Bitching with Brett

2006-06-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

I’m just going to throw this out there as a general warning and opportunity to take heed. Next person I meet that doesn’t like Elvis, I am going to kick their fucking ass. No warning, no one is going to see it coming, I will just start bashing their head in with my fist, that is all.

A postcard for you

2006-04-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hey what’s up? Not much here, I have been on vacation from work this week, and they are paying me at the same time, I love this country! Despite my plans to do actual things, I haven’t left the house in days. On the plus side I have been saving money on gas by not driving. The highlight of my week has been my 1 trip to Walgreens; I purchesed a gallon of milk and 3 big boxes of Gobstopper candy. My buddy Steve is coming over Saturday morning to watch the NFL draft and I have a huge bag of chicken quarters that need to be grilled before they expire. Will they go rancid before I cook them Saturday? Who knows! Like the mystery of the Holy Ghost, the destiny of the chicken will be fulfilled. If I don’t die from salmonella poisoning I will be gigging @ 516 Soundstage Sunday morning a quarter hour past midnight, maybe I will see ya then.
Love,
Saint Bretticus of Caddo Heights.

Traveling headstones..I just don’t get it.

2006-04-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

I am troubled by the trend of having death announcements on cars tinted windows. It seems morbid to me, I really don’t care to see the birth and death dates of your ex boyfriend who overdosed on crystal meth while I am behind you at a red light. Am I wrong for not caring? What’s next? Can I put a tribute to my dead cat on the back window of my Monte Carlo? “In loving memory of Scruffy 3/7/2001- 6/12/ 2005 your litter box is in a better place.”

And don’t even get me started about the Dale Earnhart tributes on the back of SUV’s. “In loving memory of #3, the left turn never ends in heaven.”

Wal-Mart and God go hand in hand

2006-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart and God go hand in hand

From the Shreveport Times :

MANSFIELD -- A shout of "hallelujah" followed by loud applause greeted the unanimous vote of the Mansfield Planning/Zoning Commission late Wednesday afternoon as members granted a rezoning request that likely will lead to the construction of a "small-town" Wal-Mart Super center on the city's northeast side

As for the troubling traffic numbers, commission member A.J. Williams Jr. had a simple solution: "Ask God to bless us with a crowd and with some traffic problems."

Do these people know that with a Wal-mart comes the availability of Brokeback Mountain on DVD? Does the small town of Mansfield really want a movie about gay cowboys being sold in their backyards? Gay cowboys threatens the manhood of every red neck in Mansfield, just think, the same place where you can buy a shotgun and get a fishing license also sells Brockback Mountain, God please help us all indeed.

Brett Roman music bio from myspace.com

2006-04-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

BR in drag
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

This is old news to some, but here is a reprint of the official Brett Roman musical bio form my myspace.com site. The theme of myspace.com seems to be bragging and self importance, so it is the perfect place for it. In it I try to remeber all of the musicians that I have played with ect. the list is still growing

1989-Today I started playing bass as a freshman in high school with an outfit that we called Chemical Youth, lineup included Brandon Meshell, Jackie Brock and Scott Ford. We played all Sex Pistols and Metallica covers. This was my first and last band that did all covers. From there I went on to play in a “thrash metal” band that was known as Flesh Wund. Wanting to do more in the area of punk before the term “alternative” was even a term; I started an outfit called Back Alley Allah with David Crook and Micah Harold. We had a drummer by the last name of Johnson but I don’t remember his first name (sorry dude).

By this time I was a high school drop out but was waiting to get into tech school, I joined a new band called Tank Farm with Tommy Johnson, Brent Mullens, Billy Framer and Steve Stubblefield. We went on to record a demo and played a couple of shows before Steve left to devote full time attention to his band and local indie rock legends The Roadside Monuments. Tank Farm endured a few more shows in and outside of Shreveport before calling it quits. Billy Farmer and I stuck together and recruited K.C. gates on the drums for a new band called Slowburn. We played a number of shows and received a lot of media press (at the time) for our work at a club called Cellblock. Both Tank farm and Slowburn played many many shows at a room that was called Jeff’s Building. We got the honor to open up for some great acts during the grunge movement including Gas Huffer.

After some regional shows we decided to split up and I was officially burnt out. During most of this period I was a Dj at KSCL radio in Shreveport LA, the station was the collage station for Centenary Collage. It was here that I met my wife Monica. I went to tech school for 2 years and worked another 3 before Mr. Farmer and I reunited in 2002 with new drummer Jeffery Pratt who was in the Air Force. We used the old Slowburn name for a couple of gigs before going with Vegas Incident. We had decent success and recorded a studio demo before Jeffery got called out to move to Japan. Rather then keeping the project going, Billy and I mutually decided to hang it up once again as real life issues became more important then salvaging the band. The exact night that Vegas Incident broke up was the night that Monica and I conceived our first child Monica and I had a baby boy who is named Judah Roman Stampley, and she was pregnant with our second son Jonah Charles when Josh Coker, Chadwick J and I formed Mars Vegas in June 2004.

In July of 2005 Mars Vegas changed it's name to Ghost Town Flood and soon after recording our 3rd ep Chadwick and the band parted ways after a year long run. Josh and I kept the band moving forward and added Just Jeff to play the drums. We are currently working on new songs and playing shows preparing for another studio session.

American Family Association protest Brokeback in Wal-marts.

2006-04-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

I write a few more blog post then I actually publish, Sometimes when you may wonder why I’m not writing anymore, I actually am, but I am just not happy with it for whatever reason. Today’s is borderline but I decided to throw it out there anyway.

From contactmusic.com

Wal-Mart has turned aside a massive letter-writing campaign by the American Family Association. urging the retailer to refuse to stock Brokeback Mountain, being distributed by Universal Home Entertainment. The group, which has successfully campaigned against what it considers to be broadcast indecency launched the campaign last week after ads for the film began being displayed prominently in the retailer's 3,900 stores. In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times, the AFA's Randy Sharp, accused Wal-Mart of helping to push the "gay agenda" by "trying to help normalize homosexuality in society." He added, "But how many copies are they going to have to sell to [recoup] the losses of customers who they've offended and will no longer shop at Wal-Mart?" But a Wal-Mart spokeswoman replied, ""The fact that we are offering the movie is not an endorsement of the content of the movie or any specific belief. ...We simply offer the latest titles that consumers want."

Can’t these people find anything better to bitch about? I have not seen Brokeback Mountain, but I seriously doubt that if I had that I would turn gay. I have insight into these “Christians”; these people are the ones that actually think that everyone is going to hell except themselves. And even then that’s not enough, you have to tithe properly so that the preacher can afford payments on his wife’s BMW.

This is taking homophobe to a new level of ridiculousness. It’s just a damn movie; I have seen no evidence that it’s pushing a certain agenda. The gap between these morons and the Muslim countries that legally murder gay people is closing rapidly. And what’s makes me angrier is this gives sensible pot smoking right wingers a bad name.

Kudos to Wal-Mart for standing up for freedom of speech and commerce. Now if they will only carry Plumpers of Sundance Spa…

Basic Instinct 2 bombs at box office, Director shows ignorance.

2006-04-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

basic crap
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

Turns out that soft porn thrillers are not a big money maker in today’s entertainment market, Dutch director Paul Verhoeven was asked about the decline in popularity of the genre.

From Reuters:

Paul Verhoeven, director of the first "Basic Instinct" (which scored $353 million worldwide) as well as the widely ridiculed "Showgirls" (now regarded as something of a camp classic), attributes the genre's demise to the current American political climate.
"Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States," said the Dutch native. "Look at the people at the top (of the government). We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends."

I usually stay away from entertainment bitching, but I just can’t let this one go. This dude claims that "Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States”. This is the dumbest quote I have seen this year. Hey idiot, have you ever seen internet porn?? Banned? Hell, porn is second nature in today society for better or worse, just because no one wants to pay money to see Sharon Stones b cub tit doesn’t mean that “erotica” is banned in America. Has this idiot even been to the USA? We are the erotica kings! Ever seen Real Sex on HBO? It’s full of American’s doing it freely. The reason Basic Instinct made money so long ago was because it was a big deal for a women to spread her legs in a mainstream movie. Now days it’s common practice to see muffs, why would anyone pay good money for something that can be downloaded in 3.2 seconds?

I guess that the bottom line is that I am sick of Hollywood types talking out of their ass when they fail, and they try to blame Christian values when their crappy movies flop. Styles come and go and American’s are not shocked anymore to see bare vaginas. The problem is actually the opposite, we are just numb to it and we don’t care. Further proof that the Hollywood elite are way out of touch with the real America. Me on the other hand, I am in touch with America and myself at this very moment.

Thief debuts on FX

2006-03-29T12:16:00.000-08:00

thief on fx!
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

OK, I DVRed Thief last night and haven’t had a chance to review it. For those that have seen or want a review with spoilers then read Alexander Kent’s article here. You can also share your thoughts there as well.

I plan on watching it as soon as I can and will read Alex’s review. I look forward to hopefully disagreeing with him. Why? Because I am a jack ass.

I really like the direction of the Shreveport Times where we the reader can engage the writers. Perhaps this is a way for newspapers to keep up with the high speed information super highway. I also really enjoy the Times sport free for all blog. Once again it’s way to engage the writers and read about their real passion. Turns out that their real passion is Women’s collage basketball, nothing gets a Shreveport sports writer more pissed off then debating NCAA women’s basketball.

Tramp Stamp

2006-03-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

I call the butt crack tattoos on girls, “White Trash Birthmark”, that is a Brett Roman original. But my buddy Steve told me a new one that he heard that is better then mine. “TRAMP STAMP” hahahahahaha

Still around

2006-03-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

Haven’t been doing much blogging lately, duh!

All creative energies have been steering toward new GTF music, which is coming along nicely. I am excited about the new material and can’t wait to get a good recording and going public with it. It’s really a left turn form our previous work and it will defiantly make an impact on the scene.

Was it Theodore Roosevelt that said “Speak softly and carry a big stick”?

Sex Pistols tell Rock Roll hall of fame to have sex with itself.

2006-02-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

congrat1
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

You will have to pay $25,000 a table to attend this years Rock n Roll hall of fame induction shin dig. But The Sex Pistols are not coming to their own party. Citing ridicules table prices and utter hate for the music industry, The Sex Pistols disrespectfully declined their invitation to attend the ceremony in which they will honored. In a written letter by someone who never saw a big chief notebook as a child, the Pistols use such words as “urine”, “piss” and “shit-stem” to decline their invention and give another middle finger to the industry that they have swindled and manipulated for 30 years.

This is an excellent career move at a time when the back catalog may be slowing down due to having not recorded new studio material in 28 years. But perhaps they can re-re-re-re-re-re-re-release more Goodman tapes or bootleg prison gigs and cash in a bit. But perhaps the Pistol really does care about their product and are sticking to their guns as ridicules as it looks. With Joey Strummer and 3 Ramones dead, the legends of punk are wearing thin and I think that it’s refreshing to see someone giving a good cussing to a bunch of wankers trying to have a party.

Click here to read the handwritten note directly off of the bands web site.

NO comment so far from other 2006 inductees, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, and remains of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Editorial from Daniel Prime

2006-02-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Longtime Shreveport music supporter and Louisiana National Guardsman Daniel Prime recently had an editorial published in the Shreveport Times. Take the time to read this account from a real soldier as opposed to any crap from an “anonymous” soldier which is often faked and used for propaganda purposes.
May God protect all of our Louisiana soldiers serving in the Middle East, we need to support our brothers and wish them a safe return home.

click here for article

Sometimes you gotta kick it old school

2006-02-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

492765014_m
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

Only 2 more shows for “The Return of Ghost Town Flood”. Tonight 2/17 at Mia’s and Saturday 2/18 at Lil Joes. Now that the mission of breaking Jeff into the band has been accomplished we can take a month off to write new material. Our reintroduction into the local music scene has been good, we did have 1 bomb, and that was our first show at LIl Joes playing before Ronster Monster. That set was fucking horrible and was the worst outing I have ever had with a band. I was actually on stage thinking to myself, “God, I wish this would get over with, I wonder if we can become a studio only band like the Beatles” And this was during the 3rd song! Absolutely horrible, good thing not many people were there.

Our second outing was much improved, we still had a couple of rough spots but Josh and I was so wasted and we jumped around so much that no one noticed. We actually had people up front jumping up and down with us which is a rarity in this town (unless you’re Dirtfoot, but they are a whole different genre). The 3rd show at Mia’s was good the next week, and the 4th at Einstein’s in El Dorado was great too. I felt a little out of place at Einstein’s , the crowed was older and playing in front of the veteran musicians in All Night Records was a little intimidating at first, but I really enjoyed it overall, it’s a pleasure to play at a nice venue with a top notch PA system.

I am really pleased about jamming with a bunch of great bands on our string of dates. I really enjoy The Barstool Prophets, I like the way that John gets everyone going on bass leading the jam with an amazing group of musicians. They had Dirty Red with them that night and his talent is immeasurable, it’s just a pleasure to see him do his thing.

The Hoodlum Circus is a fine act and they are getting really tight, I like the old school punk attitude even though it’s sort of weird seeing them with brooms cleaning up as soon as they are done playing. I hope that they can keep it going throughout the New Year.

The Situation is a pleasant surprise, not only are they nice guys, but good musicians to boot. They have a very bright future ahead of them and they also will be going places this year. I know what it is like to be in a startup band and I am more then happy to help them get a few gigs to get rolling. They are all taller then I and that is my only complaint.

It was an honor to be invited to jam with All Night Records, I wrote about them before and they once again proved that they know how to bring the rock. They have a great sound and some great original songs. Brian (the front man, lead vocalist) has the energy to ignite the entire band they obviously enjoy it. They may be older, but not that old. If I can rock like that in 15 years then I will be very proud.

Tomorrow at Lil Joes will be the first time that I have shared the same stage as long time rocker Chris Alexander. I really look forward to it, Chris has been a lot more consistent in his musical career then I have been, mostly due to his do it yourself attitude and determination. We both come from the same scene from the early nineties and we have a lot of similar memories. Who else in town that is still playing remembers Ed Hall from Austin playing at the Cell Block with neon paint all over their bodies? No one, I don’t know what happened to all of those people from that scene, but Chris is still kicking it and doing it his way. If I could go back and do it all over again I would follow his footsteps and never quit playing. Hopefully Chris and I will do more stuff in the future.
As you can see I not only enjoy my own band, that’s a large part of it, but I also enjoy the camaraderie of the other bands in town that have a similar goal. Next show will be April 1 back at Mia’s (yeah Mia’s again, what can I say? They like GTF and they treat us well.) I am already working on jamming with some different bands in April so stay tuned.

And of course with our return will be a whole batch of new songs, leading up to the new recording session and new ep this summer. Got to keep rolling, that’s what old school is all about.

From the News Desk of Brett Roman

2006-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

From the news desk of Brett Roman

From Reuters
Disney World visitor hit, hurt by pirate ship
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-02-15T175635Z_01_N15257338_RTRUKOC_0_US-LEISURE-DISNEY.xml&rpc=22

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A 71-year-old man visiting Disney World with his wife and granddaughter fell off a moving walkway leading to a Peter Pan ride and was pinned under a pirate ship that carries passengers through the attraction, an official with emergency services said on Wednesday.

He fell between two slow-moving pirate ships and was hit and pinned under one of them before the ride was stopped by a Disney employee who activated an emergency switch.

Hmmm, could this 71 year old man be a member of the Shreveport City Council that voted to cut SRAC’s budget? Could this be the Peter Pan threat that has come true? The plot thickens…

From Breitbart

Britain has new weapon against loitering youths -- Sonic Teenager Deterrent

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/15/060215133756.3rq2yx5p.html

Shopkeepers in central England have been trying out a new device that emits an uncomfortable high-pitched noise designed to disperse young loiterers outside their stores without bothering adults.

"The noise can normally only be heard by those between 12 and 22 and it makes the listener feel uncomfortable," she added.
Once in their early 20s, people lose their capacity to hear sounds at such a high pitch.

What? You mean that people between the ages of 12-22 can hear high pitched sounds that a mature adult can’t? Oh man this explains a lot, like all the horrible music that kids listen to, like boy bands and bad metal. I wouldn’t doubt that the record companies are putting subliminal messages in their music in frequencies that only young people can hear, like:”You love Ashlee Simpson, Shop at the Gap, Eat fruit Roll Ups”
The plot thickens…

From Breitbart

Young Canadians prefer 'virtual sex': survey
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/14/060214202406.jhahap3b.html

Young Canadians are digitizing their sex lives, embracing computer screens and touching keyboards ever so gently in lieu of person to person contact, according to a new survey.

Aren’t they touching something else ever so gently?

"We were very surprised that the number was so high," said Noah Gurza of Toronto-based online dating service CampusKiss.com, which commissioned the Kiss and Tell survey.
"It's a testament that the Internet has spawned a new sexual revolution."

Sexual revolution? I hate to break this to you, but there is nothing new or revolutionary about masturbation.

For some who feel more comfortable approaching people online than at a bar "it's a social lubricant," while others prefer the anonymity "to explore sex in ways they wouldn't in real life," he added.

Social Lubricant? Who is writing this? Howard Stern? Only a Canadian can use a phrase like”social lubricant” when writing about beating off.

Fifty-one percent of respondents were female and 49 percent were male. Of these, 53 percent of students had sex over instant messenger while 44 percent made love to a partner via webcam or telephone.

Alright, that’s the last straw, beating off while talking dirty on the phone or on the computer is not ”making love:” We have to keep some things sacred in these troublesome days, claiming that whacking off is making love is going over the edge of reality. Now if you want to say that you make love to yourself then that’s cool and more accurate. Stupid Canadians.

Oh, and 1 more statistic:

"Ninety-three percent have masturbated"

They should put a disclaimer at the end of the article that reads “7 percent of those surveyed have lied while taking this survey.

Last straw

2006-02-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

pak006
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

Alright motherfuckers, you don’t jack with the Colonel and get away with it.

Giant sperm invades Winter Olympics!

2006-02-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

giant sperm
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

Wondering why no one cares about the winter Olympics? Ok, you may not be, but many are in corporate offices at NBC. Maybe it’s the blur and fine line between art and crap. Here we see what appears to be giant sperm invading the opening ceremony. Come on sport fans! Let’s get siked! Who needs the NFL when we have this display of crap? It’s all about the world coming together, after the Olympics are over we can all go back and bash the USA for being rich while everyone starves in Africa, never mind that the sperm costumes probably cost 150 grand a shot. (pun intended)

Payola is the way of life in commercial radio

2006-02-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Alan Freed
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

Just what is Payola? Wikipedia says

“In the music industry, the illegal practice of record companies paying money for the broadcast of records on music radio is called payola, if the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast.”

Read here for the full explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola

Ever listen to the radio and say to yourself “this song absolutely sucks, why are they playing this on the radio?’

I am sure that you have, most hardcore music lovers and musicians have given up on commercial radio years ago, those that care have found alternative ways to get their music like the internet , satellite radio or digital cable radio. Some have resorted to flat out stealing music with peer to peer software which makes music easy to steal but hard to trace. Legendary DJ and rock n roll pioneer Alan Freed almost had his career ruined because of payola, but that was in the past, now days payola is so rampant that no body gives a crap any more, it’s just the way the music industry is and the FCC has been turning a blind eye for decades.

For the latest news about the payola investigation read here:
http://www.broward.com/mld/mercurynews/business/13828084.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_business

Sony and Warner have already agreed to settle their end of the investigation, they have been caught red handed, and all it took was a DA with the balls to do the paper work to bring up some guilty admissions. Payola is so rampant that a 5 year old could prosecute and get what is chump change to the major record labels to pay up.

I am afraid that despite the current publicity and effort to clean up the radio industry, there is no turning back. Commercial radio is so corrupt that it is lost forever, they only cater to women in cubicles who want to hear ‘what’s love go to do with it’ by Tina Turner for the 5009th straight day in their life.

That’s why it is so important to support collage radio or non profit radio like KSCL and KDAQ on the FM dial. Unfortunately I am still waiting for KSCL to get a new tower so that it can be relevant to Shreveport’s culture outside of Highland. Then the task will be to find students to DJ the station who actually has an understanding and passion for independent music. Nothing makes me want to puke like turning on KSCL and hearing the same crap they play on commercial radio, it totally misses the point and opportunity.

10 years of editorials on KSLA did have a purpose after all, Bradley throws hat in mayors race.

2006-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

In 1995 when Ed Bradley took over the station manager job at Shreveport CBS affiliate KSLA he soon stated a series of “editorials “during the nightly news titles “the way we see it”. Usually the topics were soft and non controversial, I admit that it took me a while to understand what he was saying but I watched with an open mind.

I did find it odd that a TV station manger whose background was in sales and marketing would have free air time to give his personal opinions at least once a week. But we are all entitled to our opinions and despite the Islamic fascists that are trying to take over the world, this is America and I do love my free speech.

So Ed’s commentary became part of the way of life for someone trying to watch news at 10 on KSLA, it isn’t like he is running for office or anything, maybe the guy just cares about the community and has something to say.

And then this week, lo and behold! He is running for mayor, wow, who would have thought! Welcome to Louisiana politics Mr. Bradley, you already fit right in.

For background on Ed Bradley please visit his own web page for his bio
http://www.edbradley06.com/about.php

Where we find this important paragraph:

“Under Bradley’s direction KSLA has become a model for diversity and equal opportunity within the local broadcast community - promoting an African-American female as news director and hiring the area’s first female sportscaster. He has ensured diversity at KSLA by hiring all minorities to represent every aspect of the station’s operations.”

Bradley’s web site brags about the fact that he hired a black women as news director and a female (we assume is white because she doesn’t have any additional titles tacked on) sportscaster. Not really ground breaking, many markets across the country have hired pretty white female sportscasters to keep men up at night (pun alert!) and I have no doubt that an African American female could do a fine job as news director. But the last part is truly groundbreaking,

“He has ensured diversity at KSLA by hiring all minorities to represent every aspect of the station’s operations.”

What does this mean? So he won’t hire a white male? Every aspect of the stations operation is run by minority? So is a female a minority? WTF WTF WTF , my mind is going to explode, too much political correct garbage talk, why not just come out and say what you mean, we won’t hire white men, what else can it mean?

I’m not condemning the man, I’ll chew ass on everyone just the same. His platform of fighting crime and saving money are pluses in my book, but I don’t understand googledy gook race talk. Visit his web site which I linked to and make up your own mind.

I don’t live in Shreveport anymore so I won’t be voting. Good luck on your campaign Mr. Bradley, I hope that the 10 year head start of free air time works out for ya. And that’s the way I see it.

Ron Capone

2006-02-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

Read Dan Garners tribute to Louisiana native and Stax Records engineer Ron Capone who has sadly passed away this week. http://dangarner.blogspot.com

Shreveport's first punk band

2006-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

Read about Shreveport’s First punk band The Wedgeheads at Chris x Browns Live journal. Chris is a musical sleuth and underground detective. He is becoming a cultural curator of a new generation. Read about The Wedgeheads and much more of Chris’s work.

Congratulations to Dirtfoot, winner of the first Shreveport Times Battle of the Bands.

2006-01-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

I was unable to attend the event at the municipal auditorium due to work matters, but I am pleased that a worthy band won the “competition”. All bands that played were winner in getting to the second round and the chance to play on the infamous stage at municipal is an honor in its own right. I doubt that anyone of the 5 bands that didn’t get the top prize is complaining. If they are then they suck and need to get their head examined for inflated ego.

I talked to Matt Hazleton briefly last week at Joes and I told him that I thought that they would win and good things would come from it. I am right on my first prediction and the second is a no brainier. Dirtfoot has earned their stripes in keeping the project together for many years, building up their fan base and providing top notch musicianship all the time. They are one of these “musicians’ bands” which I believe is the highest honor. A musician’s band is a favorite band of other musician’s in town, a band that has total respect from their peers. Dirtfoot deserves all of the accolades and media attention that they get from being the winner, only those jealous will complain. Dirtfoot is a testament to hard work and keeping a band alive through tough times. Perhaps Dirtfoot has reached the light at the end of the tunnel, where all of the crappy gigs and crappy paydays at dives finally pay off. It’s nice to see Dirtfoot finally receive that mainstream attention that they deserve and it’s time for Shreveport to take notice. Dirtfoot is an inspiration to stick with your guns and that if you take yourself seriously, others will soon follow. I hope that Dirtfoots success will influence more bands to take a chance on something out of the ordinary and it also serves notice to the rest of the local music scene that they music world doesn’t revolve around casino’s and the same 3 bars on the river front. It amazes me that so many people haven’t seen what the underground indie scene can do; most have not even seen Dirtfoot before the BOTB. Dirtfoot’s victory is one for the underground and the grass roots indie scene in this town, and proof that the time has come for everyone else to take notice.

The last thing I need is drama

2006-01-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

The kids were wide awake at 3 am this morning. They decided that they wanted to jump around on the bed; Monica and I were struggling to calm them down so that we could get our own rest. As I lay there restless myself, I decided to go outside, grab a smoke and check shreveporttimes.com and see the “hot ticket” article about the Ghost Town show tonight and our new drummer Jeff.
After reading it I went back to the bedroom, Monica was still stirring and she asked me what I was doing. I said “I grabbed a smoke and read the Times article.” “How was it” she asked. The only thing I could reply with was “oh shit”. And with that I went back to bed.

In article I am quoted as saying:

Bass guitarist Brett Roman Stampley is happy to add Singleton to the trio, which also includes frontman Josh Coker. "(Jeff) is actually a trained drummer and he's got real timing. He brings a lot of technical expertise to it that we've never had before. It's really going to have the biggest impact on the songwriting,"

For the full article click here

At first glance it may appear to some for this sentence to be a diss on Chadwick, but it is taken out from context from a longer conversation I had with the reporter about the differences between Chadwick’s and Jeff’s styles. During which I praised both of their styles, Chadwick is what I describe as a natural drummer, and he has only been playing a few years and hasn’t had any formal training. Yet he has a natural talent and bashing style which is just great and well suited for The Big Positive and Ghost Town Flood. Could he sit on blues jam with Jerry Beach? He may have some problems there, but you know what? I couldn’t do it either, I myself have just a little bit of formal training and I bash the same way but with a different instrument. If Jerry Beach (and I use jerry just as an example because of his talent and legendary blues jams) asked me to play a blues scale in F with ¾ time, I would barley know what the fuck to do. So in no way am I meaning to diss Chadwick, not only is he a family friend and like a brother to me, I would be a fool to act like I myself am a more high and mighty musician. (Ok, I may be higher, but that’s not the point).

The point of that part of a conversation was that Jeff brings knowledge that we didn’t have before in songwriting which is interesting to me. I am sure that Chadwick enjoys things about The Big Positive that GTF didn’t have, and that’s totally cool, I want everyone in the scene to enjoy the music they make and to get a creative satisfaction from it.

I hope that no one reads this interview the wrong way, the story is very short and I know that it is a challenge to make a story fit a small area of newspaper (the article is only ¼ of a page, and that includes the photo which is bigger then the story in the text.)

I love Chadwick, Michael, Carter, John of the Big Positive, those guys have been supportive of GTF before Chadwick joined their group and I think that GTF was equally supportive of them in the past. I hope that this doesn’t raise a big stink and I look forward to working on shows and having more good times with them.

SRAC takes another hit part 2

2006-01-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

Please read part 1 of this rant before continuing. It can be found below.

I come into this debate about SRAC from an outsider’s point of view; I am a part time musician with a full time job, wife and 2 kids. Unfortunately I don’t have to make my lively hood from my art of original songs and bass lines. But what about those that do? There is an old saying “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. Are local artist afraid to speak out about SRAC’s wastefulness because they don’t want repercussions from SRAC that may jeopardize their good standing in the arts community? Well the time is drawing near where everyone is going to lose if the city of Shreveport’s generosity towards the arts turns into a bigger scandal. The key is that in this post Katrina state Billy Joe Shreveport is not going to stand for SRAC having a 3 million dollar budget when the crime rate in Shreveport is going through the roof. The average citizen just doesn’t care about the arts, I hate to say. Now this is not a good thing and lord knows that Shreveport could use more culture.

Another saying is “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Is it time for the artist of Shreveport to take a stand and form a new organization by the artist and for the artist that can go to the Shreveport city council and tell them that they can put the city’s money to better use? Maybe, I don’t know. But you the reader might.

Now may be the time for a new generation of artist to take control of their own destiny. Now may be the time for the underground to become the mainstream. Sort of like a musical movement, it takes time for the rest of the industry to take notice and to change course for the newer and better product. It’s the natural progression of art, for the new to take charge and rule the scene. We have this great underground art scene and the old guard is ruining the reputation of city subsidized art. I KNOW that there are people who can run SRAC or a new organization more efficiently without childish political threats when their panties get in a wad or their budget takes a hit. SRAC’s going got tough and instead of adjusting, they are taking their toys and going home, pouting the entire time. It’s embarrassing…and now Billy Joe Shreveport is noticing. I am sure that the current SRAC leadership are not evil people, but sort of like a rock band that sells out to disco, they may have lost their way. Don’t let this happen to the scene. Besides, if there is no scene, who is Judah Roman (age 2) going to knock off one day?

SRAC takes another hit part 1

2006-01-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

In today’s Shreveport Times humorist Teddy Allen writes a column entitled ‘Vinnie van Gogh lops off ear, donates proceeds to SRAC’.
The article is a fake letter written by a fictional character named Manfred Hoover who pleas to the council not to cut funding to SRAC for a lot of humorous reasons. Read the full article by clicking the above link for a good chuckle.

While I enjoy the piece and I always find Teddy’s humor enlighting, is this what SRAC has become? A laughing stock to the average Blly Joe Shreveport? The recent budget cuts and subsequent political threats do not look good to a Louisiana public who after hurricane Katrina looks at government spending and grants in a more serious light.
From my limited research and conversations with people in the know about what SRAC does with their money, one common theme always comes up. Wasteful spending on parties and other assorted crap. Shouldn’t the majority of SRAC money go to local artist to survive finically while they fine tune their craft and work to bring Shreveport respect to a national art scene? Shreveport’s art scene is going through a golden age, yet bad publicity and wasteful spending by SRAC is threatening to overshadow all of the positive moves and progress.
The Shreveport art scene is at a crossroads of opportunity with the talent in the scene and movie industry opportunity. This is a chance that Shreveport artist have been waiting for..At least the ones that haven’t moved yet. Is this chance going to be blown because Art Space is being held hostage (as 2 of my readers put it) and the public outcry has put SRAC’s financial records in the public eye? This is a new state we live in, sort of like post 9/11 USA, we now live in post Katrina Louisiana, and the days of wasteful state government spending is coming to a close. When word gets out to the public about SRAC spending, the 200k that SRAC lost this year will be a drop in the bucket compared to the cuts that will come when Billy Joe Shreveport gets pissed off. Trust me; this is not good news for those that need grants to survive and to finish projects.

The Bizarre world of SRAC

2006-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Mr. green
Originally uploaded by brettroman.

In today’s Shreveport Times, Don Walker brings us behind the scenes in what is becoming a bizarre political battle between the Shreveport city council and SRAC (Shreveport Regional Arts Council) that stems from a big budget cut from the Shreveport city council. Let’s take a look..

"In a letter to Councilwoman Cynthia Robertson, Jeffrey Kallenberg says he is working to find a political challenger to run against her in the fall election.

"I must tell you, I have been most impressed with the quantity and quality of the individuals, thanks to your position on the Arts and Education, Art Break and the importance of the arts in our community, willing to run against you," said Kallenberg, whose wife, Sandi Kallenberg, is chairwoman of SRAC's board of directors.

So SRAC’s chairwomen’s husband is sending nasty grams to city council members threaten political backlash against council members, and he is threatening to find opponents to this particular city Council member to challenge their seat. OK, I can live with that, even though I would like to see a regular citizen take up this campaign instead of someone who has a financial interest in the SRAC’s budget, like the Chairwomen’s husband, it sort of reeks of cronyism but the letter then gets plain weird.

"You know the story," Jeffrey Kallenberg's letter to Robertson states. "You've read or seen Peter Pan. Think of yourself as the infamous Capt. Hook. Think of me as the crocodile. Tick, tick, tick."

What the fuck is that about? What is this ticking shit? So now the chairwomen of SRAC’s board of directors husband is threatening to eat Shreveport Council women Cynthia Robertson!? What’s up with the vague Peter Pan references, has this guy been hanging out with Michael Jackson? Tick,tick tick?? The story continues..

Tuesday, Green suspended the rules to read SRAC-related financial statistics into the record. According to Green:

SRAC was appropriated $440,000 by the city this year.

The agency has a $3.4 million budget.

The city provides SRAC free office space.

The city pays $15,508 in utility fees for SRAC.

The city paid more than $7,000 for security at last year's Art Break event, including providing SRAC free lease of Expo Hall.

"It's not like we're mistreating them," Green said. "We're giving them more than any organization in this city. If you can't find something in a $3.4 million budget for children, then there's something wrong with your budget."

Hmm “Green” has a point there, why do I just call him or her Green? Because the newspaper article fails to tell us who this person is, one paragraph it’s about Peter Pan and the next is a long list of figures from the mysterious Green. Could this be the same Mr. Green from Clue?

Councilman Theron Jackson said he recently returned from an out-of-town trip and his son asked him, "Daddy, tell me again why you canceled Art Break?"

What SRAC does with its city appropriation is SRAC's decision. The arts organization has said that ArtBreak may be unable to continue without city support.

Jackson said that he hasn't lost an ounce of sleep over the SRAC cuts and that there's a "nonsensical street debate" over why the cuts were made and the implications.

"We have unlimited needs and limited resources. Nobody decided to pick on SRAC."

Hmm. So SRAC has to make some budget cuts, you would think that they would cut something low profile to give the impression that everything is ok in SRAC land, but no, they cut money from Art Break , the moist visible thing they do. Why? So that all the parents will get pissed off and bitch at the city council. What better way to get citizens on your side then to cut a high profile event for Kids? Right here and now I am questioning whether Art Break really had to take a huge cut or did they decide to use Art break as a soft target to prove a point and to raise a stink with every parent in the city. I just don’t buy it.

Jackson also noted that in its application for city funding, SRAC indicated its personnel payroll is $600,000.

$600,000!!!! Holy shit that’s a lot of money, how many people do they employ? I only know one, and she is a princess, but wow, does the SRAC board of Directors roll in Cadillac SUV’s? Man, I want in on that. No wonder that women’s husband is pissed, he probably has to cut down on gas for the family yacht. I would be pissed too, you know my wife was laid off , maybe I should write a letter to the Cox Communications manager and tell him that he is the scissors and I am the rock (cause I rock, you see..)

"We're getting calls, e-mails from people making a real attempt to support the arts," said Councilman Monty Walford. He and Councilman Thomas Carmody voted against cutting SRAC's appropriations, yet they're also receiving negative citizen feedback.

Pam Atchison, SRAC executive director, has indicated the group plans to return to the council as early as next month to request additional funding.

Walford said he is unaware that anything is planned by the council to reconsider SRAC funding or amend its financial assistance from the city.

"My hope is that SRAC can work to bring us Art Break, even if it's on a scaled-down basis, if that's where the cut has to be made. I'd love to see it done using our new pavilion at Festival Plaza and Convention Hall next to Civic Theater. That's what I'd like to see."

This whole thing reeks of something fishy. I know for a fact that SRAC helps a lot of people out and I have even been a recipient of a check from them one time myself, but a 3.4 million budget? And they are cutting Art Break? It just seems too political to me to have a storybook writing campaign by SRAC family members, it is bizarre, and I am sure that there is more to it behind the scenes.