Hey there.....

So it's been a while since I've posted, and I know the 0.73 people that peruse my site whenever I post something are very worried, but rest assured that all is well. Still rawkin', still gettin' up every morning (more or less). I'll be brief (if not frank) this week. Gaze upon:

COVER-TASTIC TUESDAY!!!!!

Yaaaay! It's never on Tuesday, and it's never on time! I love being redundant!!! That's what the internet gets for lettin' a drummer type stuff. It's a got-damn free-for-all in here.... It'll always end in tears....

Anyhoo, this week's entry features the highly estimable Tim "Sweet T" Warren, which is as it should be. This man has soul (even if his roomie in a drunken fit accused him otherwise), and impeccable musical taste. He is a true rock & roll enthusiast, and has perhaps the best CD collection I've ever seen ("What's a CD?" - kids these days). This week I get some help. Hallelujah! I hope for a lot more folks to contribute to this site, especially if their contributions are as awesome as me & Tim's version of:

"The Agony of Lafitte" - Spoon

Spoon are remarkable. The continuous stream of classic albums they've cranked out makes the mind wobble. And Britt's very tall and handsome and full of charasma (ed. note - go to 0:45 of the video), ladies! Apparently they're the best band evah! And they (arguably) are. They've reached a level of fame and fortune where they can live very comfortably, while having seemingly complete creative control over their artistic output, without having to deal with the bullshit pitfalls of yr typical "pop" star. Pretty much all of the bands in my most listened to list have that same aesthetic. Make your living by writing great songs and playing them live. Wilco, Guided By Voices, Lucero, centro-matic, Drive-By Truckers, etc..... They all occupy a very privileged spot in pop/indie culture, where their music and the brand of their respective bands almost completely eclipse the personalities and individuals creating the music, and to their/our benefit. I don't want Nels Cline worrying whether or not the papparazzi is gonna catch him pickin' his nose at some L.A. hotspot, I want him crankin' out nasty leads that make me wish I had started playin' guitar a lot earlier than I did. Jeebus, he rocks.

For this tune, Tim played acoustic and sang the lead vocal, I played an acoustic lead and sang the backup vocals, that were fuzzed out with an ole-timey telephone effect. This is one of the most fun songs to play whenever I get to gig out with Tim. The song is a big gi-normous FUCK YOU to Elektra Records label guy Ron Lafitte, who was responsible for completely screwing the band after they put out their classic record "Girls Can Tell".



And since I screwed you guys on literally minutes of all this fantastic web-based nonsense over the past few weeks, we now have..... wait for it.....

COVER-TASTIC TWO-FER TUESDAYS!!!!!!!!

I know! It's crazazy!!! I make the rulez (that are never followed) around here. Dammit. Deal wit it....

"Ft. Worth Blues" - Steve Earle

This is a great song honoring the memory of Townes Van Zandt, the (in)famous Texas singer-songwriter of "Pancho & Lefty" , etc., fame. Steve and Townes and Guy Clark were all buddies back in the day, and after Townes passed away, Steve wrote this tune. It's moving, and touching, and brilliant in it's simplicity, and more people should write songs like these.

Here's a youtube video of one of the greatest versions of this song ever. I actually caught this on GAC or whatever when it was first aired, before I even really KNEW who Steve Earle or Townes Van Zandt were..... But this song, and this performance, put me on the right track.



For my version, I just sang, played guitar and harmonica straight into garageband in one take, then added a coupla keyboard tracks, mandolin, and some extras.... I hope you enjoy.

Catch both of these songs on my myspace page.

I'll post more, I promise. Thanks for reading/listening.....

Marquez