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.

In the meantime, there are several cuts from the live portion of the show over at our YouTuber site. Here’s one example:

We’ll call this a tribute to that other band that all played around the mic just a scant 45 years ago (yipes!). There’s also a pretty fun medley of Roger Miller songs, but I’ll have to hear the show this week to remember why that was happening!

I’m sitting in the studio now listening to final and near-final mixes on menagerie. There have been a few setbacks, but it’s still alive and kicking, just taking longer (always!) than I thought it would. I’m also working on finishing the cover art, liner notes, all the publishing stuff, etc, and working with the pressing plant to get that all setup. But all that notwithstanding, I’m hoping for a Halloween release, so keep your bony fingers crossed!

On a related note, watch for the October release of  Virginia Creepers: THE HORROR HOST TRADITION OF THE OLD DOMINION.  It’s a documentary featuring stories and clips of classic Virginia late night horror show TV shows. The Taters have a song in the soundtrack, a menagerie cut called “Wolfman Told Me Tonight”, so you’ll want to get a copy of the film ! A lot of you know the song from our shows over the years, but this is the debut of the recorded version. On an inexplicable note, the website for Virginia Creepers lists our tune as a “romantic ditty” (??), so I don’t know what to tell you about that. Not a big Valentine tune to my way of thinking but hey, it made the cut so we’re happy!

Spread a little Tater around

Think about the last time you bought something from a friend’s recommendation, or because you read a review of a book, movie, album, whatever. Chances are that review or recommendation made more of an impact on you than any “official” advertising from the manufacturer. One of the most beneficial aspects of the web is this ability to spread “word-of-mouth” recommendations across a much larger audience.

Same is true with Tater tunes. We have all sorts of people who come to see us or buy the CDs because someone told them about us, or they read a recommendation from someone. You could be a big part of spreading the word about The Taters, not only by telling your friends but also by posting reviews of our music or shows on the web. Nearly every place that sells the music online – CD Baby , iTunes , Amazon , you name it – has some way for you to post reviews and comments. It would be a great help to what we’re trying to do (merely get every single individual on the planet to hear us) if you’d add some reviews of your own. Say whatever you like, tell about your favorite song on an album, what you like about the music, etc. If you use iTunes, make a playlist that includes the Taters music and share the list so others will find it! Every single voice helps, believe me!