The most recent RC show from Jammin' Java is now available for download on the LMA... more info on the news page.

Here is a direct link to the show: Click Me

I opted to upload this one in lossy formats as well as lossless. The age of the Ipod is upon us! Though I may be in denial about the whole thing, it seemed silly to force people to download the FLAC files if they are just going to stick it on their Ipod or whatever.

But I implore you to download the lossless (FLAC) format if you are going to trade or burn it to a CD! Converting to mp3/ogg/etc really does take its toll on the sound quality, and it's especially evident on live recordings.

If you need any help with any of the file formats, you can send me an e-mail and I will do my best to assist you.

Here's a basic breakdown of the four formats:

FLAC: True copy of the original, best quality. Ideal for burning to CD.

64Kbps MP3: Low quality Mp3, but it has the smallest file size. Ideal for downloading over slow connections or if you need to sacrifice sound quality to save space.

VBR MP3: Basicially a standard mp3. If you're putting it on your Ipod I'd go with this one (This is assuming Ogg's don't work with mp3 players and what not).

Ogg Vorbis: Sound quality is roughly equivalent to the VBR MP3s, but the files are smaller. I'd go with these if you are just going to play it on your computer and don't have the space for the FLAC files.

Pictures I took during the July 21st show are now up... direct link on the news page.

Check them out.

Posting tonight's set list before I head to bed... news page.

Here is the setlist from tonight's show. It was rocking as always. Plus they played two new songs! And Joti had a mandolin along to spice things up.

I recorded the show, but I forgot the adaptor to patch the soundboard so I had to mic it. It might not sound as nice as the last two recordings, but I will get it up on the LMA soon (see bottom of the sounds page). I also snapped a few pictures, so expect to see those this week if they turn out.

Rockwell Church
07.21.06
Jammin' Java
Vienna, VA

How the West Was Won
Bad Vacation
Click Your Heels *
I See Alice
Hobo Dog
What Not To Do
She Hung The Moon
Closer To You
Tend To Your Head
The Elephant In The Room
Hemophilia
Madly
Strawberry Blond *
The Never Ending Battle..
Kool-Aid Man
Isn't She Everything
Cowboy Song
-------------------
Genie In A Bottle #

* Joti on mandolin
# chistina aguilera cover

Looking forward to seeing everyone next week.

Charlottesville is being deemed the "warm up show" (i.e. Joti gets in at 4pm, I fly from LA the night before) so come out with your patience and drink a lot. We'll do our best not to suck.

Email us if you are coming out and there are songs you are dying to hear, we'll see if we can't work them in. No promises, especially to the longtime loyal fan who always asks me to sing a song in French. Does it count if I bust a Zidane headbutt on Joti?

New song called "What Not to Do" will rear its ugly head at these shows, maybe another one called "The Elephant in the Room" too. So you've got that going for you. Also, this is news to Joti.

Speaking of news, the Baby Tess news was broken on Myspace. She has her Daddy's middle name...and yes we may never live down the fact that her initials are TCH. I hadn't even noticed it. Thanks to you weed donkeys for ruining my perception of a perfectly good name. I'm kidding. Mostly.

Three things to listen for on old albums if you are so inclined:

1) Lick from She Hung the Moon at the end of Lindsay Song.

2) Darth Vader theme music coming out of the first verse of Soap and Rain.

3) The toy piano on Steady Ready Strong is the same one playing those notes at the end of John Mayer's Your Body is a Wonderland? There was a time I thought that was cool. Now I want to break that toy piano.

That's all for now. See you soon.

Hi everyone, and apologies for the long drought in communication. It's not because we don't love you. It's because of - well - lots of stuff.

First and foremost I ask that you all kiss the feet of the great Adrian, who in addition to being the RC archivist is now also our webmaster. He does this purely out of love (well, mostly out of love, the rest because our participation in the old site just sucked so bad it pained him), so please repay him mightily. He is entirely deserving. Thanks Ad.

I promised him if he did this I would write you more stuff and more often. So here's what is going on in our world...

Joti is almost done with his PhD. From an outsider's perspective this thing has been caught in the Rockwell Time Warp for a few years, but the truth is he's worked really hard and is now basically one of the world's experts on bluegrass music. I know that because he had long hair forever most of you couldn't see his red neck, but this soon-to-be accomplishment is living proof of his red neckness for you doubters out there. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. And who the hell am I to talk? My grandmother was from Mississippi.) Joti is in Brooklyn now, spending a lot of his time writing. He's going to be a professor at some point here in the next 18 months or so, it is just a question of where. He'll see what pops up in the coming months...

Me. What to say. I've been trying to be a good Dad. Totally in love with my daughter. And we have another one on the way in a week. So Joti and my dream of a female drummer to add to the band is probably only about ten years away.

I've been trying to fix the music industry from the inside. Putting that MBA to good work. Kind of like when Neo just jumps inside of Agent Smith and makes him explode. But not as cool. Not that this comes as a suprise to any of you, but the industry's a mess. There is reason to hope, though. Power really is shifting to the artists. The only problem is that most of them (us) don't know what to do with it. The entrepreneurial ones will survive. The rest probably won't, unless they surround themselves with a good team. And THAT is the fundamental problem with the music industry; there just aren't a lot of good people in it. And by good I mean both smart, resourceful, skilled, creative, etc. AND non-evil. Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Well, by all accounts he was a lunatic, but he was right. I think rockstars are dead. 40 million people tune in to see the finale of American Idol but only about 200,000 will pay to see the winner live. Think about who is playing arenas and stadiums today - Madonna, U2, Rolling Stones, CSNY, etc. - all cool but all old like shit. Who is the band under 40 that's going to carry the torch? It's country and that's it. Yikes. I have this burning little theory that we're at the precipice of a new era of music...that rock and roll really is dying as a modern art form, just like jazz, classical, etc. all had their day (Joti will probably follow this posting with a blistering rebuttal because he knows way too much about this stuff, but whatever). How many times can we string the same chords together and make a listener think it sounds new? It's less about listening to music than it is about watching it on TV. I think we're waiting for the next revolution, and I think it is around the corner.

So what have I been doing about it from a creative standpoint? I've been ignoring the Muse. She's been sitting there, across the auditorium, while everybody else is dancing, just waiting for me to ask her. I can feel her looking at me. She's pissed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I almost have full fingerprints again on my left hand for the first time since I was 16. Not quite. But it's close.

Here's the thing: I'm listening to music again. It always took falling in love with a record to get me writing my own crap. That's what happened with Superego. I've always been enthralled with Shannon Worrell. And she put out a record called The Moviegoer. It consumed me for two weeks while I sat up at the house on the lake in New Hampshire and wrote, and wrote, and wrote. Hello "Neverending Battle". Hello "I Know You Forget Me Everyday". Hello "Talk So Heavy". Thanks Shannon. She lives in my town now, I see her on the mall every now and then. I am too chicken poo to say hi. She sang on our first record, on "Those Eyes". I had a massive crush on her when I was 18. She once called me her prince, in a very "here's a pat on the head, little boy, now go back to the kiddie pool" kind of way. She definitely doesn't remember. Alas.

But the point is, I am scrounging. Looking for albums to love. Looking for the right mood music to put on, so I can pull my head out of my grundle, walk across the wood floor, and ask that little fairy girl to tango. Because my pockets are full of stuff to say, I just need the Muse. Let's see if I get the nerve up to ask her out before the next show.

So keep your fingers crossed for baby girl #2. And now that we have the new site, email us. Ask us questions. We'll do a big mailbag response. Whatever you want. Boston people, I know we've let you down. Not forever. Just for now. It's the mid-Atlantic for the moment. Not because we don't love you. It's because of - well - lots of stuff.

See you soon.

N