Tag Archives: music

What’s in the box? (part 2)

Here we are again, man. Week is almost over and, what the hell, time to get back on the blog again. Get right back up on that bronco! as Lee Majors would say. Yee-haw … and the rest of it.

Big GreenSo, where was I? Oh, yeah. I was offering explanations for all of those 7 million songs on our new album, Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of Rick, now appearing on iTunes, Spotify, etc., etc.  I believe I left off with “Awesome Hair”. Oh, Governor Scott’s got a glowin’ dome. Governor McDonnell’s got some slop on his top. And so on. Here’s some more ‘splainin’….

Evening Crab Nebula – A resurrected song from Matt’s holiday mix tapes past, re-worked and repurposed to tell part of “cousin” Rick’s wacky election story. Picture a high-paid, low-I.Q. consultant, giving Rick his best advice while standing on one foot. He’s singing this freaking song.

Falling Behind – The news is not good, Rick. Not good at all, man. Look at the polls. Dropping back behind God knows who. T’ain’t never lost a-fore, but there’s a first time for everything. Banjo solo!

Limping Back to Texas – Cousin Rick goes back home to collect his thoughts and a have a little talk with his maker, who sounds strangely like a two-bit Levon Helm impersonation. (You can even hear Salvation Army horns in the background … and a banjo!)

Devil Romney – An embittered Rick rails against a somewhat unaccommodating God as the final nail is sunk into the coffin of his presidential ambitions. Dang you, uncle Jebus!

Endorsing Newt Gingrich – Just what the title says. Rick gives his endorsement to the former speaker, with obvious ulterior motives. Real cranky little country jam.  

Come Back Mean – Dang! Losin’ elections sure can make a man ornery. Next thing you know, a cowboy is likely to go home and do anything he likes … like shut down Planned Parenthood … like force ultrasounds on pregnant women. Deep in the heart of you.

More later. Just watch.

An arrival of sorts.

It’s here, it’s here! Great gob in Heflin, it’s here! What’s that? No, of course I’m not talking about the royal offspring, recently delivered of the Duke and Duchess of whatever-the-hell. Something far more important.

It's here, it's here!What is it? My wristwatch of course. I thought I left it in the local watering hole, but it’s here, in my sock drawer – it’s here! Now if I could just find my socks. (Note to self: check the watch drawer.) Oh, right… and a box came. Not by itself, you understand. A truck dropped it off. It was a biggish box, but not too big. A box full of discs. Not chock full, exactly – what I mean to say is that there were discs in the box. Discs called Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of Rick.

Yes, that’s right – it’s Big Green’s third studio album, released after a hiatus of no less than five years (we released International House in 2008). It’s certainly the longest album we’ve ever made – fully twenty-one tracks, 78 minutes of music (if that’s what you call it). The official digital release date is July 31, this coming Wednesday. So am I excited? Damn straight I am. I found my freaking watch, man! I am over freaking joyed!

But anyway … this album is not only our longest, but our fastest. Let me tell you why – we have refined our “clubhouse” recording method to the point where it has only taken us a year to write, record, and finish Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of Rick … as opposed to five years with International House, two years with 2000 Years To Christmas. It’s the discipline of doing a monthly podcast (THIS IS BIG GREEN). It’s made us concentrate on actually finishing something, for chrissake. That runs against type in a real serious way. Our “type” is really more about sleeping. Serious sleeping.

But no more! It’s onward and upward from now on! Right … after I take a little …. nap …. zzzzzzzz.

Release minus … what?

Still watching that space? Well, give it up. That was a joke, damn it. Don’t take me literally … that way lies madness.

Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of RickWell, here we are, inching closer to the release date of Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of Rick, Big Green’s third and perhaps silliest album ever. Fully 21 tracks of pure, unadulterated goofiness, each one performed by what is nominally a completely different combo. We’ve got the master all set. We’ve designed the packaging for our limited run of CD-Rs and the graphics for our digital distributors. Now all we have to do is, well, complete the arcane process of acquiring ISRC codes for all of the tracks, manufacturing the discs, doing a run of wax cylinders for those listeners still enamored of that format, and so on.

What is the release date? Good question. Ask our corporate label, Hegemonic Records and Worm Farm, Inc., a.k.a. Hegephonic. They make all the big foot decisions. (By that I mean, they actually have a sasquatch  serving as their Chief Operations Officer. Explains a lot.) Like many artists (and it’s in deference to the mansized tuber that I include us within that rubric), we get impatient with red tape. So when you see the disc – if you see the disc – you will see our own imprint on the package; a logo for Hammermade Records, and well, it doesn’t exist, but it sounds right, so what the fuck.

The mother of all imprintsSome have told us that we should have called the label Hammermaid, like Milkmaid condensed milk. We don’t listen to some people, particularly if they are Marvin (my personal robot assistant), who has a particular liking for condensed milk products because they remind him of motor oil. In any case, we don’t take a lot of pains over trifles like imprints and logos, because in all honesty, that’s not what we’re about. We are the original discorporate rock band. We say no to corporate hegemony. We’re off the grid, man. (Aside from all that stuff involving money, paying for things, etc.)

So again, be forewarned. Release of Cowboy Scat is imminent. After which, we will likely go into hiding (or perhaps the witness protection program) assuming Cousin Rick Perry catches wind of this. (Don’t tell ‘im!)