once described my philosophy of life to a friend, “the older I get the more I become what I should have been all along” can also be applied here an tweaked a bit—“the older I get, the more American I become.”

You’re not going to find me sitting back and not saying a word when our government screws up; but at the same time I have faith in our elected leaders to make the right decisions. I still believe the system works but that we need to tune it up from time to time. It might take us awhile to get things right but I have confidence that we will. After all, we’ve only been around as a nation for 232 years.

When you live overseas for any length of time you might notice how some people see you as an extension of our government. To be sure, sometimes it hasn’t been easy being an American overseas especially if there is a war dragging on or some trade agreement being forced upon a country and as such we tend to carry a lot of cultural baggage with us wherever we go. Other than a few isolated incidents when I was serving in Panama 1976-1978 and some very large anti-American protests in Korea (including the ones going on now protesting US beef imports) I have never personally experienced any anti-American sentiment.

Likewise we tend to see things more clearly with our “view from a far” perspective. I don’t want to say that we love our country more or less than someone back home, but we are “ambassadors at large” when we are overseas. People see us and they see America (of course I am continually be mistaken for Canadian, English, Swedish, and one time Italian).

And when something back home happens or something happens overseas involving Americans or American policy we end up carrying more of that luggage.

It was surreal and painful to be overseas when 9-11 happened and in the months following. At first there was this overwhelming shock hearing what had happened and then in the days and weeks after, this unbelievable outpouring of sympathy and kindness from around the world. For a few weeks the whole world was with us and behind us.

But then policy issues got in the way and the sound of the war drums got louder and then suddenly Washington was telling people “either you are with us or against us.” If you would have been overseas at the time that’s probably not the kind of rhetoric you would have wanted choose. From there it was the Axis of Evil, Weapons of Mass Destruction and the invasion of Iraq. Perhaps it could have all played out so differently. Only history will tell us—five, ten, twenty years—down the road if what we did was right or if he messed up things pretty badly.

Foreign and other policies aside, we still must be doing something right judging from all the people lined up outside U.S. embassies in South Korea, Thailand, and other countries around the world wanting to go to the States for whatever reason. That’s one of the biggest ironies in South Korea—during the day there are long lines of people waiting to get in the U.S. Embassy; however, at night in recent weeks there have been thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets next to the embassy protesting against U.S. beef imports.

I know a lot of things back home are not good now—rising unemployment, fuel prices, inflation—and I know it’s got to hurt where it hurts most for average folks just trying to get by from one day to the next. I know if I were probably back home maybe I wouldn’t be so idealistic in my thinking and rhetoric. I am not the guy having to work two jobs to support my family or having to pay over 50.00 to fill up my gas tank. Maybe it’s easy for me to sit here in front of my computer in Korea and talk about how great America is because of what I miss and all the nostalgia I feel. And for that I apologize.

Yes, I am proud to be an American despite all our country’s shortcomings. Maybe we haven’t gotten a lot of things right and we could do much better but that doesn’t change how I feel. I am proud to call myself an American and I am proud of my country.

And that’s what this Fourth of July and every day mean to me.

Today is also my father's birthday, and for once I have not prepared anything. I am not sure I want to swing by the homestead, either. It's a perfect rainy day, I actually got a full night's rest last night (and no dreams), and I have the energy to clean my apartment and the courage to try again with making my dream tank top. My neck is a little stiff, though.

Despite having three short trips planned for November, December, and January, and a long trip planned for February, I think I can save several thousand dollars if I stay at home through March 2010. That is much longer than I'd planned, but it's because I like my job/company enough to not leave in December, during our busy season (original plan). The mom already said I could stay longer than I need, so I can have proper cash on hand. Between now and March '10, I will only take vacation time when I have somewhere to go. Then I will make my last day 2 April 2010. I should get a decent payout of vacation days so I won't feel the "pinch" of unemployment for a few weeks. And I won't make any definite plans besides the trip. I want to see the world and be free before I settle down! All of this replaces (at least for the recent future) my travel guide idea.

Yesterday I was thinking that I had not heard any Randy Moss news in awhile, and then I opened the Yahoo! sports news page and there was an article on how he he bought half of a NASCAR truck team. I like his business sensibilities. I'm so excited for football season.

Oh, and I learned to crochet yesterday. It's ugly, but I know what I am doing.

~ 554am

I haven't been struck with huge inspiration or angst and I'm skimming for guppy's (thanks Dim.)

The thread on Archive.org a while back was pretty funny. And what's more American than the Good old Grateful Dead and Greed er Commerce Vis-a-vis Advertising.

Here are suggestions for Jingles or Ads matching Grateful Dead songs with potential corporate sponsors or products.

Here's is my edited list from way back on April 3, the last one is ironically not as funny. We're America and we don't have word for it.

Truckin' - Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau

Touch of Grey - Just for Men Hair Products

Tons of Steel - Amtrack

Mr. Charlie - Charles Shaw Wines (Two-buck Chuck)

Loose Lucy - Trojans

Attics of my Life - Corning fiberglass insulation

Eyes of the World - LensCrafters

Mama Tried - Ritalin

To lay me down - Motel 6

Loser - The Committee to Elect Hillary Clinton, 2008

[audio=http://ia310131.us.archive.org/1/items/gd90-03-24.fob-schoeps-mattes.miller.28387.sbeok.shnf/gd90-03-24d1t07_64kb.mp3]

Polo Dual - Rugby Royal Blue

To me a more extraordinary coincidence happened on July 4, 1826 as the United States celebrated the 50^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  For on that very day, two of the founding fathers of America, and contributors to the Declaration and past presidents of the country both died within about 3 hours of each other.  John Adams at age 90 and Thomas Jefferson at age 83 both passed away on July 4, 1826.  They had fought for the establishment of the nation, then fought each other for the presidency, but ended their lives as friends and with some understanding of what they had accomplished.

Whether one thinks all things happen providentially or that some things occur serendipitously, it seems totally possible to me that an omniscient God who gifts His human creatures with free will really does take a chance with His humans and makes chance part of His creation and plan.  If this were not the case, then "free will" is a sham and humans are nothing more than automata - carrying out God's will whether they do good or evil.

But a God who is also free and loving, takes great risk in creating free willed beings who have to choose whether or not they will love Him back.   And since the creation of the world, humans have exercised their freedoms, sometimes for good and sometimes for evil.  God on the other hand has synergistically worked with His humans for their salvation. We have at times cooperated with Him in working out our salvation, and at other times have rebelled against Him.   Despite our sins, the merciful God fortuitously engages the world for our salvation. 

Appears in this vintage trading card.

Then this transmission appears from a broad.

[audio=http://stevejerman.com/oface.mp3]

When Back Home was released five years ago, this Alaskan quintet was known as Bearfoot Bluegrass, precocious youngsters performing bluegrass at band camps and festivals.

While youthful, the group has maintained a consistent lineup while spreading across the continent in pursuit of higher education and life experience. Follow Me is their third recording and reveals a confidence and maturity that was not previously in evidence. Freed of the constraints of being perceived as teenage prodigies, Bearfoot has continued the journey toward becoming truly professional musicians.

Today’s Bearfoot has firmly embraced the new acoustic approach previously explored by Nickel Creek and, more recently, by Crooked Still. Bluegrass is present only in the very broadest of definitions.

Bearfoot is Annalisa Tornfelt (guitar and fiddle), Kate Hamre (acoustic bass), Angela Oudean (fiddle), Jason Norris (mandolin), and Mike Mickelson (guitar.) All five sing with the ladies’ voices more prominent than the men’s.

Annalisa has a voice for the ages, and hers is that which Bearfoot relies upon to bring a signature to their sound. Her voice may be described as sultry, but it is more than what that term implies. Like John Reischman & the Jaybirds’ Trisha Gagnon, Annalisa possesses that extra special something — an easy, soulful breathlessness, perhaps — that separates her from others.

Mike’s take of the jam favorite “Deep River Blues” is bluesy and swinging, a description that also applies to several other tunes on the album including the openers “Molasses” and “Go on Home.” Kate sings the lead on the old-timey “The Blackest Crow” and Becky Buller’s “Little Bird” is another highlight.

As time passes, people change and so does the music they want to play. Don’t hold it against Bearfoot that they are no longer the sweet teens who captured imaginations playing bluegrass.

Instead, welcome the mature and fully realized version of the band that has produced an album that should become a favorite.

by Donald Teplyske

It's an album of electric slide guitar and dobro married to strings and rhythm loops that conjure up an atmosphere that's palpable. I've got another opportunity to sing his praises when he plays live on Ghost Trails & Ambient Americana, an Echoes Soundscape for July 4th.

(You can also hear an audio version of this blog, with music)

Back in February, we gathered in an expansive Hollywood Hills home with floor to 18 foot ceiling windows, an ornate fireplace and massive crystal chandelier. Mixed in with construction equipment and sawdust amidst a renovation project was a clutter of amplifiers, guitars, dobro, drums, a string quartet, a French horn player and vibraphone. It's the home of Tom Rothrock. He's the one with the dobro. It looks like an acoustic guitar except instead of a soundhole there is an ornate, acoustically driven, metal speaker.

Tom Rothrock: Hear that. That's the 1930s, this is the technology we're talking about. (Squeeky tuning pegs) These guitars were made in the big band era for soloists and they had a speaker to make them cut through and they traded the tone of a nice instrument for the projection of a metal speaker...

On an album called Resonator, Tom Rothrock projects his dobro into an Americana Electronica. Rothrock is usually found behind the boards as a producer. He cut James Blunt's multimillion selling CD, Back to Bedlam and its worldwide number one hit single, "You're Beautiful."  Before that, all he did was produce Elliott Smith and discover Beck and produce his debut, Mellow Gold. It's the sound of "Loser," that planted the seed of Tom Rothrock's CD, Resonator.

That slide guitar on "Loser?" that was Rothrock.

Tom Rothrock: ....that is a guitar that Beck had back then. It’s a Japanese kind of what we, maybe someone of the 60s someone would call a beach guitar or something . . . and that was the first time we had recorded a slide lick, I think that really, so that really sort of started it for me.

Resonator is an album raunchy slide guitar, elegant strings, bristling textures and driving rhythms that could be the soundtrack for Bladerunner in the west. Tom Rothrock continues to produce, releasing an album by Roman Carter on his own Bongload record label and producing the latest James Blunt album, All the Lost Souls. You can hear Rothrock's Electronica Americana on the album, Resonator. Right now, it's only available online from iTunes.

Tune in to Echoes on July 4th and you can hear that group gathered in Tom Rothrock's living room when they play their only live performance ever on Ghost Trails and Ambient Americana, a July Fourth Soundscape from Echoes. This has been an Echo Location, soundings for new music.
 
 And once again, you can also hear an Audio version of this blog, with music.

John Diliberto

July 2008(((echoes)))