Concert Review: Hot Rod Circuit and Ultimate Fakebook at Bernie’s, Columbus, Ohio (8.31.00)

This one is sort of a cheat, because I was actually a part of this bill. The Stepford Five opened for Hot Rod Circuit and Ultimate Fakebook at Bernie's, thanks to meeting the gents of Ultimate Fakebook a month earlier at the Blind Lemon in Cleveland, where we also shared a bill (along with Mars Electric). We got to talking, as bands occasionally do waiting around before, during and after the bands played, and we ended up being added to this bill.

Both Hot Rod Circuit (If It's Cool With You, It's Cool With Me) and Ultimate Fakebook (This Will Be Laughing Week) had really great records out at the time with a couple of years under their belt, while we were still pretty green half way through our second year as a band. From what I recall, it was just going to be UFB and us, and then HRC were added to the bill. Memory doesn't serve me well here, not sure if this was a one-off for them, or if HRC and UFB ended up doing more dates together.

Retro Concert Review: Josh Rouse At The Black Orchid, Chicago IL (1.19.06)

(Note: this was going to be just a straight-up concert review, but then it got derailed by my brain)

Back in 2006 I traveled to Chicago, IL. to take in a concert by Josh Rouse at the Black Orchid. That sentence, by itself, is completely average and mundane. I was in my twenties, in a band, and going to see live music was something I did almost any weekend. I had actually been to Chicago once before, briefly in 2003 to play a venue called The Note with my band The Stepford Five and our friends Miranda Sound, along with a pair of Chicago bands (Woolworthy and Light FM), on a short tour put together by Donewaiting.com. I managed to do the tourist thing and grab a Chicago Dog at a place around the corner from the venue, but that was the extent of the sightseeing as we had gigs the day before and after that required lots of driving.

Here's the part, in dusting off my memories of this trip, that are putting my brain through a bit of a workout. I went with a girl named Amy (not her real name), who I had met through the music scene here in Columbus and we hung out a bit. We weren't best friends or dating, just a casual "hey, let's hang soon" sort of thing, usually with a group of people. She was a grown-up compared to me, owning a house and having a real job, and liked to go to the Short North galleries that featured local artists, something I wanted to do, but wasn't finding the time to do so. She also listened to music I didn't. She introduced me to Kanye West, thanks to a loud sing-along of "Gold Digger" in her VW Beetle along with several of her female friends on our way to one of the nicer bars in town I never hung out in. She also introduced me to Josh Rouse.

Throw Another Log On The Fire

I haven't written much on the blog recently, but it's not because I'm not busy. In fact, it is (to the consternation of my wife) quite the opposite. Here's what's going on:

DOWN TO HIGH STREET
After building and growing the Columbus music discography database in preparation for the oral history book project currently titled "Down To High Street," I've actually started scheduling and conducting interviews. This is going to be a long process, based on the flexibility to chat with interview subjects, so I have no designs on completing it this year. My hope is by end of 2019, interviews will be done and I'll be on to organizing and editing.

EVEN MORE SMALL STORIES
Upon the release of Small Stories last year, in addition to raised eyebrows about some of the stories from certain family members, I also got a barrage of, "Hey, you know what story was hilarious that you left out? This one!" I compiled those stories, and managed to recall a few others that were not previously written up, and have started the process of fleshing out the full stories for a second volume of Small Stories, which incidentally, is now available over at Amazon via Kindle for just .99 cents.

Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five is now available for order!

Nobody likes to wait, so I decided with the Kindle version of Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five now available for pre-order, it was time to was time to do the same for the paperback version.

As of today, you can order a physical copy and, depending on which shipping option you choose, have it to you by the release date. If you have a Prime account, you'll actually get it a lot sooner than the release date. And if you have a Kindle Unlimited account, the book is available for free.

In addition to the photos in both versions of the book, over at the Stepford Five website, a number of bonus picture galleries are available to peruse.

And of course, if you enjoy it, please leave a review at Amazon and GoodReads. Thanks!

Pre-Order Are You Making A Sound? for Kindle Today

Quick note: Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five won't be out until 3/20, however pre-orders are available for the Kindle version. The Kindle version is a bit different, as the format allows for full color pictures that the paperback version cannot. Well, it can, but I wanted the price low, so the paperback in black and white will be $9.99, as opposed to a full color version that was almost fifty bucks.

New Book Out Next Month - Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five

One month from today: Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five will be released on the 20th anniversary of the first The Stepford Five show, the band I spent ten years in playing bass, singing backup, booking shows, writing web content and more.

Here's the backstory - last year I came to the personal realization that I needed to put a period on the end the proverbial sentence that was the band. We held our last practice sometime in 2008, and then just stopped showing up. I continued on for a year playing music with lead singer Keith Jenkins in his solo band, along with Jason Dziak on drums and a rotating bass player depending on who was available, but by end of the 2009, I was done playing music altogether.

MESH is 18

I used to be in a band. 18 years ago, we released our first album MESH. It has all the hallmarks of a debut album - it hints at what we were to evolve into, it betrays our influences, it showcases our strengths and exposes our weaknesses. It was a lot of fun to write, record and release, and it was an education one the business side that, as an independent band, we never forgot.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

So what happened in 2017?

1. I finally completed the first draft of my novel The Black Sky. It was a long process converting a frustratedly unfinished screenplay into a semi-readable book, and then having friends and family give lots of constructive feedback that has helped shape it into a much more digestible and entertaining read. More on that in a bit.
2. Small Stories was self-published in May. Being a collection of short, personal stories I had written for this website, it was fairly easy to put together, but then I had the added bonus of working with DX Ferris and my mom (who is a damn fine artist, incase you didn’t know) to add illustrations. It turned out great – a small (no pun intended) project that I hope to expand upon in future years.
3. After writing a bunch of short instrumental tunes to accompany The Black Sky, I recorded and released my first solo album, Molokai, in September on Reverbose Records, the old label that my friends and I had in the mid-’00s.
4. Continued making a fun, entertaining and informative Dig Me Out Podcast with my co-host and longtime friend Jason Dziak. Over the years we cultivated a small but strong and loyal listenership, as well as discovered a great group of folks who indulge us by stopping by to chat. Insane that we’ve just wrapped season seven and it feels like we’re just hitting our stride.
5. My now 5-year old daughter discovered her first real interest (ballet) and performed in her first recital. I had a proud father smile for weeks after.
6. My wife continues to be the best thing that ever happened to me. We kept our one-date-a-month plan that busy adults have to do. Hope to expand on that in the coming year.
7. Thanks to an assist from occasional Blue Apron deliveries, I’ve become a better cook and learned how to make vegetables that I actually enjoy eating. Now about that extra twenty pounds I’ve always got laying around…
8. I started playing live music again, joining 90s Pearl Jam tribute band RVM on bass (and reconnecting with my former The Stepford Five bandmate Keith Jenkins). I’ve played one show with them so far, and it was a blast. Looking forward to more, as their a great group of guys who allow me to properly nerd out on Pearl Jam.
9. On a very personal note, in the spring I had what some would call a “panic attack.” I wasn’t really sure what happened, but seeing a counselor after and since has helped me realize I’ve probably been dealing with some severe anxiety issues my entire life that I could never properly identify or verbalize. In retrospect, this has probably damaged some of my relationships and personal experiences, and I’m working on that going forward. It wasn’t easy to come to grips with the idea that I wasn’t completely mentally well, because mental health management has a stigma, and there are certainly people suffering with more difficult and debilitating issues than my circumstance, but I’m working on it, and will continue to do so.

All that said, here’s what’s going on in 2018:

1. I will have two new albums of ambient/electronic/experimental instrumental music out this year. The first, Sanur, will be released in January, the second sometime during the summer. These will both be out on Reverbose, and my ambition is to release music by artists other than myself. I’ve already reached out to folks whose music I admire and enjoy and hope to work with them on releasing new music in this and coming years. I want to be a part of putting more art and creativity into the world after sitting on the sidelines for almost a decade after the initial demise of Reverbose and my band.
2. I spent a good deal of 2017 researching, digging through personal and band archives, and compiling a history of the music I helped make with The Stepford Five. A personal passion project, I needed to put the final bow on the decade I spent making music with Jason, Keith and Mark, so in March, on the 20th anniversary of our first show, I will be publishing Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five. It compiles our website news, gig, and studio diaries with hundreds of photos and observations not just about the band, but about the music scene we were apart of and the evolution of the internet as it relates to our time in the band. More news on that after the new year.
3. In addition to a follow-up to Small Stories, currently creatively titled Even More Small Stories, I have two non-fiction books I hope to begin working on for release either in 2018 or 2019. The first is a collection of journal entries my mother kept during the onset of my grandfather’s dementia, along with art she made at the time using found objects and images in his house. It will be an emotionally challenging project, but an important one. The second is sitting down with my 94-year old great uncle Mike who was crew member of a World War II bomber that flew 30+ missions over Germany. What is remarkable is that he kept a journal of every bombing run they made, I believe his story is worth sharing with the world.
4. The Black Sky will move forward one way or another. Both as a member of an indie band, and as an aspiring screenwriter, I know getting the attention of an agent/publishers has long odds, but based on the feedback I received this year, I’m willing to give it a go. If not, I’ll self-publish. Either way, it’s coming out some time in 2018.
5. Dig Me Out will be entering into new territory as our Patreon patrons scooped up pretty much every available album review spot available. It’s a good problem to have, because for the first time since we started this thing seven years ago, we’re financially in the black going into 2018.
6. More time with family, more time with friends. Better, healthier food. Less pounds. Now that I’ve recognized my issue with anxiety, it’s time to face it and aspire to be happier. Part of that means living in and for the moment (not, like, yolo) by not being distracted by electronics and superfluous stuff. That also means making more art, both on my own and with others, as well as supporting the art and creativity of others.

So that’s it, I’m sure I forgot stuff. 2017 was a revelation of sorts. 2018 continues the new direction. Never know what’s going to happen, might as well find out.

I'm A Guest! Hear Me On the Do You Know Who You Are? Podcast

Writer, journalist, musician, blogger and podcaster Eric Grubbs has visited the Dig Me Out Podcast many times, and so he decided to have Jason and I on to discuss the podcast and dig into our history with The Stepford Five. It was a fun chat and nice to not have to study for recording a podcast.