DAT TAPES 1991-1997

Demos / Live Performances / Odds and Sods

You know that feeling you get when you open a box that’s been stored away forever and you discover something long forgotten about your past? Well, it’s time for me to open the box. I am finally digging into the grassy knoll DAT tapes.

Last night I hooked up the DAT machine that had been sitting dormant for almost 20 years. I can’t believe it, it still works! The machine survived a few moves, Austin summers, East Coast winters, and utter loneliness. 

And what about the DAT tapes? I won’t know how well the tapes have held up until I start listening to them. It’s going to be a tape-by-tape situation. I am hopeful that a tape won’t break and jam up inside the machine.

And now the fun begins: listening, organizing, and logging the tapes. Some are labeled, many are not. There are 31 tapes to process. Everything from pre-grassy knoll tracks, demos for the first three albums, live shows, live radio performances, in-store performances, rehearsals, and demos that never saw the light of day.

These are a few of the labeled tapes that I’m looking forward to checking out again:

LIVE RADIO PERFORMANCES

• WRAS 88.5 Atlanta, 1997

• WMBR 88.1 Cambridge, 1996

• KCMU “The Live Room” now known as KEXP in Seattle, 1996

LIVE VENUE PERFORMANCES

• Slims in San Francisco, 1994

• Double Door in Chicago, 1995

• The Warsaw Jazz Festival, June 21, 1998, at The Warsaw Congress Hall—a gorgeous setting. Unfortunately, the Warsaw tape was recorded from a neglected board mix, and I remember it sounding terrible. On top of that, the loaner bass I grabbed had a dirty volume knob so every time I accidentally hit the body of the bass it shorted out causing quite a ruckus. Make mental note, always travel with your own guitar. Funny now, embarrassing then. Nonetheless, it should be a fun listen.

Releasing demos has been on my mind for sometime and the time seems right to listen to what’s on the tapes with the hopes of putting something out into the world.

I’m confident that there will be enough quality material here to assemble a compilation of sorts. My initial thought is to release these tracks on Bandcamp—free to download and stream—as a thank you for those who have supported the music and encouraged me throughout the years.

More to come…

Thoughts? Ideas? Please comment and let me know.