Memphis Originals

I'll be playing a "solo" set at MO's Edge Coffeehouse (3521 Walker, near the U of M) this Saturday, July 28 at 6 p.m. with my dear friend and guitarist extraordinaire, Matt Oliver, joining me on lead guitar. We're opening for the fabulous Archives, who are celebrating the release of their fine new full-length CD and the birth of some Archive babies! There is no cover charge! MO's does serve food, if you wish to dine there that evening. And as long as you're willing to pay a $2/person "corkage" fee and are over 21 years of age, you're welcome to bring your own beer and/or wine.

See ya there, kids!

Young at (He)art*

*I think I owe this expression, as well as countless photo credits, to Amber, but after seeing this photo with Ted's grandma and great aunt in the foreground, I just had to use it! We were thrilled to play last Friday night for the Dixon's "Young at Art" membership group. As you can see, this early gig also gave us the opportunity to welcome some family and friends who don't usually get to see us play.

Of course, we were glad to have many of the usual suspects on-hand, too!


Thanks to Maggie and everyone at the Dixon for having us and keeping the beer cold. It was a good way to start the weekend, and it's always great to make some new friends. Here's what we played:

THANK YOU, HERMAN MANKIEWICZ
SO MUCH CLEARER
SINCE I’VE BEEN GONE
OTIS REDDING SONG
STRIKE
WATERLOO SUNSET
SIMON SAYS
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
CHRISTMAS EVE 1998
MY FRIENDS, TOO
I’M ON FIRE
YEAR 55
DRIFT AWHILE
PSYCHIC LULLABY
DON’T YOU STARE
PERPETUAL AFTERNOON
KEEPING STILL
DEARLY BLUE
WHAT THEY MEAN
TIME TO KILL
SECRETS TO SING
BACK FROM LITTLE ROCK
HEAVYWEIGHT
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK
I’M ALRIGHT
HOLLOW MOON
I’M ONLY SLEEPING
STARTOWN GAZING
GREAT BIG COSMIC
IF I WANTED YOU

I'll be playing a "solo" set at MO's Edge Coffeehouse (3521 Walker, near the U of M) this Saturday, July 28 at 6 p.m. with one of my dearest friends, Matt Oliver, joining me on lead guitar. Some of you may have seen us play at Otherlands last December. We're opening for the fabulous Archives, who are celebrating the release of their fine new full-length CD and the birth of some Archive babies! There is no cover charge! MO's does serve food, if you wish to dine there that evening. And as long as you're willing to pay a $2/person "corkage" fee and are over 21 years of age, you're welcome to bring your own beer and/or wine.

What's the world got in store?

Introducing Ella Kate. Born on Wednesday evening, Ella is now the third Central Standards' daughter. Are we witnessing a trend here?! She's a beauty, as you can see in the picture. Kid's got good genes! Ella and Christy are both doing well and expected to come home and meet Charlie (the family dog) over the weekend. Meanwhile, our newest rock 'n roll dad is just as proud as can be, even when diaper-changing time comes around, which happens quite often, of course! Here they are on their way to the changing table. Naturally, Marty looks as calm, cool and collected as he does behind the drum kit.

Congratulations, guys, and God bless your new family!

Young at Art

This Friday night, July 20, Ted and I will play an acoustic show at the Hughes Pavilion at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, as part of its "Young at Art" program. This very cool event, from 6 to 8 p.m., is $10 for non-"Young at Art" members. The price includes wine, beer, and food! If you'd like to come listen to some music, enjoy the beauty of the gardens, and have some food and beverage, then we hope you can make it out! Just come into the main entrance at the Dixon, and security will direct you to the pavilion.

See ya there!

A Work in Progress...

Ted told a couple of people last Thursday that we were going to finish our new record this past weekend. When we shared that information with Kenny on Friday, he said something like, "Well, then...OK!" And as usual, the maestro's ambition paid off with (as far as we can tell) finished tracks for 13 more songs by 6:30 p.m. on Sunday! These songs now join three others that were done several months ago (Back from Little Rock, Heavyweight and Great Big Cosmic) in the mixing and mastering phase of the project.

I started off on Friday afternoon, recording a relatively new song called "Endless Green and Blue".

We all gathered on Saturday morning and started knocking out basic tracks for five other tunes:

WHEN YOUR FEET THUD UNEXPECTED ON MY MAT
STRIKE
HEY NOW, LITTLE SKYLINER
HOLLOW MOON
THANK YOU, HERMAN MANKIEWICZ

It turned out to be a really productive weekend, thanks to the great work of our friend, producer/engineer Kenny Jones. Kenny now starts the rather formidable (and unenviable!) task of sifting through all of our tracks and making some sense of them. Something tells me he'll be up to it!

More to come...