There was this one gig where we recorded a live album and then decided to give it away for free.... Actually, it took more than one gig. But what started at Winter Jam 2019 became a new way for us to make a record - LIVE, as a hootenanny should be. With the help of folks clapping a little off-the-beat, a drunken singalong, a rogue fan jumping on stage with a tambourine, and even some lakeside katydids chirping, this was the making of Live Americana.
It seemed only fitting to share this album freely with all our people, one song per week, between two national holidays - one that celebrates American labor, and one that offers thanks before folks go all wackadoodles on Black Friday trying to snatch their idea of the American dream from a Walmart shelf.
I know, I know! We make poor capitalists. But Hey - if you want to pay for it, you still can. Live Americana will go on sale at our album release party at TUPPS Brewery on November 23rd. Go there with all your friends, buy them all CD's, buy them our swanky new tee-shirts, and buy us a beer. But we offer it to you for gratis before you stuff the turkey with a can of Shiner Bock. It's our thanks to all of you for supporting us these past seven years. Ain't no hootenanny without you.
Just as the series starts and ends with a national holiday, it'll start and end with two of our American-themed tunes. "Life Americana" seemed an appropriate way to kick it off - a song about the innocent wonder at what's over yonder back when there were still frontiers to explore.
It ain't discovered as much as dreamed
There's places over yonder that I ain't yet seen
And maps ain't made by those who stay behind
It ain't got law and it ain't got order
Ain't got a flag and it ain't got a border
Life Americana is just a state of mind
And bringing the series to a close is "New America," our little folk-punk ditty about what's become of that American dream, as we swing outward to the left and right in a land full of borders and paradoxes.
Give us your huddled mass, unless you're underclass
Get yours I got mine, melting pot or Frankenstein
And in between, you're gonna hear a bunch of new tunes that have never seen a studio - "Get Born," "Circus," and "The Frisco Line," as well as a few covers like "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Come Together." Thirteen songs in all will be shared via email with our fans between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. And please, feel free to share them with your pals, or direct folks to our website where they can hop on our email train. That's where the party will be!
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