Tom Catmull: ramblings

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/gallery/d/3897-2/whipass.mp3

Click on the CD's link, should you be so inclined,...and you know you are!!!

thanks,

tom

Alright here's the deal. CDBaby, whom I love dearly, does not know me or trust me as far as one might throw a "singer/songwriter" from some little town in Western Montana. As a result, I am ALLOWED to send a certain amount of cds for them to warehouse when a new disc comes out. Last go round, the magic number was FIVE. FIVE CD's!!! Then, if I sell ALL FIVE, I could then send them TEN!!!,...and so on and so forth, doubling each time. So, this time I earned enough clout to send TWENTY CD's!!!!!,...which sold out in a day.

So long story short, I sent them 40 this morning and they should be up and available by this weekend, hopefully. Sorry for the delay. I'm still workin' on my "internet sales cred"!

tom

Howdy! Click on the cd's link to the right there and pick up the new disc. I don't want excuses. I said I don't want to hear it!...NOW GIT!!!

Alrighty,

I'm doing it. I'm officially spilling the beans on this thing. For
me, one of the hardest parts of releasing a new disc is actually
committing to the release date of it! I'm always terrified that it
won't be in my hands as approach the doors of the release party
venue. I'll be stepping up the microphone to explain how they should
be "in the mail by now and,....dog gone it, lets just have a great
night anyway!!!!" Its like a bad re-occuring day-dream that I have
over and over until the disc is actually at my door! But here I am
doing it anyway.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE?!?!?!!?!?!!!

May I announce to you, the good people of the web, the
impending birth of a new baby disc to be named TWENTY DOLLAR KNOW
HOW!

She's a cute little acoustic, mostly live compilation of recordings
that have been piling up in a cardboard box of mine for about 10
years. There will be some songs long forgotten and never released
before. There will be some never released live versions of songs not
forgotten, but recorded live many moons ago. (I'm getting dizzy now.)
There are two tunes on this thing from a litte demo I recorded in a
motel here in town awhile back. The live stuff has been nabbed from
a few different venues to include the Wilma Theater(msla), The
University Theater(msla), The University Center Theater(msla) and a
small studio in Great Falls, MT where I did a brief interview for
KGPR Public Radio( pre-East of Opportunity)

9 of the 11 tunes are solo acoustic and live. 2 are solo, but
tracked(not live). 2 are performed live with a little trio to
include Larry Hirshberg on electric bass and Richie Reinholdt on
acoustic lead guitar. Those were recorded sometime shortly after the
release of The Sound of a Car.

So, there it is. The "Magical CD Unveiling Shindig"(I'm tired of
phrase "release party". Doesn't every party involve some sort of
release? Isn't that what parties are all about?) will take place at
Lake Missoula Cellars Winery. Its a beautiful listening room and I
can't wait! The very talented DAVID BOONE will be opening up the
show around 7:00pm and it should be a great freakin' time!

Here are the specs...


Saturday, May 24th, 2008
CD UNVEILING SHINDIG
Lake Missoula Cellars
7:00pm
Missoula, MT
Price: tba

OUT O' TOWNERS!

The CD will be available via the website(www.tomcatmull.com) or via
CD BABY directly by about the 27th of May. I will try and update you
guys(read:spam you to death) as we get closer !

I'm very excited about all this! As always, thanks for listening and
supporting!

tom

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OHgUYo96lcY

This just in! The Little Red Truck won the Best Feature Documentary award at the 2008 International Family Film Festival in Hollywood, CA.

WAY TO GO PAM AND ROB!!!

There were 3 big music milestones for me last week. Are you ready? Here they are....

1. The band played an entire show dressed in Tuxedos. Serious. Special thanks to Jon and Barbara Trapp, Jean Atherly and everyone who came out to the show in Red Lodge. That was fun, dangit.

2. Flew to Minneapolis to play two shows out there! Once again,...serious! Thank you Pam, Dana, Shana, Jason, Karla, and all! There have never been more gracious hosts!!!!

3. Played and sang with Robbie Fulks. Serious?...Serious. Crazy, I tell you. Strange, but fun! His show was awesome. Bit of a creative shot in the arm. I now have a couple of new tunes in the works as a result. Very Excited!

Alright, I think thats it. I just thought these little events were worthy of the little blog, here. Back to tax preparation for me!

be well,

me

Hey you! Yes you! Our tune, ALL THE GOOD IN THE WORLD, made it onto an independent documentary film call the LITTLE RED TRUCK. As I understand it, it is centered around the 30 some odd year journey of the development of the Missoula Childerens Theater. Check it out here... http://www.thelittleredtruck.com/index.html

Check the pics page out for an explanation! I could not be feeling any cooler,...I'm tellin' you!

We sound like poop, but it looks like fun, doesn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXqL6KS1o6w

Well, lets see here. Its friday afternoon. The band is going to squeeze into the Old Post again this fine evening and try to not play too loud. Make no mistake, the loudest noise in this band is, quite often, the acoustic guitar. I play loud. I spent many years buying little pedals, boxes, microphones, transducers,...trying to figure out how an acoustic guitar could be as loud as one might need for any show,..and then, maybe just a touch louder. Whats up with that? What happened to the little folk show I started off with? It all seemed quite gentle and alluring to some. some. I think the problem is this. When you play softly, the people who don't want to hear you, can stay, because they don't hear you and thats great. Or, at least, you are quiet enough to not be bothering people who don't feel like listening. Which is fine. I don't always feel like listening to some FINE players when I am in the same room. Sometimes you get distracted,..old friends, new beers, bad jokes, good jokes, whatever. Its a big world out there, often crammed into a small bar. But the problem with that scenario, is that, as a performer, it gives you plenty of mid-gig inspiration to wonder WHY IN GODS NAME you are there! If you're not entertaining anybody?...why doesn't the bar/coffeshop/restaurant owner save their money and throw on a hip mix of whatever on the stereo? That way nobody has to set up all the gear to methodically get their ego trampled by people who, honestly, don't mean any harm.

But when you play loudly, the only people in the room are those that really like it! Maybe not that many people,...but you find the crowd to be not dilluted at all with those pesky half listeners. Its kind of an aggressive "sit down or go home" kind of thing that kept the kids' "rock n' roll music" alive for quite sometime.

So, what does sensitive song boy do? Does he quit playing? nope. fuck that. He starts experimenting with technical gizmo's to get on top of this problem. He starts weighing the pro's and cons of "ensemble" projects. More musicians, more noise,...and misery loves company! Its nice to have someone to talk to during failure. Especially if those compadres are kind of failing with you. So, you get the combo. But bars and private parties won't hire you because people don't want to get plastered to folk combos. Another fork in the road. Do you continue with your combo and see what you can drum up in terms of opening gigs,..small coffeeshops, until something better does or doesn't come along. Or, do you opt for door #2?

Door #2 is a world of discount treasures! Free Beer! Steady entry level work for as long as you can play! Occasional dinner and hotel stays in towns not too far from your own! Bandmates willing to head to the local(and not so local) taverns and perhaps even record your songs for a fraction of the money they are worth! If you have some success, hopefully, down the road, another distant fork will present itself...or maybe you have been passing forks all along. Who knows? I think I'm out of thoughts here. Wife's comin' home with an mocha from Le Petite! I would like to be waiting at the door when it,..er,..I mean she, arrives! My morning coffee buzz is wearing off. And I won't have that.

Okeedokkee artichokee,...or golden gnocchi(sp?),....alrighty dighty and all that. I feel like something should be said here at the end of this fine, yet smokey-as-all-hell summer! This weekend had us leaping around for Oktoberfest with a bunch of new friends in Red Lodge, MT where we hope to return this winter without driving into a snow drift. Then, we got up before the butt crack of dawn on Sunday to drive back to Missoula and play the River City Roots Festival during a rain/hail storm. Oddly enough, that was every bit as fun as the Red Lodge show. Watching people dance in a storm when shelter is just a few feet away, is kind of theraputic, somehow. We're getting wet because we have to, but dancers and listeners are choosing to keep us company,...in a freakin' storm! Its a good life, I tell you. A good world, for now. People occasional ask me how hard it is to play when no one is there, or worse, people are there but no one is listening. And its definetely kind of a drag and makes you doubt your commitments to such a wierd business. But on the other hand, how many jobs are there where people routinely applaud you everytime you finish something? How many accountants or nurses or whatever finish some huge task or perfectly executed procedure to dead silence? Let me see if I can answer that,....MOST EVERYONE!!!!

I think that succesful "entertainment endeavors", even a couple decent shows, tend to make spoiled childeren of grown adults. I think we are definetely spoiled these days, and of course, lovin' it. This will all go away some day, hopefully to be replaced by something just as wonderful, or better. But for now, I think we are all feeling quite loved. Thanks for listening! See you out there.

Alrighty then. Thought I might add a little blurbity bloggity thing for those of you hoping to see something NEW and possibly MILDLY INTERESTING on the ole website. So, here we go!

Um, lets see here. Big week last week. I saw the folks in Yellowstone and I am glad to report they are doing well. Came back to town to find that the band had won the "best of" deal in the Missoula Indedendent. Thanks again to all you voters out there for that. I could, unfortunately not play the "best of.." party in Caras park due to some nasty dentistry that occurred the same day. Lots of drugs, guaze, and couch surfing prescribed. The UPS guy just dropped off another batch of last years CD with the band. I'm excited that we buzzed through the first batch in less than a year! New carreer record, I tell you. We are having a little BBQ at the house tonight before the show at the Union Club, so the house is all "abuzz" with laundry and tidying up while the nippers are nappin'. I just got an email reminding me of a little film my brother put together of a show we did in Salmon, ID a couple of months ago that may arrive today. Kinda jacked about that. Ok, thats the last of the rambling. I got work to do. I can't just sit around here blogging all day! What do you think I am? I'm an important guy,...I got uh,..toilets to de-poop, underwear to fold,...big huge record contracts to peruse. Alright, one of those is a lie. The 1st to guess correctly may get a free "Tom Catmull Sucks" beer couzzee that we are hopefully getting next month. Thats right, the promotional machine is rollin' again,...and this time,..its for real! Be well. Do good work. Hope to see some of you this fine evenin' at the Union Club.

me

Ok, I hardly ever chime in here, but here I am in front of the computer. My youngest son Mason is asleep. My wife Becky and our 4 year old, Jack, have headed back to the emergency room to get a few more stitches replaced. He popped em' in the yard rough housing with the bro. Lots of tears. Less blood than the first time 4 days ago. All part of "fun", I suppose.

In other news, I feel I must make some public mention of that fact that the band bought me a FREAKIN PIANO and delivered it to the house while I was at Ace Hardware this weekend getting some training weels for Jack. I couldn't believe it. Beck and I both had been making noise about wanting one and had shopped around a little, but come up empty. And then, there it is. In the house. By the table. Life is good. Thank you John, Travis and Gibson! I love it.

signing off,

me

OK, the big Great Falls weekend at the MPAC(Montana Performing Arts Consortium,...DUH!..just kiddin') conference showcase was a hoot. 12 minutes of performance, 12 hours of hangin' around a "homemade-lemonade-stand" style booth trying to look professional. I swear our booth was about the most pathetic thing offered there. It was mostly a tiny stack of business cards and a homemade sign that Gibson made saying "come see our showcase at 4:21pm". It was the classic mastery of understatement. The Jeni Fleming Trio booth was a monument to music promotion...and they're also a touch better looking than us. Fortunately, they didn't showcase this year. We DID get some interest in the show though, and got to play in a beautiful theater to people who don't know us from "Adams' housecat" as my friend Rick Edwards would say. So there's a groovy pic of us showcasing in the photo gallery section(or "pics", I believe its now called) of the sight here, if your interested. The Sip and Dip lounge is still there and quite possibly the greatest tiki bar ever!(complete with mermaids and Pat, the piano playing legend who's apparently had that gig for 43 years) Travis and I also went to check out Machinery Row, (the venue that bagged on us for the weekend), and it looks like clientelle probably would have hated us anyway! More of a rock club, perhaps. "Social Habit" was doing well, where we probably would have floundered. So, there you have it! Great weekend! Look forward to next year!

Alright, not really. But we did get a review for the new disc out there that was quite positive. Here's the link.
http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesjan07.html#tomc

Alright, its in dutch. You can translate it, though, at babelfish.com if you copy and paste the text into their "magic translation box". Are you up for it? The translation still ends up being quite funky, but there was some mention of Little Feat in there I think! Yeah!!!

Howdy! Long time no journal entry! Here's todays excuse for one; The new disc got reviewed in a Nationally distributed songwriter magazine!...and in classic form, the lyrics were misquoted in Live and Die. But, I DIDN'T put them in the disc jacket, so I guess its my own damn fault....and, of course, I'm a bit of a mumbler. Anyway, check it out!

http://www.performingsongwriter.com/pages/music/index.cfm


See ya later!

Wow, I must say I had a really fun time for a 1st show there at Millers in Helena. Great food, really nice people and the show itself was a pretty high energy deal(both crowd and clerics). It did look as if the 3rd set was going to be a tumbleweeds experience but everybody in the bar seemed to rally for the last 40 minutes or so. We met some really nice people and a few wacky ones. One guy pulled me aside before we even got started and aggressively marketed himself as a backup singer that would bring in tons of gigs should we decide to go ahead and hire him. He generously allowed me some time to discuss it over with the band before I made my decision, then left before we got started for his job. We had another backup singer in the audience, who I actually think was probably really good, but kind of aggressive as well about getting up there with us. Both people were pretty harmless and relatively friendly. There was a girl who knew Gibson through various friends from like 10 or 12 years ago. She was part of a fun little crowd up front that clapping when nobody else was,...thank you for that if you are out there reading this. All in all, a really fun experience. We hope to be back in March or April.

The last copy of THE SOUND OF A CAR has been sold online. It was a good album, dangit,...ashes to ashes, ...dust to dust,..and all that. There might be something at Rockin' Rudys here in Missoula, but I don't think so.