tag:griftersandshills.com,2005:/blogs/news-and-updates-from-rebecca-and-john?p=2News and Updates from Rebecca and John2023-12-01T11:42:24-06:00Grifters & Shillsfalsetag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/73122372023-12-01T11:42:24-06:002023-12-01T11:42:24-06:00Always Looking Forward<p>Hello friends, and happy December to you!! </p><p>As we head towards the end of this year, we are looking ahead with much on our minds. We have a mix of excitement, uncertainty, concern for the unknown, and open hearts and minds as we continue looking forward. I normally try to keep emails and social media posts short, because that's what they say works best, but I realized I don't know who “they” are, so…a little more length this time. </p><p>First, we want to thank each and every one of you for all you do for us. Seeing you at shows, streaming our songs, buying shirts and stickers (and sticking those stickers in the best places haha), or just hearing back from you via email or social media or any of the many ways we can reach out to each these days. We appreciate all of it, and we count ourselves the luckiest people to have you in our lives, even if we only see you once a year. We've been doing this thing for some years now, and it's funny how it just keeps on changing in size and shape as the years tick by. One thing that doesn't change is this embarrassment of riches we feel to have you in our lives. </p><p>Next year is going to be a different year for us. Reckon we could've written that sentence every year for the last several, now that I think about it. Ha! But the difference this time has a unique shape to it. It feels very much like a new chapter - or a new section - or some analogy to when you turn the page of a book and it's this whole new thing (this is John writing this email - if Rebecca were writing, she is much smarter than I and could nail that analogy). I'm getting knee surgery in a couple weeks, and we'll be away from live shows for awhile as he heals up. Our goal is a return in about June, and we're planning a tour around Pondstock (IYKYK) to kick off this new chapter. We've got all this anxiety for what may or may not be, but at the end of it, we are looking forward to it. </p><p>Why are we looking forward to it? Because we're anxious to write some new material. On that note, I'm happy to say that we just kicked off writing on a new song last night. It's been a bit of a drought as we've been working these songs from “Fireball” so hard, and momentum is both a blessing and a curse. But today is we look into December and some quiet days ahead, I am STOKED as these major changes to that horrible thing called “routine” are what makes memories, and where our songs always tend to come from. </p><p>For local folks, we will be seeing you on the other side of the stage. Forgive my hobbling self as I crutch to my chair, but I can't wait to watch all your shows during these times we won't have our own.</p><p>We're also very much looking forward to the VINYL release of our album FIREBALL next year. That'll come around sometime in the Springtime. It's a double-record, with bonus content only available on vinyl. </p><p>And last, for now, we've got just a few shows left on this year, in what we call the “Holiday Hobble” as we wind these next couple weeks down. Of particular note, our year-end party is Dec. 16th, with our Ronnie's Hog Heaven family. We'll be there with our friends in Junebird and March Divide, and with our besties Brightwire. Mark your calendar and come holler at the moon once more with us. It'll be awhile until we do that again here in the local area.</p><p>Cheers y'all and if you've made it this far, thanks for helping me prove “them” wrong, those that say shorter is better on these kinds of things. It's nice to be able to range out and a bit and share a few minutes of life with you friends. </p><p>Big love y'all - see you soon,<br>John (and Rebecca, who approves of this message but wishes I would've got the “chapter” analogy right haha) </p><p> </p><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/a74402e7d888e26b4ff094018343580d85f24097/original/20231127-195504.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p><hr><p>Dec 8 BRENHAM TX: Floyds Lounge <br>Dec 9 HOUSTON TX: Sofar Sounds <br>Dec 16 DICKINSON TX: Ronnie's Hog Heaven w/Brightwire / The March Divide / Junebird **YEAR END PARTY**</p><hr><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>:</strong><br><a class="no-pjax" href="https://u648841.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=dHpxOUg9HxHSBZx-2FynzhT5NHRjJjJ43d6alBhjDy-2FoZxqNaW-2FNFQb0WrsBW3tzdH095dYVJqdVSih4uLezV3bI89GOJobQ8Oibvh93Yr5bAjIedpYGg-2BskkS4M-2BeBcAZZ7uuy2BitOVePVkRqhkvZwCDfH8AMLqqBSLTX1Tj3p0-3DT7QJ_sq5OzHfXv8AvyQKvUzrpqA-2FG-2Bp7Ujv9PXOQnMmBN9yKybCOh-2B5G1Xle3U19OsuDzNq8wcqmu569aS34KWdJqdSJej8wJ0lu7kMO3jfOrCrHPh3oJAleboEJa9aLAqjxGPa-2FLoDPNpaqj0x3FoPIhCkoP-2FB2pKsyq-2F9dApCPhpvxKurbxiyjhdMrP-2B-2FpTB4NI-2Bu9r4FYaEaP0nYuCwvmDLnsipvWJOKGXEXscwaRXvCE7Yegq6-2BQDWlC4CoD3lAannKKSWbp4FTyyPx2-2F8yYTXIauFY-2BoJxW2bel1TB0vhIUcLW9Lk0MnaMK61fMjiro1EbQtwZHwODgq-2Bp82Xuslsg-3D-3D" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u648841.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3DdHpxOUg9HxHSBZx-2FynzhT5NHRjJjJ43d6alBhjDy-2FoZxqNaW-2FNFQb0WrsBW3tzdH095dYVJqdVSih4uLezV3bI89GOJobQ8Oibvh93Yr5bAjIedpYGg-2BskkS4M-2BeBcAZZ7uuy2BitOVePVkRqhkvZwCDfH8AMLqqBSLTX1Tj3p0-3DT7QJ_sq5OzHfXv8AvyQKvUzrpqA-2FG-2Bp7Ujv9PXOQnMmBN9yKybCOh-2B5G1Xle3U19OsuDzNq8wcqmu569aS34KWdJqdSJej8wJ0lu7kMO3jfOrCrHPh3oJAleboEJa9aLAqjxGPa-2FLoDPNpaqj0x3FoPIhCkoP-2FB2pKsyq-2F9dApCPhpvxKurbxiyjhdMrP-2B-2FpTB4NI-2Bu9r4FYaEaP0nYuCwvmDLnsipvWJOKGXEXscwaRXvCE7Yegq6-2BQDWlC4CoD3lAannKKSWbp4FTyyPx2-2F8yYTXIauFY-2BoJxW2bel1TB0vhIUcLW9Lk0MnaMK61fMjiro1EbQtwZHwODgq-2Bp82Xuslsg-3D-3D&source=gmail&ust=1701533911939000&usg=AOvVaw2Hytam2omCk7Vle-_EJ1UI"><strong><u>https://linktr.ee/griftersands<wbr>hills</wbr></u></strong></a><br><strong>:</strong></p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72399022023-07-11T07:11:47-05:002023-10-16T09:49:58-05:00Track 3 on FIREBALL, "Black Widow Blues"<p>One of our home venues in the Houston/Galveston area is the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. It’s a place we visit regularly–on both sides of the stage. The Old Quarter is one of those rare and special places in the world–revered by audiences and bands alike–and we are lucky as hell to be able to go there so frequently.</p><p>Every New Year’s Day, the Old Quarter hosts a wake in honor of the late songwriter Townes Van Zandt, who died on New Year’s Day in 1997. Musicians who attend the wake are encouraged to play three Townes songs (and swig the communal orange soda and vodka onstage). About six or seven years ago (pandemic interruptions make it hard to keep track), we began attending the wake regularly. “Black Widow Blues” is one of the Townes songs we worked up for that event. It’s not a well-known Townes song, but we kind of like it for that reason. We found our voice in it, and we’ve very much enjoyed playing it on that stage.</p><p>One night after a show there in the Summer of 2022, we spent some time talking with Joel (the owner of the Old Quarter) and the Barkers (of Brightwire). Joel had the idea that someone should do a documentary about the Old Quarter–to record some living history of this amazing venu while the folks who are part of these stories and lore are still around to talk about it. Without hesitation, we all jumped onboard, and just like that, the grass roots documentary crew was born. We dove in with both feet and started interviewing people and capturing footage. For our part, we don’t really have any idea what we’re doing, but we’re doing it anyway, and we are tremendously grateful to be a small part of this piece of history.</p><p>So when it came time to finalize song choices for “Fireball”, including one of our Townes songs felt very appropriate. The Old Quarter and the fine folks who keep it running are all so important to us and to the music community as a whole. We feel honored to pay homage to the club and capture a memory of this particular time in our lives.</p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/afff291a3ab913739e863a4de51df247fd4d89bf/original/promo-frame-03-black-widow.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72254962023-06-12T20:50:14-05:002023-06-12T20:50:15-05:00**𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋! 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝟒, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤, “𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋"**<p><meta charset="utf-8"></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The title track of the album is based on one of us writing about the other, and one of us writing about herself, so we thought both perspectives might provide some good context and back story for this song.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">(John) The title track for the album, this one came to life as a simple riff played on a three-string cigar box one afternoon early in the pandemic, when we were trying to get used to the fact that music venues were closed, and everywhere (it felt) was closed. I was playing around with this little guitar riff (which would become the verse) while at the same time watching our calendar in 2020 get rearranged by forces outside our control. Wallowing in despair, I thought it was all over–“it” of course being undefined and just kind of the existential “everything”. But no! This riff brought me some comfort, and one day I saw Rebecca walking around the house and I was like “man I get to hang out with one FIREBALL HOT ROD FAST MACHINE of a lady, what the hell am I complaining about?”. And there it was–the idea that sparked the song, and as our usual process goes, anything I write goes to Rebecca to become an actual good song (as I’m prone to spilling out random ideas, some of which are good, and many of which are not). Rebecca sorts the good from the bad, and most importantly, she writes them into actual songs. So I gave this to her and said “hey, I had an idea to write a song about how hot you are, but I only wrote one line, can you write the rest of it”? </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">(Rebecca) This song was called “Cigar Box Shuffle” for far longer than I’d like to admit. John came up with the base rockabilly vibe on the three-string cigar box, and since we’d been trying to write more on that instrument for awhile, it seemed like we had the beginning of something good. Problem was, it really didn’t have any words. But we liked it, and John spent a little time drafting out some concepts for the overall feel–nothing really set in stone yet. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The idea was there, but not much else, when John asked me to finish writing a song he said he was writing about me. When we write together, there’s usually a little more to go on at this point, but we talked through what the tone and style needed to be, and I went to work getting the lyrics in place. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">I kept the opening line he wrote, and a few others throughout–in particular, my favorite line of the song: “Low down high life, living the dream”. But it stalled again as we tried to find the third verse, so for the first several performances of this song, we just repeated the first verse at the end. That’s not a formula I care for though, and I worried that we’d perform it that way too long and it would stick. After a month or so, I sat down over coffee and the third verse basically fell out. With that in place, we were able to finalize the composition of the last chorus and outro, and it was finally finished.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Well, almost. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The title stayed “Cigar Box Shuffle” well after we realized that the range of the cigar box (mostly G) was not going to fit the key we ended up playing the song in (D) and moved it over to the archtop guitar. That was only ever a placeholder title to begin with, and it didn’t even make sense any more. I love to title songs with something that’s from the song, but that’s not necessarily obvious. And combing through the lyrics and phrases, I thought that “Fireball” summed up the vibe, the sound, and the theme in a delightfully punchy way, which also worked out quite nicely as a title track for the record. (Way better than “Cigar Box Shuffle”!)</span></p><p dir="ltr"> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/497a2217d965c5e6ca6eae2dff4f23f3a174c29a/original/img-1140001.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p> </p><p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72182562023-06-06T09:00:00-05:002023-06-06T09:00:01-05:00SONG REVEAL! Track 13 on FIREBALL, "Why I Drink"<p><meta charset="utf-8"></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The story of our now-traditional set closer began in the pandemic, some time after we started doing our “Thursday Happy Hour” livestream. For those who didn’t catch it, the format of the livestream was that we’d make a drink on camera at 5:30pm on Thursday, then play about half an hour of songs afterward–it was a nice way to celebrate happy hour with friends in the “virtual” realm. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">During this time, John was in the midst of finishing his degree in Mathematics, and was pushing himself very hard both in his day job and in school at night. He woke up one Thursday morning feeling low-down, just totally beat down by life in general, and that Thursday we joked about why we even woke up this morning. What’s the point–it’s just gonna be a long day and a heavy load with more to do when we’re done. But then we remembered it was Thursday Happy Hour, and answering the question of why we woke up, we decided that it was “so that I could drink”. It felt funny but also kind of sad, which is the blue-ribbon formula for writing a country song. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The rest of the lyrics came along quickly as we embraced our many challenges, letting the challenges serve as reasons we pour up another round at the end of a long week, or in the case of this song, on any given day. The key line of the song came in the chorus, as we wrote: </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">“So god damn, this is where I stand...“</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">A defiant line showing us fighting back against the things that were weighing on us, a raised fist and a warning to the many challenges coming our way that we, not you, will win. But the second half of that line went right back to humor, and to the reality of those Thursdays during the shutdown:</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">“...in line at the liquor store, a bottle in my hand.” </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">It’s a great hook, and the song found its home as our set closer. That was set in stone after our tour with Brightwire in 2022. This was one of the songs the five of us played together, and by far, the highlight of the song, the set, and the night, is always when Sam Barker riles up the crowd to sing along on the choruses.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">As we set about recording this song, the form and instrumentation of the song were pretty well set. We knew we wanted drums and bass, acoustic guitar, and a light electric rhythm. What we didn’t know was how to treat the lead guitar. John tried several things, but John’s a rock guy, and we realized we needed traditional country. So we called up our good friend Willy T. Golden, and he came over to our little studio and laid down a pedal steel line that put this song over the top. He just NAILED it. Nothing could be more perfect than what he contributed. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Yet another moment when we get to step back and express gratitude for the number of talented friends we have around us. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://griftersandshills.bandcamp.com/track/why-i-drink"><span style="color:#000000;">https://griftersandshills.bandcamp.com/track/why-i-drink</span></a></p><p dir="ltr"> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/70b9753f5dd3e0699da7b168fc48293483ad2bf2/original/promo-frame-13-why-i-drink.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p> </p><p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72177552023-05-31T09:00:00-05:002023-05-31T09:00:02-05:00SONG REVEAL! Track 12 on FIREBALL, "Live on Purpose"<div class="" style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(28, 43, 51);font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' data-block="true" data-editor="a8nrj" data-offset-key="3q4kd-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" style="direction:ltr;position:relative;text-align:left;white-space:pre-wrap;" data-offset-key="3q4kd-0-0"><span data-offset-key="3q4kd-0-0" data-text="true">Over the next several weeks, we'll be rolling out the songs on the new album. We're also revealing the backstory to every song. This week we're featuring the song "Live on Purpose". Here's how this song that's so important to us came to be.</span></div></div><div class="" style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(28, 43, 51);font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' data-block="true" data-editor="a8nrj" data-offset-key="2t42k-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" style="direction:ltr;position:relative;text-align:left;white-space:pre-wrap;" data-offset-key="2t42k-0-0" data-auto-logging-id="f2dd1f29546894c"> </div></div><div class="" style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(28, 43, 51);font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' data-block="true" data-editor="a8nrj" data-offset-key="75vm8-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" style="direction:ltr;position:relative;text-align:left;white-space:pre-wrap;" data-offset-key="75vm8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="75vm8-0-0" data-text="true">**𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋! 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝟏𝟐 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋, "𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞"**</span></div></div><div class="" style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(28, 43, 51);font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' data-block="true" data-editor="a8nrj" data-offset-key="5d1ha-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" style="direction:ltr;position:relative;text-align:left;white-space:pre-wrap;" data-offset-key="5d1ha-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5d1ha-0-0" data-text="true">https://griftersandshills.bandcamp.com/track/live-on-purpose</span></div></div><div class="" style='-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(28, 43, 51);font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;' data-block="true" data-editor="a8nrj" data-offset-key="93ood-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" style="direction:ltr;position:relative;text-align:left;white-space:pre-wrap;" data-offset-key="93ood-0-0"><meta charset="utf-8"></div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">One of the defining moments during the writing of this album was the day that we got the call in April 2021 that our friend Duane Mark (Mark Davenport) passed away. To lose this larger than life personality, this source of love and creativity, and this pillar to our music community was a shock to the system, to say the least. We were all gutted.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">We met Mark years ago during the Choice City Stomp at the Swing Station in La Porte, CO, and we hit it off instantly. We talked with him at length that day about running sound and cooking–he was one of those people who you’re instantly at ease with. We were such newbies then and got all tongue-tied when he called us out from stage after we’d played. We thanked him for that when we got to talking to him later, and he gave us our favorite advice that we still laugh about to this day: At a show with other bands on the bill, you ALWAYS acknowledge the bands before and after you, and when your set is over, you get your shit off the stage immediately. Even now, when someone leaves a mess of gear on stage too long, one of us always says, “Duane Mark would have something to say about that.”</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">We had the good fortune of playing several more shows with him after that day, and hosting him at our place a couple of times. We still look back and laugh about the late-but-too-early mornings spent stumbling over each other in our tiny kitchen trying to find coffee and breakfast. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">After he passed, and we were all trying to process the loss, something he used to say became kind of a coping mantra for a lot of people. Mark didn’t do anything halfway, and he was known for nothing if not dependability. “Live on purpose” was a phrase he embodied. His dedication to his family, friends, work, and art was unmatched. And we have tried so hard to carry that forward. It’s so easy to look up and wonder where the last 10 years have gone. But we do our best to decide what life is going to look like, to make things happen, rather than sitting around wondering what’s next. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Rebecca wrote the lyrics to “Live on Purpose” within a couple of weeks of Mark’s passing. The Holmes ladies (whom many of you know) were coming to stay with us and Rebecca kept writing on this song while getting the house ready for them. This wasn’t one of those, “Oh I’ll remember this and write it down later” pieces. It felt too important to deprioritize. Months later, we debuted it at Mark’s memorial in Kansas City, and it felt like the most heartfelt tribute imaginable. The entire event was a beautiful moment that we all wish never had to happen.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">We’ve since played this song in many places and watched it fully form, but it wasn’t until we toured with Sam, Kim, and Helf (Brightwire) in June 2022 that the song found its final shape. All five of us played it onstage at Pondstock in a moment that we will never forget. And one week after that, we played it together again, at the Swing Station, for the Choice City Stomp–the very place we met Mark so many years ago. Needless to say, this moment remains one of the high points of our lives. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">We decided to pay homage to this song and to its importance, and we’re happy to be joined by Kim Barker (of Brightwire) as she sings the high harmony on the album. The Barkers are important people in our lives, and it felt immediately appropriate that Kim should be on the record. (As an aside, Kim ended up getting a lovely tattoo that includes a small part of this song. It’s just funny sometimes to see how pieces end up connecting.)</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">So live on purpose, friends. Take the long way home; go the extra mile for a friend; give everything back you’ve ever received and then give some more.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Run away and join a circus. Find forgiveness in the fray. Hold on tight and live on purpose. Shine some light along the way. </span></p>
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<br> </div>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72169802023-05-30T10:05:00-05:002023-05-30T10:20:02-05:00Appreciation for FIREBALL<p><meta charset="utf-8"></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">This album is largely a snapshot of 2020–2021, a period when we had a lot of time to stare at the studio walls and decide how we really wanted to go about this whole Grifters & Shills endeavor. A lot of wonderful people inspired us during that time, joined us as we embarked on new experiments and welcomed us as we all started emerging back out and around each other. This record is for you all.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The Ferguson, Stoll, and Cox families, Sam and Kim Barker, Jennifer "JT" Holland, Michael Helfenstein, Willy T. Golden, Daniel Torres, Joel and Angela Mora and the crew at the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, Vic Giron and our Pondstock family, Elaine and Jeannie Holmes and all our Choice City Stomp family, Josh Nutting and our Moonrunners family, Casa de Avi and the Folk Shit Up festival, Travis Fields and all the echoes from the Westport Saloon, Allen Hill and the crew at The Big Top Lounge, the longstanding crew of Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, Mike Sims, Jon Black, and the Black Magic Social Club, Bill Allen and the crew at the 5 Knocks Speakeasy, Brightwire, The Mighty Orq, Duane Mark, The Rock Bottom String Band, Whiskey Dick, Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones, Tekuache, Zach Tate, Scott Mithun, Greg and Kambrah, Brian and Liz, Paul and Sherry (The Weasels), Ron and Joyce, Jeanne, Tucker and Rachel, Joey and Kim, Marla, Dri and Layla, and everyone who tuned in to Thursday Happy Hour for over a year and-a-half and shared in our joy of bringing these songs to life.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The album was recorded and produced by the two of us in our little home studio. Dobro guitar on “New Year’s Eve” by Michael Helfenstein. Harmony vocals on “Live on Purpose” by Kim Barker. Pedal steel on “Why I Drink” by Willy T. Golden. Album art and design by Daniel Torres. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Album release day is June 17th, 2023 y’all. Come help us celebrate. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">June 17, 1pm: LIVE at Cactus Music for an in-store performance</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">June 17, 9pm: RELEASE PARTY: LIVE at Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge, with the Mighty Orq</span></p><p dir="ltr"> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/052acbf93d7706c8ce617d6279675ad50dbcc3d9/original/acknowledgment-post.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72145942023-05-24T07:37:15-05:002023-05-24T07:37:16-05:00A Look Back at Where FIREBALL Came From<p>Now for a look back at where this album came from. The story of it began just a few months before the world shut down in 2020. The first song started finding its feet as we moved into a new house and started rebuilding our studio, still riding the high of our last album release. Pandemic and lockdown kicked off before we’d even finished unpacking and derailed all the many grand plans we’d had in place for 2020.</p><p>Art follows life follows art, as it goes. We thought the shutdown would last two months, but as it became clear that we were in this for the long haul, we rolled with it as best we could. We realized that the way our whole musical journey fit into the world was changing. We kept writing. Kept experimenting. Like so many others, we figured out how to livestream.</p><p>The weekly livestream gave us a goal to work toward–working on new songs so we could debut them and refine them every week. And as things started opening back up the following year, we were able to start debuting them in a live setting that was at once familiar and completely changed. And we noticed an interesting thing starting to happen–as we wrote songs without any kind of certainty of how, when, or where we would play them out live, we looked at our creative output and realized that we were our only critics, and that we had an opportunity to turn this into whatever we wanted it to be. We ended up making some changes and simplifications to our gear and to our writing style. Make no mistake, it’s still the two of us, and we still write songs at both ends of the spectrum, from loud and energetic to fiercely quiet and introspective. But what we learned during this time was how to speak in our true voice.</p><p>By Summer of 2022, we had enough songs to start recording. Full of energy and hope for this new record, which had a shape we couldn’t quite see yet. We kicked it off in July. But in August, John had a fairly invasive surgery to remove a cancer spot on his head. Around the same time, our cat Newman was diagnosed with lymphoma. We lost Newman in September, and it knocked us down pretty hard.</p><p>We eventually started finding our feet again, and we felt a second-wind energy for the album. We also realized through much conversation that this record needed a very simple production style. We also realized it needed a drummer, so John decided to learn how to play drums. No big deal. We recorded rough tracks of all the songs, to a click track (ugh), and John rehearsed drums for these songs almost every day in October, November, and December.</p><p>By the time January of 2023 came around, it was truly time to hit record, and “hit record” we did. We spent every free moment over the next three months working on this record. Drum tracking was first, followed by guitars, all of which gave our neighborhood a daily preview of what the songs sound like (shout out to our neighbor Marla who miraculously still talks to us after all that). It was seriously loud in our little house. Bass sessions came next, and vocals kicked off. This thing was finally starting to take shape.</p><p>Just as we were almost done, our dog Omie began suffering from canine cognitive disorder (Alzheimer’s, basically). We lost her at the end of March. Omie came into our lives right as we were beginning our life together–and quickly settled in as a fiercely loyal studio dog. Any of y’all that have lost a dog understand how hard this is.</p><p>Grief is always complicated. In some ways, it was hard to find the motivation to keep this project going. In other ways, that was all we wanted to do. We were already this far into serving these songs–songs that originally came to life when hope was hard to find–and we found (another) second wind, borne of sheer stubbornness. That feeling when you laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time? That was how we finished recording this thing.</p><p>We call it FIREBALL for a lot of reasons. Fire is an element that treads a thin line between great comfort and utter destruction. And in looking through the songs for a potential title track, this notion caught our attention. This record has that loud rock n roll sound we’ve always had in our heads. But it also has sparse piano and some very quiet, reflective moments. It is, in every way, a true picture of our lives, our personalities, our creative process, and our view of the world. And it perfectly captures the feel of everything that’s happened since late 2019. Most of all, it’s a celebration of adversity, of change, and of gratitude for so many friends and so much family that prop us up.</p><p>Album release day is June 17th, 2023 y’all. Come help us celebrate. <br>June 17, 1pm: LIVE at Cactus Music for an in-store performance<br>June 17, 9pm: RELEASE PARTY: LIVE at Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge, with the Mighty Orq</p><p> </p><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/df895c8058cf4f44a271202ba6b3f63f207b3d23/original/20230211-091325-edited.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/36ab9e38e54844bdb041d5659c0f04c1402cd07d/original/20230312-170527-edited.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/e6a1a7bc1e4d0392e14946a633220556438ae768/original/20230409-153358-edited.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/72105802023-05-17T14:00:00-05:002023-05-17T14:00:06-05:00DEBUT: the cover art for FIREBALL! <p><meta charset="utf-8"></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Welcome to the release of this new album, and thank you for being here with us for the ride! Over the next couple of months, we’ll be releasing some background about the songs, the inspiration behind them, and interesting stories from the studio as we recorded them. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">This week, we are excited to debut the album art! Our extremely talented friend, Dan Torres, created this artwork, inspired by themes in the songs. After sitting with the lyrics and our ever evolving draft recordings, Dan took to the thrift stores, collecting miniatures. After playing with a few photo concepts, Dan hit on it exactly by piling them all in a shopping cart, a few items slipping out here and there. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">This feels so representative of all of our collective experiences and creative processes. We’ve all got carts full of souvenirs and artifacts that we’ve picked up along the way, some that we’ve dropped and left behind, all of which make up who we are and how we present ourselves. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">The ramshackle nature of the collection of items feels just right–this life is not a neat and tidy one, but there is joy in the pieces. This album was written during the pandemic, and many of the themes on the album explore uncertainty and loss, coupled with an indomitable spirit of hope. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">There are other details in album art that you’ll only see if you pick up a hard copy (CD, or vinyl in 2024). One of the key elements is a handmade miniature fire pit that actually lights up, courtesy of our good friend Chad Lyles (The Grizzly Band). </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">We’re beyond grateful to have collected so many talented people in our lives. We could not have brought this to life without them.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color:#000000;">Album release day is June 17th, 2023. Y’all join us. </span><br><span style="color:#000000;">June 17, 1pm: LIVE at Cactus Music for an in-store performance</span><br><span style="color:#000000;">June 17, 9pm: RELEASE PARTY: LIVE at Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge, with the Mighty Orq</span></p><p dir="ltr"> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/202396/565a8b1606f0bf49805616c909d76848bd1e7d70/original/fireball-cover-art-3000x3000.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/68391422021-12-13T09:13:34-06:002021-12-13T09:13:34-06:002021 - End of Year Shows!<p>Hello friends, </p>
<p>In case you haven't heard, our year-end shows are THIS WEEKEND! We've got a very special treat for y'all - our good friends Rock Bottom String Band and Brightwire are joining us on both of these shows: </p>
<p>Friday Dec. 17th, 8:30pm: Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe </p>
<p>Saturday Dec. 18th, 8:30pm: Dan Electro's </p>
<p>Both of these shows are clothing drives as well, as we've done in years past! Clean out your closet, bring a bag of clothes to donate, and we will collect everything and take it Star of Hope Mission to help our homeless friends. </p>
<p>We hope you all are doing very well, and we're excited to close this year out with you. After these two shows, we'll be away from in-person appearances until early next year. And we have just two more livestreams on the books in the holiday season. Full calendar below, and we look forward to seeing you. </p>
<p>Our very best, <br>John & Rebecca </p>
<p>Friday Dec. 17, 8:30pm: Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe w/Brightwire and Rock Bottom String Band </p>
<p>Saturday Dec. 18, 8:30pm: Dan Electro's w/Brightwire and Rock Bottom String Band </p>
<p>Friday Dec. 24th, 5:30pm: Happy Hour Livestream - The Christmas Show [https://www.facebook.com/griftersandshills/videos] </p>
<p>Friday Dec. 31st, 5:30pm: Happy Hour Livestream - The New Year's Eve Show [https://www.facebook.com/griftersandshills/videos] </p>
<p>Friday Feb. 4th, 9pm: Bryan TX: The 101 w/Joey McGee and The Great American Boxcar Chorus </p>
<p>Saturday Mar. 12th, 7pm: Pearland House Concerts [http://pearlandhouseconcerts.com/] </p>
<p>Mar. 17th - 19th: Dripping Springs, TX: Folk Shit Up Festival 2022 </p>
<p>Saturday Apr. 9th, 5pm: Lone Pint Brewery w/Brightwire </p>
<p>May 6th - 7th: Chicago, IL: Moon Runners Festival </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/59544472019-11-08T16:20:02-06:002019-11-08T16:20:02-06:00The Evolution of the Band<p>A long time ago, in a practice room not far away, we started our musical journey together. We met in a band called Blue Funk, which was a full band project. We quickly realized that the two of us shared something special--call it chemistry, call it fate, call it whatever you like. The bottom line is that we stumbled on that thing that you always hope to find. We met through music, and got to know each other through music. So feeling very fortunate to have found each other, we decided to start a project as just the two of us. </p>
<p>We started this project with the idea that we’d play jazz. John would play acoustic guitar, Rebecca would sing, and we’d find gigs where we could stand quietly in the corner of a nice place and make a little money doing what we love to do. This idea didn’t last long. When we started writing together, the creative output waaaay too fiery. Plus, we weren’t jazz players. Not at all. We didn’t know and really didn’t think about the type of music we started creating, and soon after our first gig came around. That means we needed a name… so we called this first project Westbound. </p>
<p>Westbound continued for a couple of years, releasing two albums (Blackjack Road and Now & Then). We started hearing from lots of folks that they couldn’t find us on the internet, because apparently there are 9,832 other bands named Westbound. </p>
<p>So we paused and thought about what it was we were creating. What kind of music do we make, how do we live our lives, what’s important from a creative standpoint? All those questions led us to the name Grifters & Shills. It has the right connotation, the right feel, and it points to a time past where people had to do whatever they could to make things work. </p>
<p>Grifters & Shills went on to release an EP (Trainwreck Junkyard) and a full length album (Watershed), with the full length album being produced by our very talented friend Brad Sayles. It was after the release of Watershed that the band hit another pause point. We were still using the old acoustic guitar, the same instrument that we had originally chosen so that we could stand quietly in the corner in a nice place and play a few songs. However, the artistic direction of the band was begging for something different. </p>
<p>So Grifters & Shills set out on a mission. In 2016, we decided to record three albums, and they were specifically chosen to chart the path from our transition as a folk duo to where we are today. The albums were: </p>
<p>2017: ‘Road to Brownwood’, an album that paid homage to our folk roots. This one still primarily featured acoustic instruments, but introduced more grit and electricity to the sound. </p>
<p>2018: ‘Long Tongue Liars’, an album that paid homage to our blues roots. We put down the acoustic guitar for this one. It’s entirely electric, and sets the stage for what was to follow. </p>
<p>2019: ‘Pretty Little Secrets’, a new all-original album that found us fully expressing ourselves in both instrumentation and for the very first time, as Producers of the songs we wrote. </p>
<p>This brings us to the present day, and also brings us right back to where we started from. The 2019 release of ‘Pretty Little Secrets’ is a perfect companion to the 2010 release of ‘Blackjack Road’. The evolution of this band is an honest one; we followed various trails and cut our teeth exploring different styles of writing, playing, and of performing. </p>
<p>In the end we’re right back where we began. The heart and soul of this band is the fire and energy born from a mutual understanding that we share, a bond between the two of us that keeps on getting stronger and yielding songs that simply refuse to stand in a corner and be quiet - or behave at all. </p>
<p>We’d like to take this space to thank you for following along with us. We’ve been blogging about the new album for the last six months or so, and it means the world to us that you’d be here reading about these things that are so very important to us. For the two of us, music is inseparable from who we are. We are immensely grateful to have met so many truly wonderful people in the years we’ve been doing this. We count ourselves among the luckiest people on earth to be able to share this with you. </p>
<p>Thank you friends, and we will see you soon. </p>
<p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/59135892019-10-02T20:43:53-05:002019-10-02T20:45:38-05:00The Story Behind the Artwork for "Pretty Little Secrets"<p><span class="font_regular">This month, we’re officially unveiling the artwork for “Pretty Little Secrets” (though many of you have probably glimpsed it on social media by this point, or we just couldn’t wait and gave you a copy already). We adore this design. It’s the second time we’ve worked with an artist to conceptualize an album, and we just couldn’t be happier. One, because the design is phenomenal, and two, because there is no kinder, more talented soul we could have had the pleasure of working with. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with John Streeter to design this album and give a face to the songs and the concept as a whole. John is a longtime friend of the band, and we knew that his talent and style were up to the task of finding a face for this record. We recently sat down with John and asked a few questions about the process. We thought you might enjoy a look behind the scenes at how this art came to be, and get a little insight into the design from the artist himself. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">How do you know John and Rebecca? <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/7269b2153de6967c9c1d031dbf19c9d1fe839a04/original/img-9314.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: John and I have worked together for many years. I knew him as an audio engineer first; he recorded audio for many of my video productions for NASA. One of my favorite John memories is when we had the crew standing out on the runway at Edwards Airforce base as a B-52 bomber took off. John rode the audio as the engine roar reached a peak and then slowly disappeared into the clouds. I knew he was a musician, but when I heard him and Rebecca together I was really amazed. I love the way they look at each other in the middle of a song, like some secret dialogue is going on between them that only they know. I have always been impressed with how they juggle being recording artists, performers, and music producers, and still hold day jobs. Through it all they are the nicest people I know, not to mention some of the most talented people I know. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Tell us a bit about you. How did you get into drawing, and who are some your influences? <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/2bd66e15d1a8fe1cd2f4829ee58b567860ec63f1/original/img-8666.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: I got into drawing through my dad. He was in WWII and used his G.I. bill to study commercial art. Back then, many of the magazines and periodicals used painted art instead of photography. The illustrations told the story in subtler ways. There were always art books around the house, and then through comic books, I became really interested in drawing. My dad gave me a lot of pointers. I was just a kid but he was really strict on shading, proportion, perspective and other techniques. He really knew a lot about fine art. He would bring me a lot of pads and pens from work and I would create my own comics. At first it was just kid stuff, and then one day, one of the panels turned out really good and from then on I was hooked. He got a big kick out of the hours I would spend making those books. That's how it got started for me. My degree was in television production, but I always used my art skills in my productions, whether it was storyboards or graphics. I did study art later on at the Glassell School and really enjoyed it. Most of my art was on paper, but in the past few years, I have transitioned to creating digital art, which brings us to today. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">How did the idea for the art design came about? </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: I've always liked the name of the band--Grifters & Shills. They played roots music, and the name evoked that time period where I imagine traveling shows of snake-oil salesmen, selling their wares and getting out of town before their concoctions were discovered as fakes. You know, you can picture a bald guy yelling, "Hey! This hair tonic doesn't work!" or "My bunion still hurts!" and then you cut to the grifters hightailing their wagon out of town, laughing all the way. I started thinking, "what other kind of people did that type of trickery?" and came up with the idea of magicians, and those guys who would hold seances, supposedly making contact with the spirit world for rich old millionaires. This became the theme of the album art. I would have one of these phony guys with painted-on eyebrows, maybe a big phony mustache, conjuring up spirits around a crystal ball. The imagery swirling around him would all relate in some way to the songs in the album. I showed John and Rebecca some early sketches of what the layout could be and everyone agreed this was the way to go. I was really excited with the concept because it related to the band name so well. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Were there any lyrical themes or particular songs in the recordings that inspired your design for the album? <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/33f3431bbd2e1ba2cc8d994f3a232c93fad244c6/original/img-9248.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: When John and Rebecca first approached me to make the album cover, my first question naturally was, "what's the album about?" They gave me the lyrics to read over so I could get a better understanding of where they were coming from. I was blown away. The lyrics alone were like poetry. The stories were rich and interesting. There was deceit, greed, love, humor, and a touch of ghastliness too. Then they played me some early mixes of the songs! There was a new level of depth to their sound I had never heard before. Listening to the textures and moods they created in the mix really helped stir up some imagery in my head. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">What was your process for creating the art? Did you draw it digitally, or by hand? </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: The artwork began by hand, with a pencil sketch. Later, I started working one piece at a time digitally. Working digitally, I became very focused on each element. At the end, I started bringing the magician and all his conjurings together, then made another pass of a swirling mist reaching out and tying all the pieces together. An important part of this assignment was that the artwork would be featured on a full-size vinyl LP cover. To me, one of the joys of vinyl is the large real estate you have to work with, and just staring at it as you listen to the album. That alone is an experience unto itself as you daydream, escape into the album and just study that cover as the music overtakes you. This means the cover should have a lot of elements for the viewer to look at and ponder, "Which song does this character relate to?" or, "I wonder what that character's story is." As of this writing, I have seen the art on a CD cover and was pleased but am looking forward to seeing the LP. I can't wait to lower the needle onto the vinyl, and then have that experience of studying the cover as I listen. I am really appreciative for John and Rebecca giving me the chance to work on this project. The lyrics, their performances, and the incredible mix are a powerful combination that serve the songs so well and showcase their talent reaching a new height. They inspired the artwork from beginning to end. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">As an artist, what's the best piece of advice you've ever received? <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/cbfc4cce072d5f21a55e0d635aa5be94f603f963/original/img-9011.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: If it brings you joy, do it. I really enjoy making videos. I really enjoy making art. I'm very lucky to be able to do both. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Is there anything else you'd like to mention that we didn't ask? </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>Streeter</strong>: I am very excited about the release of this album. I continue to be stunned by the quality, talent and emotion John and Rebecca have poured into these songs. I've enjoyed all of their releases but this latest is a huge step up in their evolution as artists. I am very humbled to have been asked to make the artwork for them at what I believe is a pivotal stage in their career. Thank you guys! A running joke we have is John often says, "When we run into a problem on the album, we ask ourselves, <em><strong>what would Streeter do?</strong></em>" which is funny because I don't record or make music. My answer this time is, "I would buy the new Grifters and Shills album!" </span></p>
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<p><span class="font_regular">We are beyond grateful to have had the chance to work with such a talented artist and bring this album to life. We hope it speaks to you as well, and provides a captivating scene to the soundtrack of these songs. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We’re getting down to the wire folks. Just five short weeks until we can share this creation with the world! And always remember that we couldn’t do it without you.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/11e55d363ec8c60262ed464252a58c486bba05cb/original/pretty-little-secrets-cover-art-1500x1500-300dpi.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/58779952019-09-02T10:03:26-05:002019-09-02T10:05:47-05:00Pretty Little Secrets: Interesting Stories from Inside the Studio<p>We’ve talked at length about the technical setup of our tiny little DIY studio in a <a contents="previous post" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.griftersandshills.com/writings/blog/pretty-little-secrets-the-production-process" target="_blank">previous post</a>, and we’ve talked about <a contents="how we wrote the songs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.griftersandshills.com/writings/blog/pretty-little-secrets-what-the-songs-are-about" target="_blank">how we wrote the songs</a> that have now become an album. Our little DIY studio is now down the street from us, because just about the time we finished recording, we moved. So this month we’ll look back at how it went, recording at our old home. What was cool about it? What was not cool about it? And what kind of instruments did we use? </p>
<p>‘Pretty Little Secrets’ was recorded in the front rooms of our old house, between December 2018 and April 2019. We think the front rooms of our house were intended to be the “formal dining room” and “formal living room”, as the house was built in the 1960s. These rooms became the “control room” and “tracking room”, respectively. We saw this as a massive upgrade to the house, of course. </p>
<p>These rooms had the original 50+ year-old windows on them, which, while charming, do little to stop outside sounds from making their way inside. This became quite the issue when the T-38s and F-16s stationed at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base decided it was time to put on mini-airshows over our house. And if the wind is blowing from the North (which is common between December and April), the aircraft approach to land from the South, putting our studio almost directly under that final approach path. </p>
<p>So there were a few times when we were recording a sensitive acoustic part, with microphones up really loud, headphones on, and so forth, and an F-16 decided to go all Top Gun over the house. Picture us throwing our headphones off as quickly as possible, and running outside to both witness the coolness that is an F-16, and to yell at it. We’re pretty sure the neighbors thought that we’d lost our damn minds by this time (if they hadn’t already reached that conclusion). </p>
<p>Sometime in January, one of the neighbors also decided to replace their entire driveway. Totally cool...but for the sound of one of those giant jackhammer machines, followed closely by some sort of steam-belching concrete-generating machine. It was impressively loud, but we elected not to feature it on the album. Instead of trying to fight the noise, we took a couple days off from recording and John decided to ride his old, only-one-brake-works bike down the street and shoot a short video of this action (https://www.facebook.com/griftersandshills/videos/1939045119736877/). Might as well have a good time with it. </p>
<p>Challenges aside, there were a lot of benefits to recording in our old home. Not beholden to commercial studio schedules and hourly rates, we had the freedom to work on parts of songs until they were exactly right. This meant everything, because so often, little nuances (such as the tonal quality of an echo on Rebecca’s vocal that only shows up once in a song) could become the focus of a night. Of course, this could work against us…when is it good enough? (No idea.) When is it done? (Never - ask any artist.) So we imposed a deadline on ourselves to give us a line in the sand where we had to be done, come hell or high water. That helped a lot, though even now, printed discs in hand, done as done can get, we still get ideas about how we could tweak things and make them just a little better. </p>
<p>Another integral part of recording in our home is our little zoo of pets. We have two cats, Newman (aka Burt) and Beetle (aka Ball). These two have the sense to flee the room any time we even reach for a guitar, much less crank up an amp. The dogs, Omie (aka Homer) and most recently, Bindi (aka Ben), were a different story. Although Omie is fully terrified of thunderstorms and booming sounds outside, but the tremendously loud sounds of recording were totally cool by her; she flat out insisted on being part of things in the studio. During many of the guitar parts John was cutting, Omie hung out, frequently sleeping in the studio while the amps were up at full tilt. She insisted on being right where John liked to sit while cutting lead guitar - laying up against his chair as he worked away trying to get things just right. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/80353dac11b8620791a893b4ba2e9e34ae8241b9/original/1.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></p>
<p>Bindi joined us at the tail end (see what we did there?) of the recording process, and was similarly insistent on being part of the creation of this album. She was a little wary of the amplifiers however, turning her head comically when things got loud. The song that really got her attention was ‘Left Right Left’, as the lead guitar parts were particularly difficult to get down. We think she finally got sick of hearing the song, and eventually left the studio after a marathon session to go pass out in another room. The dogs always have it right. We, unfortunately, were not able to follow suit. </p>
<p>Another defining moment for the recording of ‘Pretty Little Secrets’ was the government shutdown in late December of 2018. John has a day job working in video production at the Johnson Space Center, and the shutdown led to him having some unexpected days off. Against the backdrop of income uncertainty, in the cold of early January, John found a few extra days alone in the studio. It was in these days that a couple of songs started to mature in the studio. This was particularly true for “Music Man”. But it found its feet during the tumult, and has become one of the signature racks of the album. </p>
<p>We explored a number of instruments during the recording and production of the album, ever in search of that fire that comes out at live shows. The initial tracking sessions, and most of the base-layer rhythm guitar work, came from a Godin Kingpin Archtop (the early model, with only one pickup), an Ibanez Mikro bass, and a homemade stomp board. As we worked into the production phases of recording, an army of instruments were called in. </p>
<p>A 20” Mapex kick drum and a 14” Mapex snare found their voice throughout the album. The kick drum, of course, was the old drum we used to haul around some years ago. A hand drum given to us by a street vendor in Galveston, a couple of old cymbals, and two different tambourines rounded out the percussion for the record. </p>
<p>For basses, Rebecca used her Ibanez Mikro throughout. She gets her tone on a VT Bass DI, so her rig stays simple and true. John played a five-string G&L bass on “Hell & High Water”, and “Disappear” featured our unnamed half-size upright. </p>
<p>Four main guitars were used on the album. The Godin Kingpin archtop was the primary rhythm instrument. A Gibson Les Paul DC Standard, a Fender Jaguar, a Gretsch Streamliner, a Texas Smoke Strings cigar box, and a DB Customs cigar box handled all of the electric lead and rhythm work. A Danelectro Baritone guitar courtesy of our friends Sam and Kim Barker also found its way into several of the songs, providing something of a signature sound for the album. Finally, a 20-year-old Gibson G-400 was used on the big down-tuned riffs on “Highway Ride”. (Fun G&S trivia: This G-400 was Rebecca’s very first guitar that she bought in highschool when she decided that being a rockstar would be super cool.) <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/bfa0045e1b664887eacc1cc31b66b57cffea406b/original/2.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></p>
<p>There were also a couple of acoustic instruments on the record. The first was a Lotus acoustic guitar, loaned to us by our good friend John Streeter (creator of our wicked album art). While trying to find the right guitar for “Last Leaf has Fallen”, we tried several “nice” guitars, Martins and the like, but they all sounded too good. This Lotus, though it plays with all the ease of an average 2x4, ended up being perfect! The other acoustic instrument--a handmade gourd banjo from our friend Drew Nelson) is featured in “Music Man”. We tuned it in open-Bb minor, and played in a modified fingerstyle. This was a very challenging instrument to record, but the haunting drone of the strings made the perfect opening lines of this song. A handful of harmonicas, kazoos, and (at the very last minute) a theremin, as well as a good dose of creativity rounded out the noise-makers on the album. </p>
<p>All in all, it was a very thorough, heartfelt, at times exhausting, at times exhilarating experience to record, engineer, and produce this album. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: this album is 100% true to who we are as artists and as humans. It is an extension of who we are and how we do things, and we are infinitely grateful to you for sharing this experience with us. </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/58186562019-07-09T11:46:32-05:002019-07-09T12:29:43-05:00Pretty Little Secrets: What have you guys been up to?<p><strong>“What have you guys been up to?” </strong><br>It’s the commonest of questions when we get the chance to reconnect with fans and friends. And for the last almost-eight months, our commonest answer has been, “Working on the album.” Our very favorite album to date, mind you, but we realize that we may sound a bit like—forgive the pun—a broken record. </p>
<p>There’s unmatched joy in creating things, and we find this in a lot of areas outside of just making music. We’ve been up to a lot of other things that we often skip over in the late-night venue conversations, so we thought we’d take a little time this month to let you know what ELSE we’ve been up to. Hope you enjoy a peek into a few of the other things that make us…us. </p>
<p><strong>Food </strong><br>Some of you are familiar with (and have benefitted from) our ongoing obsession with homemade prickly pear jelly. This requires spikey things, fire, and a ton of sugar, making for a process that is equal parts exciting and perilous. This year, we’ve expanded our food operation to include brewing beer and roasting coffee. We’ve watched several of our friends make beer, and we’ve loved seeing the micro-breweries flourish since Texas loosened up on the brewing restrictions, so we decided to give it a go. We got a few supplies from the nice folks over the Hoppin’ Grape, our local homebrew supply shop, and started down the endless path of learning about different styles of beer, a new vocabulary (Wort? Sparge? Pitch? Primary fermentation, secondary fermentation?), and why you don’t mail-order a five-gallon carboy (T-shirt idea: “Ask me about my box of glass”). It has all been such a rewarding hobby, and a good chance to focus on something complicated and unique. </p>
<p>For the other end of the day, we’ve been experimenting with roasting our own coffee beans. Through coffee, all things are possible, and for years, we’ve used an old-fashioned percolator or a French press to get the most bang for our buck in caffeine content (and to avoid having to learn how to use a Keurig). We’ve met a couple of talented folks who told us a bit about roasting their own beans (sorcery!) and it sounded surprisingly simple. Turns out, we already had everything we needed: a trusty iron skillet, a Coleman camp stove, and a wooden spoon for stirring. So very much stirring. Never stop stirring. Ever. </p>
<p>The first batch was a success, and it’s been another endless journey learning about different beans and regions, roast levels, and precious caffeine content. Like the jelly and the beer, what we’ve enjoyed most about the process is giving it away. If you haven’t gotten something from us yet, don’t worry, it’s coming soon. </p>
<p><strong>Flora & Fauna </strong><br>We are also joyfully responsible for keeping a handful of living things alive and happy. Ever-present in our lives (and by extension, house (and by extension, studio)) are our animals. We are the proud parents of four rescue animals, two cats and two dogs, one of whom was a new addition in February. This new dog joined us during the recording of this album, and it has been a lot of fun watching her stare down a blaring guitar amp while adapting to her new life with us. The cats, of course, vacate the room as soon as one of us even reaches for an instrument. They know what’s coming. </p>
<p>We also maintain a modest garden that currently consists of herbs that definitely subscribe to the “If it doesn’t kill us, it makes us stronger” mentality, a stubborn pineapple, some peppers that bear a grudge, and a watermelon whose proximity to the driveway is starting to pose a logistical challenge for parking cars. Our very shaded yard, and the birds, squirrels and bugs co-occupying our space, make having a garden an ongoing challenge, but we’ve realized it’s pretty critical to our well-being. Even on our small scale, growing food is amazing! It gives you a connection to the physical place you live, the connection to the sustenance of your life, and an appreciation and understanding of where food really comes from. There’s some old proverb about seeing the universe in a grain of sand. But the garden seems like a more accurate setting. </p>
<p><strong>Fun With Home Improvement </strong><br>Something else that keeps us entertained and busy is home improvement projects. Not those big projects where you have to call in contractors and things cost too much and everything sucks for awhile...not right now anyway. We’re talking about the DIY projects that we can manage on our own. Our house is 50+ years old and has a lot of “character”, so these projects are not in short supply. While recording various albums, we have broken up the time with several electrical and demolition projects, and most recently, a laundry room makeover (rock and roll, y’all). Fortunately, Rebecca conceded to wait to redesign the master closet until we were done using it as an iso-booth for recording vocals. </p>
<p><strong>Furthermore… </strong><br>John’s long history of technical and troubleshooting work, combined with his DIY convictions and slightly neurotic mindset has led to something of a soldering obsession. Over the years, this has greatly benefitted the Grifters & Shills live rig. Little known trivia: John built every guitar cord we use live and all the microphone cables in the studio by hand. And our tailor-made pedalboard (take a look the next time you’re at a G&S show)—he built the whole thing. There’s a lot of peace of mind in knowing exactly how a piece of equipment was constructed. Plus, you can really save a lot of money by buying cable and connectors in bulk and soldering your own finished cables. </p>
<p>During the recording of “Pretty Little Secrets”, we also made the decision to sign John up for one of the last classes he needs to finish out his B.S. in Mathematics. This transformed our time into a balance between schoolwork, coding, and of course, the studio work. The workload was, to say the least, extreme, and it was sustained for a few months. Behind the scenes, the hours were long, the mornings were early, and the nights ran late. But we’ve gotten a breather over the Summer, and the Fall semester doesn’t start for a while yet. </p>
<p>Left with a bit of free time on her hands during John’s schooling, and in between home repair projects, Rebecca has been making up for lost time in rediscovering a love of reading fiction. Please send her book recommendations. She would love to nerdily discuss them with you. She’s also been spending a lot of time with our new dog, working on training and impulse control (the dog’s, not Rebecca’s). </p>
<p><strong>Friends & Benefits </strong><br>One of the most important things we like to do grew out of our love for how music allows us to bring people together and do good for those in need: Coordinate benefit shows. We truly love contributing time and energy to benefit shows, and during the production of “Pretty Little Secrets”, we were honored to be involved in the creation of a new annual benefit show for the Houston Area Women’s Center. Together with our friends Sam and Kim Barker (Brightwire), and Randy Hill, Amie Krebbs and Nathan Taylor (Little Outfit), we produced a live show featuring seven bands and a pop-up Arts Market featuring the artists of the First Saturday Arts Market (hey Mitch Cohen!). All of our time and energy was a donation, as all of our proceeds went to the Houston Area Women’s Center in support of the work they do for those in need in our great hometown. </p>
<p>It was an incomparable feeling to lay down that night, after all was said and done, knowing that the people we helped will never know our names. They’ll never know the hours and hours of work put in by so many people, and that is why this is so important to us. We truly love giving in its purest sense, where the reward is simply knowing that we spent our time serving others. </p>
<p><strong>Finally </strong><br>So that’s what (else) we’ve been up to, besides “working on the album,” and there’s plenty more coming up on the horizon. The year’s only about halfway over, after all. We hope to connect with you soon—in person, online, at a show, at the grocery store, over a beer or a cup of coffee—and tell you all about it. </p>
<p>Thanks as always for your love and support. This doesn’t work without you!</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/57776182019-06-02T19:45:31-05:002019-09-02T10:04:09-05:00Pretty Little Secrets: The Production Process <h2><strong>The production process behind the album 'Pretty Little Secrets'</strong></h2>
<p>This album is unique to any we’ve created before, and the recording and production process has been a mixture of everything we’ve learned along the way. There are as many ways to make an album as there are people making albums. Our process is unique to us. It’s DIY. It’s built from the ground up. </p>
<p>This month, as we count down to the release of “Pretty Little Secrets”, we’re taking a look at the technical side of how the album was made. What went on inside the Grifters & Shills studio? Why was the album recorded like it was? We’ll answer all of that here, in a deep dive into our world of audio production. </p>
<h3><em><strong>The History (or, “What would Streeter do”?) </strong></em></h3>
<p>In 2016, we were talking to our friend John Streeter (a very talented artist, who also happens to be designing the art for this album). After a show, he mentioned that he really liked seeing us live, but that our albums lacked that visceral energy you get at a live show. We took this comment to heart (and others like it that we’ve heard since). In early 2018, we decided to make an album (“Long Tongue Liars”--our blues tribute) that would be recorded entirely different way than any we’d recorded previously. We started really examining the differences between our recordings and live shows, and taking a long, hard look at why these differences existed. And throughout the process, we recalled that conversation in 2016, repeatedly asking ourselves: What would Streeter do? </p>
<h3><em><strong>An Initial Experiment </strong></em></h3>
<p>For “Liars”, we decided to set up in the studio exactly as we set up for live shows. The only difference was that we also plugged our instruments (guitar, bass, and stompbox) into a DI (direct input) unit that would capture a clean copy of the signals directly from the instruments (not capturing any sounds or effects from the amps). That clean copy was recorded directly into the DAW (digital audio workstation--fancy talk for a computer that is set up to record a band in a studio). Meanwhile, we were able to play just as we normally do--plugged into our amps, unencumbered by click tracks, headphones, and deathly quiet isolation booths (i.e., our master closet, but that’s another story). So we played those songs just like we always performed them live, while capturing the direct, unenhanced sound of the instruments in real-time. (Spoiler alert: It was a lot more fun this way.) </p>
<p>After the songs were recorded, we used a technique called re-amping, where we sent each of the directly-recorded clean signals out of the DAW and back through a guitar amp (later this would become many amps), recorded the amp output with a mic, and presto! We successfully captured the sound of a good amp, but driven by the energy of that initial (“live”) core performance. What was missing previously was that live in-studio performance, that dance we share when we perform together, for better or worse, where the tempo varies a little, the timing drags or pushes by tiny bits, and occasional guitar notes missed here and there. </p>
<p>We’d go on to replace the vocals we recorded live in the studio, and layer a “few” production elements over the top (“Liars” would become our first experiment into soundscape production), but that core of the recorded song, the energy we give and take when the two of us are playing together, remained intact throughout the process. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/80353dac11b8620791a893b4ba2e9e34ae8241b9/original/1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<h3><strong><em>“Pretty Little Secrets” is Brought to Life </em></strong></h3>
<p>We released “Liars” that summer to much acclaim, and as we neared the holidays, we decided to start a year-long project that would be our first all-original album since 2014. Our previous two albums had been gospel and blues projects, paying homage to some of our musical roots, but we were sitting on 15 originals that needed to get out in the world, songs that we’d been playing live and that people had been asking for, some for quite a while. It was time to figure out how to do it. </p>
<p>We knew one thing that worked--the “live” technique we learned with “Liars”. We employed that technique again, and completed the initial tracking of 15 songs in a couple of days in November and early December. These were fun days, not the grind of the studio that can happen from time to time. We played loud, did each song a couple of times, and called it complete when it felt like a good time. That’s when we’d stop and declare that we had gotten it right (right, as opposed to perfect, which ended up being just that). </p>
<p>Our previous re-amping experience would come into play again, but before we started doing that, we took a step back. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/ff1c1607e5a478b3d59a26270a9ac5141eaecc7a/original/5.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<h3><em>The New Approach </em></h3>
<p>We didn’t want to limit ourselves in the expression of these songs, and we didn’t want to simply re-amp what was recorded and call it done. It’s important to note that we’re not trying to make a “live studio album”, where a band records live in the studio and applies the purist approach of adding nothing else, so that the band sounds like they do live. This approach can work, but it limits creative expression. After all, hearing and watching a band play live and hearing a recording of a band (with no visual experience) are two very, very different things. </p>
<p>So we expanded our approach. We took a careful look at the lyrical content and the backstory behind each song, and we set to producing each song in a manner that would help propel and deepen the stories, amplify the themes of the lyrics, and create visual scenes. This would serve as something of a “third dimension” to the songs, adding scenery to the lyrics and composition. </p>
<p>Instruments were chosen carefully and deliberately, to help convey the themes of the songs. </p>
<p>‘Music Man’ focuses on inner demons, so we used a homemade gourd banjo in an open tuning to achieve an encompassing, haunting, droning sound. ‘Sarge’ has military themes, so we used a percussive guitar and a marching snare pattern. ‘Highway Ride’ has jarring themes of risk and destruction, so we used distorted metal guitar riffs. </p>
<p>‘Disappear’ conveys loss and innocence, so we plugged a guitar into an amp with the reverb on full and made it sound like a music box. ‘Last Leaf Has Fallen’ has themes of family and home, so we used a simple acoustic guitar and no pick. ‘Hell and High Water’ talks about summoning the strength to rebuild, so we used a full band approach (with a mighty drum track played by our friend Nathan), a 5-string bass, and amps turned up as loud as they’ll go to create a powerful soundscape. </p>
<p>‘Running Out’ has themes of mindlessly following the words of self-proclaimed experts, so we used samples of hellfire and brimstone preaching. ‘Sweeter with Wine’ is about drinking and getting ideas, so we used a downtuned sloppy baritone guitar with a slide, plugged into a tiny amp turned up all the way. ‘Never Again’ is a hold-on-to-your-ass party, so we plugged a Les Paul into a Marshall and cranked it. </p>
<p>‘Keepin’ Score’ is a swanky dirty little number so we used a trash snare and a tiny cymbal (and of course that raging kazoo). ‘When the Deed is Done’ is all darkness and desolation, so we used a baritone backing guitar run through a haunting, creepingly slow phaser pedal. </p>
<p>‘Left Right Left’ is all about unending, relentless drive, so we kept those rockabilly guitars straightforward and tight, running hard through a Fender Princeton. ‘2-55’ is the story of youth cutting its teeth and running hard, so we built a wall of rhythm guitars using a Fender Jaguar, a Gretsch Streamliner, and a Gibson SG. </p>
<p>‘Somewhere to Go’ is a lilting throat-punch to social media, so we featured a heavily distorted rhythm guitar in the chorus. And ‘Taxidermy Town’ is a creepy real-life story about the lingering, closeted skeletons of small American towns, so we used an old out-of-tune piano, live recordings of carnival rides in Kemah, TX, a theremin, and some very careful vocal layers. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/6d684b249bdf04b0ed3fb084eaa38832b5bf9ef8/original/3.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<h3><em>Darlings </em></h3>
<p>An arsenal of instruments is fine and good, but putting it all together was going to require a level of production we had not attempted before. It would also require objectivity and a fair amount of ruthless pragmatism (not usually the first things you think of when considering artistic expression). But we had to get out of our own ways a bit, and remove personal attachment to any ideas we might have. John would spend a full day in the studio and try a dozen different ideas. Rebecca would come in later with a fresh perspective and help sort through what worked--what honored the story--and what didn’t. Ideas were judged on their merit after they were recorded, not before. Some things that were complex and amazing and unique and took several hours to lay down were cut in an instant, not because they weren’t good, but because they weren’t right. We could have easily called the album “Killing Your Darlings,” but Faulkner made that one famous some time back. </p>
<p>The studio became hallowed, sacred ground--a space where we both trusted each other 100%, to be honest, to try, to fail, to succeed, to listen to that little itch of a feeling when something wasn’t quite right, rather than just letting it go, and most importantly, to serve The Story. </p>
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<h3><em>The Technical Side </em></h3>
<p>This rapid-fire process of trying new things required a flexible technical setup that allowed for things to happen quickly. Taking an hour to set up different rigs for every idea every time would have severely limited things. </p>
<p>Our setup in the Grifters & Shills studio is simple. Our computer is a home-built machine. We use Sonar XL as our recording software on our Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), and we use a Universal Audio 710D as the front end. We have Black Lion Micro Clock that we use to sync the 710D with the DAW’s soundcard. The soundcard is an old Yamaha MR816, and we’re not using the A/D capability of the soundcard at all. The 710D is the preamp and A/D, and the 710D hands the signal off to the 816 via lightpipe. </p>
<p>This is our way of getting the highest sound quality possible with the smallest investment possible. This whole process is DIY. For you kids following along on the social medias, you may have noticed our #diytilidie hashtag. </p>
<p>Remember our initial “live” tracking sessions with these songs? Well, when we got “the core” of the songs recorded, and re-amped the guitars, we also saved the original DI tracks. This would come in handy later as we continued to produce each song--sometimes the amp tone would end up being the wrong tone, so later on we’d re-amp the guitar again, using a different amp or different tone that better matched the overall feel of the song. </p>
<p>We then proceeded to produce the songs, one by one. This required mic’ing instruments and amplifiers, and we kept the approach simple. We got some cheap portable clothes racks and affixed blankets to them--instant budget gobos that we would use to surround whatever sound source we were going to record. </p>
<p>On the amps, we used two Sennheiser e906 mics, one in front of the amp, and one behind. These were equidistant from the speaker, with the phase of the rear mic reversed. On vocals, we used a Warm Audio 47, an absolutely fabulous sounding mic, particularly for vocal. </p>
<p>On the gourd banjo and the ukulele, we used a combination of a Warm Audio 47 in cardioid pattern, and a Audio Technica 2050 in figure-eight pattern, combined together in mid-side format. These mics are both physically large, so it was comical to see two mics that, in the case of the ukulele, were larger than the instrument being recorded. </p>
<p>On the snare, we used e906 mics, one on top and one underneath. On the kick, it was an Audix F15 (the mic that used to be in the Westbound stompbox, for those familiar with our early years and interested in G&S trivia!), with the AT 2050 in figure-eight pattern. Yes, we used mid-side mic techniques on the kick drum--that’s how we manage to get a massive sound out of a tiny 20” kick drum. </p>
<p>The bass was run through Rebecca’s very favorite tone machine, her Sansamp VT Bass DI. No amps were used for the bass. She gets her tone from the VT Bass. (Short-scale basses have thump; you just have to find the right tools to coax it out.) </p>
<p>Finally, for the song ‘Taxidermy Town’, we took our portable audio recorder, a Zoom H6, down to the Kemah TX boardwalk on a Saturday evening. We walked around recording the sounds of various carnival rides, midway games, and all the general amusing chaos (using the X-Y mics that come with the H6). </p>
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<h3><em>Nearing the Finish: Mixing and Mastering </em></h3>
<p>We recorded everything, piece by piece, and because we’re using a home-built computer (that is to say, we’re pushing the poor thing about as hard as it can go), we bounced everything down as we went. This is a technique where we’d commit a few tracks of audio and the various plugins we’re using to a single “downmix” track. It was very common in the early days of multitrack recording, where (for example) only four tracks of audio were available. Collapsing three tracks into one would free up those three, so more could be recorded. For us, this was required to free up computing power so we’d be able to record the next tracks. It was all part of our DIY approach to making a lot with a little. </p>
<p>Mixing was an iterative process. Listen to a mix, make a tiny tweak, listen to it again. Listen to it in the car, listen to it in earbuds, in any speakers we could get our hands on to try and get a feel for how this thing would sound out in the real world, when it wasn’t coming out of perfectly positioned studio monitors. </p>
<p>Mastering involved further iteration of a chain of plugins, making endless and countless tiny changes to glue each of these songs together so that the album holds together as one statement--despite the many different elements contained in each of the songs. </p>
<p>Our choice of plugins for DIY mixing and mastering are fairly limited (no pun intended there, audio friends). We used Waves L2 and the iZotope Ozone suite, along with the built-in equalizers where necessary to correct for frequency build-up. </p>
<p>One of our favorite plugins was a freebie--it’s called SPAN, and for all of our friends that are out there recording their own music, we highly recommend it. It’s a frequency analyzer, and it helps you figure out what’s actually going on with your mix. If your mix room is like ours, it is “less than ideal” from an acoustic perspective, so SPAN can help you see what your speakers aren’t telling you. </p>
<p>As of this writing, our mastering process is in its final iterations, hopefully to be complete in the next few days. It’s been a long and exciting process, and we can’t wait to hear the final result, and more importantly, to share it with you all. </p>
<p>Thanks for taking a read through some of our more techy material. We’ve had a surprising number of folks ask us about this side of things, so it seemed like a good time to pull back the curtain a bit and show you all the gears and springs. We’ll try to whip up something a little more scandalous for ya next month. </p>
<p>And thanks as always for sharing the journey with us! It wouldn’t work worth a damn without you. </p>
<p>#griftersandshills #prettylittlesecrets #highlonesomeheavymetal #diytilidie</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/57456582019-05-07T07:36:13-05:002019-05-07T12:10:51-05:00Pretty Little Secrets: What the Songs Are About<p><span class="font_regular">We’ve spent the last several months recording and producing a new record that we are tremendously excited to release into the world. This album, “<strong>Pretty Little Secrets</strong>,” is the record we’ve always wanted to make. For those of you following us from the beginning, this will serve as a delightful follow-up to our first release in 2010, when everything was energy and frantic fire. We’ve explored a lot, musically and personally, in this last almost-decade, and we’re coming to this release feeling very sure-footed, equipped with sharper tools and a better perspective, ready to do these songs justice. And we are insanely grateful to each and every one of you who have supported us along the way, given us a place to play, given us a place to sleep, called or texted or emailed or given us hugs of support, and helped us on our way through all parts of this journey. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We’ll release “Pretty Little Secrets” this November. In the meantime, over the next few months, we’ll tell you the backstory behind it all--the songs, the recording process, the album art, everything that went into the creation of this once-in-a-lifetime effort. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This month we’re talking about the songs themselves--which songs will be on the album, what they’re about, what inspired them. We hope you enjoy this inside look at how it’s all come together. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This is a bit more backstory on some of these creations than we’ve typically shared, so get yourself a glass of something and enjoy this behind-the-scenes peek at the 15 tracks we’ll soon be sending out into the world. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Running Out </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">(This will likely be the opening track to the album, though the rest of the tracklist is still settling out.) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Choruses--or pieces thereof--are frequently the first parts of new songs to find their way out. They’re the raw feeling of the whole thing; they come out like a punch to the gut. But then comes the long road of telling the story, and properly honoring that emotion. The opening line of the chorus on “Running Out” was inspired by the news coverage immediately following the Parkland school shootings in 2018 (<em>“Most folks today think no one’s the wiser / We’ll load our guns and do it all over again”</em>). This got us started on a long discussion of the factors that contribute to mass shootings, this American story that has so long repeated itself. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The song isn’t directly about mass shootings, but it captures the helplessness/hopelessness of watching various influences (divisiveness, stubborn clinging to outdated institutions, unwillingness to grow and compromise) continually contribute to tragic outcomes. There’s no solution offered here, but there is definitely an opportunity for examination, introspection, and conversation. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">2-55 </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Inspired by the true story of the first truck John owned, a 1977 Ford F-150 with no air conditioning, "2-55" is a song about the freedom and invincibility of youth. It's about drinking, being broke, and having the time of your life. John grew up in South Texas, where Summer lasts for nine months and not having air conditioning in your 1977 F-150 is a bit of a problem. The title of the song came from a conversation that an 18 year-old John had with his dad about this situation. His dad pointed out that the AC could be easily fixed, immediately and for free. Turns out, the truck was equipped with a “2-55” air conditioning system. Apparently, all you have to do is open those two side windows, and go 55 miles per hour. Problem solved. Thanks dad… </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">But wouldn’t you know, it worked well enough to get the truck through many misadventures, which is about all there is to do in South Texas. One of our favorite lines/soon-to-be bumper sticker came out in this song, looking back at a time when nothing made you feel more alive than driving too fast down dark country roads: “<em>When you’re riding with me, you’re right at the shrine / Give your heart to Jesus cuz your ass is mine</em>”. And that line rings true every time we see someone shake theirs when they hear that rockabilly guitar. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Music Man </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Our writing processes are pretty consistent--Rebecca usually begins with a melody, and lets the lyrics emerge, then the instrumentation is built around it. John usually starts with an instrumental idea and a lyrical concept, and then the lyrics and arrangement are refined. This song started out as a poem, a rhythmic exercise Rebecca started in an effort to kick loose some writer’s block. But the words started taking on a voice that wouldn’t go away, and themes started showing up that felt provocative and compelling. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Lyrically, the song explores being crippled by indecision, knowing that the things that make you who you are, are not necessarily in line with what people expect of you. Following that path may let a lot of people down. But denying it will kill who you are. It became a very exposed and vulnerable piece. And it felt too important to just shove in a notebook and forget. There was more story to tell. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">But it threw the normal writing process on its head. The water-tight rhythm of the lyrics without an initial melody started a long process of frustration. What followed was week after week of trying different melodic ideas, different rhythmic ideas, but the song remained elusive. Going out on a limb, we decided to just record it anyway, and it was then that the song found itself. The magic wand turned out to be a handmade gourd banjo (courtesy of Drew Nelson) that Rebecca gave John as a wedding gift years ago. John put the instrument in a unique open tuning, and found a haunting drone and a deep backbeat, inspired in no small part by the band Alabama Shakes, and it was home. It not only made it on the album, it’s become a frontrunner for favorite. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>The music man told me once that his notes run sharp / But it sure beats running out of time.</em>” </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Hell & High Water </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This one came out over a series of rainy afternoons amidst an under-slab pipe replacement job, following a couple of minor plumbing disasters that occurred shortly after we moved into our house. This was inspired by some of our closest friends who had lost their home in a flood, and the rebuilding of life that followed. The song focuses on adjusting to a “new normal” after sudden, unexpected, and traumatic change (“<em>Trouble turns up on two nickels / and hell and high water rush in</em>”), and rebuilding amidst the rubble, finding that we’re strong, and stronger for it, though we may not know where that strength comes from. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The song started out as a simple but powerful ukulele tune--a rare instance when Rebecca took over the instrumental composition aspect as well as the vocal components. John would come in later to write the harmony vocal, but the original composition remained true to the original form. It needed a little more support to hold its own against the other tracks on this record, so Rebecca issued John the challenge of making this ukulele tune “sound like the band, Drive By Truckers”. It might be the closest we get to sounding like Southern rock, but damn if it doesn’t do the story proud. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Sarge </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We’ve done a lot of volunteer work in homeless outreach in Houston. Homelessness is a unique and difficult problem in a community, and we do our best to contribute in a positive way, to help where we can. This song is a true story of a homeless man named Sarge (that’s the only name he’ll give you), who lives under an I-45 overpass north of the 610 Loop. Sarge is a veteran who served in the Gulf War in the 1990s. One night, his unit captured a POW--a young boy who refused to talk during interrogation. The commanding officer determined that the boy was of no use, and decided to kill him. Sarge disagreed with the decision and, acting in defense of the defenseless, he severely beat his commanding officer. This set off a chain of events that led to Sarge living on the streets for over 20 years. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This song is a first-person account of his story, and explores the irony that making a “right” decision and being a “good” person doesn't guarantee you anything, and in fact, can permanently change your life for the worse. But as you travel through disillusionment, and if you survive that journey, you may find peace where you end up. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>Their walls couldn’t hold me / My angel she told me / I’m free to reap the seeds I will sow</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Last Leaf Has Fallen </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This song came to life in the winter season, as the trappings of holidays and family visits concluded for another year. This song speaks to the sorrow of seeing someone you care deeply about choose a challenging, self-destructive path, and reconciling that with touching moments. The backdrop of this story is the subtext of why this may happen, and the hard decisions that lead us to where we are in our lives (things left unsaid, deaths in the family, guilt). Most importantly, this song touches on why we love each other anyway. We used images from our volunteer work in homeless outreach to paint this picture. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>On a cardboard sign, I painted a rhyme / On a brand new, ordinary day</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Disappear </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The first verse of this song came quickly, on a rainy Sunday in December, the day after our last show in 2017. It had been a formidable year, and we were realizing that we had pretty much reached the limit of what we could juggle, regarding time, schedule, relationships, and emotional health. We had decided to make a change in our lives--ratchet down the number of shows we did, more clearly define the types of shows we would take, really hone in on our style and voice, and take a hard look at what we wanted to do. We were beginning to feel the early effects of that change, to see what it meant to say “no” when we had worked so hard for so many years to get a few “yesses”. It all felt so delicate. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">After the first verse, the rest of the song remained silent for awhile. Shortly after, one of our dear friends lost a loved one that she had cared for for many years. This friend is a uniquely special person with one of the greatest capacities for giving to others that we've known. We hadn't met the person she lost, but we didn't need to. Thinking of her grieving, of a heart that gives so much to so many being broken--eventually showed us the rest of this song. The other verses soon followed. Singing the song feels like treading on hallowed ground, formed on delicate respect and acknowledgement that we will all lose something or someone, that everything will change, that in death and in loss, there is love and beauty. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>You blink and then you miss it / The chance to be alive</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Sweeter with Wine </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This one first found life about nine years ago, and took a little time to find its place. At its core, this little bluesy number is about plotting rights to wrongs, taking matters into your own hands, coming up with all kinds of schemes and plans and promises that will fix all the wrongs in your life...at 2am, after you’ve had a few. The real premise is having a good time in the face of a less than ideal situation. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>Get by, love it in the meantime / Stale bread tastes sweeter with wine / Take yours, baby I’ll make mine / Broke down but feeling fine</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Never Again (Again) </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Another one of the older songs on this album, this song has taken many forms over the years. It finally found its true voice on this album, once we put down the acoustic guitars and found the volume knobs on our amps. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">What came to be is a jaunty little rock number where the verse sounds like a chorus and the chorus sounds like a verse, and it all sounds like a party. The lyric came as we examined the darker sides of human nature that allow us to lie to people we love and make bad decisions, and that, on the receiving end, should be obvious, but still take us by surprise. But it also takes the approach of not blowing things out of proportion, because dammit, nobody’s perfect and we love them anyway. A bit of a universal theme in applying these truths to ourselves, because you know deep down there are things about you that just ain’t right either. So pour another round and hold on; it’s gonna be a crazy ride. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>I know your lies like the back of my hand / Another night of ‘never again’ again</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Keepin Score </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The first verse of this song was written with a very different intention than how it ended up. This verse, which seemed like the beginning of a poignant, sad song, sat as a loose scrap in Rebecca's notebook for a couple of years. But one night we were thumbing through our notes and John started playing with some upbeat rhythmic ideas. Rebecca had been on a listening kick with The Devil Makes Three, so an old-school jug-band party vibe was quickly emerging. But we still couldn’t figure out the point of the thing. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Around the Fall of 2016, we saw several relationships fracture over political disagreements, where players on all sides dug in and cut ties. Social media and communication on that electronic medium directly amplified this, as squabbles between people with different opinions were laid out center stage, and relationships were damaged over the latest crisis du jour. While the emotions involved and the circumstances that led us here are important, what’s more important is that we’re all on the bottom together--and no matter what side you’re on, the system is falling in on itself, and a lot of opinions might be more productive pointed elsewhere. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We decided to make a party of it. It’s something of a drinking song, featuring a wicked kazoo solo that started out as a joke but ended up being too good to leave at home. Cheers, friends. Keep perspective, and don’t sweat the petty stuff. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>Let em be, we’re gonna make our own way / There’s a whole lot more to life than keepin score / The gig is up and life will set in someday / And all this shit won’t matter anymore</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Taxidermy Town </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We get to see a lot of interesting places and hear a lot of fascinating stories when we travel. After awhile, a few patterns start to emerge. Behind every traditional, high-mannered, well-heeled facade, there lies a deeper story, hidden from view by a dusty velvet curtain. And sometimes, after catching a glimpse, the songs write themselves. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This song pulls in parts of stories that were told to us while we were staying in one such town several years ago. We took our time finishing this one, pulling pieces here and there, reveling in the history and folklore. How much is true, and how much is embellished may depend on which innkeeper or bartender or matriarch you talk to, the time of day, and how much they’ve been drinking. But there are plenty of hard and fast documented mile markers that you can fill in the details around. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The old gambling rings, the unmarked graves of CSA soldiers and children, the sanitarium-turned-honeymoon suite, the crumbling shrines to legacy and status…hands clinging desperately to a sinking ship. They’re all there, waiting for you to draw your own conclusions. And we just love it to pieces. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>Cross the tracks and take a stroll / Divided by the cotton boll / We’ll tell you of the carousel / insanity, the road to hell</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">When the Deed is Done </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Some songs are inspired by an immediate emotional response. Some mull around for years, deep beneath the consciousness, forming quietly, ready to be found when the emotion has been fully processed. Inspiration for this song occurred over many years, going something of a distillation before making its way to the surface. Sometimes it seems like they wait until you’re ready. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This song does not focus on one event in particular, but it pays homage to some challenging times, the kind that change you, the kind that you look back at and can clearly see the “before times” and the “after times” on opposite sides. It addresses the mindset of someone who finally finds the confidence and inner peace required to fully discard someone or something that is destroying him. Understanding what it truly means to finish the job, knowing that you may pay, but in the long view, you'll come out clean. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>So walk with me in the desert sun / I’ll leave you here when the deed is done</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Highway Ride </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We were driving home late one night on I-45 Southbound, headed out of Houston. We were intermittently surrounded by "crotch rockets", small but incredibly fast motorcycles that were weaving in and out of traffic at very high speeds. We had known about the "20 Minute Club" for some time, and its penchant for attracting youth that take incredible risks both to themselves, and to others around them. As we watched these bikes fly around cars that were "only" going 70 mph, we thought about the mind of someone who can't help but self-destruct. These riders became a metaphor for so many of us that are drawn to self-destruction in other ways, no matter the consequences to themselves or others. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This dance with the bikes went on for awhile, and then traffic suddenly slowed down and stopped. Eventually, we saw a bike down in middle of the freeway, the lights of the car behind it illuminating the dust rising from its wrecked form. Quiet chaos before even the sirens arrived. No sign of the rider. We never were able to find an accident report, or find out if he was okay. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">“<em>Well the time feels right to seize the night, throw caution to the wind / No holds barred underneath the scars of roadburn on my skin</em>”. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Left Right Left </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">You’ve gotta love the parallels between the daily 8-to-5 and the cadence of a military march. Both require a strict, orderly path, keeping to a straight line, and a predictable, scripted call and response. And if you let it, it will take everything you are willing to give, under the guise that money is compensation for your time, your family, your health, your life. But the perks and status come with a price, and it will all disappear the minute you fall out of line. And what can you do? The power is all positioned much higher up. But the real power is in finding that balance when you can turn away from the trappings of the more/bigger/faster/newer pill that’s being sold. (“<em>You try to keep it quiet but it’s just no use / There ain’t no way to shake it, gotta cut em loose</em>”). </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">This is probably the most rapid-fire machine gun lyric we’ve ever composed; when we finished writing it, we spent a few weeks wondering how we were going to actually sing it. When we recorded it, we actually had to track the verses in alternate lines (lines 1 and 3 first, then go back and track lines 2 and 4) to keep the recording feeling more natural. (More on the recording process in a later post!) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Deep breaths for this one, friends. And a little core work doesn’t hurt either. </span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_regular">Somewhere to Go </span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The more things change, the more they stay the same. We actually wrote this song about five or six years ago, but it just didn’t have a place at the time. It was a 6/8 tune with some well-placed colorful language, and we just weren’t sure what to do with it. (“<em>It’s the very same shit / With a different name</em>”.) So we recorded a scratch version one night, and promptly forgot about it. Fast-forward to late 2018. We were beginning the very preliminary prep on this record, and started going down a rabbit hole of old recordings. Amid a handful of unfinished scraps, we found this little gem. It made us laugh, and what really struck us was that the lyrical content hadn’t aged a bit--the song was more relevant than ever. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The song is a fun little jab at social media and a sideswipe at traditional media. And through it all, we’re given our own personal platform to broadcast our opinions into an echo chamber with complete autonomy. These talking heads take many forms. Here, we become our own talking heads, bound not to facts, not to Standards & Practices, not even to the common decency that we are certain would exist were these conversations happening face-to-face. It seems like there used to be a better way, but really, who can remember?</span></p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/55148792018-11-15T10:43:51-06:002018-11-15T10:43:51-06:00End of Year Party and a New Album!<p>Hello and cheers to you, friends. We hope you are doing so well. </p>
<p>Mark your calendars for Saturday, Dec, 15th at 9pm: it's our BIG HOLIDAY PARTY, our last show for the year, and we're doing a clothing drive for Houston's homeless!! We'll be at Chelsea Wine Bar - so clean out your closet, bring a bag of clothes to donate, and let's all pull together to help some folks and have a damn good time doing it. The best kind of rock n roll is that which unites us, and helps others in the process. </p>
<p>In other news, we have started the recording cycle for our next album. This is a big one - it will be the first all-original album we've released in five years. Release date is tentatively set for November 2019. Why so long, you ask? We're doing this one differently than the last ones. We're working with a publicist this time, to run a national publicity campaign, and that takes a little more time. We're also excited to announce that we will be doing a full vinyl pressing of this album! More about all this later. If you want to follow along and see pictures of the process, don't forget to join us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We'll remember to point cameras at things from time to time. </p>
<p>As next week brings us Thanksgiving, we do want to pause for a second to thank you for your friendship, your support of what we do, and for continuing to be here in our lives. Our story is written day by day; we know that we are some of the luckiest people in the world, to get to write and perform music together. Add to that the love we feel from you, and we feel that those two little words - thank you - are hardly enough. </p>
<p>We couldn't do this without you. Join us at Chelsea on Dec. 15th if you're able. If you're not, we will look forward to seeing you sometime soon, and we wish you the very best. </p>
<p>Cheers to YOU friends. </p>
<p>Rebecca & John </p>
<p>**UPCOMING SHOWS** </p>
<p>Sat., Nov. 17, 3pm: Friendswood TX, Arts in the Park Festival </p>
<p>Sun., Nov. 18, 9am: Galveston's Own Farmers Market </p>
<p>Wed., Nov. 21, 9pm: Houston Heights TX, Dan Electro's Guitar Bar w/Brightwire, When Particles Collide, and The Grizzly Band </p>
<p>Fri., Nov. 30, 8:30pm: Friendswood TX, Friends Uncorked w/Andrew David Weber </p>
<p>Fri., Dec. 7, 9pm: Bryan TX, Revolution w/Doc Mojoe and Slyfoot </p>
<p>Sat., Dec. 8, 2pm: Houston Heights TX, Sawyer Yards Market </p>
<p>Sat., Dec. 15, 9pm: Clear Lake TX, HOLIDAY PARTY and END OF YEAR SHOW, Chelsea Wine Bar</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/54682212018-10-13T10:39:02-05:002022-05-10T13:11:05-05:00Fall News and a Big Sale<p>Hello friends, and we hope you are doing very well! Quick update from us as we head into fall. </p>
<p>We've got a number of great shows coming up this fall, including one TONIGHT in Galveston TX at the Legendary Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. We're kicking that one off at 8:30pm, opening for Kevin Anthony and G-Town. </p>
<p>Next week we'll be in the Houston Heights on Friday Oct. 19th for a night of the blues, with Ray Cashman and Mark Holder. Then we'll be off for a bit, returning in November at the First Saturday Arts Market, and for a big show, opening for BOG LOG III and DOUG KOSMO at Rudyards. </p>
<p>In other news, we are already looking forward to our next album. We are very tentatively targeting a release for Fall 2019, which means that recording starts this Winter. We've got a a few new songs, a few favorites that you know, and as always we are anxious to gear up and get working on it. </p>
<p>Over on our website we've got a big sale goin' on, as we clear out some items. Some shirts are 75% off, got some stickers at a dollar (or free if you order anything else) - check it out and get your holiday shopping done early! Clothe your loved ones in style. http://www.griftersandshills.com/store </p>
<p>Finally, our sincere appreciation to you for supporting us. Truly, you make it possible to do what we do, and we appreciate you so much. </p>
<p>Yours in rock and roll, <br>Rebecca & John </p>
<p>**************************************************************************************************************************************************</p>
<p>Sat., Oct. 13, 8:30pm: Galveston TX, Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe w/Kevin Anthony and G-Town </p>
<p>Fri., Oct. 19, 8pm: Houston Heights TX, Dan Electro's Guitar Bar w/Ray Cashman and Mark Holder </p>
<p>Sat, Nov. 3, 11am: Houston Heights TX, First Saturday Arts Market </p>
<p>Sat., Nov. 3, 9pm: Houston TX, Rudyards w/BOB LOG III and DOUG KOSMO </p>
<p>Sat., Nov. 17, 3pm: Friendswood TX, Arts in the Park Festival </p>
<p>Sun., Nov. 18, 9am: Galveston's Own Farmers Market </p>
<p>Wed., Nov. 21, 9pm: Houston Heights TX, Dan Electro's Guitar Bar w/Brightwire and When Particles Collide </p>
<p>Fri., Nov. 30, 8:30pm: Friendswood TX, Friends Uncorked w/Andrew David Weber </p>
<p>Fri., Dec. 7, 9pm: Bryan TX, Revolution w/Doc Mojoe and Desdimona </p>
<p>Sat., Dec. 8, 2pm: Houston Heights TX, Sawyer Yards Market </p>
<p>Sat., Dec. 15, 9pm: Clear Lake TX, HOLIDAY PARTY and END OF YEAR SHOW, Chelsea Wine Bar </p>
<p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/53180292018-06-26T09:43:03-05:002018-06-26T09:43:03-05:00Album Release Party - This Weekend!<p>Hello friends, and we hope you are doing very well. We sincerely appreciate hearing from so many of you on the latest album, 'Long Tongue Liars'. The big album release party is THIS SATURDAY, June 30th, at Dan Electro's Guitar Bar. 9pm, and we'll have our good friends from Brightwire and Randall Conrad Olinger playing as well. </p>
<p>When we say we couldn't do this without you, we mean it. Every conversation we share, every song we sing together, any amount of time we have together - and as for this new album, this one belongs to you. You helped us breathe it into life. </p>
<p>Now let's join together this Saturday and make the rock. Rattle some walls and fill the halls, and other poetic ways of saying it's gonna be a helluva party this Saturday night. </p>
<p>Cheers to you friends - <br>Rebecca & John</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/50356382018-01-21T19:53:06-06:002019-09-02T09:57:00-05:002018 - A Blues Album<p>As 2018 dawns we find ourselves in the studio, working hard to record our next album. This one's a bit different from previous efforts, so we wanted to let you know where we're coming from, and where we're going. After all, you are so important to us. We sincerely appreciate the fact that we can share our artistic creations with you, every chance we get. Without you, as Rebecca says, we're just playing for the cats! </p>
<p>In 2017, we recorded and released 'Road to Brownwood'. This album paid homage to the folk, traditional and gospel roots that have influenced us, and that we feel are important parts of our lives. No originals on it - it was a different kind of project. </p>
<p>In the same way, 2018 will bring a "blues album". It doesn't have a name yet, and we're not sure how many songs will be on it. As of today, there are 19 songs on the thing. We'll see if they all make the final cut! But like 'Brownwood', there won't be original material on it. </p>
<p>This "blues album" (I sure wish we had a better name for it...in time, in time...) will be a departure in sound for some folks. It’s harder-edged. It's not acoustic. What it is, is an honest capture of what we're doing these days, and a bit of a throwback to the punch and power of our original approach to creating music, back in our 'Westbound' days. </p>
<p>As a companion piece to 'Road to Brownwood', this "blues album" completes the foundation that we stand upon. </p>
<p>So what will we do on this foundation? In the summer of 2018 we'll start recording our new all-original release. This will be a MAJOR release - likely a double-album, around 25 songs, and we'll do a full run of vinyl and CDs alike. This one is targeted for a 2019 release, so we have time. The important thing to know is that 'Road to Brownwood' and "the blues album" lay the foundation for where we're going - and we are SUPER excited to be able to share this journey with you.</p>
<p> </p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/44779242016-11-23T08:00:46-06:002016-11-23T12:45:30-06:00Venues and Artists: We Can Help Each OtherThe topic of music licensing is one we have dealt quite a bit. There are emotions and opinions on all sides of it, and certainly we have our own. What we bring you today is the way we have found to work together, as venues and artists, to help each other out. The ASCAP (and BMI / SESAC) model of music licensing is a one-size-fits-all arrangement, where smaller venues are treated the same as larger venues, regardless of yearly income or the number of ears that will be reached by music playing in that venue. <br><br>We have two goals here:<br>1. For venues: show you how you can play music in your business, for free.<br>2. For artists: show you how you can get your music playing for more ears. <br><br><strong>Scenario 1: A business wants to turn on Pandora (or something similar) and play popular music for their customers. </strong><br>Simply stated, if a business wants to play a song on their speakers, and this business is open to the public, they must obtain a license from ASCAP, BMI and/or SESAC in order to play these songs. If you (the business) insist on playing the greatest hits of the 70s, or other songs "that everybody knows", then you'll need to get the right licenses from ASCAP, BMI and/or SESAC.<br><br><strong>Scenario 2: A business simply wants to have some kind of background music, and they don't want to pay thousands of dollars for it </strong><br>If you (the business/venue) simply want background music, there is a way you can get it for free. Here's how it works: <br>-A songwriter writes a letter to their Performing Rights Organization (PRO) and informs them that they (the songwriter) are giving rights to some specific business to play their songs.<br>-The songwriter gives their music to the business, along with a copy of the aforementioned letter sent to the PRO. <br>-The business plays the music. <br>-Business is happy because they have background music. Customers are happy for the same reason. Songwriter is happy because their music is playing for more ears. <br><br>If you're a business, imagine what would happen if you had 25 songwriters offer you their CDs. That's easily 24 hours of music that wouldn't repeat in a given business day. You'd have background music, the artists would get exposure to new ears, and it is all legal. <br><br>Songwriters, it is important to remember that your agreement with your PRO is non-exclusive. What that means is that you are essentially becoming the licensor in this arrangement, where you are licensing your songs to be played at a venue. It helps if you self-publish your songs, as you'll need agreement from your publisher as well. We encourage you to check the by-laws of your performing rights organization, of course, and it should go without saying that this not legal advice. This is simply advice from our experience, and is something we are actively doing with several of the venues we have relationships with. <br><br>We've prepared a form letter that you can use - just fill in the blanks, and follow the steps under Scenario 2 above. <br><br><br><br><br> Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41613932016-05-01T11:47:35-05:002022-06-01T13:08:01-05:00The Grifters & Shills “Wedding Margarita”<p>Served at our wedding, here is the recipe we used. </p>
<p>1 bottle reposado tequila (we use El Jimador) <br>1 1/4 cups fresh squeezed lime juice <br>7/8 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice <br>1 cup organic sugar <br>kosher salt (optional), for salting the rims </p>
<p>Make your simple syrup: in advance, heat the sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Measure out 7/8 cup syrup and transfer to a quart-size container. Place in the fridge to cool. </p>
<p>Cut and juice as many limes and lemons as you need to make the lemon and lime juice. Important: do not use store-bought lime or lemon juice; only use fresh-squeezed. </p>
<p>Once the simple syrup has cooled, stir in the lemon juice, lime juice, and 1/4 cup water to create the sour mix. </p>
<p>Make each margarita: for one drink, pour 2 ounces of tequila and 2 ounces of sour mix into a shaker filled with ice. Vigorously shake the mixture so the ice breaks up a bit. Strain the drink into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with a slice of lime. Salted rim is optional. Repeat and scale this recipe as necessary – at our wedding, we used five liters of tequila, to make three gallons of margaritas!</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41613852016-05-01T11:46:16-05:002020-07-04T09:35:45-05:00Marriage, cops, moonshine and a groundhog.<p><em>(oiginally posted Jan. 4, 2013) </em><br><br>So y'all probably know we're getting married...and we can't wait!! Here's the story of our proposal, and it really does involve the cops being called, a moonshine toast, and a groundhog. </p>
<p><strong>How we got engaged </strong></p>
<p><em>Rebecca: </em></p>
<p>We had just finished our first national tour through the Midwest, rounding it out in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The day after our very last show, we checked into a cozy little B&B that we have stayed in each time we've visited Eureka Springs. We wanted a day and a night to relax and rest up for our last leg of travel back home (about 600 some-odd miles). </p>
<p>The first thing we did when we checked in was take a nap. The last two weeks had been a blur of excitement and joy and exhaustion, and a day with nothing to do but take a nap felt like utter luxury. </p>
<p>John woke up first and went out on the little balcony off of our room. The balcony overlooks a beautiful, secluded garden that would make 'Better Homes & Gardens' shut down the printers and close up shop if they ever saw it. The day was a little bit drizzly and so quiet. We had just spent the last two nights playing in and sleeping above the biker Mecca that is the Pied Piper Inn; the serenity of that hilltop B&B couldn't have been more opposite than where we'd been the last couple of days. </p>
<p>Eventually I got up and went out on the balcony with John, where he was playing his guitar. He was playing something I hadn't heard before, but that really stood out to me and felt familiar. Like a perfect soundtrack to the day. I sat out there with him for awhile not saying anything. Just enjoying it. After awhile he stopped playing and we were watching a hummingbird, just taking in the quiet. </p>
<p>Then he said he had a present for me. He said he got me something to show how much he loved me. I came up with something ridiculous and asked if that's what it was. I think I asked if it was a groundhog. He said no. I pretended to be sad. (Okay, I was a little sad, because a groundhog would be super awesome, but I digress.) </p>
<p>I looked over at him and he was holding this gorgeous ring between his thumbs and forefingers of both hands. Just looking at it. I looked at him and he asked. I was stunned. We'd talked about it some, but it seemed like something that we would come back to later. Life had been busy the last couple of years. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever actually said "yes." I was sitting on his knee enjoying a well-deserved kiss when the innkeeper showed up and said we had to move our trailer because someone had just called the cops about our parking job. Which all seemed very appropriate really. </p>
<p>All I remember of our 9-hour drive home the next day was how the sunlight kept catching the diamonds in the ring. And how excited I was to tell our families--and the rest of the world--that I was marrying the closest friend that I have ever had--the one person I have met who really, really understands me. And who I in turn love like no other. </p>
<p>The longest week of my life was waiting to see my parents so I could tell them in person. The night we told them, we all stood in our kitchen toasting the news with shots of apple pie moonshine. Few moments can top an occasion like that. </p>
<p><em>John: </em></p>
<p>The story of the proposal started a few months before it happened. My biggest challenge was to keep it a surprise... I had to get the ring, carry it across the country for two weeks, and wait for the right moment to ask the big question. The hardest part was the "surprise" part--Rebecca is a certified, bonafide mind-reader, and I am really bad about keeping secrets. </p>
<p>This was no small task, but I was anxious for the challenge! To make things more interesting, I decided that I wanted to have a local jeweler and metalsmith friend (Erika DelGardo) build the ring by hand. Over the course of a few months, I would work very early shifts at work, which left me free in the afternoons to secretly visit the jeweler, where we designed the ring together. There are eight diamonds around the top periphery of the ring, symbolic of the year 2008 which is when Rebecca and I first met, and the top of the ring is itself a ring. </p>
<p>Erika did great work, and I thought it was perfect, but she was not fully satisfied (when is an artist ever satisfied, right?). A few weeks before Rebecca and I were to leave on tour, Erika melted the ring down and built it up again. This time it was perfect, and right on time for the big tour! I picked it up just days before we left on our journey. </p>
<p>I really enjoy that we got engaged while on our first national tour. Our life as artists and traveling entertainers is a never-ending journey, and the normal up-and-down and ebb-and-flow of life is greatly amplified for us. We experience all manner of beauty, difficulty and challenge on a regular basis. Every place we go, we are challenged, and as a result we have grown very strong together. It occurs to me that we have been living the words "for better or worse" for a few years already. </p>
<p>Rebecca saying that she would marry me makes me the happiest man in the world, and I am indescribably happy about this journey we share. She is a strong woman, and the only person in the world that really understands me. I respect her and love her like no other. </p>
<p>From our wedding website, http://stollferguson.ourwedding.com </p>
<p>Cheers and good times to you guys!! </p>
<p>-Rebecca and John</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41613842016-05-01T11:42:43-05:002016-05-01T11:42:43-05:00Hum<p>I was driving in to work this morning, passively listening to Guy Clark, not feeling entirely “with it” due to a near sleepless night and the general ennui that’s become pretty inseparable from the 9 to 5 portion of my life these days. But traffic was light for once, and the music was good, so in relative terms, I could probably already consider today a success despite being only about an hour and a half into it. </p>
<p>While I’m sitting at my daily red light in the middle of downtown Houston, “L.A. Freeway” comes on. It’s a song I know, but never really had strong feelings about. That’s not to say I don’t like it, but it just never roused any great emotional response from me. And that’s fine. They can’t all do that all the time. Otherwise listening to music would be utterly exhausting and traumatic. Regularly, I mean. And that would be a little much. </p>
<p>But a line hit me, in the context of where I was sitting, in the dead center of the jammed up metropolitan mecca of the fourth-largest city in the country, that I hadn’t ever really noticed before. </p>
<p>Adios to all this concrete. Gonna get me some dirt road back street. </p>
<p>And, particularly in the light of a conversation John and I were having last night about figuring out how or if we can really shake things up and completely change our lives, the words started cracking through to me a little more. </p>
<p>I had a front row seat at the crosswalk. Well-assembled business-y people strutted past my car. Most talking on their phones. Or looking at their phones. All carrying multiple bags and white cups of coffee. Walking in a way that can only be described as “deliberate.” They are going somewhere. They have something to do. Something that apparently requires a lot of bags. These people are very important. They’re doing it right. Somewhere, they have mothers who are proud. I feel sad. For them and because of them. </p>
<p>I see someone approaching the curb on my right. A man I’ve seen before, in this very spot, several times. This street fronts the public library. It’s a place where non-business-y people who don’t have white coffee cups and business meetings to hurriedly get to can instead just sit and let the time pass as it may. But the approaching man is hurrying to his own appointment. He begins digging through the garbage can that I’m sitting next to, looking for his breakfast. No doubt that no small number of business people hurriedly discard their McBreakfasts into that trashcan on the way to their appointments and meetings. </p>
<p>I’m supposed to turn right during this red light. The driver behind me has apparently had enough of reading my bumper stickers and watching the homeless man eat garbage and grows impatient with me. </p>
<p>But I can’t go. I’m caught. I’m utterly caught in this moment, watching all of these people walk past this very obvious man who is very obviously eating out of the garbage, while pretending that he is not there, that he is not eating out of the garbage, and does not, in fact, affect them at all. </p>
<p>Now, this is not a preachy piece about how they should give this man money or do something for him. All I’m saying is, it is amazing how deliberately they chose not to see him. Because he doesn’t fit for them. He is a problem, a stain on the pristine reality that they have built around themselves in order to fulfill their arbitrary senses of entitlement. </p>
<p>And I suddenly feel something of a sensory overload, as the song playing conjures in my mind images of my own escape fantasy, while my eyes watch this constant movement of people completely absorbed in their own worlds, the street packed full of cars and busses, the sky blocked by skyscraper after skyscraper. Everything is grey and hard and lifeless. Everything spins down a drain. There is no life here. All of the noise will build to a deafening thunder. And die. </p>
<p>I think of how incredible it is, that all of these countless things can occur simultaneously, and yet the result is nothing but a singular, unique, infinitesimal moment in time. A flash so bright and so fast that you can’t even tell if it happened. It makes me think of stars. How they are composed of nothing but tiny particles, and yet how massive they are, and yet how tiny they appear in the sky, and yet how inconceivably many of them there are. </p>
<p>All of this—the song, the red light, the suits, the homeless man, and me examining the whole of reality simultaneously at a molecular level and an infinite aerial view—has occurred in the span of about 90 seconds. </p>
<p>By the time the light changed, I’m having what I’m going to call an uncontrollable emotional response. It seems I’ve been having a lot of these lately. And I’m not sure if it’s a sign that something’s wrong or that I’m doing something very right. </p>
<p>This feeling in my mind…I always describe it as a hum. Like a very steady hum that you feel more than you hear. It’s almost physical. Rather than the overwhelming noise of everything at once, all of it too much and too fast and completely chaotic, this is organized and steady. It’s productive and useful. It’s methodical, and I can make sense of it. When it runs this way, I’m kinder to people because I don’t feel like I’m drowning. I feel like a conductor. Not like I’m in control, but that I’m in alignment. </p>
<p>These moments. There are so, so many of them. And it’s completely easy to miss them all, to deliberately not see them. </p>
<p>If I could just get off of this L.A. freeway without getting killed or caught, I’d be down that road in a cloud of smoke for some land that I ain’t bought. </p>
<p>- Rebecca</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41613832016-05-01T11:41:57-05:002016-05-01T11:41:57-05:00The Little Red Wagon<p>We were walking through the wooded parking lot at the Texas Renaissance Festival not long ago, minding our steps through the bog as it had rained quite a bit the previous day. It was sunny this day though, and the world seemed alive, bright and full of life. People were dressed in every kind of eye-catching way, some in full Renaissance garb, some as pirates, some as various kinds of animals that I couldn't name, and some as if they were headed out to their backyard to yet again cut the grass as another endless Texas summer held on for another week. Through all of this, a little Radio Flyer red wagon caught my eye, as it was being hoisted out of the back of a pickup truck. The wagon was carefully placed on the ground by the adults, and readied for its very young occupant to climb on board. The wagon was perfect in every way. It was a Radio Flyer, but the adults had added a small roof, supported with little PVC pipes that also served to keep the very young occupant safely contained inside. The roof was painted red just like the wagon, and inside the wagon, a shiny green steering wheel was mounted on the front, ready for the young driver that was soon to take the wheel. </p>
<p>Some weeks previous to this day, we had been very generously given four comp tickets to attend this festival, as a thanks for some volunteer work we did at an Arts Festival. We couldn't use four tickets, so we approached this young family, complimented the perfect wagon, and handed them two free tickets to enjoy the day. We exchanged smiles as they realized this was a random act of kindness, and as we parted ways, the young driver of the wagon excitedly took his seat behind the shiny green steering wheel, and with a great big smile that the adults now wore too, fearlessly "drove" onto the grounds of that bacchanalian carnival that we were all part of that day. </p>
<p>We are thankful for every opportunity we've had this year, for every moment of grace and beauty and difficulty. Most of all we are so grateful that you are in our lives.</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41549592016-04-26T18:18:03-05:002018-02-23T06:40:58-06:00Amazon<p>As independent musicians, writing and performing in the roots music genre, we are very fortunate to be able to write and record songs in the way we truly feel them, with no artificial filters or barriers between our artistic intent, and you, the listener. This is what it means to be independent, after all! </p>
<p>The other thing that “independent” means is that selling our albums is entirely up to us, with a lot of help from our street team of fans, friends and family. We don’t have big distribution chains helping us out, or promotion machines that get our music in front of new listeners; all that work is done at the grass roots level, every time we set up and play a show, or every time one of you mentions us to someone you know, and (especially) every time you come to a show. Truly, independent music is a unique and hard-working way of life, and we would not stand a chance without your help. </p>
<p>But being independent does not mean that we’re immune from interacting with the large-scale corporate players when selling and distributing our album—players like Amazon, for example. Amazon is the go-to online market place for many consumers, making it an essential piece of just about any current-day commercial operation. But the inner workings of Amazon—particularly in the realm of music distribution—are not widely known. So, I thought an inside look at how Amazon works might help us all out. </p>
<p>The Amazon business model works on volume. Sellers on Amazon make money only when they sell large amounts of whatever it is they’re selling. This works fine if you have a big distribution chain working for you, or are part of the mainstream music machine that sells hundreds of thousands of CDs. But the model is not adjusted for independent artists, so for smaller players, the numbers don’t work as well. </p>
<p>Here’s what happens when you order our CD: <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/202396/a9055a2b6721c6417b5df1e6367fe32788cf1cff/original/table-png-nggid041113-ngg0dyn-0x0x100-00f0w010c010r110f110r010t010.png?1461712655" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br> </p>
<p>I write this in hope that it helps you out, when thinking about purchasing from any musician out there. Amazon’s business model is not readily apparent to consumers, and I hope this helps give you an inside look. </p>
<p>Yours, in honesty and independent music, </p>
<p>John</p>Grifters & Shillstag:griftersandshills.com,2005:Post/41417502016-04-18T13:51:49-05:002016-04-18T13:51:49-05:00New websiteCreating this new website is a lot of fun. First time I think I can say that about putting a website together. It's almost as much fun as anything you could do with a computer I suppose.<br>-JohnGrifters & Shills