Where Has the Time Gone

It has been so long that one of us posted that we both forgot the password to blogger.

It has been a few months since the last post, but life has been busy as we not only continued to gig but also changed jobs, completed degrees (Pearl), and watched over sick cats.

Here's an update on our doings (not all music-related) since our last post (in no particular order).

1. Gigs at the Swing State in Lake Villa (our first all-ages hookah lounge)
2. Pearl completes her Ph.D. and becomes Dr. Drummer
3. The kitchen gets painted
4. Ben, our cat, is diagnosed with lymphoma
5. Brian buys more Home Brew pedals
6. Brian begins playing bass for an R&B band in Chicago
7. Brian gets six and twelve string Seagull acoustics
9. Brian buys and trades more guitars then Pearl can remember right now.
10. Brian get 2 new bass amps (GK 400RB and an Ampeg B2R
11. Covering "White Line Fever" by Merle Haggard for the trucker issue of Roctober.

Gigs have slowed down as we adjust to new day jobs and nurse an ailing cat, but plans are in the works for a new recording hopefully this Christmas.

So, that's what new here. If you're interested in receiving notices of gigs, then drop us an e-mail at shortpunksinlove@sbcglobal.net

GIG ALERT: Hotti Biscotti, Friday, April 11

Short Punks will be performing this Friday, April 11 at
Hotti Biscotti
3545 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago
Tel: (773) 292-6877
Show starts at 9 PM.
No cover.

On the bill, is Bill Liggett, singer-songwriter extraordinaire, and Tim Wais with his band, Jungle of Cities.

We're all alumni of the Chicago Acoustic Underground podcasts: Short Punks (episode 32); Tim Wais (episode 38); and Bill Liggett (episode 22). CAU is a great forum for local Chicago artists and has helped many of us find an audience.

GIG ALERT

Tomorrow (3/23), Hotti Biscotti at 9 PM.

Just Brian and his new acoustic Seagull guitar and me on snare. We're last minute fill-ins. It should be a mellow, relaxing evening so if you're looking for some place to hang out, drop by!

Hotti Biscotti
3545 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago
Tel: (773) 292-6877

Short Punks: The Latest Review

In the recent issue of Roctober, Brian found this short notice about our first CD.

Short Punks in Love. Moody indie with a nice balance of resonant guitar and spare percussion. Far less cutesy than the band name, but just as romantic (actually, more so).

Thanks to Jake Austin for the notice -- it's nice to be noticed. Meanwhile, if you still haven't heard our debut CD, then send us an e-mail at shortpunksinlove@sbcglobal.net with your mailing address and we'll send you one for FREE!

Guitar Geek Alert!

I just found out last night that Joel at Homebrew Electronics has decided to use my sound clip of his Uno Mos boost pedal on the HBE site. Click on the link to their page and you can hear me rocking out with my Tele, my old Fender Champ, and Joel's Uno Mos (well, it's 30 seconds of rock, but even a little rock is enough). If you go to their page, scroll down and click on the "Uno Mos (Fender Champ)" clip to listen.
I'm honored because I have been a fan of Joel's effects since I picked up his Germania booster last year. Also, as many of you know, I am a huge Journey fan, and the band's guitarist Neal Schon is one of Joel's featured artists on the HBE site (he uses one of Joel's overdrive pedals). So Short Punks and the dude from Journey are sharing some web space (Andy, I know you're out there digging that).
For our non-guitar geek readers, I should explain that the Uno Mos and the Germania are basically volume boosters; when you put one in between your guitar and your amp, and you flick the switch, you get a very sweet overdriven sound as the pedal increases the volume of your guitar's pick-ups and makes the tubes in your amp work a little harder. You know those sounds Clapton got early in his career with Mayall and Cream? Rory Gallagher's beautiful live sound? Tony Iommi's dark distortion on Sabbath's records? Brian May's guitar symphonies? The Edge's distinctive, bell-like tone? All of that comes from treble-boosters like the Germania or the Uno Mos. For those with sensitive ears, this also means you can get that classic, crunchy guitar sound without turning up your amp to nosebleed volumes.
I have two more of Joel's pedals...a Mock I delay (which gives you an echoey, slap-back, '50s sound; think old Elvis and Johnny Cash records) and a Tramp, which is a tremolo/pre-amp. What does that one do? It varies the volume of your guitar sound to give you the tone you've heard on tons of surf and late-'50s/'60s pop records...the best example? That pulsating sound Link Wray gets on "Rumble." In a few words...full-on-rock!
Joel's stuff is elegantly built, sturdy, and very affordable for gigging musicians. His pedals sound great no matter what kind of music you play. They not only record well, but they are some of the best effects I've ever used live. Some pedals sound great in the studio but sound muddy or overly artificial and indistinct on stage. Joel's stuff always sounds warm, organic, and present in a live setting.
Oh, and since he's using the clip on his site, I also won a free pedal! I won't say which one just yet, but I'm sure I will be using it on the new CD...thanks, Joel!

The Champ!

So a few people have asked me about the new songs we've been writing over the past few months. I did some preliminary recording today of riffs which will show up on the new CD. This photo might give you some idea of the sound I've been looking for...for the last six months I've been listening to Jimmie Vaughan, Peter Green's early Fleetwood Mac songs, The Stooges (again!), Freddie King and, to balance off the blues, the greatest hits from OMD (yes you remember them and you love "If You Leave"--admit it!) and The Chills. We'll be recording this CD ourselves as we did the first one...this is a shot of the guitar set-up I've been using: and new Gibson Melody Maker, my old Fender Champ, and a few pedals (that's an Homebrew Uno Mos booster which sound very Faces-like with the Gibson and the Champ). That's great for you gear-heads, but what is the new sound? I'll post a rough demo of one of the new songs, "The Jackson Stomp," in the next few days. Since Rosie and Ben both have songs about them, we figured Jackson the bunny should be next...!

Gear Acquisition Timeline (GAT)

Now that I have reduced the number of guitars to just three here in the Short Punks house, Pearl has suggested I create a great archive. I think of this as my Dickens-like holiday review of guitars past. Do I miss any of these? Not really. They served a purpose and marked certain periods in my life and when those times were done, the guitars and I had to move on. I have photos of most of these instruments so I may add illustrations as I find them. Unfortunately there is no existing picture of my Mickey Mouse guitar. I'm sure it will look much better in your imagination than it did in real-life...let's see, where shall we begin...?

1990...The Mickey Mouse guitar. After listening closely to Lou Reed, Paul Westerberg, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and The Edge, I found I had the urge to learn guitar. My parents took me to a Toys-R-Us on Cape Cod (we were on vacation) and I found a plastic toy with plastic strings and a chord sheet. I learned all my cowboy chords on this guitar.

Christmas 1990...an Applause student-model acoustic guitar my mom found for me at T.C.'s Pawn and Gun in Waterbury. I played this guitar for years, did a lot of gigs with it, wrote a lot of songs. I think my mom gave it to my cousin, so it's got a good home.

Spring 1991...fake Les Paul from T.C.'s Pawn and Gun. This guitar looked kind of like a Les Paul, Jr., which some kid had assembled in shop class. It had cardboard shims in the neck and a horrible wiring job. On the plus side, it was easy to play, had two great humbuckers (which had been sabotaged by the faulty wiring), and a brass nut. I think my cousin has this one, two, or it's been recycled and gone back to the earth which spawned it.

Winter 1991...a Grand Prix Telecaster. I bought this for $75 at Blue Mountain Guitar in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Within a week the nut had fallen off the neck and I tried to repair the guitar with super-glue. It never stayed in tune and had a pointy head-stock, so it was the unholy union of amber-colored Tele body with a hair-metal neck. I pawned it at T.C.'s for my next instrument...

Winter 1993...a Peavey Fury bass. In the fall of 1992 I joined my first band. I couldn't get very far with my Grand Prix guitar and Matrix amp (sort of like a Gorilla practice amp without the fake "tube" overdrive), so I rented a bass and bass amp and, within twenty-four hours, I was a bass player. I needed a bass for my first gigs in early 1993 and ended up back at T.C.'s trading my barely-playable Grand Prix for a Peavey Fury with a warped neck. I used a shoelace to keep the A-string intonated. A small family of trolls could have lived in the huge gap between the strings and the fretboard. A few years later I asked Duke (dukeplaysbass.com) to fix the neck. His response? "Nice log. You got a fireplace to go with it?"

Winter '92/'93...Fender Squire Stratocaster. Made in Korea. Great neck, comfortable body. This was my first playable guitar. I got it for Christmas, but the day my dad came up to Dartmouth to take me home for the break, I had a massive hangover. Having never gotten drunk before, especially on cheap red wine of all things, I was afraid my parents would take the guitar back to Blue Mountain. When we got back to Connecticut that evening I tried playing it but I still pretty toasted.

I will add details to the next set of guitars as soon as I get back from Christmas shopping...

Summer 1994...Rickenbacker 335 from Banko's Music in Ansonia, CT. I traded this in at Blue Note Guitars in Northampton, Mass., in 2004 just before Pearl and I moved to Louisiana.

Fall 1994...Yamaha 12-string acoustic from--you guessed it--T.C.'s Pawn and Gun.

Fall 1996...Gibson Les Paul Studio from Banko's Music in Ansonia, CT.

Summer 1998...Fender Tex-Mex Telecaster from Lasalle Music in East Hartford, CT.

Summer 1999...Martin D-15 acoustic from Banko's.

Spring 2000...Danelectro reissue Longhorn bass from Banko's.

Summer 2000...Rickenbacker 335 12-string from Banko's.

Fall 2000...Fender reissue '62 Jazzmaster from Lasalle's Music.

Spring 2005...the Great Gear Sell-Off! Green Ibanez bass from some little shop in Baton Rouge, LA.

Spring 2005...A red MIM Fender Stratocaster from C & M Music in Baton Rouge.

Spring 2005...G & L L-2000 Tribute Bass from Fat Katz Music in Baton Rouge.

Spring 2005...Fender American Jazz Bass from Fat Katz in Baton Rouge.

Summer 2005...Used MIM green Fender Stratocaster from the Old Town School of Folk Music garage sale.

Fall 2005...Martin SWOMGT acoustic from Old Town.

Winter 2006...MIM Fender Precision Bass from Guitar Works, Ltd., in Evanston, IL.

Spring 2006...MIM Fender ash-body Telecaster..from Guitar Center (say it ain't so!).

Summer 2006...G&L L-2000 bass from some little shop in the Chicago suburbs.

Fall 2006...Ibanex Artstar hollowbody from The Music Shop on Irving Park Road in Chicago.

Winter 2006...gold MIM anniversary Stratocaster from Guitar Works in Evanston.

Winter 2007...Reverend Flatroc from Ax in Hand in Schaumburg, IL.

Spring 2007...Reverend Charger from Ax in Hand.

Summer 2007...Reverend Buckshot from Ax in Hand.

Summer 2007...MIM purple Fender Standard Stratocaster.

Fall 2007...Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany from Fat Tone Guitars in Northbrook, IL.

Fall 2007...Fender American Telecaster from Midwest Buy & Sell in Chicago.

Only THREE of these guitars remain. If you can correctly guess which three, I will buy you the Mountain or Hawkwind album of your choice! Have at it!