Kicking & Screaming / They have miniature ponies in England!

I’ve posted the last of the acoustic versions of songs from the album. What to do now? I don't know. I’ve realized that I don’t really know anything. Even at this late stage in the game, I’m still guessing. Making it up as I go along. It suits me, though the results are often debatable. My vague plan was to have the album ready by now and use these acoustic versions as a hook to lead-in to the finished product. No such luck. It seems that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of mixing these songs. My time-line for planned promotions for this record is pretty much out the window at this point. Not that it matters much. I’m probably better off. As soon as I’ve got something solid, I’ll let you know and we’ll go from there. Okay? Keep in mind that I’m very open to suggestions…and donations. I’ve still got a little ways to go before I’ll have all of the funds I need to get this baby born.

Until then, here’s a brand new song to tide you over. It’s an acoustic demo of a song that I wrote a few weeks back and we’ve tried at Earwig practices a few times but with no solid results. This version was recorded by Steve from Mindfish in the studio at Ohio University. We’ll probably give this tune a shot live at our next show. For those of you that live in CBus, we’re playing a big Valentines Day show Saturday, February 13th at The Basement. Earwig is headlining the downstairs stage. The song is called “I Don’t Want To Go” and it’s alternately about being taken during the Rapture and/or not being there for someone you love. Enjoy it.

I Don't Want To Know
http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/master_lizard

To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop

Now back to my previous rant. Why is everything so hard? Where does inspiration come from? Why can’t I seem to get anything done? I just mean, damn. Did you know that in England they drive on the Right side of the road, eat beans for breakfast and have miniature ponies in the churchyard at Castle Howard? English people still seem to get things done. Awesome inspired things. Shit, I don’t know. Maybe it will all work out. I can’t see that end result from here very clearly. Instead of relying on well laid plans, I continue to let intuition lead my way. Maybe I don’t need to know how it will all end. I’m glad that yr here for me to talk to about it. Maybe I’m just feeling restless. I do know that if I can just keep breathing, life will probably take care of itself.

I feel like a new born baby.

The story of Rumplestiltskin

Little people are always so special. Think about it. Leprechauns, Munchkins, Hobbits…the list goes on. They’re always working some sort of magic angle. Sometimes they’re devious too. As is the case with one of my favorite Grimm Brothers tales. I’ve been asking around and I’m startled by how many people claim to not know the story of Rumplestiltskin. If you are unfamiliar with him, here’s the wiki-link. For a long time I’ve been drawn to that story in particular. When I wrote this song, I was thinking about how Rumplestiltskin gets a raw deal. In every version of the story, he’s depicted as the bad guy. When, in reality, he’s doing some awesome magic to help out the miller’s daughter in her desperate time of need. She begs for his help, he gives it to her and all he asks for in return is her pretty necklace. And then her ring on the second night he helps her. With nothing left to give him on the third night, she offers him a bargain and agrees to give him her first born child should she marry the King. The little man bides his time and when the day comes for the new Queen to make good on her promise, she balks at giving up the child and he’s even cool enough to give her a game of “guess my name” as a way to possibly get to keep her baby. He gives her three chances to guess his strange-ass name and what does she do…she cheats! The little guy got so pissed that he stomps his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then he grabbed his left foot with both hands and tore himself in two. Bitches, man, I swear. It’s not like he wanted to eat the baby. He just wanted someone to keep him company. I’d imagine that being a freaky little magic hermit can get seriously lonely. So, I wrote this song for Rumplestiltskin because I felt like he needed an advocate, someone to tell the story from his point of view.

http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/RumplestiltskinMCHacoustic

To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop

Rumplestiltskin

I have waited such a long time for the promise that you made

You are mine to cradle, you are mine

I have waited such a long time and the Devil knows my name

You are mine to cradle, you are mine

You are mine

I have waited such a long time and the Devil told you that

You are my one time thing, you are mine

I have waited such a long time and the Devil told you that

You are mine to cradle, you are mine

You are mine

My name’s got a potion on it

If you can guess, I’ll tear myself in two

Last of the year

Waking up on a day like today takes a million years. And I’m still waiting. Begin these hunted moments. Scheduled to start mixing on January 11th … a lifetime away. Sleeping days roll by like water, sounds of Monsters in the hallway. All these things are waiting, kept at bay…

Shiny Morning

Yr never on my side
If winter comes and I can’t keep you warm…
Yr moment has begun, yr shiny morning in the sun

All across the Universe
Forgetting stars, if I could let you run
We’d run ‘til we got caught and sing the songs that we forgot
Let’s sing the songs that we forgot

And I wave as the cars pass by
On this shiny morning
When your moment has begun
It’s been a long time coming on


http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/ShinyMorningMCHacoustic

To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop

Last.

An LFM Christmas Krissingle

Back in the glory days of LFM we would have a grand Christmas party every year. One year we decided to have the party at Bernie’s and release a cassette known as the LFM Christmas Krissingle. I’ve still got a copy and we listen to it every year during the holidays. And it seems like every year someone is asking about how they can get a copy. I’ve been wanting to post it online and last night, out of the blue, I got a call from my awesome mind-reading webmaster, Allan Foster, to say that he was going to post the songs online. You should read Allan’s blog to see what he has to say about this cassette. http://allanfosterphotography.blogspot.com

The cassette has 4 songs.

Bigfoot - Silent Night
Earwig - Feed the World
Coronado - Mrs. Christmas
Preston Furman - A PF Holiday

We wanted a special one-off release for the Christmas party and about a week or so prior to the show we came up with the idea of a holiday cassette. We put the word out to the LFM family bands to see what they could come up with on such short notice and these 4 songs are the ones that made the deadline. Bigfoot kicks off the affair in rare 4-track form replete with cassette tape mayhem and vari-speed glory. David and Melanie Holm from Bigfoot now play in Total Foxx with Sam Brown. Bigfoot’s drummer, Brad Swiniarski, now runs Horny Records which just helped release the new (and great!) Bush League All Stars record.

I bought the Band Aid single when it was released and I still have the 7”. Earwig used to play this song every Christmas at shows. You may be interested to note that Brad Swiniarski was also the drummer for Earwig for a short time during this period. His stint behind the skins for Earwig included a handful of live shows and 2 recording sessions which yielded this holiday track as well as Anatomical Gift and Two Dragons from the album Perfect Past Tense.

Rich Cefalo, Earwig’s then bassist, during this same period started his string of side bands that would eventually give birth to the great Po-Po Volcano. Coronado also features David and Jason (now the drummer for Grafton) from Preston Furman. Listen closely and you’ll also hear our very own man-about-town Allan Foster playing the paper bag. Allan went on to drum for Po-Po Volcano.

Ahhh, what can be said about Preston Furman? As young musicians they seemed to be just finding their legs, yet making some incredible savant-vibe music in the thick of it all. This song shows off the comedic song-writing skills of the one and only Matt Wagner (Earwig’s now bassist!). If you by chance happened to know the guys in the band, it’s extra funny as they each sing their lines in character.

Enjoy these holiday tunes as a gift to you from the ghosts of Christmas past.

Catch up with Earwig on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earwigtheband