Great article on Pareidolia in Volume One Magazine:


Building the Songs

The author is an old friend who was first introduced to my music when his roommate, Adam, used to help dub the cassettes I sold at my college-era shows! Ken's a great writer and a super guy. I'm grateful he was able to write this article. The photo's pretty cool too. Turns out they used two different pics: one for the on-line article above and a different pic for the actual print magazine.

Hope to see you Saturday, Dec. 14, at the CD release party (info at the end of the article and below in a previous blog post.

CD release party!

It's official, folks:

Greg Adams's Pareidolia CD release party

Saturday, Dec. 14

3-5 p.m.

Valkyrie Brewing Company Tap Room

234 Dallas St., Dallas, WI ‎ 

Come early for brewery tours, stick around for music! 

For more information on Valkyrie and directions, see:

http://www.valkyriebrewery.com/index.html

SAVE THE DATE!

CD release party/gig: Saturday, Dec. 14

Showtime will be early enough so "old people" can come out without worry, and early enough that young folks can still go out afterwards. Super cool location here in the Northwoods. 

More details to come.

Word is spreading about the new CD! I had a great interview with Al Ross of Wisconsin Public Radio's Spectrum West show last week. The entire show is available to hear on-line or download:

Spectrum West Oct. 24, 2013: Greg Adams

(My interview is about the last 15 minutes or so of the program.)

I also had a photo shoot with a Volume One photographer this evening. Look for an article soon.

Revival Records in downtown Eau Claire now has my CD in stock. Stop by, browse, and take home a copy!

I'm set to send off a bunch of discs to various destinations, from Chicago to New York, Michigan to Shanghai. We'll see what happens.

Tom Kutrieb and I are rehearsing a set of Pareidolia songs and will enlist the help of our fellow Maven Richard Price to add some tasty guitar too. We hope to make some public appearances soon.

Stay tuned!

Pareidolia is now up on CD Baby! Listen to samples and read the full liner notes! Order physical CDs or download the album. iTunes will follow.

CD Baby

Also, the Local Store in downtown Eau Claire, WI, has copies of my CD both in-house and soon on their website for order.

The Local Store

Initial feedback has been great! Hopefully some press and shows will follow.

I now have copies of Pareidolia to sell! Here's how to get your hands on the album:

IN PERSON: Slide me $10 cash (selling out of my trunk).

ON-LINE: Send $13 (includes shipping) through Paypal (gladams@chibardun.net)

OLD SCHOOL: Send $13 (includes shipping) check or money order to:
Greg Adams, 413 Schofield Street, Chetek, WI 54728

DOWNLOAD: My album should be available for download on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and CDBaby within a week or so.

Spread the word!

 

The time is nearing when you will be able to purchase all the songs from my solo album, Pareidolia, either in physical CD form or on iTunes and Amazon MP3. The last e-mail I received from Discmakers indicated my project was in production and scheduled to leave the factory Oct. 7, which means by Oct. 10 I'll have discs on-hand, ready to sell. Limited live gigs will likely follow. Stay tuned.

In preparation for the release, I want to insert the full liner notes, as promised on the back of the CD packaging. I've posted bits and pieces up to this point and will continue to add and revise, but here they are, folks. Prepare for spoilers...

Space Woman Yeah

My dad is a former NASA engineer and lifelong astronomy buff; consequently, my siblings and I spent a lot of nights on a flannel blanket in our backyard staring up at the sky when we were kids. While waiting for a meteor shower one night, we did, in fact, see 30 satellites. Dad was also the local “go-to guy” when anyone saw anything strange in the nighttime sky. While cleaning and rearranging my basement to create a space for my home studio (Magnetic Door Studio), I happened across a cassette tape marked, “UFO interview 1974.” I transcribed the interview, which was between my dad and a rural Central Wisconsin woman who had seen some strange lights zoom across her farm field near Hixton/Northfield, WI. During the questioning, she mentions stories of similar sightings in the Eau Claire newspaper. One man, she says, who also saw the lights, was “so scared, he got out of his car and went down in the ditch.” Wow--how crazily that coincides with my fictitious, alien "seduction" story. My lyrics for this song are heavily influenced by the following: my dad's personal stories, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a 1970’s era TV show called Project U.F.O. (a predecessor of the X Files), and the TV mini-series V. As Fox Moulder says, “I want to believe.” Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, Moog tidbits, spaceship whines (wines?), background vocals, radio chatter, glockenspiel; Tom Kutrieb—electric guitars/feedback, bat guitar, piano, bass, funky keyboard solo, background vocals, radio chatter; Zach Brawford: drums.

Hair

A carry-over from college, written in my dorm room in Yashiro, Japan, on an unplugged electric guitar. This one goes out to my friend Karl Pearson-Cater, one of the coolest people I know. Our bands the Raging Bagels and rottweiller were rad back in the day. While both exchange students in Japan, Karl and I played this song with a young Japanese drummer during a “guitar club” meeting at Kansai Gaidai University. I don’t think this guy had ever played original music, especially not something sorta funky with two American college kids. With a massive grin on his face, the hyped up drummer continued to bounce uncontrollably on his drums stool and laugh aloud for about a full minute after the song finished. (Note: “Hair” was my first-ever music video uploaded to youtube—search for gladams2007 or you might just get a Lady Gaga video--directed and edited by the amazing Jessie Braun.) Greg Adams—vocals, rhythm and wah guitar; Tom Kutrieb—bass, trumpet solo; Zach Brawford—drums.

Funakoshi's Paperback

These discombobulated lyrics began as a simple writing exercise. While driving to work I would look around and try to string together rhyming couplets from words, phrases and images I spied around me. Eventually, I worked in couplets based on things surrounding me at home. My daughter Addy contributed a few, as well. Tom laid down an electronic beat, rescued a long-forgotten bass line and arranged the music around the lyrics. Greg Adams—lead vocals, chorus vocals, match strike; Tom Kutrieb—bass, guitars, drum programming, chorus vocals, whistling; Richard Price—nylon-string guitar sketches; Leland Brenholt—Kung Fu flute; Deb Kutrieb, Jeff Gulczynski, Shawn Larson—additional chorus vocals.

Checkout Line

Written when I was a grocery stock (stalk?) boy…there’s really not much more to say. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, bass; Tom Kutrieb—lead guitar, laser scanner solo; Zach Brawford—drums; Apryl Price plays the part of the checkout girl (and for the record, SHE is not a ditz).

Cocoon

A song about dissatisfaction through the eyes of a pissed off butterfly. I pushed Tom to play his solo on bass. Incredibly, the end result is very similar in style and feel to a “sloth pop” band I love, Pedro the Lion (whom Tom has never even heard). Strange that one of the darkest songs I’ve written was one of the first we recorded. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar; Tom Kutrieb—bass, including bass solo, drum programming, fluttering sounds, whining wind; Mike Kutrieb—keyboard bend.

Quiet Place

Written after a fire in my apartment building my last semester at UW-Eau Claire. I crashed on a friend’s couch after the building was evacuated, and this song arrived in my head. I was imaging both God and my wife as the “you” I longed to be with. One of Tom’s finest solos, I must say. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboard drone; Tom Kutrieb—bass, electronic vibes, lead guitar.

Happy As A Dog

The first love song I wrote for my wife, Laurie. We were trying to survive a long-distance relationship at the time: Laurie in Boston, MA, and me finishing college in Eau Claire, WI. Countless letters, several secret fly-away weekends, and one cross-country drive later we were married. Tom’s Border Collie Max, our constant studio companion, makes his vocal debut on this song. We had to get a laptop in the studio and play samples of car horns to get Max to actually bark. He’s a good dog that way. Greg Adams—vocals (lead and high), hand claps, cow bell; Mike Kutrieb—Rhodes-like keyboards; Tom Kutrieb—electric guitar, dueling guitar leads, bass, Hammond B3, hand claps; Zach Brawford—drums; Max Kutrieb—guest vocals. Shawn Larson—background vocals; Greg Adams, Tom, Deb and Emily Kutrieb—apartment noises.

Emerald Plumes

When I first started to record this album (eons ago, it seems), I challenged myself to write at least one new song. It wasn’t happening. Summers came, and recording kept getting interrupted by real life. That’s where this song comes from: the desire to create music but the obligations of work, home, family, and personal sanity getting in the way. Written for Tom but also a nod to all the Hydroflites’ “widows.” Special thanks to Taylor for the musical input. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic rhythm guitar, background vocals, jingle pole; Tom Kutrieb—electric guitar, 12-string acoustic leads, electric guitar lead, bass, background vocals, string arrangement, drum programming, handbells; Apryl Price, Shawn Larson—additional backing vocals.

Holy Cow

Revisited and re-imagined. This one is Tom’s fault. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, bass; Tom Kutrieb—electric rhythm guitar; Ronald B. Crister—guitar solo; Zach Brawford—drums.

New Soap

Also Tom's fault. The thought had never even occurred to me to re-record this classic staple of my laugh-filled solo sets. Tom envisioned this song as a showcase for some leads, either by him or another one my guitar hero friends from the West Coast (Aaron L. and Bobby H.—you were next in line). Two happy accidents happened while working on this song: 1) Tom was trying to find a click track and the thumping electronic beat emerged while the finger-picking guitar part started. I said, “Duuuude! We gotta keep that!” and 2) While trying to show Tom what I sort of wanted for leads during a sound check of his guitar, I fiddled a bit. Tom stopped and said, “You’ve GOT to do the leads!” Didn’t think I could do it, but the leads have a very Lou Reed flavor (never dreamed it could happen). Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, dueling lead guitars, bass; Tom Kutrieb—drum programming, keyboards, electronic noises; Jeff Gulczynski—overarching guitar bend.

Too Far Away

The anger side of a breakup (see “Meantime” for the companion "acceptance" song). This is the first song Tom and I recorded, and probably the meanest song I’ve ever written. At first I was adamant about not using my acoustic guitar on this track. I wanted this album to look, feel and sound completely different than anything I’d generated in the past. “Too Far Away” marked the first time I was free to actually match the sounds I heard in my head with what we could capture on tape. (I know it’s digital now, but the recording lingo lingers.) Still, after years playing this song live, hearing the fury within the song without the driving acoustic guitar just didn’t work. Greg Adams—vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, cymbal bends; Jar Anderson—background vocals; Tom Kutrieb—all electric guitars, feedback and leads, drum programming (inspired by Dr. Chad Hermann); Zach Brawford—drum intro and outro.

Meantime

Tom and I originally captured an intimate solo acoustic take of this song, which we both thought was magical. Unfortunately, there were some technical difficulties with that version. We knew we had to tackle “Meantime” again but sort of ran out of steam. One night, Tom’s brother Mike and I worked “unsupervised” in the studio and laid down the tracks you hear on the record. We really had no idea what we were doing, and Tom recalls hearing our results as “a beautiful mess.” He was excited about the new feel of the song and reworked several elements to create this enhanced final version, complete with the “bell of enlightenment.”  Greg Adams—vocals; Mike Kutrieb—piano; Tom Kutrieb—slide guitar, strings, symphonic percussion, organ, keyboards, bell of enlightenment.

Produced, recorded and engineered by Tom Kutrieb at Audio Dojo, Chetek, WI

All songs written by Greg Adams © 2013 Lone Spur Music,
except “Funakoshi’s Paperback”—music by Tom Kutrieb,
lyrics by Greg Adams (with help from Adelaide Adams)

Cover art: “Life Cycle” by CJ Conner (www.cjconner.com) used with permission

Under-tray art by Christina Kay Rambo, used with permission

Lettering by Big Box Car

CD packaging designed by Passion & Pursenality

Photography by Jessie Braun (www.jbraunphotography.com)

Thanks: My wife Laurie and daughter Addy for putting up with “too much time with Tom”; Tom Kutrieb for friendship, not to mention endless hours of tracking, editing and pocketing—without you this record would not exist; Deb and Emily Kutrieb for sharing their home (and Tom); Mike Kutrieb for adding your fingerprints to this record; Zach Brawford for traveling from the Cities to lay down some sweet beats; Leland Brenholt for the mystical flute; CJ Conner for your astouding artwork; Jessie Braun for capturing my good side; my family for loving and supporting me; Toby Kutrieb for getting me into music in the first place; Karl and Cindy for forgiveness and renewed friendship; Aaron LaMere for answers; Jeremy Michael (a.k.a. The Archiver); Martha Jean (miss you); my fellow Mavens Richard Price and Aaron Kittelson; Good Guys Wear Wolf; Gabriel Wilson for being a constant (though geographically distant) presence both musically and spiritually; God, who still loves me, despite my many shortcomings.

Artists that provided direct or serendipitous inspiration for this recording include the following: Hoodoo Gurus; Trip Shakespeare; Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground; Violent Femmes; Good Guys Wear Wolf; Gabriel Wilson and The Listening; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; U2; Nectarmen; Death In Texas; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Tar Babies; Aaron LaMere and The Blackstones; The Beatles; Sheryl Crow; Bon Iver; Bob Mould; The Dandy Warhols; David Bazan; Wilco; R.E.M.; and Ryan Adams (no relation).

Cocoon lyrics and video

Cocoon

by Greg Adams

You think it’s groovy to fly?

Let me tell you all something—

there’s a lot more to this life,

a lot more to life than just flying.

You spend your whole life dreaming,

daring and dying to do

the one thing that I can

without trying.

I’d like to take off these wings

so I could give them to you.

Then you’d feel the full weight

that I’ve grown used to.

With these wings unattached,

I’d feel free to crawl back

into my cocoon.

You see, the freedom that clings

to these fluttering wings

has grown heavy with all

my misgivings

So just back off, man,

or I’ll fly in your face, and

I will give you a taste

of what you’re missing.

I’m through defining myself

by what it is that I do. I’m through

defining myself by what it is

that I do. I’m through defining

myself by what it is that I do—

If you could fly then you’d

want to be walking.

If you could

fly

    like

         me,

you would want to be walking.

For years, I've loved music and movies--especially when the two are combined artistically. One of the main reasons I bought a DVD player back in the day was to enjoy concert videos. I've enjoyed the fringe benefits every since.

Since playing around with the iPad for my job, I've happened upon iMovie, which is an incredibly cool, intuitive and powerful video editing program. I generated a farily-decent editied video for my colleagues about computer use in the classroom; however, I immediately recognized the potential for video artistry once I completed that original "educational" video.

Last weekend, my daughter Addy and I took a trip to Duluth, MN, to attend the celebration of the birthdays of the two otters on display at the Great Lakes Aquarium. I started out just capturing images for posterity--one of the coolest "Addy and Daddy days" we've had. Still, at several points, I felt an external calling to capture some "B" footage that would eventually make a cool video.

What you see now is the combination of my Daddy-centric shots, combined with a more artistic eye toward images that might be cool in a video. I apologize for the audio quality of the music. I'm very (VERY) new to this music video medium and have to find ways around my weaknesses and dead ends. In truth, I'd love to overdub the original digital recording of "Cocoon" over the top of the images, but I'm not able to do that right now with the iPad I have borrowed and the iTunes account I own.

Hopefully, you will be able to marry the two in your head and create a video experience that is both satisfying and intriguing.

Here it is, ya'll, my very first attempt at a music video (all on my own)...
Cocoon video (scratch)

Lots of guys have lots of hair...

 “Hair”—A carry-over from college, written in my dorm room in Yashiro, Japan, on an unplugged electric guitar. This one goes out to my friend Karl Pearson-Cater, one of the coolest people I know. Our bands the Raging Bagels and rottweiller were rad back in the day. While both exchange students in Japan, Karl and I played this song with a young Japanese drummer during a “guitar club” meeting at Kansai Gaidai University. I don’t think this guy had ever played original music, especially not something sorta funky with two American college kids. With a massive grin on his face, the hyped up drummer continued to bounce uncontrollably on his drums stool and laugh aloud for about a full minute after the song finished. (Note: “Hair” was my first-ever music video uploaded to youtube, directed and edited by the amazing Jessie Braun.) Greg Adams—vocals, rhythm and wah guitar; Tom Kutrieb—bass, trumpet solo; Zach Brawford—drums.

Hair video