1. Big Guns
2. Come To Find
3. Expanding Universe
4. TV With
5. Local Rock Show
6. Buddy Miller
7. Before I’ve Had 3
8. Except You
9. I Miss You
10. Something Important
11. Hadn’t Told Her So
12. Aliens
13. Missouri

14. In The Red (2010)
15. Here With Me (2000)
16. Night From Day (2006)
17. Don’t Go Away (2002)
18. Big Guns (2011)

If you’d like a copy, let me know.
Best,
-Joe

Seth Pendergrass (drums) is an old homeschool compadre & when he & his buddy Ben taught me some Cream in his folks’ basement in the mid ’90s it was the first time I’d played with anyone else. I wasn’t any good & they weren’t impressed. I can’t really go on about how he contributed a lot of sweat & blood to this record because for Seth a couple studio sessions of pop tunes was a piece of cake. But I’ve been meaning to borrow his skills for 15 years so I’m glad to check that off the bucket list.

Greg MacNair (violin) plays on all my records. He sounds really good but as an added bonus, he doesn’t need to practice. I play him the song & then hit record & he plays the song. It’s a joy to work with him because he does all the work & makes it look like play.

Maggie Clements (BGVs) has a super pro voice — she was perfect as Emmylou on my Buddy Miller tune. I really appreciate her sitting in & lending some harmony.

Tim Rakel (banjo) is a St Louis rockstar with a half dozen bands to his name, as well as his own radio show on KDHX. In addition to pursuing the fine crafts of songwriting & a half dozen instruments, the man has a sense of history, a rare thing indeed.

Sean Canan (guitar) is an honest working musician, which says a lot about his musicianship. His ace axe work carries & defines the two songs he played on.

Walter Wroughton (bass) is a fine woodsmith, especially when the wood is a bass guitar. Sometimes a keyboard bass just doesn’t cut it & you need the real thing. After years of seeing him play with the Ottomen it was a treat to welcome him to my living room.

Susannah Eisenbraun (BGVs): what a cool voice & what fun to have close company on this little adventure.

Best,
-Joe

So far I’d like to arrange these 14:
Big Guns
Aliens
Pile of Beans
Clear As A Bell (rewrite of 2006 Bside from Selected Short Works)
Night From Day (released on Essays In Pop)
TV With
Before I’ve Had 3 (rewrite of “Better Person When I Drink” from the Old North EP)
Except You
Don’t Go Away (rewrite from the Dynamite Sessions)
Climb The Walls
I Miss You
Buddy Miller
I Wish I Hadn’t Told Her So

Andy Malkus is going to lend a hand with BGVs & some guitar work. Listen to it here.

Best,
-Joe

-Joe

I was listening to a lot of Gurf Morlix, Buddy Miller, & James McMurtry when I wrote these songs in August & September. Patrick & I had only intended to do 4 or 5 acoustic songs, but it kind of snowballed. Half way through the recording, I wrote a half dozen even better songs & we even had time to bring in some guest musicians. Greg MacNair, Maggie Clements & Jeff Thompson all play with local band & friends Barefoot Jones. They each came by for a couple hours & it gave us a little more depth & variety to have the help. Another help was the keyboard factor. We used a keyboard on almost every single song, including a Rhodes, an Apollo baby grand, a Lowrey Teenie Genie & a more traditional Yamaha synthesizer. They were each tuned differently so we had to decide which we were using before we put down the guitar so we could tune accordingly. I’ll put a few up soon on MySpace & the whole album on Last.Fm
Best,
-Joe

In The Red
Just A House
Let You Down
Lord Have Mercy
Sweet Love Song
Sad At Me
Why’s She Cry
Son of Cain
The Bed I Made

Maybe the record should be called “Those Three Words” or “Three More Words” since I see that all the song titles have three words in them, except one.

Patrick did good work. We thought we’d do 4 or 5 songs acoustically but it snowballed & we ended up calling up in BGVs, violins, & even drums for a couple tunes.

Best,
-Joe

Best, -Joe

Best, -Joe