Just been kinda busy lately. Trying to finalize the band lineup on a two-day “garage fest” for St. Louis in October has become increasingly difficult due to miscommunication and possible scheduling problems with one band in particular, which just so happens to be one of the potential headliners. All of the bands will be from Missouri and I was thinking of calling it the “Show-Me Blowout,” named after Deke Dickerson‘s old MO-based rock’n'roll fanzine of the late ’80s/early ’90s. By the way, the dates for this thing will be Friday and Saturday, October 12th and 13th, if you want to clear that weekend on your calendar NOW so that it won’t conflict with anything that may come up in the meantime. Bill Streeter, Jason Potter, and a couple of other people are helping me with this. It’ll be an official TIRC production. However this thing shakes out, it’ll be fun. I just hope it’s successful. I’d hate to get the bands all lined up for this thing and sell only 50 or 60 tickets each night. That would suck. Realistically I’m only really expecting to be maybe 100 people there each night. That’s because historically garage-type shows in St. Louis don’t quite pack in the crowds like I think they should. The venue will be Off Broadway on Lemp, which has an excellent sound system and great sight lines for watching the band from just about anywhere you happen to be in the place, from the balcony to the bar…
I’ve also been busy inviting people to a new “social network” site I created for GaragePunk.com called The Hideout. It’s very similar to the one Bill Streeter set up for his site, The Circuit. Please check them both out, and if you haven’t joined yet, please do so! These things aren’t nearly as cheesy or sleazy as Myspace…
Still waiting on the arrival of our new camera, the one that will replace the Sony we had stolen in the recent burglary. I went ahead and took Bill’s suggestion and bought a Canon Powershot TX1. Now we just have to wait for it to get back in stock so it can ship (I guess it’s kinda popular right now… go figure, me buying something “popular”… weird). We’ve already received all of the accessories we bought for it. Hopefully I’ll get it in time for our son’s 4th birthday party which takes place in our backyard a week from today.
The TIRC-STL Google group now has a page detailing most (if not all) of the more rock’n'roll-friendly venues in the St. Louis area. You can check it out here. I wanted to get that page updated since there will be quite a few new venues opening up in the city in the near future. And if you live in St. Louis and love garagey-type rock’n'roll, please join the TIRC list if you’re not on it already!
Speaking of TIRC… Jason Potter just finished up with a new episode of the TIRC Podcast (number three). I hadn’t done an episode since February and was trying to find someone else to take it over for me, since I really didn’t have the time to do it anymore, what with Savage Kick and all. Click here to download, listen, and enjoy!
About a week ago I received my first T-shirt ordered from the GaragePunk.com store on Spreadshirt.com, and I was VERY happy with the quality. This shirt rules! I bought one of the simple “iPod & Crossbones” tees with “GaragePunk.com” printed in small text on the back just below the collar. I got the burgundy heavyweight cotton shirt. The print is white, and the texture of the transfer is thick and soft like velvet. It completely rocks. I didn’t think I would like it more than I like traditional screen printing, but I do! No shit. So now I’m trying to set one of these shops up for TIRC, with a few of those logos on different-colored tees. As soon as I get that finished up I’ll post an update with the link. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, buy one of those iPod & Crossbones tees!
As some of you who are friends with me on Myspace may have noticed, I have a birthday coming up very soon. Number 42, in fact. It doesn’t really bother me as I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to being a 40-something and accepting the added aches and pains and general lack of energy that comes with it (let’s just say, now I know why very few professional athletes continue their careers into their forties). By the way, no, I won’t be having a party, but if you’d like to send me a present, I won’t refuse it… 
That’s all for now. Have a great weekend!
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