I am a fan of songwriters who inhabit a character, creating a song that speaks from that person's perspective rather than their own. However, I have had very little luck writing that sort of song. The vast majority of my music catalog is autobiographical, for better or worse.
This one is an exception. I was reading a lot of World War I poets and stories of people struggling to fit their interior lives within the constraints of the culture around them, when a character took shape in my brain. Before I could think about it too much, I wrote these lyrics down. It's short and simple, but holds a gravity that intrigues me, and hopefully you as well.
It's time to meet the cast of the Dark Forest radio play.
The role of Cooper is played by Pete Rearden.
He is a self-described guy with a camera who does things, and stuff. You may have spotted his photographic handiwork on the cover of the newest album by the matthew show, texas ii.
Production on Season 1 continues apace, aiming for a Fall release. Huge thanks to all the contributors, y'all are good'uns.
My 2012 began in 2011, with the passing of Jason Jackson. To say that we were friends is to leave out most of the story. We drove each other insane, stayed on the phone too long, and collaborated fitfully for nearly two decades as we struggled with our demons. In the end, his won out, and I was left to decide what that meant for me.
Enter one Fetzer Mills, Jr., who I'd known in Second Life for quite a while, and who stepped out from behind the digital veil to offer me and the band a trip to Folk Alliance in Memphis. As part of that visit, he booked us an evening session at Sun Studio, where the ghosts of American music do not rest easy, infusing that small room with an energy that commanded reverence even from my normally irreverent self. And what would we play in that room? Why, one of my friend Jason's best songs, one we could never quite pin down on wax while he was alive.
Earlier this month, the architect of that session left us as well. I can still hear Fetzer laughing in the control room as we bashed borrowed guitars through ancient amps and made our own kind of history. Humans may be mortal, but rock and roll lives on. Jason and Fetzer knew that, and the world is better for it.
It's time to meet the cast of the Dark Forest radio play.
The role of Carl Jung is played by Dan Herman.
Born of New York swagger, maturing in NJ's and Philadelphia's streets of promise, Dan Herman's expression of radio is his calling card. The longtime host of Radio Crystal Blue champions indie and underground songwriters and bands worldwide, making the art of freeform fit together, like an ever evolving museum. Dan is very active with the pursuit of his ancestral roots, retro nostalgia (1970s-1990s) and an abiding interest in photography.
Production continues apace, with an eye towards releasing season one in the fall. Huge thanks to all contributors and supporters, it's a grand community effort.
An ability I have become fortunate enough to develop is an ear for particular talents. I might only hear someone sing or play once, and if there's something about them that sticks out to me as unique, I will file it away for future reference and give them a call when I'm working on something that feels like it needs exactly that sound.
Such was the case when I played a show with Aimie Lovett at Adair's in Dallas one night sometime in the late aughts. I'd known her before, but as she was developing the vocal style that would characterize her later work with Loretti, I was tinkering with The Band That Never Was podcast, which featured a single on each episode. When I managed to finish up this tune primarily penned by former Average Deep compatriots Jeffry Simms and Michael Montgomery, it was very clear to me that my voice shouldn't be the one singing the chorus. Turns out I was correct, and that she was the perfect addition to the sonic palette. Add Jeffry on drums and usual suspect Nancy Giammarco in the background, and we have one of my favorite tracks from that project.
It's time to meet the cast of the Dark Forest radio play.
The role of Jacques Vallee is played by Philip Colton.
Still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up, he has been working in the banking industry for the past 15 years. Prior to that he taught in the public school system, then ran his own computer company for a dozen years. In his non-working time, he has spent countless hours either instructing, spectating, or participating in numerous activities involving small and large balls/projectiles on fields, courts and frozen surfaces. Currently enjoys getting frustrated chasing a small ball around green pastures. He is very proficient in outdoor ice surface creation and maintenance. He enjoys making, and listening to music of all sorts. Currently spends time during the Canadian winters in basements and lofts making noise with others whenever the opportunity arises. Phil lives on the East Coast of Canada in Northern New Brunswick with his spouse. They have one grown son.
Enjoying the production process for Season 1, which will hopefully hit the interwebs in mid-Fall.
A funny thing happened in a Brooklyn bar one night in 2003. My musical godfather, one Little Jack Melody, came to town and of course I, as a freshly minted New Yorker, leapt at the chance to see one of my favorite artists in my new stomping grounds. As it happened, there was an opening act that I would become obsessed with as well. Las Rubias del Norte was a collection of musicians made up of classical and Latin influences that lit up any room they were in. I was blown away by the gorgeous harmonies of Alyssa Lamb and Emily Hurst, and resolved to figure out a way to employ that sound on a matthew show record at some point.
In 2005, when I was making my second album, february, I had the inkling that I wanted to cover a Little Jack tune. My brain somehow made the connection, and I dreamed up this little vocal line that bore the voices of the Rubias. One simple email, and they were at my apartment, in the broom closet that passed for my studio, effortlessly reading my hastily scrawled sheet music (the only time I've ever written out music, incidentally) and setting exactly the right tone. It was an easy leap to call in the magnificent Reggie Rueffer again, himself a LJM alum, for the main riff, and voila. When Reggie came in, I showed him the track as it was at that time, and hearing the backing vocals, he blinked and said, "you're doing that how?" Made me smile.
Before release, I contacted Carl Finch, the Brave Combo ringleader and the tune's co-writer, and it felt good to send him the licensing fee directly rather than going through an agency. I would do that once more when we recorded the Memphis version, but that's another story.
It's time to meet the cast of the Dark Forest radio play.
The role of Richard is played by Richard Keller.
Otherwise known as Itchy Richie, he is a Fort Worth alternative pop musician with a background in voice acting. Performing various voices in the D7Peacemaker series in the mid 2000s, Itchy Richie has since gone on to write and produce numerous albums and EPs under the banner Itchy Richie and the Burnin' Sensations.
Production continues apace, aiming at a mid-fall release. Huge thanks to all who have contributed. Y'all are good'uns.
When I moved to NYC in 2002, my first album had already been tracked in Texas. Or so I thought. This tune came to me in a bit of a rush after a frustrating phone call with a troubled friend, and I couldn't not include it, since frankly the album needed another upper. I managed to recruit my new pal Paul Shapera to throw in a fun electronic drum part, and on a visit to the homeland, had usual suspects Jeffry Simms and Dean Hall make some vocal racket to spiff it up a bit. The whole Thomas Kinkade bit at the end exists for no reason other than my own personal amusement, and so far has not resulted in any lawsuits.
Upon the album's release in 2003, I got a surprise in the mail when my CD manufacturer, Oasis, sent me a promo disc of highlights from that year's releases. And there this song sat, right next to a new track by Rick Astley. Hell of a way to get rickrolled.
It remains the tune I usually open shows with, as it gets people heads bobbing before I hit them with the sadboi stuff later. Ol' Bait 'n Switch Broyles, they calls me. I'll own it.
It's time to meet the cast of the Dark Forest radio play.
The role of Terence McKenna is played by longtime matthew show Executive Producer and chum Ryv Mutsu Daniel.
Elven neurospicy guardian of felines, EverQuest and VR enthusiast, RyvyrDGoblin and forever MercyMain, Former C130 Loadmaster, Piano and theramin aspirant, and PhD hopeful planning to teach at Tokyo University as "that doodling professor"
Production continues apace, with an eye towards a fall release. Many thanks to all the contributors, y'all are good eggs.
