From Pensacola to Chicago to New York, I wrote songs, sang them, played guitar in most outfits and drums in one, and recorded a lot of it at the Chicago settlement house where I lived and worked. Nearly all of it is still up on Bandcamp. Here it is, roughly in order, with the liner notes.
PaPaw
Solo. Pensacola, Chicago, New York. 2012–2017. Just me, with whatever was lying around,
From Pensacola through the early years of Chicago I, off and on, recorded music by myself. This record is the better efforts of those years.
Bandcamp notes, Fences Grow Tall in Florida
Fences Grow Tall in Florida (2012), fifteen songs
On Leaving (2017), four songs, including “Days This Long (For Rosenberg)”
Bag
Chicago. 2013–2015. Two versions, one name.
Live at Township 2013
A New Device for Old Devices (version two, 2015)
The Rounds
Chicago. 2014–2015. Me on vocals and guitar, Ty Cummings on guitar, Ed Vlcek on bass, Michael Doherty on drums.
It could have been otherwise, but I was overeager to be on to the next thing, which about sums up my feelings regarding the end result.
Liner notes, Can’t See It From Here
Can’t See It From Here (2014), four songs
Ty Won the Bet (2015), one song: “My Father Gave Me the Number Three”
darkturn
Chicago and New York. 2015–2016. Me on guitar and vocals, Ed Vlcek on bass, Ty Cummings and later Sean Qualls on drums, Carrie Rogers on backing vocals.
It’s wholly possible this thing could never have existed—darkturn was closer to not being a band than being one for most of last year.
Bandcamp notes, Maw
O Delmore (2015)
Read the liner notes and lyrics.
Maw (2016)
Read the liner notes and lyrics.
Small Print Worth Reading
- Most of the Chicago records were tracked at “Gill-Star Studios,” which is to say the Benton House in Bridgeport, recorded and mixed by Jaime Gartelos.
- Ed Vlcek played bass in both The Rounds and darkturn, and drew the cover of Can’t See It From Here.
- Bag’s “Shotgun Session” was, per its own credits, recorded with shoddy equipment in a faulty room.
- darkturn’s 2015 demo came with a one-line note: “With haste doth this demo track appear.”
Writing About Music
- DIY’s Pied Piper Economy, Full Stop (2018)
- Album reviews for Post-Trash (2016–2017): Milked, Grandkids, Sean Eldon, Coaster, Surface to Air Missive
