Andrew Grimm (musician) June Star (band)

the natives

2012-01-03T22:28:00.002-05:00

an all natural, sleek look.
shimmy and shined thoroughly.
no loose ends.
all tied together.
all tied up.
until
the sun
becomes an ember
sinking into
the sea...

grimm

making it to the clearing

2012-01-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

happy new year. right? that's the gig. i've found reason to believe, vision, clarity, and spark. to drive without the crash. how anything happens seems like such a simple thing; just make a plan for yourself.

my plans will be quiet and private. blogger's irony. but, i will put forth my cyber foot and analog heart. i had a most frightening dream last night and my immediate reflection led me to these conclusions:

1. i am out of control
2. there are no reasons why i shouldn't be in control
3. even if i can't control my immediate situation, i should take deep breaths and try again.

what great dream did i have?

it was not my dead mother coming to give me advice in some sage like yoda moment... no... infrequently i will meet her again in my dreams, but it is never in a space where i exclaim, "MOM! I miss you; I love you!" Those episodes are almost always second hand or incidental where she talks to me just as she did when she was alive. i don't know why that is, but i suppose that's the deal, right?

the dream was the out of control classroom dream... for years i had the same basic dream the day before school starts... the class is out of control, kids talking... not sitting in their assigned seats... and me raising my voice, raising my voice, to the point of screaming. then, i will ask one student, "Why won't they listen to me?" the student replies, "Because you're you."

Ugh.

the dream last night though... the same premise but slightly different. every hooligan i've taught seemed to be there. i wasn't afraid; i knew the job ahead of me; i knew the job would require great energy; i knew it would take focus; i understood the demands of my time.

so here i am.

how consistent can i be? i can tell you this much, i started with the damn blog i've been ignoring.

grimm

somewhere in the east

2011-09-09T04:23:00.002-04:00

it figures.

right?

the long slow
damaging ride pulls
into the driveway.

what once sang of will
and then pride
and then defiance
and then wash out

metered out only
in vague passion
not unlike denial,
tired and incapable.

T.S. Elliot was right.
James Joyce was right.
Lou Reed was right.
my guidance counselor was right.

even if there was time,
well lit boundaries and
phone calls answered right away.
even if there were you.

"will" is no longer
an engine. no more propulsion.
hardly a sputter. froze up
and quiet.

Walt Whitman was wrong.
he is very understood
and he was never beneath my feet,
waiting somewhere vainly.

it's the money you see

2011-08-11T12:07:00.002-04:00

the exact money i do not have.
david and i were doing a late recording
session in my basement
last
night.

good times. working on a solo
album... or duo... sorry dave.
i suppose.
you don't
mind
right?

attempting to record live...

here are the mics we're using

Shure SM 86
Shure SM 57
AKG 214
AKG 212
Sennheisser 421

excitement. we may have gotten two, "in
the
can."
so to
spea
k

that was not a metaphor.

blush

grimm

tyrant... tired.

2011-08-10T12:02:00.002-04:00

take me to the mountain
slip me into the sea
let go, let sink
loose of anyone
loose of anything

no new wonder met
every sigh breathed
just as, just is
sad to say
sad to see

with feet heels down
stretched out toes
spread far, spread late
swing open
swing close

Monsters INC

2011-07-28T11:13:00.004-04:00

Monster Recognition

With little doubt, the first step in getting well, clearing a path back to the pond, is learning to recognize a few truths. The first truth, no matter what any one adult has ever told you, is that monsters do indeed exist; they live and work in your mind, your energy, your demeanor, your touch, your sleep, your anger, and most warmly in your denial of monsters.

The term, monsters, really came to me when a friend was talking about how he steers clear from cocaine. He said, "It became something dangerous, with a voice I couldn't ignore. It was inside me." Frightening. To be sure, I'm not talking about cocaine in this blog. I've never snorted cocaine, never had the desire... seemed to me, as far as I could tell, that cocaine was really expensive and I rather spend my money elsewhere.

When the word monster is spoken, it becomes real to me. This living being that careens and swerves with deliberate wanton severity. Not so much human, no lungs but a capacity to scream and to shake. I suppose it would be amorphous... the only form that comes to mind is the large hairy orange monster from Bugs Bunny, you know the one that's wearing high tops? Humorous digression aside, these monsters start small and grow... not some deformed grotesque abomination... that description would be more apt in describing our own likeness after giving in to the monster within... no, all monsters start out as small fetal things... defenseless, however...

Suckling on your disappointment in yourself and those around you, these monsters can grow almost as big as you, any larger, as in some cases it has been reported, a person's personality ceases to be recognizable. They become someone else, entirely. The monsters' nest, your brain or maybe your heart, certainly your liver with all that bile sloshing around, cannot be removed by conventional means. Fire. I guess self immolation would work... but that would be extreme. The first step in ridding yourself of emotional monsters is to stop feeding it. Yes it will be angry and start knocking at your door... sending you chain letters... sending you updates from Farmville on Facebook... undermining your trust in humanity... allow you space to question your friendships, your loves.

Those are the actions of a desperate monster.

But to be clear, and back on point, the less you feed the monster(s), the better you feel, the easier to communicate, the easier it is to sleep, pay attention to traffic at 70 miles an hour, cooking dinner, reading a book, volunteering at a local library... happiness should be free... monster-free.

The second truth: The people you love may be the people who cannot recognize a monster from granola bar.

Grimm

parts of speech

2011-07-19T12:51:00.003-04:00

article: A
adjective: tired
noun: musician
adverb: quietly
verb: reconsiders,
interjection: "Yes!
conjunction: And
pronoun: you?"

pressures

2011-07-18T17:25:00.003-04:00

sometimes i have bad dreams. bad. for example. every once in a while... while something particularly stressfull is occurring in my life... i have bad dreams. the most common, for me, is this one where i'm revisiting a house or building i used to live in and to get to my bedroom i have crawl into and eventually through a small space, barely shoulder length wide and always filled with stuffy air. my heart races... my arms begin to twitch... i'm not stuck but, i cannot breathe. for the life of me i cannot take air in or send air out. scary man. scary.

i guess i feel like that now. i was commenting to a friend the other day that something big was on the horizon for me. good or bad, i couldn't tell you. but i know it's there. i can hear its slow thud. it is heavy. for certain.

my blog is in disarray... my websites out of date. i am out of date. the record was tracked but needs work to be done on it still. mixing, mastering... maybe a round of touch up with a little extra tracking.

hard to tell. other projects are under way. we're composing by looking at the stars.

spent some time at a birthday party in carroll county. i miss carroll county. open open open space... i'm sure harsh chemicals are treating the soil... but the sky was this thick blast of blue... the sun clear, hot. not angry hot like in the city... just matter of fact.

in the city... during this heat... there was a dead rat out front of our house... at first i didn't notice him... i'm desensitized to dead rats, i suppose. but the next day he grabbed me by the nostrils and bid me to notice him. I named him, Stinky.

After a couple weeks he has been pounded and ground into the asphalt... joyce carol oates... at least i think it was her... had a poem about roadkill being mashed into the pavement until it took the consistency of a an flat dish rag... i changed his name to Skinny.

he has since moved on... washed away? floated up? scraped off? faded through? blown to?

who knows...

i'm struggling back to my small space...

Grimm

holding, deposits

2011-06-10T13:00:00.001-04:00

new june star record
takes next step
we record june 23rd-26th
@ lord baltimore recording.

will let you know
the next step.

meh

grimm

again and again...

2011-05-23T10:23:00.002-04:00

hi there... nothing real new to report...

other than having our equipment stomped on and careened into
at bertha's the other night. I hear you... preakness! it's
an excuse to get so inebriated that you have carte blanche to
destroy and murder whomever you like. thanks to the door man who
let them in... picked them up off of the floor and led them to the
bar for another round. the 1960 camco drumset thanks you! our
pa equipment thanks you for destroying it... yes... for the mere sum
of $250 we took in some damage!

huzzah fell's point... you may have one this one... once and
for all...

what's better is that those folks were blissfully unaware of the
damage they did and have done...

re-thinking the music thing!

Freebird!

Grimm

Explosive New Chapter in the June Star Saga!

2011-05-16T08:53:00.002-04:00

not entirely true.
we have been off the grid.
grazing on our fortunes.
locating our muses.
they had flown far off.
the distance blurred their voices.
but now, some how... by a design of fate.
inspiration returns. frilly and wholesome.

me?

i've been a long term sub
at my old school. hanging with teenagers.
piecing together the next version of the band.
shakey but promising.
that reminds me of my prom.

we're slated to start recording in june.
it may happen. there is some doubt.
the doubt is in my mind. as time, the ultimate commodity is quite precious.

i have been tired lately.
new sources of energy and motivation will need to be tapped.
breakfast? lunch? dinner? gym?

pressure to pursue the muse.

no?

grimm

rough mix?

2011-04-13T10:42:00.002-04:00

cold and hazy

2011-04-12T08:33:00.002-04:00

a sudden realization
bob dylan spoke
the truth in
his admission of
why he writes.

the songs or
words seem to
come to him
without political provocation
and revolutionary passion

they are, as
macleish stated on
poetry, it shouldn't
mean, it should
merely be. word.

so much time
spent reading about
how or why
fewer minutes grinding
out words, melodies

time to set
to the task,
hoist a flag
fix a stare
cock the head

strike up digital
band and self
let the current
control movement and
fate introduces destination

the unconscious prevails,
speaks, betrays without
fail and corporeal
honesty, sweetness, devastation.
you ready yet?

oh... morning and the coffee

2011-04-11T07:36:00.002-04:00

how difficult, do you suppose, can be it to click out all these blogs? i don't have a set plan. you see, i sit at my computer, christmas lights plugged in, and i begin to tap. sometimes a thought will come up and i'll work with that for a bit, but usually i have no real idea where that is going. this week though, i should focus. i should try to organize some sort of form to the week. next week i'm back in the classroom full time, until june 16th. then, after the schooling is finished, the kids have gone, and the room is clean, we will record the next album. i have some new kind of ideas that should be neat. for the first time we will be recording one place, mixing in another place, and mastering somewhere else! sounds like fun as far as i'm concerned. huzzah. huzzah. so. where does that leave us? many preparations to get it together... literally. some rehearsing and strategizing... putting together a short tour in july and august... maybe i'll take in a lunch meeting with my cat.

reverse, inverse, perverse...

2011-04-08T07:27:00.002-04:00

So, let's go back a minute. Let's just hold up. My brain, in all its saltwatery, bloody function, is having a hard time processing the current situation as it has played out for the past few weeks.

The tour concluded, and my weariness quickly shifted to a warm sense of safety (maybe irony...) and belonging as the Baltimore skyline appeared on the left. Baltimore, home. Without derision, without disappointment, we drove up 95 and through the Harbor Tunnel and into David's neighborhood. No welcoming party but we felt welcomed anyway.

So, it's not safety that we felt. We were both feeling the same thing, though. Not safe,though. Safe means there have been threats and injury cast around, flung, pressured, pushed, or poked at us. America, or at least the America we traveled greeted us with smiles and handshakes and cd sales and encouragement and more smiles, it's a nice place, except for southern Missouri and northern Arkansas; they are blasted wastelands of smoldering ash, barren of hope.

Familiarity, a warmth in knowing where we were, a personal "knowing" and that sense of home eased us into Baltimore. It was more like we drove into it, though. Like passing through some sort of bubble or barrier, a cloud I suppose, but what it comes down to, is understanding how complete or thorough this sense seemed. Permeation. Spending two weeks burning through the Midwest and the deep, dirty, thick, sour, sweet, lazy, and swampy South and far from home gets past your skin and in to your bones, but home is the marrow.

There was no question about where to turn, what time to load-in, where to eat, where to sleep, how much is that, what kind of beer should we buy...none of those questions were urgent anymore; we already knew the answers. We could have taken our hands from the wheel and still have ended up at home.

Now, as my clicking gets a bit tiring to me... and I look at my office space... time to rethink my mode of operation... long term sub job starts on April 18th... Ends in June... two months of the straight job... funny how people see me as "figuring it out" in terms of the full time job. I have figured out nothing. Except some people are more generous then others, that discipline is a good thing, even if I don't have it all the time.

Today, I rearrange... make a goal... pick up an amp... tonight we play at Joe Squared Pizza for a dinner show... we'll see how that goes, eh?

Andrew

lapsed in effort

2011-03-21T12:30:00.002-04:00

hey there,

lot's has happened since we last spoke...
sxsw was interesting... at best... no opportunities
to play but many opportunities to observe. we have
a plan now... and we will execute.

i was sick for the better part of the first three
days of tour... lost my voice... regained my voice...
i'm at about 90% right now... little rock arkansas was
fun... really enjoyed meeting kat and all the folks at
the after thought... expensive dinner, but fun times
for certain.

i'd like to drop a special note for southern Missouri
and northern Arkansas. You look like you need a vacation...
barren... wasteland... seems like nothing will ever grow
there... i have no idea about people survive... or at least
how they define living in those areas.

Cicero's... you were fun... real rock star feeling and vibes...
pizza magnificent... one lone car... delivered and powerful...

night off in Alabama... we stayed with old friend, Keith Harrelson...
he runs Moonlight Music on the Mountain concert series. Last night
James McMurtry played... he sounded great... we were reated to a 12
string acoustic version of Rachel's Song... yow.

tonight, we're playing in Atlanta... meeting up with some folks...
making friends and influencing people!

vocal cord status

2011-03-16T09:57:00.002-04:00

my voice... though weak
has returned. last night
we played the much vaunted
cicero's in st. louis. really
nice place... with nice
sound, nice sound person, good bands,
and really well crafted beers.

st. louis is home to budweiser...
and you would think that that
juggernaut of crisp bold american
taste would be everywhere... but it isn't

schlafly's... that's the brew to buy...
man... there was another beer too... hop slam.
dave handled that one... not me...

been giving my voice as much rest as i can,
still coughing up some nasty flakes of
phelgm... thick, sticky, green... ugh.

enough of my charm and candor... we saw
a wolf yesterday... walking up the exit
ramp onto a highway... at first we
thought, coyote... but they're much
smaller... odd to see something so wild
and "mysterious" as a wolf trotting up the
expressway... guess he had to get somewhere
faster than a rural route.

right now dave and i are in Pevely, MO. A
super 8 motel... off of Highway Z. I must
admit a pang of fear rifled through my veins
when I saw Highway Z was a real thing...

images of zombies lurching east and west...

scary dude, scary.

grimm

the road

2011-03-14T21:14:00.003-04:00

much like cormac mccarthy's post
apocalyptic novel, our spring tour
has been caustic. my throat, coarse and
dry has lost all of its vibrancy...

i had just come to certain conclusions
about my voice. a new vocabulary of
sounds had opened the other night and
now i am shut out... access denied.

jerk.

i am on the mend but must say that
i really value my ability to speak
freely... since i had lost it. I was getting
nervous... tomorrow night's show is

important since we're moving up to a
larger club... playing with other bands.
last night in columbus i had to do a
low down storytellers version of our set.

mostly spoken word with weary scratchy vocals...
think kris kristofferson and barry white...
in fact, at the beginning of the set i did
a barry white impersonation... quite sexy.

dave has done most of the driving. he is
a peach. for certain. i found a new throat spray
called vocal eze... it's an organic compound of
licorice root and marshmallow root... sweet!

so far seems to be working... i also got the
chance to start editing some of the video from the
microshow... very cool indeed. thanks to everyone
who came out for the experience...

okay... i promise to keep up with the blog from here
on out! okay?

okay.

Grimm

2011-03-01T08:59:00.002-05:00

so long february...
guess i didn't get
around to blogging much...
no one seemed to miss
me and seemed like a good
time to hibernate a bit.

tours have gone well... we're
gearing up for the big
march push... several great
dates are coming up...

here's the run down

3/10 Microshow, Baltimore MD
3/11 Cafe Nola, Frederick MD
3/12 31st St Pub, Pittsburgh PA
3/13 The Treehouse, Columbus OH
3/15 Cicero's, St. Louis MO
3/17-18 SXSW, Austin TX
3/19 The Celtc, Pascagoula MS
3/21 Smith's Olde Bar, Atlanta GA
3/22 The Rye Bar, Athens GA
3/23 Elliott's Revue, Winston-Salem NC
3/24 The Cave, Chapel Hill NC

Good Times!!! Just Me and Dave touring...

Yah... wish there were some new news going
on... but it's tough out there... trying to
stay motivated and moving forward...
maybe I'll go work out? will that help?

oh.. you never know, right? taxes comin'
up... that's a great reflection on how much
beer i drank during the course of the year...
yikes. :)

Grimm

vision/revision

2011-01-25T07:17:00.002-05:00

my calendar fills
itself: gigs, rehearsals,
phone calls both
foreign and domestic

home in cellar
basement, underground dwelling
drawing more attention
takes more strength

like

treading cold water
shallow dead breaths
chatter teeth blue
black ocean gray

horizon slow and
distant, moving away
the earth moves
the water sways

there could never
be; this could
never be; holding
hands becomes a

dream, to feel
skin on skin.
a grasp, the
reassurance of safety.

grimm

returned

2011-01-24T07:16:00.003-05:00

good morning folks
david and i
returned back north
here to type
the progress status
check for completeness
completed under caffinated
conditions. springing adjectives
vetted stories without
revealing too many
personal opinions that
may seem negative.
virginia, you're weird.
period exclamation point.

crowd was large
they love music
we slow, emotive
you polite, obligated
us mediocre performance
you mediocre response
venue quite classy
staff so friendly
food love affair
hackensaw boys great
fast and faster
end of night
scary by wiry
psychopath communing between
here and darkness
snappy snap fingers

north carolina becomes
home again, the
cave as shelter
as friend and
welcoming gentle arms
crowd, you are
wonderful, responsive, happy
us: on our
game for certain
and certainly pleased
performance peppy, light
retold psychopath story
of yester virginia
laughs and smiles
night goes fast
money in hand
slaps on backs
encouraging words exchanged
goodbyes and laters
return engagement imminent

grimm

pulling no punches

2011-01-19T07:03:00.002-05:00

so i've listened to the demos
found some old music worth mining
constructing lyrics now...

slicking up the drills
break through the crust
the the first layer will give
dry weeds and dust

water hides deep
beneath any secret
we will ever keep
silent as bodies at rest

guided by guessing
anything so random
speaking of blessings
and nearly undone

by way of retreat
back into the earth
plausible belief
nothing is deserved

wary of the water
tired of the dirt
sound grows longer
dying of thirst

mud turns clay
cold, thick
bones will decay
feet and fists

practice makes prefect

grimm

where do i sign up?

2011-01-18T06:54:00.002-05:00

This morning, the humidifier and i are having a conversation...

Andrew. Click clack clickety
Humidifier. glug whirrrr glug
A. Click click Click.
H. Gurgle whirr glug.
A. CLICK CLIick clack plink plink
H. WHIRRRRrrrrrRRRrrrRRrrRrrr
A. Plink tap tap click clack tap tap tap
H. Beep glug glug whirrrrrr beep
A. Sip click beep clack
H. whirrrrr glug glug glug

So as you can see I have a very close relationship with
my humidifier... although we are allowed to see other appliances
I keep coming back to the old Holmes Humidifier... you should
see the size of its water tank.

Grimm

for tenth time

2011-01-17T07:34:00.002-05:00

my basement...
my workshop...
my dungeon...
my world...
my escape...
my fortress...
my downfall...

listening to demos
for future june star albums...

what to pick... what to do...
over thirty songs in all...
more... to record...

words slowly percolate
patient, i'm picking
them up on
my song radar...

signal to tape
digital tape, certainly...

bytes and jots
stored on cpu...

maybe i'll watch
tron...

grimm

things in boxes

2011-01-13T07:24:00.002-05:00

this morning i am rooting through boxes
in my basement. deep twinges of "holding on"
spark and a sort of sadness bubbles up. i've
come to love the dry dusty smell of these boxes...
sitting in the dark for three or four years at stretch.

quiet because they are patient... memories anxious
to be held or just seen, again. today i will have to
say goodbye to some things... other memories and
items i will merely say to myself, "not yet."

grimm

the scramble begins

2011-01-07T06:57:00.002-05:00

some day my
body will come
to rest, gently.

it will roll,
tumble, twist,
and slide. by

some slight chance,
maybe a patch
of green tufts

will act as
a cushion to
my still form.

wholly unexpected and
truly grateful for
its simple existence,

i will acknowledge
the gods whom
i had ignored.

silly poetry out of the way at this morning... coffee... subbing... 2 hour delay... another hour... more time spent booking and researching the internets for places to play! exciting times they are! whoooo... hoooooo... i can't help but feel a bit unorganized... maybe that something i should work on...

these receipts go here.
these folders go there.
this drink goes here.
that pork bbq goes here.

speaking of pork... we're heading back to Chapel Hill soon! Huzzah for us... good times abound when head back down to that land of simmering pig.

grimm

searching and scratching

2011-01-06T09:37:00.002-05:00

just a quick note for today... rehearsing for tours... booking tours... eeks... saturday at the iota is shaping up to be a fun night... without a doubt... oh iota... you fanciful little thing...

other stupid stuff i got to do... clean things... laundry... find paying bar gigs... ick... mailing list... play some music... humidify guitar... the list is seemingly endless... i suppose.

meh.

grimm

worst case scenario

2011-01-05T05:42:00.002-05:00

i snore.

there's no getting around it. my nasal passages become inflamed, the flap dividing my sinuses from my throat loosens, my mouth agape, these conditions attribute to the rumbling wheezing guttural gagging freight train noise my wife attempts to sleep next to, every night.

i feel bad for her.

i take muicnex d
i use breathe right strips
i use breath right snore films
i use a netti pot

i still snore.

on rare occasion though, i sleep... a deep intense sleep. for four hours. then i wake up suddenly, very alert. my dreams on these nights are vivid. last night my dream was an combination of many issues... disconnection from my childhood home, past students i had taught, relationship issues, and zombies.

usually i'd say zombies frighten me more than most things... but in the mix of all that other stuff, i find myself extraordinarily unnerved.

i was standing in my brother's room at my childhood home... out back i was watching several men kill zombies in various manners, but they were taking their time, in no hurry... as they were feeling successful... i could see the white picket fence posts next door being knocked down by more zombies.

side note: okay... so white picket fences... i get it... american dream being destroyed by the empty shells of people who strove for the same thing... we had a split rail fence in reality...

the men in the backyard were not quite concerned about the on coming zombies.

now i'm in a bed, i'm not sure whose... but i am there in... in the backyard, the backyard is now my brother's room, the men are doing somethings but it sounds like they are trying to sleep... on my back, i can feel pressure, like someone pressing with thin fingers... in an a different context the pressure would be called, tickling; in this case, however, it is terror. i am laying on my stomach, i slowly turn to see a dog? a doberman... but the doberman is a zombie and i must destroy its brain. i slide small metal cylinders into the temples of the dog's head and it leaves... i now have a flashlight... i am able to turn it on... i am aware, as we all are, that zombies retain a scant sense of who they were, my light shines on Tony... Anthony... I cannot remember his last name... i taught him at Francis Scott Key High School 1996 or 97... he drove a sports car... although now, in my dream, he has lost that hair and put on some weight... he is wearing a tuxedo... blue shirt... yes, ruffles. he announces his plans to marry a zombie, she is not a full zombie yet, but she's getting there. I see them kiss.

i wake up... unable to return to sleep... my nasal passages jammed up...

grimm

the top to bottom

2011-01-04T07:13:00.002-05:00

awareness allows for few mistakes
a simple thought
funny how folks tend to move, shake,
drawn by bad decisions. imperceptible
lines of energy lock and drag them, like
a magnet.

no words, no advice, no diagram,
no role playing, no flags, no code
can ever redirect their path

i suppose

the grit underneath our skin, in our
bones, that will get us by.

but getting by does not mean
success or even happiness.

getting by suggests survival
suggests the bare minimum
suggests life support
suggests basic

at some point the grit moves us
to elevate, to work, to envision,
to believe (again), to refine, to engage,
to fire, to shape, to produce.

grimm

Midwest Tour Day Four and Five 12/14 and 12/15

2011-01-03T08:53:00.002-05:00

as late as this may seem... my functions are in order again... my fingers
know the way. the tiny, impossible bursts of electricity form words
from gray salty matter to clicks on the keyboard have found purpose.

the coffee is ready.

st. louis

anticipation heightened in nearing the gateway to the west.
out of nowhere, all of a sudden, shazam... it stood there, a big
ol' arch. none of us had seen it before. for the first time i could
say that some giant structure really "loomed" above.

the arch seemed impossible too.

the drive itself did not present issues or problems, save for one
moment where we almost smacked into a center divide... safely
navigating that... we drove into an industrial park...

dave was navigatin'... and at first looked like it was going to suck. big time...
there was nothing around... nothing at all... scary, if you ask me... what if
east st. louis somehow organizes itself to beat the shit out of st. louis... we were
near the border!

anyhow, as i was planning my apologies to the band, for booking such
a place, we turned a corner, in both the literal and figurative, and ended up
on an ice covered residential street, at the end of the block sat Pop's Blue Moon
Saloon.

Capacity 75.
In House PA.
Mics and cables available.
First beer is free.
Set Times 9pm-12am

Terry, behind the bar, was a large mid-western man who appeared
to have seen much... stoic to strangers at first. I introduced myself as
part of the band... the ice began to melt, a little.

He shook my hand and gave me the run down on what was happening.
Terry's interest in keeping a well oiled bar was evident.
We loaded in... checked out the PA and began setting up...

check one
check two

hello st. louis...

Andy Herrin from One Lone Car came out and brought us
a kick pedal for the drums! What a swell guy... looking forward to
playing with them again! for certain.

As the crowd started coming in we met several nice folks... probably about
15 people came in... in such a small place you start to feel loved.

At the end... we packed up... the bar paid our tab and Terry gave us
$60... more than I know paid at the door. Times like this, I love America...

Columbus, OH

7.5 hour drive to Columbus... we started our trip at a diner...
chicken fried steak with white gravy... my heart persevered somehow...
good times though. the drive was easy, no bad weather... lots of coffee
and truck stop here or there.

we get to columbus, and following the directions, we found ourselves in another industrial
park. i kid you not.... but this time... there are no houses... I began preparing my apologies
again... "sorry fellahs... really i am." we find the treehouse... and no one is in sight... we sit
in the van... heat on... watching a mystery science theater on my iphone... funny!

the joint opens... we go in... labyrinthine nightmare! it is a cool place... but i was kind of
reminded of "masque of the red death" by poe... the twists and turns create a maze where you
cannot see what is in the next room until you are in it... yup... same thing...

the room the bands play in has an enormous tree growin' out the ground and through the roof...

no shit.

pretty neato,for certain.

Chris the bartender lays it out for us:

First Drink is Free
In house PA
Mics and Cables available
Set time: 10pm-11pm
Set Order: Swimsuit Edition, June Star, Wussy

Swimsuit edition showed up... set up... they were great! I really enjoyed their set... energy and
quirkiness! front man was pretty funny...

our set was solid... 40-50 crammed into the room to see us... they clapped at all the appropriate
times... lots of fun... excitement... we were really happy to play... sold more cd's than normal... 17.
mailing list... all filled up... we felt good about ourselves... really happy to have so many people
listening... people we didn't know... the end of the night we had a 14 dollar tab... and we received
$100 from the door...

Thank you Columbus! Seriously...

Grimm

Midwest Tour Day Three 12/15

2010-12-16T11:11:00.001-05:00

Chicago:

Hogbutcher of the world, you were most strange last night. Acoustic listening room means what? Acoustic… we disobeyed a bit with that description… you disobeyed with braying laughter, loud exclamations about funny bits of life.

From underneath the floorboards the other bands vibrated and blasted their sonic wares… If you paid to see June Star, you got a bargain… two bands for the price of one! I’m not kidding… I could hear and feel them jamming out from the underworld. Hades himself was laughing.

Good Times!

I do like Chicago, though. I saw some old friends and we were able to catch up on a few items… marriages, births, and memories of the past blurry and focused. Emily Yeager and Morgan were in attendance! Very nice to see them… unfortunately my night was a bit off… as per the preceding paragraphs. My B game… that’s all I could muster. Sorry girls.

Tori, friend and host appeared! Good Times! Indeed… right now… as I’m typing I’m lookin’ at my empty plate that held eggs and pancakes! Thank you Tori!

Okay St. Louis… not East Saint Louis…

Grimm

Midwest Tour Day Two 11/14

2010-12-15T09:29:00.001-05:00

Michigan, we will call you a tie for several reasons.

1. We didn’t get paid.
2. We didn’t sell any cd’s.
3. Everyone was friendly.
4. We had one heckler at the start of our set.
5. Once the heckler realized:
a. We weren’t fazed by his screaming
b. We were really good at our stuff
c. Our stuff was well written
d. Heckling wasn’t really an option
e. He stopped.
6. The audience response was genuine.
7. Wolfie has the best name out of all sound men.
8. When we announced that our place to stay had fallen through:
a. People were genuinely concerned
b. People offered for us options (all 1 to 2 hours away)
c. People were pulling for us.
9. Late night sandwich at Fleetwood Diner:
a. Best Rueben I have ever eaten
b. Great late coffee
c. Sticker behind me read, “Sexfist.”
10. Doug Neal drove back from East Lansing to put us up.
11. He gave us beer.
12. His house is situated in a quaint postcard perfect Midwestern town.
13. We are ready for Chicago.

Grimm

Tour addendum

2010-12-14T17:57:00.001-05:00

Waking up in Pittsburgh, I feel as though I was arising from some sort of a cocoon, a stasis; metamorphosis complete, I can set my wings to drying. Snow drops heavily, white dots, slow and blurred, against red clay bricks outside the window. It is cold. The top of my computer is icy, warming up, but the lithium energy only does so much.

I remember distinctly, in much younger years, that most of attention focused on butterflies. Delicate, patterned, and fragile, I liked to look at pictures of them flying, resting, emerging; one picture, in National Geographic, captured this woman (a scientist or grad school lackey?) in a remote forest surrounded by Monarch butterflies. I don’t remember the story or what she was doing there, but I remember thinking that that must have been an unparalleled experience, covered in butterflies. From one perspective, she appeared to be sitting on a throne of Monarchs. Read in to that one, please.

My father, a microbiology professor, seized on that opportunity, my interest in butterflies, and brought home a killing jar and a net. The intention was not evil, but now that I look back at it… it’s kind of funny. The idea was for me to capture butterflies and kill them. Use the net, gently trap them so as to not damage the wings and then seal them in a jar of ether. Sleep = death.

That’s what it was like waking up in Pittsburgh this morning.

We were Lazarus butterflies, cocooned in blankets and sleeping bags while flurries of ether gently landed, gathered outside the window.

On the show:

I shall be brief… It was fun! A long unsure wait to get into the joint but all worked out well… singer songwriters were up first, a trio of them… Mark Ceyler, Travis Shane, and our friend from Baltimore (a transplant) Treevahs. Each played according to his gifts… some particularly sad songs from Treevahs about cancer and the line “It’s only oxygen.”

Our set was beset by acoustic guitar issues but we won out… eventually… Timmy played baritone guitar on few songs… great times… Hadley, despite a wicked pisser of a cold, played great. Some old friends from Baltimore were there and requested some tunes which is nice… actually, I asked if there were any songs she wanted to hear… “Baltimore” and “Wedding Girl.” Good stuff.

Chet Vincent and the Big Bend provided an uplifting energetic set! Good to hear them in a bigger room… Tad broke a bass string and soldiered forth… very cool indeed…

Awight… tonight… here we go!

Ann Arbor!

Grimm

The Midwest Tour Day One 12/13 Part I

2010-12-14T00:52:00.002-05:00

the garfield artworks... fun times indeed... timmy and i played this place in february of 2008. it was snowy and cold... and not much is different from that fun time way back then.

the drive was dicey at times but with slow speeds and white knuckling the driving wheel, we made it at around 5pm... nestled into a great parking spot and spied the local vietnamese place...

tasty treats all the way around... okay... so i'm tired... and i'm cutting this short... a great show with more details to come... good start, everyone!

grimm

Tour Day Four and Five 11/18 and 11/19

2010-12-01T06:37:00.002-05:00

ahh the blog sat stagnant and dank.
microbes formed, divide, formed again.
sorry.
i find it interesting at this point in my
musical outing that folks seem to read this
joint.

hmmmm.

Portland, Maine

I really love Portland. I love the feel, the spirit,
the hutzpah of the place. Most of New England has
a great independent, stand alone, "yeah, we're here"
type of sense to it. just covered in maple syrup or
served with lobster.

Dave and I pulled into town early... we actually went
to Newportsmouth first... drove around the town and
went to the maritime museum and spoke with Dorah? I can't
seem to remember her name... note to self... this is
why we blog some time within the vicinity of the event.

Anyhoo... we learned about the building that houses the
museum... pretty cool stuff... Robert Miller, America's first
architect, designed the place... two humongous bouys stood
outside, guarding... or accenting like steel geraniums.

After goofing around there for a while we slipped on up
to Portland. The Dogfish Bar and Grill was the venue...
we were certainly looking forward to the show, Lawrence...
whom maybe reading this very blog, and his sister were coming
to the show...

A note about Lawrence... you can see his wiry frame gliding
up and down Thames street, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes...
some sort of book review tucked under his arm... as Sir Thomas
Browne observed he is "a gem of the old rock."

Having Lawrence and his sister, Gretchen there allowed for warmth
and optimism. That was not the case with the show. The P.A. situation
was less than idea... I was getting shocked every line I crossed while
emoting lyrics... I really had to sing with my eyes open, that only
I could emote at a safe measured distance.

from 8-11 we were largely ignored by folks... kind of a let down
based on the anticipation we felt. not a failure... by anymeans...
however, that night we stayed in the attic apartment of Gretchen's
house. as she showed us the digs, she commented, "this is America's
cutest apartment." It was. Walls were a light blueish and the door frames
and trim were painted green, red, and golden... it ws as if
we slept in Richard Scarry book.

On to Dover, NH.

Do you sense my flagging attention to blogging?

We hung out in Portsmouth during the day... we met a neato
musician... Dave Talmage... he played banjo, guitar, and
accordian... we chatted and I drank arrogant bastard beer...
then we purchased some tasty, albeit expensive coffee... and shoved
off for Dover.

I had been to Dover several times over the years... usually at
night, for some reason... after lapping the town several times
looking for the venue, we found it... an old Mill? on the water...
Fury's Publick House... 25 foot ceilings... nice bartenders... stage and
PA were adequate... the food? superb... hand breaded wings with some
high end dipping sauces... mmmm... and sierra nevada celebration
ale on tap... oh and old speckled hen... scrumptious...

We were up first... so we threw our stuff up on the stage... and I went
to set up the merch... and so this guy comes up and introduces himself...
he says that he bought Sugarbird off of CD baby, liked it... and subsequently
bought our back catalog and everything we have put out since... he even mentioned
that he had been watching our website for updated info on the tour... he and his
wife drove up from Worcester, MA to see the show... I was floored... we talked
for a while... and by no means to I take Baltimore fans for granted... but
I was just kind of shocked that someone out there would buy these discs... like
them enough to come out... from an hour away...

Dave and I scrapped our plans to phone in the show... and instead decided to bring
our A game. Lil' joke there... we always have our A game on. :) Good times...
About 50 or more people there... and they listened to what we did... and clapped at
the appropriate pauses... I have to thank Jon Nolan for setting that show up! It was a great night...

The other bands on the bill, Whiskey Kill and the Molenes... both threw out some rocking sets! It's been a long time since I watched some bands, that I don't know at all, going for some type of big rock sound... Hopefully we can get those guys to Baltimore soon!

Okay... Money... Here's the final Breakdown

Total Money Earned (less cd sales): $304
Total Money Spent (less personal spending):-$243
-$55 Tolls
-$7Parking
-$112.00 Gas
-$69 Hotel

Money Paid to Band: $60/2= $30 apiece.

Short ride to financial independence. :)

Grimm

Tour Day Three 11/17

2010-11-18T01:36:00.003-05:00

okay... so here we are... we drove to Boston this morning... but first I should mention Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn... you've been getting some fairly nasty press as being some sort of hipster womb. I have to say, being no hipster myself, that i thoroughly enjoyed walking around the graffitied streets... our breakfast was a bit expensive... but good none the less... good time were had by all...

our drive to the Boston area was absolutely uneventful in the most stupendous way... just drove... that's all we did... we drove... we got in a car and drove... mindlessly... we listened to some discs we'd been meaning to hear... especially Neko Case, Blacklisted... weird... she makes weird, and wonderful, choices with her instruments and her voices... good stuff...

but on to the venue... last we played in Boston, it was a disaster... the band wanted to leave... no money... no place to stay... scary stuff indeed...

this time around we played P.A.'s Lounge... which has received equal amounts of good and bad press in the band world... and although our initial interaction with the owners was a bit strange... distant... disaffected... I have to say that they really looked out for us... took care of us as they knew we were on the road... I think all said and done there 26 people there who really just listened to me and dave... there were two acts ahead of us... Caleb Blake, folky breathy stuff, and the Rockefeller Fortune, whom we had set up the show... after was were the family kitchen band... young guys... some good talent waiting to become old and second nature...

i really can't get past the fact that we played to an audience in Boston... strange... sold some discs and made some friends... we filled up one entire page on our email list! :) emoticons are great!

Financial Breakdown will have to wait until tomorrow...

thanks Boston, you are really really really sweet...

Grimm

Tour Day Two 11/116

2010-11-17T17:13:00.003-05:00

I’m noticing certain redeeming quiet qualities of New York City denizens. They scurry and groove to their own semi-silent soundtrack. Shifting to avoid the invisible thumb that desires to cram them into a box, into a label. A quiet defiance that bubbles low, simmering, barely noticeable, acts as a thin impenetrable shell; it keeps the personal breathable atmosphere in; it is a conductor.

I stood outside a service laundry business and watched the women sit on bags of clothes, sheets, and unmentionables. Sweat, seemingly tropical, spotted their faces; their faces bright with smiles spoke measures of happiness. Not joy. Happiness. There could not have been any real career counseling for them. Their guidance department was their hearts or their fate. Fate. Funny as it is, a true contentment mixed with the steam and damp fabrics.

Fate is the ultimate life coach, no? It sits above us, every one of us… the man named giant that half of us humans dread while the other half laughs. I had been thinking about our Faith and our Fate. Neither of which can be empirically broken down; although, Thom McHugh would probably argue against that very assumption. Words composted by Linton Elementary:

Faith never wavers
You are the one who
Veers and shutters
Dodge and fade.

God, if that is the
Concept to address,
He is the one lacking
Human flaws.

He doesn’t shift
So easy in his heart
His direction, solid
And fantastic.

To imitate, to walk
Those steps, there is
An impossible task
Without equal.

We walk in measured
Steps, calculated for us
By speakers or truths
Old mouths, antique spittle.

Not being God allows
For some wiggle room
Just enough slack
To walk astray.

The show was fantastic... we even had a surprise guest... venerable Mick Ferraro, bass player in an old band of mine, swept in to the club in a most elegant and masculine manner. We talked of the past, we talked of the future... we talked of music... great crowd showed up! 12-13 folks listened intently... it was fun... later in the evening we stayed with Nate Schweber of the New Heathens and ended up zipping through a few songs, late night...

read about it here: http://www.newheathens.com

late to bed
and early to rise...

quick breakfast and we were on the road to somerville... right outside of boston... more later!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Money Stuff

Tolls: -10.95
Previous Balance: -100.50
Total Monies Out: -111.45

Lakeside Lounge Payment: +75

Current Balance: -36.45

Tour Day One 11/15

2010-11-16T10:00:00.003-05:00

So I don’t know much about Philadelphia. Nothing beyond my Junior American history class trip when I met the German foreign exchange student, her name escapes me, but I seem to recall that she was interested in me. Me. That attraction, imagined or real, was the first real twinge of an adult persona, maybe understanding that I just might be “good lookin’.” Although my confidence waned after she was sent home to the “Olde Country,” no internets in 1989 and no one knew what the fuck an emoticon was… I slowly moved back to my old disappointed self, cynical about girls. Love from afar… not an effective romantic mantra.

I’m off topic, I know. Well… anyhow… Dave Hadley and I pull onto Broad Street and get this… people are parked in the middle of what would the British call a central reservation. It was un-nerving. The cars were just parked, clubs locked into the driving wheel… fending off the sneaky and the ne’er do wells… out of control. At first these machines appeared to be turning left…a long line, a long wait. But as we moved down the street their lamp-less head lights became more apparent, to the point where I felt compelled to turn to Dave and asked, “Does this seem strange to you?” To which he replied, “Yup.”

Can you believe it? I mean… wow… just parked in the middle of the street… like no one’s business. Cars to tired to park on the side of the street… giving up and sputtering to a halt there, smack fucking dab in the middle. It wasn’t just one block but all of them. It’s been a while since I’ve been that uncomfortable in traffic.

Cultural/Social rules probably vary in the automobile world, no? I mean… in Germany, they probably have some sort of strange driving thing or parking peccadilloes… I’m sure of it… they probably parallel park cars while smoking pot and talking to seventeen year olds about how they are cool and would like to go to the homecoming dance… then end up being deported.

Soon enough we make it to the Tritone… somewhat akin to the old Café Tattoo… the tables and the chairs have a semi cafeteria feel… carpet that claims all that falls onto its matted sticky threads. Each table swivels or careens, which ever you prefer, in unanticipated directions… as I type this I have negotiated several hairpin twists. Blogging… TO THE EXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slo and Shakey, I shit you not… their names are playing some blues… guitars sound good… they know what they’re doing… oh and Monday Night Football is on tonight… Eagles vs. The Redskins… with McNabb playing for Washington. I am made to understand that this situation could become volatile…

Our set: a bit shakey in the confidence area... slo in tempo... overall, pretty and good. arrows and rocks emerged as the stand out track... solid connections and my voice, in fine form, smoothed out the delivery... worth something, I believe. Closing time and no real leads on a place to stay... we end up eating a red roof inn in new jersey. there are no snooki's where we are staying... june star is in the red...

Gas: -26
Tolls: -9
Hotel: -68
Beer: -8
Parking: -4.50
Total Monies Out: 115.50

Less Payment from the show: 15
Total Monies In: 15

-100.50

Okay New York!

where have i been?

2010-10-28T06:40:00.002-04:00

i have been to north carolina
i have eaten pork in several parts of north carolina
i have played a hookah bar
i have sold cd's to service men from camp lejuenne
i have played the whiskey in annapolis
i have driven 8 hours at a stretch
i have met a man named pappy who dispensed advice on marriage
i have played three really great sets with the band
i have had a wasp caught in my hair
i have imbibed north carolina's best craft brews
i have looked after the small details
i have glanced over the big details
i have been encouraged by music on the road
i have been concerned about money issues
i have been researching cities on the eastern seaboard
i have been in contact with my inner child
i have been in a time out
i have been reading thomas merton
i have been in awe of my friends
i have been writing music
i have been buying vinyl
i have been listening to chet atkins "teensville"
i have been to the mountain
i have been thinking about all of you.

grimm

a different router

2010-10-01T06:09:00.002-04:00

my 2005 dlink di 624 is acting wonky. i'm now on my wife's computer... a nearly unused piece of technology which she bought... in 2005 as well... pretty cool huh? but it works great...

so i don't care for the term "Charm City." i was reading the fist couple of stories from the new book, "City Sages" and the term Charm City keeps coming up... floating around and careening into any effective sentences, tainting them with its oily fingers.

i guess charm city is supposed to relay some sort of mystery, some sort of magical allure that one cannot resist. i see more as a mischevious child who has stolen your car and took a dump in the back seat. but, you just can't help but temper your anger and fall in love all over again.

blech.

the term charm city apparently came from ad agencies in 1974 to draw people back to the city. baltimore in the seventies was a city on the decline. there was nothing really charming about it... apparently... i was two, at the time and couldn't really give much of first hand account other than i remember being a bit fussy about some creamed corn.

but when you look at populations... from about 900,000 in the 50's to 700,000 in the 70's... to now... which is right around 650,000 the trend becomes obvious. the nickname... charm city seems to be laughable almost... i think charm is too light of a word... i'm from bel air, harford county... middle class white suburban.. in 1972 there wasn't much in bel air... a main street... quaint... farm... almost rural... i don't know if i legitimately qualify to be a biological baltimorean... but i have to say that i love my city and i do sense a connection... a realness. dirty, cold, and resilient. something that says, "go on."

recently when talking with david andler from bima (baltimore independent music and arts fest)his main point was recognizing baltimore musicians and that he was disappointed in how baltimore bands leave town to get recognized or signed elsewhere and one of the ideas for bima was to allow a spotlight to shine on our bands... and baltimore should be a supportive place for music.

i nodded my head in approval, but i also knew that one of my strategies for playing music full time was to get out of baltimore... not move away... not adopt another city... but to spend more time on the road and outside of charm city... june star will always play baltimore... every little gig we can get... to quote chris plummer... "I'll play in a bank parking lot on a Sunday, man." from a performer's perspective, that statement demonstrates both self sacrifice and epic failure.

conversely, looking at the audience side of it... there is a question of where audiences go... here's what Tim Heaney says on his myspace page, "I like live music. Here in Baltimore, that means I spend a lot of time by myself in empty rooms." he has pictures to prove it.

where is this all going? i have know idea really... other than i don't think we should call baltimore charm city... here are some other slogans...

baltimore: it's in the blood
baltimore: you can't wash it out
baltimore: endurance is half the battle
baltimore: get some! before it gets you

grimm

critical juncture

2010-09-29T06:15:00.002-04:00

hey there... got the promo cd's... so i can continue to promo!
yes...

one sheet
cd
envelope
postage
gig

one sheet
cd
envelope
postage 50 times
one article

one sheet
cd
envelope
postage
your cd ends up on ebay

one sheet
cd
envelope
postage
return to sender

i could do this all day.

grimm

water water anywhere

2010-09-28T08:01:00.001-04:00

"Thats how you do it, don't hot dog it, now. Use both hands! Don't hot dog it."

I want to believe my father coined that phrase, "don't hot dog it"; probably not, but I'd like to think that. we were playing catch, the front yard carpeted with grass... jungle grass that barely gave under foot. Dad would throw the ball as high in the air as he could, a pop fly. Youthful perception dictated his strength combined with a tennis ball's mass would send it to the mesophere.

Of course, it wasn't too far in the air. I could catch the pop-fly. Now, 25 years later it dawns on me... in this lil' recollection, neither my father nor I liked baseball. Not a homerun. Not a pitch. Not a game, really. We had gone to Memorial Stadium a few times... but my it was my mother whom loved baseball.

The link, besides DNA, I have with, Pop... as I call him... is bad movies, more on that in later blog. Sailing became his passion for a long while. Our first boat was an Ensenada 19, a nineteen foot stronghold of spiders. The earliest memory of that boat was right after he bought it; we packed in mom's fake wood paneled corolla wagon... and drove to some development, I'll never remember where... but, I remember it was dusk and drizzling. The boat didn't look like any sailboat I had seen before... most boats I had seen had a raised cabin with little windows you could spy passing vessels... spacious cabins where you might engage a pirate in sword play... the Ensenada 19 did not live up to these fantasies.

But my father's excitement bubbled over, if he could have, he'd a jumped on the deck right there on the trailer in a white american suburb, hoisted the sails, lowered the keel, and set off to navigate the Cul-de-sac. he didn't though. We drove home, he-excited, me-nonplussed.

The idea of sailing has a sort of romanticized hold on the male of the species... we see it in poetry, novels, films... the man and the sea... some salty, iron wrinkled man with white brillo scruff squinting his slate dry eyes into a distant horizon... he talks of the mystery of the sea... "the sea, she's a cruel mistress, but ye have to obey."

ARGH.

For my dad though, he didn't romanticize the sea and all her briney peccadilloes. he felt free on the susquehannah. really, not until right now, as I click keys and sip my coffee, did such a realization appear. On the water perhaps, my father felt equal to everyone else out there. The rules couldn't be simpler. You only go as far as your skill allows, your attention to winds and currents, the weather forecast... these factors mattered in piloting any vessel. Here my father controlled his movement... as well as or better than most folks.

My dad found freedom, too. In childhood, my father contracted Polio leaving him with a withered leg resulting in a severe limp. Despite the disease he swam, biked, played tennis. Working his body twice as hard as the other boys, men, he excelled and usually rose to the top... maybe not rose... that indicates a certain ease... he pulled himself to the top. But on the water... his legs weren't necessary for sailing, of course my brother and I were the crew... but he was free... the dry land and the doubled effort had no say in what he did on the boat. boats cut through water and if conditions are right, they glide unimpeded, unobstructed... like birds. If that were the case, every trip we took on the boat allowed my dad to truly breath, truly move.

grimm

substitute for another guy

2010-09-22T07:04:00.002-04:00

Big Show on Friday! Are you going...? you should go? yes... you should go!

CD Release show is coming up... have you bought your tickets yet? you haven't? You should...

Why wouldn't you? Come on! You've got to go! Come on...

okay

back to my posts about the hampden post office...

out of the corner of his eye he noticed the dark sliver, the overhead florescent lights hummed reassurance, coaxing him forward. his fingers flitted nervously as he held his package, anticipating its placement. is it too soon? is that slot big enough to handle his load? his clothes started to feel tighter, his mouth went dry. slowly he lifted the stuffed envelope in to position, the edges of the mail slot and the package touched gently... a kiss. held his breath, closed his eyes and tentatively applied pressure to the back of the plump yellow parcel, destined for Los Angeles. the opening refused his offering, he felt his forward motion slowing to halt. he opened his eyes and stared with desire and violence. teeth clenched and eyes narrowed, "oh, you'll take all of this... don't deny me, don't deny ME!" with a renewed, burning passion he switched his stance to that of a man holding closed a gate against the marauding barbarians, howling and desparate to loot and ravage whatever they find. He gripped his package by both hands and pushed forward while tugging and swiveling left to right, left to right, Left to Right, LEft to RIght, LEFt to RIGht!, LEFT To RIGHt!, LEFT TO RIGHT! Suddenly all resistance gave and he found his fingers wriggling in the slot... the cool air from the mail room touched his digits. He didn't realize it at first, but he was panting, drops of sweat sliding down his face, settling in the dimples of his cheeks. A rush of warmth and elation washed over his frame, his soul. Conquest. He straightened his back and stared at his victory, his eyes widened... above the slot read, "LOCAL DELIVERY ONLY."

okay... this is the last installment of this sort of thing... i was thinking i might go on with it... but it's just silly!

grimm

on my desk

2010-09-21T05:17:00.003-04:00

blakes' poetry and design
three by flannery o'connor
four short novels by herman melville
the wit of sir winston
the musician's handbook
wallace stegner angle of repose
4 months of receipts
my lamp
a freshly emptied bowl of oatmeal
my laptop
checkbook

interesting?

getting excited for the disc, a few days
and it should be here in all its
duplicated glory.

spoke with sam sessa of the baltimore
sun yesterday, we'll be doing another
baltimore unsigned... this will be our
third time in... which is cool...

i have begun a love affair with
the post office. we see each other once or twice
a week. i'll walk casually down the block
and gently tug on the front doors. we all
know why i'm there, yet we don't say it out
loud. there is a glance; there is an offer;
there is an exchange, a release, and then
there is satisfaction. tristesse.

my needs being met, i walk back to my house.

maybe i should start a new career or writing
postal romance stories...

Linda's tongue slid between her pouty lips, glistening, nervous. the stamp, waiting in anticipation with its back side up, quivered slightly. she dabbed her moisture on the small postage guarantee completely and gently. the stamp, once dry, now sticky thick with glue, ached to be handled and pressed firmly in to a corner, trapped and manipulated by her hot fingers, the ultimate submission. before she could catch her breath, it was over. her eyes slowly refocused on the egg shell white envelope and in the upper right edge Gloria Steinam knowingly smiled up at her, a forty-four cent mark by her feminine ear. Linda smiled back, fulfilled and grateful.

grimm

inside via outside

2010-09-20T12:11:00.003-04:00

strangely alive
borne by fingers and feathers

halo overhead
and locked by a knot

worried hearts
beat until they become leather

fired hard
without notice; we are lost

spun by winds
whispered by currents

only and until
tips of mountains speak

will we need
the horizon, again

directionless
doesn't mean, free

carrying out plans

2010-09-16T08:25:00.002-04:00

it's a simple process...
make a list,
do some stuff,
check off the list...
not rocket science.

items that have remained unchecked:

book pittsburgh
book detroit
book indianapolis
book cleveland

these are proving to be harder than both
the north and and the south

ugh.

i'm reminded of a story tess gallagher told about raymond carver...
she was talking about cleaning out his closet after his death and
finding a note in a shirt pocket... it was grocery list he had made
not too long before his impending death from lung cancer...

the list (i am paraphrasing):

cereal
hot chocolate
paper towels
Paris?
Africa?
Australia?

i think i'm starting to like lists... maybe stretch out a bit...
maybe i can blog the list of things to do and then comment
when i completed them? wouldn't that be interesting?

perhaps not.

so far on my list:

house things:

shower (maybe)
call carpenter
help murray move glass table top
start laundry

music things:

mail out posters to NC
mail out promo cd's
contact press links in NC
contact the following bars:
Memories Charcoal Grille
Whistling Oyster
Diablita's
James Joyce
Riptide by the Bay
Kooper's
The Still
O'Lordan's
Sunset Grille

log in to No Depression
update web sites
get tires on van checked and fix spare
put gretsch guitars on craigslist

quite a list.

grimm

world in a world

2010-09-14T07:13:00.002-04:00

i've moved my laptop to the basement.
big move. the computer, the cable, the coffee
and then the table.

the tours star to peek over the atlantic

we just picked up a show with bitter ruin from
the u.k.

it will be in wilmington NC... OCT. 17th @ the juggling gypsy.

where do club names come from?

proposed club names:

the blender
my amoeba
the veldt
mind space
the nucleus
cloud 10
pink motel
office max
tire dump
warner's pit
hair mouth
the whizz
gary's fantastic depot
wilted fern
ugly's
mass appeal
tongue tomb
spiffy
the sheath
turner's
hooch's
upper deck
kiran's blade

okay... i'm bored with this.

grimm

west coasting

2010-09-10T10:04:00.002-04:00

so a week away to the west coast and the triumphant
trumpeting of high hopped libations had their say.

they spoke in tongues, their taste bitter to crisp.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... the flight home was rough

got to hang out with patrick hughes, brief stay as a
drummer for the june star. saw his band, mneumonic sounds.

groovy drum loops with live drums and sparkles. thick
bass loops and synthesizer sighs... one word, atmosphere.

they were very wonderful and i enjoyed the event... the
lyrics have that semi girl sound of the ingenue and the

chanteuse if that is even possible. elegant and crushing.
inspiring. so i've returned to emails and getting

back into making lists so i can check them off! selling
some guitars! my two gretsch duo jets are for sale!

i'll even autograph them. that was a joke. sort of.
ha ha... tomorrow 12:30 june star plays the hampden fest

for the best 20 minutes of your lives. if i were you
i'd go. we're going to be awesome... a brilliant flame

of americana! rally your friends... invite your enemies!
all will not be lost.

oh... i think i wrote a new song somewhere along the line.
groovy... check back later? send me a message.

grimm

Time out

2010-09-03T11:19:00.002-04:00

Hey ho...

Quick check-in. Out of the rotation blog wise...
I trust that you are fine and well... My new
Old guitar will be in my hands by next week... Excitement
Yes that is all right now... Will check in later?

You are all very cute

Grimm

waking up to the new role

2010-08-30T07:25:00.003-04:00

teenagers.

they're waking to that penultimate day of leisure. sleeping in? nervous butterflies flitting around. a summer spent apart from friends and activities. no books for certain. now the pressure increases. the sweat begins to appear. the normal disaffected posture quietly shifts to cope against embarrassment or insecurity.

i sit blogging. for fifteen years i too went through the above process... not a as badly as the kids... but as a teacher i felt the same way. now, i don't. i have left the building and i sit at my computer and try to figure out how to get people to give me money.

mmmmmmmm... money.

now there is backwards mapping. road maps... shifting money from this account to that account... beg to play here... hope to play there... the stress is less... the difference is self discipline, right?

for so long my internal clock was tuned to the school clock... "must wake at 4:30 am to get to work" and now, "i want to sleep until 9 am" not feeling successful... must get up earlier and work harder... today wasn't bad but still. hard to feel like i'm pursuing a career when the overall feel of the job is drastically different than my previous money making profession.

odd

indeed

uploading artwork. thinking about my blog. must practice music. must find a routine. routine will find me. new guitar was bought... 1946 Gibson ES 125. really good shape... it's being refretted now by philtone guitars... it sounds like a stick of butter wrapped in bacon. mmmmmmmmm.... wrapped.

okay... maybe i'll post twice today.

grimm

movement on the ground

2010-08-23T10:13:00.002-04:00

there are many bits and pieces to the process of putting out a disc... strategies and schemes that i don't think most folk know about...

one sheet: the one piece of paper that hopefully answers the questions of who what and where...
artwork: pics of the band, pics of the artwork, design that is appealing to the eye and not ironically opposed to the subjects within the songs...
presskit: formal introduction to the world
the emailing... OMG... the emailing... many emails... here's what I sound like:

Hi there, I'm Andrew Grimm from the Baltimore based Americana type band, June Star...

yup... sometimes I call myself Andy Grimm... Andy just seems a bit friendlier...

today's goals... contact all of my NC Carolina Press Links... send out promotional discs... whoo hoo...

thirlls and chills...

Grimm

piece meals

2010-08-20T10:01:00.002-04:00

sacry monster music... that's what mark mulcahy said
about the songs his band, miracle legion... we playing.
what rough tunes belch from hampden? my friend william
butler yeats would have been proud? maybe. maybe not.

new songs are starting to bubble to the surface and
our jobs will be to boil down the rest. cut the fat
and preserve the goodness. the question remains... will
we be saying anyhting new? yes. the topic, the motif,
the what's it all about? will certainly be new...
inventive... fresh imagery for the horses.

several songs come from fawm 2010. however, new ones lurk
just off stage... on the catwalk, to sexy for this blog no doubt.
funny that they emerge at this point. saying hello.

maybe the songs will be about forgiveness...

forgive me,

grimm

things of the past

2010-08-16T16:05:00.003-04:00

june star stuff:

good rehearsals! meeting with morphius... will take the blue pill...

blog junk:

the lamp on my writing desk comes from my mother's desk. acutally, my writing desk is my mother's desk. and here i sit, where she sat, it was her chair too, and i write. my scribbles are far different from hers. my clickety clack to her scratching. my thoughts posted to some nebulous network and nether worlds, her's posted to family. she also balanced her check book at this same desk. wow. imagine the adding and subtracting she used to do.

let me not get too far from the muse. the thought should regain focus, peer in and discern that very sense of what parents give us. dna for sure... lessons in guilt... denial... love... betrayal... forgiveness? forgiveness, that's the one i want to talk about. the power of forgiving.

of all the things humans can do to destroy one another forgiveness swings a heavy bat my friends. sure, guns and bio-tech warfare are pretty devastating... physically. their collateral damage? emotional wreckage, right? how could someone do this to antoher human being? man, i've asked that too... and not necessarily when someone hurt me physically... contrary to hurting someone, forgiveness takes away the power, that threat, those fears whose sole purpose is to degrade and deconstruct. not to mention the personal release forgiveness allows. the allowence of sleeping and dreaming... the bitter ball at the pit of the stomach bubbling when you see the person or hear a name. yes, that feeling launches from its perch away from you and into dissipation.

healthy options for the living include: letting it go, not taking it personally, understanding where someone is going or where someone has been. allah, jesus, buddah, zorlock the space god could be symbols for these ideas or tenets.

but aren't these ideas human to human? what of the monsters that lurk just on the inside, around the gloaming hours? then forgiveness is about personal survival... saving yourself... sparing yourself... discovering the wonderful traction that supports or even encourages resilience and salvation.

the monsters cannot be held accountable for their actions can they? can they be explained... monsters aren't human so how could we rationalize them as cognizant of their actions? i know, forgiveness doesn't keep us safe from their physical attacks... but again, that emotional twinge, your inner sanctum, where you live, home, your room, your dreams, your pride, your kitchen, your heart, your "self", those are the temples forgiveness defends... a shield,the force field. bitter roots find zero ground... the monsters can be caged... but so can you, the resentment incurred from monstrous activities feeds from self pity and loathing. think of a drive in... think of that large wooden screen where images are projected... the film showing tonight: What happened to me and look how awful it is! starring: you know who. why watch it? you've already lived it. take down the screen... do not allow the past injuries to reflect on the present opportunities or those endeavors will hint at bitterness...

enough, enough.

grimm

catching the fever

2010-08-16T06:27:00.002-04:00

june star news: none... except look at all the freaking dates we've booked... holy sugar... look at 'em... yowza!

album release: Oct. 26th
cd release show: Nov. 6th @ Patterson Theatre/Creative Alliance

blog stuff:

the true measure of whether "anything" is worth anything can be found by how quickly the low subconscious impulse to acquire matches the passion that created said "anything." musically, dj's used to know this secret. spin the record and kids go crazy... kids go dancing... kids go buying. funny to think our tastes hinge on the choices or impulses of kids. we come to believe that anything purchased en masse by a younger generation reflects the quality of any product.

what a disaster to be reduced to a demographic and not even know it. someone much older and much smarter lays out the clothing, music, political ideology, and socially acceptable for younger more "independent" generation.

i remember the label generation x... then generation next... now, i know i'm behind the curve..., but generation text? pretty funny, pretty sad. that's what they said about my youth collective... cycle cycle, right?

the funniest,saddest thing i'd seen was when my brit. lit. class read 1984 and i posed the question about whether or not the basic premise of the novel was a possibility in current times... over half of the class said, never. this is america... we don't do things like that... the gov't. wouldn't allow it. insert shivers here.

gov't. isn't bad. conception and execution however, that could use some tightening up. right? several times, on television mind you... characters will mention the importance of senators... a high office and that always seems to strike me as odd... i've been conditioned to believe that senators are either criminals or incompetent rubes that can't get their jobs right... or maybe, they figured it out... whatever, my cynical chip is engaged... at all times.

so, i've also been reading Time Life Home Blogging Books on how to connect two seemingly disparate topics... how trends are formed through youth shopping sprees and gov't. control. on page 47 of the Time/Life series... it says, "To connect between to seemingly disparate subjects can appear difficult. However, with some patience and trust in your audience, the common ground will make itself apparent."

so, okay. it will make itself apparent through the crazy conspiracy theorists... lady gaga is really a republican stooge meant to distract us from the real issues... gaga stands for... Girl Agent Grievous Amusement.

okay... i've gotten bored with this... i shall navigate the blogging topics slowly... metaphorically... perhaps... but i will not navigate a ship... through murky waters? tough rapids... treacherous waterfalls... no... i will navigate a my vessel... actually... i'm beached... i'm stuck... mired. so i guess i will be pulling that vessel... thereby becoming some wonderful quasi-vessel... a cyber tugboat. what was it thoreau said? "we do not ride the railroad, it rides upon us."

so true.

grimm

posts for the post

2010-08-08T09:48:00.001-04:00

So… blogging bloggers… here we go… the run down, the skinny, the how do you do!

Mum’s… fun time interesting lineup… june star was fabulous… we played some spirited versions of new and old tunes… thunder from the new album… spectacular in its simplicity and swelling pedal steel… some rockin’ versions of hard working miner and saint reaffirmed our status as baltimore’s most incredible rock band in Baltimore, according to the City Paper’s 2014 Reader’s Poll.

Sound in Stone snuck on in to Federal Hill towing a 12x8 trailer to their 8 passenger van… seems more like they were planning to live on the road and never go home… their set was lively despite few folks in the audience… some sort gypsy rock and roll three part harmony tuba stuff… strange and good…

Healing Hearts were playing their first show… some jitters aside they closed their eyes and played well… they got through it… important with that first show, right?

I’m on the road right now with Mark McKay… we’re in Hamilton, NY… the home of Colgate College where Mark matriculated and graduated… quaint joint for certain… two kind of main streets… two theaters… we played the palace theater… and as I type… I’m looking across some sort of lake… staying at the white eagle hotel… a series of cottages and great big lake… pleasant weather… good times… when we checked in last night we heard this music coming from one of the bigger cabins here… and curious we slinked on in to take a look…

The entire staff of the hotel were dancing and haing a great time! Man… it was cool… they were dancing so close… well… I’d never seen anything like that before… so sweaty and dare I say… suggestive in a dirty way… I happened to be standing next to this younger looking woman… I mean… almost a child as far as concerned… when I noticed she’d locked eyes with one of the dancers… he motioned for her to come closer and they disappeared into the crowd all entwined and pulsated… I hope they had the time of their lives.

Oh… our promo shots are done… here’s one…

See ya…

grimm

the game and its pieces

2010-08-02T08:08:00.002-04:00

the game is called "booking a tour" and it's hours and of fun.

Object:

align 5 shows together in both a chronological and regional sequence.

Obstacles:

you are relatively unkown, people lack imagination, you are relatively unknown

Directions:

1. Gather your materials (press kit, contacts of venues, patience)

2. Roll the dice (email the venue) if talent buyer emails you back (this could take 1 day to 4 weeks) move forward two spaces. If there is no response, role again.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 at least 30 to 40 times a day.

Seriously... booking cd release tour for October and it's starting to come together...

Tue. October 19 @ the Town Pump Black Mountain, NC
Wed. October 20 @ Snug Harbor Charlotte, NC
Thu. October 21 @ the Cave Chapel Hill, NC

Trying to fill in the 17th and the 18th... Monday and Sunday night... yikes... not much fun at all... but i'm getting back into the spirit of the whole thing... I've been working on November and now, today! I begin December... January... we're going to back to the South... whoo hoo...

status of the album,

master, complete
artwork, near complete
photos, wednesday

shows coming up... this Friday at Mum's... you bums... get out there... twil be fun.

grimm

rare earth

2010-07-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

so it's hot out... oppressive and rending... what rough beast slouches towards bethlehem? big ol' heat index it what. that ringing in my ears turns out to be an air conditioning unit.

summer lurches on.

we are at the middle... the end becomes reality, and our priorities kick into gear for fear of not accomplishing them.

the fall awaits.

cool weather... the stereotype television reporter will say, "Relief is on the way!" because the heat is extreme... but then they will retort in a few month's "Relief is on the way with spring time coming around." As it is too cold... i dislike stereotype cliched acting.

probably why i never liked teachers all that much... talking about sitting on a tropical beach with their toes in the water and a waiter bringing them some fruity mixed drink... pathetic.

the same teachers who complained about students and how important teaching is to the world and their salaries were too low... it makes me sneer. venemous.

i think i'm happier where i am, now. of course i send emails to talent buyers who never respond... which makes me think that perhaps those people don't exist... and someday... i hope to meet them... they are harper lee... they are jd salinger... they are howard hughes... without the money or literary credibility...

funny.

grimm

new freedoms

2010-07-22T06:53:00.002-04:00

mobility.

movement in circles and allowing yourself to breath. everyone eventually wakes up. i am convinced of that. some folks just act, "okay" about who and where they are. it's true. let's link it back to denial, you and I, eventhough there's not enough ether for a surgery this big.

nope.

pick a vein, any vein, and you could follow it to the source of the problem. that beating red thing. almost impossible to think that it could stop pumpin' ain't it? but there it goes, blip, blip blip... it only skips for three reasons... trauma, love, and cardiovascular disease...

reversal.

time move up and out. stand the ground. place your feet firmly. (watch out rob brezny, i think i'm getting the hand of your job) explore your sense of denial to the fullest... see where it takes you... when you are bored and feel the thrill of discovery has lessend, all you have to do is accept the truth and i guess you'll be free to move about the cabin.

grimm.

a long time ago

2010-07-21T06:52:00.002-04:00

i used to sleep well... i'm not kidding... i could sleep for hours on hours and not think much of it. these days, however, seems like a few hours is all i can get. i'm not nervous about anything. i'm not too concerned about the inevitable socio-economic collapse of my country. i'm dreading the scorching summer heat and destructive humidity that accompanies it. so why am i not sleeping?

probably cause i snore like it's my only outlet of creativity.

this isn't some sort of musical insight as to how i write or create, is it? nope. it's just a thing. just who i am, i guess. i do like sleeping... maybe i grab a nap later.

these days have been spent emailing and updating and getting into a routine... which is good... but man i need to start doin' other things... maybe record somehting in my basement...? my lists of things to do are out of control... they mostly deal around the blogging, the booking, and the updating... right now i'm booking a tour for October!

we have our first confirmation... Thursday Oct. 21st @ the Cave, Chapel Hill NC. woooo hooooo...

no shows lingering on the horizon locally until august 3rd and 4th... those will be much fun... yup... you know.

the coffee is ready in the kitchen and i'm thinking about oatmeal... dreaming with one eye open... the other is half closed.

grimm

last night's show...

2010-07-20T07:37:00.008-04:00

good times... excellent vibes... the 8x10 was fun,as per usual... although the sun was still out we seemed to play just hard as were it midnight... why is it rock n roll should happen after sun down? The uber excellent Tim Heaney was on hand snapping photos... so throughout this olde blog you'll see some of his handy work. we were well recieved with applause in the right places which is cool... or at least better than having molotov cocktails thrown at us... timmy wore the appropriate rock outfit... little know fact but that is the same t-shirt worn by Bryan Adams in the "Cuts Like A Knife" video... i'm not kidding.

mike ward really beat the shit out of keyboard as well... here's a pic of us discussing how much harder he should slam his equipment... er, the keyboard.

and mike ross focused his energy and attention on playing drums... wow

thanks to everyone who came out! we really appreciate all of the help and support! y'all are the best...

grimm

almost with you, i can sense you wait for me

2010-07-19T07:13:00.002-04:00

much administrative happenings have been keeping me busy here at central command... my days start usually at 5:30 am, although today i was little late in getting started, a workout at the gym, a walk home, and then a lil' breakfast. i know, what a rock and roll life style for a teacher. but no longer teaching am i. resigned, finished, left the building... amscrayed, if you will.

feels good. feels strange. kind of like my prom. the weirdness will really set in september when school begins and i don't. the comforting smells of a freshly buffed school hallway speaks of new leaves being over turned before being re-over turned and patterns once thought to be left behind renew themselves, the cuts in the canyon that river water has no choice but to follow. the inevitable decline into routine and sense of person and place we all seem to gravitate back to, once again.

yeah, i won't being seeing that. instead, i click on the keyboard in some sort of digital hustle. book my band, yeah, book it... we're really good... we'll be pleasant for you... we have this new album, it's going to be awesome... it's going to make sense... you will love us... no, we don't have an audience... yet. but we will soon... oh please please please... book us now... you won't regret it...

gotta make some money. somehow.

andrew

recording days 3,4,5,6,7,8

2010-06-28T05:00:00.002-04:00

where did my posts go i wonder?
i know i posted a couple things
but suppose they became lost in digital ether.

all recording for the album is finished...
we trekked up north with mike ward
to put some keyboard parts on the disc.

it sounds great... without any real touch up
to begin with... the raw straight up tracks.
by the end of the week i should have
some more proper mixes from mr. rubal.

the edge of something new
slightly emerges from the east
illumination tentative, imminent.

the show at the eastport street festival
was really really really hot. in a literal,
"I could have kissed the sun" kind of
way... i shed 5 pounds just standing
on stage... i've broken out in a sweat
just thinking about it right now...
yup... not very pleasant...
but we sold some discs and made some
friends.

more digital upgrades to happen soon.

grimm

recording day two... part II

2010-06-15T14:13:00.005-04:00

studio day two

2010-06-15T05:49:00.003-04:00

day one was a success... i arrived at
10:45
and by 2 o'clock we zipped through
thirteen songs... scratch vox and
scratch axe recorded...
today jason butcher records his drums...

i'm picking him up and buying
him donuts and coffee...

labor is cheap sometimes.

more later... from said studio... pics too.

i swearz

studio day one

2010-06-14T06:24:00.002-04:00

heading up to harrisburg with studio stuff
to be done... scratch guitar and vocals
are to be recorded... tomorrow, drums,
wednesday, bass... and so on...

wanted to chat for a moment about william
blake. he seems to keep entering my life,
especially when i'm not paying attention...

5 years ago he popped up in my master's thesis
just recently i taught songs of innocence and experience
and then a friend brought to me, a 1942 manuscript
of a blake criticism.

blake, or god, or whomever is pushing me
to look at blake again... which i guess i will.

grimm

2010-06-12T07:01:00.002-04:00

the roots cafe last night
fun to play and explore that
solo side... new interpretations
sold some cds and made a few bucks...
good for us.

ellen cherry certainly has
made her voice quite clear
she plays with pitch and slides
around with words... her guitar
sounds really good as well... it's
fun to play with her in these shows
because there's that interaction
that we have... maybe back and forth,
give and take, push and pull, heckle and
jeckyl, mallory and alex keaton type of thing
thought neither of us is alex nor mallory.

updates: album starts monday
scratch vox and guitar...

tuesday: drums
wednesday: bass
thursday and friday: bake sale

grimm

you can have it all; you can lose it, too

2010-06-11T07:21:00.002-04:00

one of my students used
a semicolon properly. tears
and silent joys burst from
my brain, my mind. semicolons
bind our ideas, making room
for tone and voice. remarkable
in their hybrid personalities and
troubled by teenage abuse, semicolons
should be used wisely. do not
frighten said punctuation marks
with sudden movements or paranormal
threats. let them be who
they want to be.

tonight: roots cafe @ the common ground
in hampden

7pm ellen cherry, geoff himes,moi.
i will discuss why jay farrar
and i are two different people,
spirits, writers, musicians, and
punctuation marks.

grimm

the little stuff

2010-06-10T11:47:00.003-04:00

waterfront was good last night
a lot of fun... i, being tired,
limped through part of the set.

now, as we go into summer
i dream of sleep, awake by
habit, shuffled and slurred.

cold club soda sipping straws
and melting cold cubes
manage to tickle the throat.

the ring of cymbals, waves of
metal vibrations, microscopic
attenuators shake imperceptibly

faster than you can hear.
someone's finger is pushing
on my cochlea. i swear it is so.

grimm

to all my friends

2010-06-09T02:48:00.004-04:00

mickey rourke played a drunk
the drunk revealed a poet
the poet became a sensation
a sensation underrated
the rated poems slipped
beyond our periphery
into unconscious hearts
through the veins
clicked by valves
oxygen heavy
blasting
life
now

grimm

spinning slower than usual

2010-06-08T04:44:00.002-04:00

i remember hearing an article on npr about how the older you get, the faster time seems to pass. this concept rears its face, to me. to me, this school year has sped faster than any year preceeding. there are no brakes. even breaks went fast. two and a half days with students, teaching? laughing? warping? shaping? what?

my days have become a series of short episodes linked by spells of driving.

at no cost to myself or to the people around me. i look forward to the next step. wearing a guitar. shoving my face into a microphone, and squawking.

back to memory... because the wealth of experience carved into our brains, as we age fewer new impressions burn into memory. that last 15 minutes of driving you don't remember... now alert, you look to the left and to the right and think? "God I hope there weren't stop lights I missed."

now you know, maybe.

grimm

a few words

2010-06-07T05:12:00.002-04:00

Bumble bee wonders am I
his flower?

-Ron Silliman

just a quick note to log in
for the blog... i am thinking
to set up a paypal link to take
donation for the this recording
coming up... i have had one
generous offer to help fund the
project, which means much to me.

when people want to offer their
legal tender, the imaginary or tangible
dollars they have earned by sweat and or
endurance in order to get music
i haven't recorded yet... based on
who is playing on the disc... based
on songs i wrote, really touches
the fragile deep part of me.

thank you.

more when i get there.

grimm

time as an abstract

2010-06-06T13:20:00.002-04:00

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there's the key,
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day?

-Michael Stipe

haven't thought about REM
in a long long time. eons it
seems...

i started listening to rem in 8th grade
when jeff marzen taped the replacements, tim
and rem life's rich pagent... the phase of intense
teenage listening was beginning.

we had a two piece band
called the metal cicadas... our specialty
was rewriting lyrics "a la" weird al
yankovich. i didn't think about it at the
time but it was probably fairly
important as i was learning rhythm and
wordplay. such was my youth.

now here we are... again and again...
the future written in pencil and
foreign languages i'm learning to speak
each day...

grimm

new music and such

2010-06-05T08:49:00.002-04:00

june 14th starts a new album project with jason rubal of harrisburg, PA. the role of the producer is essentially for him to be all ears during the recording process. we've taken in a few pre-production meetings to play the tunes and measure out the dynamics. completely exciting. players on this disc will be:

jason butcher
ryan finnerin
dave hadley
burke sampson
andrew grimm

already a mood has brewed.

songs are old songs from my solo albums... i'm making a stab at a more serious, substantial musical voice in the universe. so i'm going to spend some money... right?

songs:

without you now

if you leave
local 48
somehow
breakdown
arrows and rocks
declare
sweet division
pope of mexico
slow hours
wolves
inside
thunder

we should be wrapping up the tracking by the 24th of june... excitement

grimm

the process, as we know it

2010-06-04T09:29:00.002-04:00

assemble some thoughts
form some words
link some notes
breathe some stops
loop some drums
thumb some bass
shred some shred
convince some guys
re-play some songs
push some buttons
wait some time
sell some discs
make some money
pay some taxes
assemble some thoughts

no news... of the sort

2010-03-23T06:53:00.003-04:00

hey there... been out dah loop..

wif mah blah blah blah...
does it matter?
nah nah nah
ke$ha? nah nah nah
civilization will implode
as she becomes the model
of artistic value.

sheesh.

new drummer in line...
yes.. wow... good...

great.

clicks and clunks.

shows? look to your right...

there they are...

the time between

2010-03-05T19:59:00.002-05:00

never really seems to be as much time
as one needs to acomplish the simpler tasks...
tuck in this
update that
rearrange those
snip them...

you know... will try to make better effort...

shows and songs don't promote themselves...
things are going in the right direction however,
my computer is de-virused... yes... am working
on websites now... maybe will some kind of
new news for you soon...

did the fawm...

you can download some songs to hear... here

see you around

grimm

short time short break

2010-01-23T10:58:00.002-05:00

audacious and firm
i have paused from my
grading to say, "hello."

hello

end of the semester has
appeared and the kids will
change in a couple of
my classes... fresh start
for some... old hat
for others... oh brit lit.
what will we do... we will
explore the rundown alleys of
chaucer i suppose...
get ready for beowulf and
more vocabulary.

music music. we play tonight
at waterfront hotel. cortez
mission... the alter ego.

hey baltimore you are a real
cute town. the denizens of fells
point will filter to the hotel
to say hi. we will play some
songs about stuff. maybe love?

maybe love.
maybe love!
maybe love?
maybe love...

what rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem?

grimm

new year

2010-01-21T07:17:00.002-05:00

it slipped by me... not by
accident... but i looked up
and there it was... the first
month of 2010 is fading fast.
no fireworks here. all is
quiet and we have hunkered
down underneath our quilted
covers.

fawm is coming and i will
be doing that... with much
more technology at my ready
i am texting my muses and
downloading my chorus. we
will bounce ideas into
songs.

i haven't written a damned
thing in awhile and thoughts
have bubbled gurgled shifted
risen quaked trembled pricked
pointed tightened relaxed...
they are ready for breath
pushed by anticipation.

ramshead live show. big stage
small, beautiful crowd.
lawrence was there. good to
see him. he liked the show... especially
the sound... i guess
i could get used to playing
on a stage that size...

oh, ej is leaving the band...
i'm done trying to replace people...
we'll soldier on mike, ryan, jason, burke, timmy, and eye.

grimm

Merry Xmas from Antietam

2009-12-25T20:41:00.002-05:00

video?

2009-12-22T10:12:00.002-05:00

the wind up

2009-12-18T06:15:00.002-05:00

tonight we play
the windup space
more and more
i want to
believe that this
is the venue
i want to
play in baltimore.
russell, the owner,
is attentive and
working on the
the room to
get a good
sound dialed in.
i'm thinking i'd
like to set
up shop there.

we are playing
ramshead live in
january. strange how
that is. big
place. balt. country
festival... all day.
i suppose we'll
have to get
out our more
country material. i
don't think we've
been sounding as
country as we
used to. but
then again, my
banjo has been
making the rounds
into the mix.

chuck prophet, i
don't think i
talked about him.
he's not a
very amiable fellow.
for sure... for
certain... a shame.
but i think
that adds to
his success as
an artist. he
complains and makes
awkward moments adversarial
especially with soundmen.

he wasn't very
polite to us
which was good...
my friend waiting
list is pretty
long and i
cannot edge anyone
out just because
prophet wants in.

the guy can
play guitar though.

see you tonight?

maybe maybe maybe

grimm

that old familiar feeling

2009-12-17T11:42:00.002-05:00

it had been
some time, since
i stood in
front of persons,
all sounds emitted
were lost in
conversation, smacking of
lips, semiotics swirling
meaning in two
way communication, the
intruder that i
am... without a
ruffle, the audience
clapped anemically after
i fizzled plainly.

grimm

the long recursive road

2009-12-16T05:38:00.002-05:00

since i've been away from the blogosphere... school has been more of a priority than i normally let it be... so sorry for that... not feeling creative to do my normal formatting... just a quick note to say i'll be doing some solo acoustic stuff soon... i miss playing in that mode... it's fun... i've kind of gotten out of practice with carrying tunes by myself... no one can blame me... the current june star line up is really incredible.

tonight i'm playing solo at the windup space in support of my wife... she's giving a presentation and the group wanted music... so here we are...

for more info... click here

later...

grimm

waterfront 8x10

2009-11-29T18:14:00.002-05:00

hello... i've been
gone again, haven't
i? well to
not fret over
my void, i'm
here to chat...
each "show" we
play allows us
to get stronger.
mixing up set
lists... playing songs
we haven't rehearsed
these are good
things. for certain.
last night played
new jordan on
banjo with harmonica
long time since
that has been
attempted for sure.
acetone with baritone
look out! people
clapped, people took
pictures... people danced
my in-laws were
satisfied and i
felt good about
what we had
done... didn't even
play all the
songs
on the set
list. how about
that.

grimm

joe squared

2009-11-15T13:07:00.002-05:00

it doesn't take
much to be
nice. it doesn't
take much at
all. thanks to
everyone who
came out...
tim heaney took
pictures...
here are some...

awake in the forest

2009-11-02T05:58:00.002-05:00

mind numbed tunes
practical bird song
tear away runes
and bottle wrongs

moon to earth
magnet poles orbit
strayed into dirt
transformed from myth

long way under
beneath tidal seas
barely blue hunger
rattled by degrees

skip rope words
played under ladder
children laughed verse
later than rather

succulent nebraska

2009-11-01T15:22:00.001-05:00

2009-11-01T13:03:00.002-05:00

emerging from mucus
haze drifted away
cleared head lifting
the bug vanquished
throat soothed renewed
passion's pilot light
lit open primed
melodies plans lists
who is the
best unsigned band?
who is the
best judge of
the best of
the fighting and
swinging and hopeful
and desperate and
sad and underrated
and lonely and
busy and unawares.

grimm

bertha's

2009-10-19T06:50:00.002-04:00

the van took
a misstep the
other day. unfortunately
i was attempting
to change a
flat tire and
manage to wrench
off the lug
nut and the
bolt it was
fastened too. grinding
noises on the
passenger side also.
hmmm, i wonder.
my father says
it may be
time to say
goodbye to the
van. i think
he's jealous that
i have one.
yes that must
be the angle
he's taking. jealousy.

bertha's was fun.
loose... i didn't
play very well
and apparently we
were too loud.
they were right.
we were... no
pluggies in my
ears and a
ringing they were.

mah wife took
some pictures of
the show. here
is one... yeah!

closing bell

2009-09-30T05:33:00.002-04:00

the closing bell sounded
torn ticket confetti
under our feet
poker face smiles

more later?

saluting to people

2009-09-27T18:35:00.002-04:00

ellen cherry was
playing in the
early evening hours
at the baltimore
book festival. rhythm
and beer for
me. i saw
her previously at
the artscape place.
very well done
and smart. she
and i have
logged some time
on the road
and in the
baltimore. she has
been doing very
well as of
late. climbing the
hills that have
adequate surface but
ever shifting traction.
i'm happy for
her and the
success she has
been building. we
first met when
i had a
solo show at
mum's and needed
an opener. i
had been obsessively
going to baltimorebands.com
and sifting through
local music, a
precarious activity when
it comes to
quality and i
happened upon her
site. i read
through it a
while before the
show came up
and when pressed
to find someone
to open i
thought... why not?

it was a
good night and
i was happy
to hear someone
playing and thinking
about music... she
plays with ownership
of the music....
that was... 2004ish
2005ish... and i
hear her now
i'm really impressed.
she's found found
her voice and
her songs are
taking a form
outside of arrangement
and rehearsal. good
things for sure.

also... for giggles...
the other night
i googled for
a song i
taped off the
radio in 1988
or 89... 99.1
whfs was a
different radio station
then... the type
of station that
would play a
song once and
you wouldn't hear
that tune for
another three days...

anyhow... i taped
a song by
the jack rubies
called, "the book
of love" because it
had some great
acoustic guitars, which
i was into
at the time...
seein that i
had just started
playing... but anyhoo...
the song that
came on after
"the book of
love" just rocked...
real country and
raw... english country.

i always wanted
to know who sang
it and every
once in a
while i would
google a couple
of words... from
the tune to
avail... but last
night it showed
up... "going back
to Coventry" by
the men they
couldn't hang. then
i found them
on itunes... can
you believe it.

shocking, just shocking.

chapter closed for
me.

grimm

Hood to Hood

2009-09-23T06:14:00.002-04:00

hey there... quick
note to let
you know about
wtmd's fund drive.

wtmd has been
really kind to
us and has
played our music
both solo and
band! to say
thanks, i have
signed up to
hopefully get some
donations rolling in
their hood to
hood challenge... please
click on the
links and check
it out!

june star fund raising page

grimm

shows and thoughts

2009-09-15T14:11:00.002-04:00

whoa there... slow
down. we have
shows going in
the near future...

we return to
the mum's oh
the mum's how
much fun. the
loud the evil
the easy load-
in the not
too late curfew.

all six of
us will be
there... for now.
usually i make
such promises and
and do not
follow through as
someone falls ill
the swagger of
the evening is
too much temptation
and they cannot
make the show.

hopefully we will
have perfect attendance.

but we'll see.

just got my
martin back and
man it plays
well. it sounds
fantastic... loose and
straight. it is
a straight shot.

sweet.

been listening to
the tenderhooks album
as of late...
lots of good
stuff on there...
some lyrics that
take their time
and seem to
fit more perfectly
or at least
concisely than one
would think possible.

yay music.

grimm

back? again?

2009-09-10T19:30:00.002-04:00

operations are back
underway... to type
and to reclaim
my cyber pad.

sorry to be
away... teaching has
taken the reigns
but i have
wrestled them into
my grips. whoa.

music music music
golden west tomorrow
night... with e.j.
mike and timmy.

patrick hughes has
left the state
to settle or
scuttle around portland
oregon grounds much
luck to him
he was one
the best drummers
we played with.

album inching along
we are playing
bunches of shows
and hope to
see you soon.

oh, 1984 is
a seriously scary
novel. i'm on
my third re-reading
and it becomes
more sinister if
that is even possible.

grimm

the outer party

2009-08-24T07:28:00.002-04:00

school is dead
on tomorrow morning.
we will see
who is who
and why we
are we and
just what it
means that the
strongest will survive.

brit. lit. for
the first time.
no sweat, i
got it... 1984
is the starting
point. the anti-
universe, the upside
down world where
nothing seems to
make sense... if
you believe the
society is insane
you must be
made insane to
understand it, to
love it. yup.
poor ol' winston
smith. for sure.
i've done my
reading i've made
my bed. i've
gotten up early
and eaten a
bowl of cereal
and drank coffee.
i drove here
without hitting anything
on the road.

these are good
things.

music: same ol'
same ol'... a bunch
of shows though...
testing the new
line up and
making sense of
new instrumentations, voices,
and energy. rehearsal
remains crucial... yup.

yup.

grimm

district 9

2009-08-22T17:08:00.001-04:00

one of the best films i have ever seen.
i held my breath the entire time
what a well developed and told story.
oh my god.

wow... like wow.

more later

grimm

in preparation

2009-08-21T07:52:00.003-04:00

the new school
year shifts on
its haunches. curious
and frightened it
is awaiting a
signal, a gesture,
a reason to
move forward. the
hunter reads his
books and formulates
his gun, loaded
with words, assertions,
and goals. taking
thorough aim at
the year, he
pauses and concludes
that this will
be his year
to do something
new and good.

master newspeak double
plus good he
will say to
the students rapt
in oldspeak delirium.
in pouring through
the text a
third time, the
hunter becomes keenly
aware that this
forest is no
longer wild and
predictable but deliberate
and controlled. conspiracy!
some folks would
say and thusly
marked as whackos.

but sometimes there
is truth mixed
in that accusation.

orwell is right
and time to
prevent has already
passed, slipped into
the past while
we watched dancing
with the stars
or megan wants
a millionaire or
whatever reality we
wanted to believe
was real on
the HD portal.

the old guard
is dying and
the new guard
is airbrush and
glucose. here are
some words i
put together a
year ago...

when the choices are few
and there's one way to go
television telling you
everything you know

from the back of the line
on the tips of your toes
you're still guessing shit
you should already know

something to remember
i am just
as guilty of
passivity as anyone.

grimm

Fall Cleaning Con't.

2009-08-20T09:31:00.002-04:00

Fall Cleaning

2009-08-20T08:27:00.002-04:00

this was at
el rancho last
year... it found
shelter in my
school computer but
now i must
make space for
more digital preparations.
ellen plays it
in a different
key and i
really screw it
up. but it
was fun to
play, anyway. exciting.

items of newer interest

2009-08-13T08:02:00.004-04:00

june star makes another shift in a line up. patrick hughes, drummer and nice guy, is moving to another state... westward ho! he goes. i'm sorry to see him go... in his place will be e.j. shaull-thompson from caleb stine and the brakemen. we're all looking forward to the new addition. rehearsals have been going well, smart and well thought out... the new songs from the double album are gellin' swell.

we're not sure about our september show it was supposed to be on the 18th at the metro gallery... but the date or the venue might change... but look for a great poster coming up soon...

so... the town meeting thing is getting weird... people are out of their minds... they're bringing guns to these things? really? nothing gets a party started like a group of angry/frightened/goaded people and a loaded handgun. not only that... but yesterday i read someone complaining about democrats saying that their voices were unamerican... to which the writer/blogger/protestor/triggerman said, "Since when is giving a dissenting opinion un-patriotic? I have the right to free speech!"

well, it's the same issue just five years ago when those same people told me that "a vote for john kerry was a vote for the terrorists. if you don't vote for Bush, the sitting president, you're unpatriotic." freaking whatever. that's what i'm reduced to thinking... this seems to be a dark summer... guns, misinformation, and katy perry is now the arbiter of talent? "shut up and put your money where your mouth is/that's what you get for waking up in vegas/shake shake the cradle." look out bob dylan.

tired, i should get back to my book

grimm