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 

Here are the lyrics to "Space Woman Yeah"--

Space Woman Yeah

by Greg Adams (from the album Pareidolia)

It was late on a clear, 30-satellite night,

driving home past the cornfields

I saw some strange lights.

My engine stopped. My fuel-line bled,

under the lights I was stranded.

A spaceship hovered over my head.

I felt the pull of a tractor beam

tug at my car, my head, my entire being.

Up from the road and onto the ship,

this would be my first space trip with her

Space woman, yeah.

My engine stopped, my fuel-line bled.

She gained control over my head,

suspended in her luminous, weightless bed

Space woman, yeah.

Well, here we go. The first in the series of exclusively on-line content associated with my solo record, Pareidolia. If I had unlimited time and resources, I would release a disc with packaging and liner notes as extensive as one of my favorite albums of all time: Rock 'n' Roll Worship Circus: Big Star Logistics. (The studio and background stories contained within that masterpiece are beyond me; still, here is the best I can offer from my own recordings.)

“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. (Thus, a "30-satellite night")

Dad was also the local “go-to guy” when anyone who knew him saw anything strange in the nighttime sky. While cleaning and rearranging my basement to create a space for my home studio (Magnetic Door), 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, just off Highway 94. During the questioning, she mentions stories of similar sightings recorded 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! Serendipity, man.

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, background vocals, radio chatter, garage-sale glockenspiel; Tom Kutrieb—electric guitars/feedback, bat guitar, piano, bass, funky keyboard solo, background vocals, radio chatter; Zach Brawford: drums.

Next up: lyrics, etc. from "Hair"

Full liner notes: Installment #1

It's official (truly this time)--Tom and I finished tracking my album, pareidolia, last night. Our friend Leeland came up to lay down some super sweet, mystical flute parts on "Funakoshi's Paperback" that totally pushed the song into the stratosphere!

I made a mock-up of the CD packaging (very rough and VERY low-tech) and knew I wouldn't be able to fit all the info I wanted on the inside sleeve. I'll be using this blog to release excerpts from the full liner notes over the next few weeks. Today's view: thanks and artistic influences.

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; 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).

I'm pretty sure Tom and I have finished tracking my record. We redid vocals on "Emerald Plumes" and finalized the enhanced harmonies for "Happy As A Dog." I believe that's all we needed to finish. Now, all the not-as-fun stuff begins: assembling the master disc, figuring out packaging, duplication and distribution, and spreading the word about the record release (TBA). My friend and college roommate Karl (anybody recall the raging bagels, rottweiler or Toothpick magazine?) has agreed to do the lettering for the liner notes, and my sister Chris is going to help me with the disc packaging design.

In addition to my own record release, there are a few excellent artists set to unleash their latest in the next 12 months, including Good Guys Wear Wolf (one of my "other" bands), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and (hopefully) U2. Looks like my record will be in great company.

As my record is nearing it's "put to bed" stage, I'm totally stoked to be helping Tom Kutrieb (my producer) start recording his solo album. Tom and I will soon begin recording some stripped down demos of his new songs both at his studio, and my own Magnetic Door studio. Tom and I have grown into an incredibly efficient and effective studio team in the last several years. I'm eagerly anticipating the musical magic we'll create under his moniker.

Oh, one last thing: I'm quite sure this will be the final track order (I'm pretty certain this time):

12 songs / 45 minutes of music:

1. Space Woman Yeah
2. Hair
3. Funakoshi's Paperback
4. Checkout Line
5. Cocoon
6. Quiet Place
7. Happy As A Dog
8. Emerald Plumes
9. Holy Cow
10. New Soap
11. Too Far Away
12. Meantime

Cover art

A little about the album cover: I really wanted a painting—actual art—to adourn my packaging. A few years ago I watched Simon Schama’s Power of Art series (BBC), which is a marvelous journey “behind the scenes” of several famous pieces of art and the artists that created them. Mr. Schama turned me on to the magnificence of human interpretation of reality and unreality, the spectacular mystery of an artist’s ability to paint or chisel what they saw in their mind and coax that image from paints or rock for others to see. Incredible stuff. 

I’ve loved CJ Conners’ paintings since the first time I wrote a story on her when I was working for the local newspaper. Her visions of the natural and fantastical world are breathtaking. When I envisioned a record album, CJ’s art (cjconner.com) was foremost in my mind. I sent CJ a disc of some of the first songs from the record (“Cocoon” and maybe “Space Woman Yeah”) and asked her to consider allowing me to use one of her paintings for the cover of my album. On July 9, 2009 (I just read the printout, so the date is still on it), CJ responded with an incredible e-mail about how my music really touched her. The painting she suggested was one her son loved, “Life Cycle.” Not sure how large you can make my “profile pic” (the painting), but the subject is basically a woman turned into a tree, her form emerging from the bark and her fingers transformed into branches, reaching skyward. CJ also noted, “It has the life cycle of the butterfly along the perimeter—the cocoon, chrysalis caterpillar, and finally the bursting forth of the butterfly flying free—only to be eaten by the toad…yeah, being a butterfly is NOT all it’s cracked up to be. But we humans seem to always want more than we have or at least always think we should have.” 

Wow, CJ absolutely nailed the point of “Cocoon” both visually and verbally! What a fit. I knew this was going to be an extremely special album with an even more impressive cover. The story behind CJ’s involvement in my record is even more layered and incredible, but I’ll leave that for another time…

Thanks, CJ. You are one of my artistic mentors and heroes!