Friday,
July 30th - This Must Be The Place - Lemont
206
Main Street, Lemond - www.betheplace.com
- Cover TBD. "The Place" is one of our favorite
suburban live music venues. Great stage, sound and atmosphere
and a place that is run by true music fans. Definitely
try to make this one if you haven't before...
Saturday,
August 7th- The Store- Chicago
2002
North Halsted, Chicago - www.thestoretil4.com
- No Cover. The Store is a great little joint that we
discovered via our friends in the Nashville Wreckers.
We're playing the whole night, so come on out.
Dec.
2009 - Fortunate Sons
Thanks
to everyone that came out to Martyrs' for the Mile
Long Records' Analog Highway CD Release
Show. The club was packed and everyone had a great time.
Scattergun
is heading into hibernation for the holidays, but we
are also prepping for the Life at Fantasy Lounge
CD Release on Jan. 29th at Chord on Blues.
We'll have several new songs to debut as well as playing
Life at Fantasy Lounge in it's entirety. Hope
you can make it!
In
the meantime, Happy Holidays from Jeff, Michael, Doug
& Dan...
Nov.
2009 - The Long And Winding Road
The
Album is Complete. I wasn't absolutely sure I would
be able to say those four words this month, let alone
this year, but Life At Fantasy Lounge is in
the can as they say. We also wasted no time in getting
the twelve tracks mastered (thanks to Collin at The
Boiler Room for mastering the album) and now it is off
to get discs manufactured.... once we agree on the album
artwork. Democracy be damned.
It
was definitely strange for me to listen to all twelve
of these tracks in one sitting. Some of these songs
were written nearly ten years ago (The Lie, Out Of Hand,
Pieces of You) and more than a couple have had demo
recordings made over the years as well... a couple of
which I just pulled down from this very site. So when
as I listened to these older songs along side songs
that were written just this year (Thirty Pieces, Tom
Waits Boots & Morning Star) all I could think is...
wow, how fitting our band name is- again. This is an
album that will defy genre categorization as it really
is all over the place... but there is an invisible intangible
thread that somehow ties it all together. In the end
the four of us just hope you enjoy it, we will definitely
have more to come.
Also,
a couple of the tracks will appear on the MIle Long
Records Analog Highway compilation album. This
will be released on December 5th at Martyr's and will
be available on I-tunes and at www.milelongrecords.com
later this winter. As for Life At Fantasy Lounge,
the official release date will be Friday, January 29th.
I know that may be a long time to wait, but we will
do our best to sneak a few preview tracks in before
the actual release... two of which are already available
for your listening pleasure here. Enjoy...
Sept
2009 - What Light?
No.
The album is not finished yet. I'm currently holding
my fingers about two inches apart (which is tough to
do while typing) and that two inches represents how
close we are to finishing this damn thing. It seems
that the finishing touches are what is consuming us
at this point. Dan got the idea of having a trumpet
player on a song (now it has become two songs) and we
all thought "wow, what a great idea". Well,
one month, one crappy trumpet performance and several
misfires later, we are still trumpet-less. Ugh. Rather
than repeating what I said BACK IN JULY, I'll just say
that I am really really ready to finish this. I think
that the rest of the band is finally as restless as
I am though, so I think the chances are now good that
a fire will be lit under our asses. If not, I am buying
a blow torch...
We
have a couple great shows coming up this fall, with
some others waiting in the wings, so if you have not
been to a show in a while... where ya been?
July 2009 - The Waiting
Is The Hardest Part
You
would think that since we have 24/7 access to a recording
studio that we would have finished up our first full
length album in... well... under two years. That really
hasn't been the case though, as it seems that having
convenient access to a studio (re: my basement &
garage) has actually had the opposite effect. We have
even tentatively titled the album "Chinese Democracy"
since it may just take about as long for us to finish
this sucker up. Although I've done my fair share of
bitching and whining (yeah, I'm "that guy"
in this band) I really do understand, relate and empathize
with the somewhat complex scheduling logistics that
our band has to deal with. So, I've learned to pick
my battles as tactfully as my genetics will allow...
some days I do better than others. That said however,
I do maintain that if we actually had to book time in
a commercial studio, we would have been done long ago.
I guess I'm just the most antsy of us four because the
studio is below my kitchen and I have to walk by the
rooms "where it happens" a dozen times a day.
I'm hopeful that we will have a finished CD by this
fall... stay tuned and wish us luck.
We
do have a couple of great shows coming up this summer
in some familiar places.. and both are on Friday nights.
Goose Island Wrigleyville is always a good time and
Friday, July 17th is setting up to be a great night
for a show. We share the stage with three other great
bands including our first shared show with The Faque
Brothers, who are good friends of ours... please try
to make this show. Then at the end of the month, we
return to our home base at Muldoon's. Easily one of
our favorite places to play, Muldoons is routinely packed,
so come out early and get a good table... and parking
spot. See ya there...
Apr.
2009 - All Shook Down
Even though April has been a hiatus of sorts for us (Doug
in Hawaii, Jeff in Italy, Mike in E-bay, Dan in...in...
I'm not quite sure where Dan goes), we still manage
to keep some sort of kinetic energy engaged with the
band. Facebook, it seems, has been the interesting distraction
that we have delved into collectively and individually.
The jury is still out over whether F.B. is a fad or
not, and I'm personally kinda hot & cold with it.
But, it is a good way to stay in touch with friends,
fans, family (and track down old girlfriends)... and
it is faster than myspace. Whatever. We've also been
chugging along with our first full length album. I hesitate
to even estimate when we will be done with it... or
what it's even going to be called. As of right now,
we are working on vocals and adding additional instruments
(piano, steel guitar, etc) to the first eight tracks.
We also have three or four new tracks that we need to
record from the ground up...we're hoping to get those
on tape by the end of April. Once May kicks in, our
calendar starts to get full quick. We have quite a few
shows in May and June... and July (believe it or not)
actually marks the 3rd anniversary of Scattergun. I'm
not certain of the actual anniversary date (typical
male), but we'll just call our July 17th show at Goose
Island our 3rd anniversary event and leave it at that.
We'll be registered at Guitar Center in case you want
to get us a nice gift...
Jan.
2009 - Demolition
If we are the ones who build it, then
it's ours to tear down. That pretty much sums up many
aspects of Scattergun for 2009. We trashed our old website
(okay, I trashed it, the rest of the guys just don't
know it yet) in favor of a something a bit leaner, cleaner
and simpler. Honestly, I liked the old site, but it
was a pain in the ass to do show updates and add photos...
and a long holiday weekend gave me some free time, so
I made the leap into this new site. We also trashed
the songs we recorded last year and have retracked eight
songs in the past couple of weeks. We are just about
complete with tracking guitar overdubs and should be
moving on to vocals soon. We're all really happy with
the way the songs are coming together, although I'm
sure that we will pull them apart once tracking is done...
turn them upside-down, inside-out and backwards as well.
The best part of this band is that there are four guys
here who let the others do pretty much as they please...so
as long as one guy brings the dynamite and another brings
the blasting caps, we're set. Speaking of which, we
will be absolutely thrilled to blow the crap out of
the demo tunes below... fire in the hole.
Oct.
2008 - People are strange, when you’re a stranger...
...and sometimes people are strange for
no particular reason whatsoever. In case you have gone
missing from the last few Scattergun shows (and where
the hell have you been anyhow?), you have missed some
of our more strange and downright “wtf?”
gigs. So for those of you who stayed home and watched
Matlock or, god forbid, the Olympics this summer, here
is a list of our favorite strange and fun moments from
the last bunch of shows.
10) Drunk guy swing dancing at Emerald Isle who kept
bumping the back of Jeff’s microphone. He obviously
did not realize that Scattergun does not have a dental
plan.
9) Dan shredding every set of “Hot Rod”
drum sticks that he owns at a Flip Flops show. The floor
of the club looked like Norm from This Old House had
been working there with all the wood pieces scattered
about. I’m still removing splinters...
8) Drunk guy from #10 doing push ups on the floor while
we played “Rocket Man” to a rather bewildered
crowd.
7) Myself and Doug’s ongoing bet as to who will
be the “Thin Lizzy Dude” for the evening.
So far, Doug is ahead 6-3. And if you don’t understand
any of that, you really need to come out to a show or
two.
6) Watching the door man (at a club that I probably
shouldn’t name) who was collecting a five dollar
cover from a never ending line of patrons... while we
were playing our last song at 1:00 am. Definitely falls
into the “wtf?” category.
5) The 10 year old daughter of a friend yelling “Play
Freebird!”... Don’t ask, I just don’t
have the energy.
4) Our learning the Cracker song “Birthday”
just in the nick of time.
3) Discovering the stage lights at Fantasy Lounge in
Chicago are connected to a foot pedal in the middle
of the stage. If you can figure that one out, drop us
a line.
2) Having a “fan” expecting us to learn
a brand new song for him, on the fly. He even went home,
printed out the lyrics and the chord changes between
sets and said “Here ya go!”… We’ll
learn it for ya next time Charlie.
1) Watching the mullets rock out every time we play
“The Cowboy Song.”
We’re back at a couple familiar places this fall,
and will probably be adding a few more shows here and
there as well. Curly’s in Glen Ellyn is one of
our favorite suburban haunts, and we’ll be there
Sept 13th. Stumbling distance from home (well, for me
at least), Curly’s has a cool vibe, excellent
food and an actual running model train suspended overhead.
Later in October, we have a show at Muldoon’s
in Wheaton... just two stops down the Union Pacific
West line from Curly’s. Muldoon’s is another
place with great food and atmosphere, and it might possibly
be our Halloween show—so feel free to dress the
part if you like... and get your strange on.
Sept. 2008 - It’s Just the Normal Noises in Here
I’m finding it increasingly ironic
and strangely humorous how fitting the name Scattergun
is for our band. The four of us agreed on it simply
because it was the only name we didn’t completely
abhor out of the dozen or so potential candidates. Personally
I liked “My Bitter Victoria,” but in retrospect
I can see how the scores of “My Bloody Valentine”
fans might cry foul. Instead we deal with an occassional
angry e-mail from Miah and Lisa (see “Rearrange
Your Scales” below). But it wasn’t until
we were halfway through our second set at a strip mall
tavern (that features a plastic parrot and a thatched
roof over the tiki bar) that I realized how perfect
the name Scattergun was. I could also look at our set
list—which includes a bunch of originals mixed
in with covers from the likes of Johnny Cash, the Rolling
Stones, John Denver, Ryan Adams, Billy Joel, Elton John,
Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin (what, no Pat Benatar?)
—and I can easily say that we could not be named
anything but Scattergun.
It’s always interesting to watch bands struggle
to define who they are by trying to manipulate the “image
minutia” of what they look like, what they sound
like and where they play. We simply don’t give
a shit, and that works just fine for us. We’ll
play where we want to, when we want to and what we want
to. To that end, our name fits perfectly. Funny, we
could have also named ourselves "Whatever."
We have a couple of shows coming up in August that showcase
our “whatever” attitude, and we hope you
can make a couple of them. Lunar Brewing Co. is a place
that we played last year, and if we can keep our volume
in check I’m sure we’ll be asked back again...
maybe. Emerald Isle is a fun college-type bar up in
Edison Park, close enough to the city to be hip but
far enough from downtown so that you can actually find
a parking space. And please stayed tuned, I think we
will be playing our first biker bar... yep.
Because the Kids Know Where It’s
At
We played a couple gigs to indulge that
"we’re still hip enough to play this place
on a Thursday night" perverse streak that runs
through us. After playing for a half hour to hour either
sweating our asses off in an air-conditionless basement
or with the venue’s blue-ball inducing air conditioner
inches overhead (Dante wrote about both of these levels),
we’re typically either a) followed onstage by
two Marshall half-stacks or b) the Deads’ travelling
set-up. And at one venue, we nearly got locked in for
the evening (still not sure why), prompting our impression
of a bat out of one of the aforementioned levels. At
one venue, someone scrawled "Scattergun sold my
sister some bad drugs" on our poster. I just want
to make it clear, it was the other, "real"
Scattergun (see the last post) that was screwing with
your sister, pal. We only got her drunk.
Despite it all, I had a good time, damnit. And despite
my memory lapse at one show, I think we’re sounding
really good. I’d
also like to note the gig we played at Ballydoyle in
Downers Grove. The MC (forgot his name, sorry) introduced
us and led a toast to Scattergun. I found that I’ve
got a certain peccadillo toward whisky in pewter goblets.
Very Keith Richards in the last Pirates of the Caribbean
movie – an "ahr" moment. Ballydoyle
offers a beautiful, dark wood stage in a beautiful,
dark wood bar. I’ll just say, details count. You
know, in the grand and not-so-grand scheme of things,
we’re nobodies in the music business, and they
treated us like kings of rock and roll – on a
Thursday night, no less. Sincerest thanks to Ballydoyle
and its patrons.
Looking forward, we’re playing a couple full-night
shows; you can catch us at the Cubby Bear and Lunar
Brewing Company. Bring the whisky, stop by (I’ll
have the goblet) and say "ahr."
Rearrange Your Scales
We recently received an email from Miah
and Lisa. “Time for a new name—There's only
one Scattergun y'all and they been playin' out West
here for years ya hear?!”And I got to thinking.
What if they’all is right? What if there really
is only one Scattergun and we’re not it? I’ve
been learning songs, toiling to hit the right pitch
and studying ideas of the Westerbergian ilk. My rock
philosophers taught me to doubt a lot of things, but
existence wasn’t one of them. Did I actually play
that last gig? It’s not often that one strums
an E chord and thinks about Descartes—thanks Miah
and Lisa for the Cartesian dualism. It’s enough
to make you ask where is that beautiful house? This
is not my beautiful wife.But then I realized, that’s
just plain asinine. We’ve got a myspace page,
so we must exist. I mean something that official is
validation, right? Maybe I’m looking too deep.
Maybe Miah and Lisa don’t have an agenda for philosophical
discussion. Now, I’m stuck with the guilt over
the confusion we must be causing dozens of people separated
by thousands of miles. Maybe these ladies have a point,
expressed right in their subject line. However, I think
the issue is bigger than they realize. There may be
three Scatterguns (I think there is one in Europe too),
but there’s thousands of Miahs and Lisas not out
West. On behalf of those Miahs and Lisas, it’s
time for a new name, y’all.
Like Martin Luther Zen
We have moved onto full night gigs. It’s
a bit like going from a sprinter to a marathon runner—including
the leg cramps, vomiting and general exhaustion. Before
each set, the guys throw a cup of water in my face.The
last show was St. Patrick’s Day at Lilly’s.
Now, I’ve already mentioned how much I enjoy playing
there, but past experiences pale compared to the day
of the wearin’ o’ the green. I’ve
never seen so many ugly leprechaun impersonators. Thank
god the number of pretty girls in green wigs offset
the emerald nightmare of oversized stove-pipe hats.
It was packed, it was alive and we even had some sing-alongs.
I’m not sure how it happened, but the makeshift
4x3 dance floor ended up right in front of Doug. Mike
and I got the seriously inebriated literally falling
on us, and I spent a good portion of the second set
chasing my mic as the stand moved. While Dan dealt with
a hole in his kick drum, Mike and I anticipated imminent
electrocution from the current passed through our guitars
into the puddles of beer we stood in. You know, it’s
actually these type of nights that I’d do over
and over again.Next up, Muldoon’s in Wheaton.
No, I Really Don't Miss
It at All – Life's a Gas
We recently enjoyed a show at Lilly’s
on Lincoln. We were greeted by a steady rotation of
Bob Dylan over the PA and dollar Pabst Blue Ribbon.
I enjoyed the Dylan, and Doug’s friends enjoyed
the dollar Pabst—so much so that they drank Lilly
dry of Wisconsin’s second-least favorite. Thanks
to those guys and all who came out.Lilly’s has
proven to be an incredibly fun place to play over the
years. The people that show up and frequent the place
are out for a good time, and, from the stage, I enjoy
watching the awkward encounters at the sole men’s
room, which features a door that neither locks or closes
(as I noted in a previous post, I’m not shy about
gleaning entertainment where I can). On top of the cool
vibe, Lilly has torn out the awkward stage and installed
a very nice sound system. I believe we were the first
band to put it to the test (it passed). There’s
a lot of odd corners in this place, and the décor
is New Orleans patio in a Tim Burton-esque way. I dig
it and I think it should be a favorite of many of those
who frequent the area.Coming up, we are very excited
to be playing The Abbey Pub on a Saturday night (February
10). I’m proud to play with the guys in this band,
and the combined effort and talent has earned us a spot
at a top-level music club on a prime night with just
three gigs under our belts (special thanks to Truck
Stop Supermodel’s John Bosch, who was instrumental
getting us on the bill).I’m going to revel in
my ego for a little while and shoot for a sole, headliner
spot there within a year. I think they’ll need
to stock up on the Pabst.
December 2006: It's Rollin' Round the
Bend
We played our first two gigs. Thanks
to all those who came out. I can imagine that those
of you who came to both shows scratching your heads.
Miss Kitty’s to Chicago City Limits… read
on…
Miss Kitty’s is what you might call intimate.
I don’t. I call it a crowded hallway with us on
one end—the end furthest from the door. Most of
the show involved me knocking stuff over trying to move
around and off the stage, and Doug caught the ugly end
of my Johnny Cash move.
We opened for Hello Dave at Chicago City Limits in Schaumburg.
I think it’s billed as a sports bar, but it’s
got one of the best stages I’ve been on—complemented
by a great sound system and sound man. I didn’t
stick around to see Hello Dave, but I did hear their
sound check. It is a little intimidating opening for
a band that sounds that good. You know they can hear
every missed note.
On the unnerving side, there’s the incredibly
drunk guy who wants to talk about something, but I’ll
be damned if I knew what it was. Thank god Mike is the
one with the cool guitars. The drunks pick up on those
like crows picking up on a something shiny. Mike also
got the guy who looked just like Brooks or Dunn. My
knowledge of that band is on the sparse side, but I’m
talking about the one without the hat. Don’t get
me wrong. I love these types of guys (not Brooks and/or
Dunn—the characters in the audience). I feel they’re
there to entertain me as much as I’m there to
entertain them. Just wish they’d fall down more
or something. I missed this guy and Doug exchanging
hugs at the end of the night—that would have been
the icing on my evening. There’s no such thing
as too much entertainment.
Next up, Lilly's at 2513 N. Lincoln in Chicago. Hope
to see you there. Brooks and/or Dunn dude, we could
all use a little hug…
November 2006: How Soon is Now?
Scattergun is four-months old and ready
to take the stage—though there’s no stage
for the first show. It’s a corner framed by sports
paraphernalia and a large collection of neon beer signs…
but, already, I digress.
It actually feels longer than it’s been—but
in a good way. The songs are adding up, a demo is complete
and this website has launched. For me, it’s definitely
the quickest moving band I’ve been in, and it’s
also the most fun. We’re just playing songs we
like and that others can enjoy with us. Some of them
happen to be songs we wrote. It’s easy to get
hung up on whether you’re a cover or original
band. I discovered that all I want is to be in a band
you want to go see. I have my limits on what I’ll
play, but for the most part, if you and I have a good
time, then we’re doing alright.
On that note… We’re excited to play our
first show together, opening for Truckstop Supermodel
at Miss Kitty’s in Naperville on December 2. We’ve
individually and collectively known TSS for quite a
few years, so it’s a good way to start. On December
15, we open for Hello Dave at Chicago City Limits in
Schaumburg. I don’t know much about these guys,
but from what I’ve seen on their website and from
how many times I’ve seen their name on marquees
and in local music mags, it should be a packed venue.
They have a good following, and we’re not shy
about hitching our wagon to that train.
