Rock & Roll Jubilee

This is the tribute show that Brad & I are in, along with Jim Wark, George Garrett, Brian Sulser and BJ Kocen. We pay tribute to Elvis, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers in a 2-hour show that’s a mix of songs & live comedy. So far we’ve had 5 shows over the last year & a half, with another scheduled for September. We’ll post updates about the shows here, as well as on the Tater calendar and the new Facebook page.

Sensory Lullabies – The Ultimate Tribute to Jellyfish

This tribute CD was released 2 years ago, and features 38 cover versions (?!) of Jellyfish songs. The Taters contributed our take on an unreleased tune, “Queen of the USA”. You can find the CD here, and it’s also on iTunes & Amazon (CD or MP3). As of this posting, you can get it on the Burning Sky site for $19.99 for the 2 CD set.

If I… If I… If I… The Songs of Squeeze Revisited

This is the latest project we’re involved in, another tribute CD from Burning Sky. This one features the songs of Squeeze, a big influence in Taterland, as any true Taterhead knows  We did a calypso version of Goodbye Girl on this one, which featured several guests along with the regular Tater plate – George Garrett added bongos, and Cole Evans put some percussion on. Can’t wait to hear the whole project when it’s done. No date announced at this point, but maybe sometime next year.

Recording
The bulk of the recording is done, with just a few bits to add on at this point. Still have a few guests that are going to add to the mix, and we have to schedule all of that. Then it’s down to mixing and mastering, and looking at a way to get it pressed. In the meantime, here’s a few more clips of what’s been going on. As with some of the previous posts, keep in mind that these are just unfinished clips, still need mixing, some EQ’ing, etc:

• Wolfman Told Me Tonight
  This is a song that Gary & I have had for years, and it usually only gets totted out around Halloween each year for the live shows. Somewhere at one of those shows last year someone said, “Why do we only play this at Halloween”?”Because… it’s got a werewolf in it?” I’m sure there was more to the conversation, but I’m pretty easy to convince when it comes to adding some monster fun to the calendar year, so… on the CD it goes!
• Fun At Home
  I put an earlier version of this up about a month ago, but we’ve added some more vocals, including the Nonexistent Taters Horn Section on the bridge, so I thought I’d stick this up and let you hear the progress
• Wax Paper
  Another very fun song that comes from the Monday Week days, this has been dusted off and refitted for the new millennium. This has got to be one of the few songs out there with distorted guitar and banjo on it, not to mention one of the surprisingly few odes to household products and food containers specifically.

Other stuff
As always, in addition to Tatering live and in the studio, all of us stay busy at whatever side projects come our way. Here is a recent video that I worked on for the VA Tax Dept’s online filing initiative. The lyrics were a committe process, and the tune is me trying to write and perform my best Zimmy impersonation! I’m playing bass, guitar & singing on this, with Richard Schellenberg on lead gtr, as well as recording & mixing. Guest spot from Kevin Cronin on harmonica. And no, the guy in the kilt is not me -- I’m behind the camera on this one.

Rock & Roll Revue
Brad & I have started rehearsals for the next R&R Revue, coming up in May. We’ll be reprising a lot of the Elvis, Buddy, Roy & Everly’s tunes from the first show, and adding in a few new ones, including a few appearances from Ricky Nelson. Backing us up again will be the vintage talents of George Garrett, Brian Sulser and Jim Wark. Check the calendar for the dates and call early for tickets!

Here are some of Brian’s videos from the first show

By the way, if anyone would like to volunteer to film or photograph the next show, we’d love the help! And we’ll be glad to let you share in the fame and glory

I think that’s it for now. Should have a version of the CD cover finished soon, so I’ll post a draft of that when it’s ready. For now, here’s a shot we’re using for some new flyers. Click on the image for a larger version.

Hope to see you soon!

Craig

Lots of side projects happening of late, since we haven’t been scheduling as many shows while the CD is being made. On Saturday I played bass up in MD with one of my favorite bands, The Grandsons. Lots of fun doing that one, and not a little time spent woodshedding to learn the tunes. It’s been a few years since I was a backup ‘Son, so I had to re-learn a lot of the material. It was a great show, a split bill with The Hula Monsters, who were outstanding. Both bands are well worth a drive to go see anytime you get a chance! For anyone in Taterland unfamiliar with the Grandsons, they are the horn section on our live album of a few years ago. Nuff said!

Last night Brad, Greg & I played at in a 70’s “flashback” show, a fund-raiser for Good Shepherd church to help buy some new audio equipment for it’s music programs. It was a pretty ambitious set of 60s & 70s tunes, including songs from Chicago,  Cat Stevens, Eagles, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Beatles, Turtles, and about a dozen others, and the only rehearsal was a few hours before the show!  But it came off really well thanks to the players involved. Also on deck was Mark Scott, one of the many Tater emergency drummers we’ve used over the years, and he played and sang his little head off!

Tonight Brad & I change gears once again as we rehearse for the Rock and Roll Revue show coming up in Ashland in a few weeks. This one features us, along with Jim Wark (a long-time A-list side Tater!), Flyin’ Brian Sulser, and Tater alumnus George Garrett. Most of you know George & Jim, and you should get to know Brian, as he and Jim both have cameos on the upcoming Taters CD!

This show will be a tribute to some of the founding fathers of this rock and roll music thing that’s been so big the last half century or so! We’ll be handling sets by Buddy Holly, the Everlys, Roy Orbison, and of course, King One (or Elvis, as his friends called him) in a small, scaled back live show – 1 microphone, mostly unplugged. It’s on Friday, March 6 at the Ashland Coffee & Tea, so come out and join us if you’re in the area!

Very happy for a day off of work today, rehearsal notwithstanding. We’re heading into the season where we seldom have full days free, and almost never a whole weekend, so it’s always appreciated when it happens! But as Henry Cabot Henhouse III’s faithful friend Fred always says, we knew the job was dangerous when we took it!

Back in the studio this week for more work on the new album, and then (finally!) a Taters show this Friday at Grandpa Eddie’s in Richmond.

Wonder what the lazy people are doing today?