June 2006

What is this world coming to? Trace Adkins latest release has taken the age old swing batter, batter, batter chant and turned it into a chorus of a song.

Be afraid. I guess I can’t complain about Honkytonk Badonkadonk anymore.

Saw that our old friend Tim McGraw has reached No. 7 on the CMT Top 20 with Ryan Adams 2001 release "When the Stars Go Blue." Go Tiny Tim!

Maybe Adams was ahead of his time?

Maybe his song’s pop country success will finally push him over the edge from which he has been dangling for the past several years.

Am sorry that last bit demonstrated that I do occasionally flip through the pop country CMT television station. Did just see a great special on the man in black.

Last weekend was filled with music. Ran the merch table for the Blaine Younger Band at country stampede. Neat experience if nothing else. Hats off to the Blaine and the boys for representing an anti Nashville flavor at a 100 percent Nashville production. Got to hang with all the cool merch people from around the country. I was wondering what it would be like to do that as a full time job. "Yeah, I sell t shirts for Jo Dee Mesina"

Yeah, well I sell shirts for the BYB damn it. At least I did once. Speaking of shirts, the ATB is planning some merchandise additions in the near future. We will keep you posted.

Saturday and Sunday were consumed with studio time. I am with Mason on the lack of sleep not being the greatest idea heading into Sunday’s recording. It was cool in the sense that the only one of us that had been in a studio to record was Mason. The rest of us can know what to expect I guess. Hats off to Chubby for being a helluva cool guy and for helping us out. Noting as painful as listening to yourself wreck a recording of a song.

Check back occasionally as more shows are waiting in the wings. Hopefully, if you are reading this, we will be coming nearby sometime soon.

Till then,
g

Typing one out at G’s
Still trying to recover
Late return from the studio last weekend
Haven’t had much computer play lately
Put Vista on my box at home
Runs like an old lame dog
Just got sound back last night

We cranked out four new songs
Learned how to play five of six more
Came back with a CD of 18 originals
The CD sounded like a four-track
Made by running a PA through a floor wedge monitor and putting a microphone in front of it
Technology these days

Putting some shows on the books
Ok, nobody uses books these days
It’s all electronic
We enter shows into a form on the website
Some of us do, anyway

Keep an eye out for us

I just finished up a marathon run in the studio. Four days in a row, which is pretty intense for a guy who has rarely done studio work. Two days with my band "Cock the Bolt" and then two days with the ATB. The ATB got some good work done over the weekend but I think we figured out that you don’t go on a bender the night before you go into the studio. Everyone was tired and cranky by the time we finished our work. Thanks to Jeff "Chubby" Smith for putting up with us, we can be pretty demanding at times. Also wanted to plug another show of mine that is coming up. "Guse" is playing on July 5th, we are opening for "Photolab", it is their final show ever, they’re breaking up.
Anyway, I’m wiped out and really looking forward to not being in the studio for a week or so.
Thanks for checking in…………and stayed tuned for more bulljive……coming soon!

MP

Time to checkout Chris Knight if you have not already. I just received and am listening to the new Chris Knight effort "Enough Rope" and am very impressed. This is the kind of songwriting that inspires some to try to write and pushes others from it for fear of interiority.

So. Go order your advanced copy at Chris’ website. This is real music and regardless of your genre of favor, I bet you will appreciate this talent.

More to come on this. Thinking of writing a review of the CD for publication. Sounds like work. g

You know what you shouldn’t ever do? Close a bar down on a Tuesday when you are not playing there. Man, I feel terrible today………..Why did they have to have $1.50 wells?
Well, it looks like the ATB is getting together this weekend to write and practice a new set. I’m really excited to get this going. Hopefully the next time everyone sees the ATB we’ll have a new setlist…………..damn exciting stuff!
Best wishes to all.

MP

Alright, I’ve got two goals for the ATB. 1.) Aaron Traffas is going to play electric guitar again 2.) Aaron Traffas is going to play banjo. Beyond that I just wanted to update eveyone on where I’ve been. It’s been a long time since I have posted and I apologize, I’ve been extra busy lately. Since Aaron has been running out of money cutting wheat I’ve been recording and playing shows. Life has been crazy lately.
So here is the deal, we need some feedback, does Aaron need to pull out the electric guitar and rock our faces off? Let’s here what everyone else thinks! Shoot me an email at mason_powell@yahoo.com and tell me what you think.

Well, it is 545 in these parts and I just blew into town. Bob’s Diner was full of people and McDonalds was serving breakfast.

Went on a tour a la Bohn last night for his birthday party (about a month ago in case you are counting). Drove to KC to see Richard Buckner at Davey’s Uptown Rambler’s Club. Cool atmosphere and weird show. The guy started at 745 and played till about 915 while saying exactly three words to the crowd the entire time. "Thanks for coming." The weirdness label probably comes from either him never taking breaks between songs thanks to a synthesizer. Different and kind of a la Pink Floyd. Then afterwards, we are sitting there and this guy that had seen the show, there were 46 of us there so I knew him, erupted in a fit of anger, pushed his girlfriend, and then started yelling at Buckner. Weird. Met some cool future ATB fans Josh and Jessica and hope to see them out soon.

The tour continued with a stop in Lawrence at Stu’s Midtown Tavern to checkout Travis Linville and the SugarFree All Stars. Linville played all of my requests and I bought his new CD and then a beer. Man, Dusty was right, that guy is cool just to hangout and talk to. Besides the toothless woman (I am not being funny here) that would not quit dancing, the show was pretty poorly attended and disappointing. If there are any Red Dirt fans in Lawrence, they sure keep to themselves well. Do me a favor if you are in the Manhattan area and GO to the Linville/Sugarfree Allstars show tonight at Auntie Mae’s. I will be celebrating Father’s Day in McPherson but will be there in spirit, especially if someone reads this and goes…

Decided it would be a good idea to head back to the familiar territory of Jeremiah Bullfrogs in Topeka following our Sugarfree Linville encounter. Ran into Amber working at JB’s and it was great to see her–she has always had an unforgettable smile. From there, we hit the new place–Tailgators and ran into several more people including quite a few underage former students. Crashed in John’s driveway for about three hours and then made it back to Manhappiness. Just in time for McDonalds and sleep before sunrise.

Till when?
g

Third day of wheat cutting
Finally climbed up in the cab
At 10:15pm
I spent the day as Mr. Mechanic

Started at 8:00am
Two bearings on Dad’s combine
Wobble box on mine
Took the truck to Nashville
(Kansas, Dusty, Kansas)
Got back and Dad’s auger hosed itself
Had it fixed by 10:15pm
I got to cut until 10:45pm
Filled up to capacity

Yesterday wasn’t much better
I’m so tired I can’t even remember what we did
Let the good times roll

See that man? He’s just a hilljack.
A redneck republican in a pointed hat.

Gobble, gobble.
Wheeeeeeeee.

The Pendergast has remained a mystery to me over the past year or so. I have heard the name repeatedly and they have played places like Auntie Mae’s and PJ’s but I had not seen them. I always thought they were a thrasher metal band just by their name. I have never been more wrong.

Tony (pendergast singer) played an accoustic show at Mae’s last night opening for Cary Hudson, whom I figured was a female by his name.

Turns out that Tony sounds like cross between Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, and Neil Young three of my all time favorites. Wow and could this guy write songs on top of it.

Cary turns out was in a band called Blue Mountain which was on the third cover ever of No Depression magazine back in the 90’s. Now those of you true ALT COUNTRY fans know that being on the cover of ND would be the equivalent of being on the cover of all the bibles produced in one year. He sounded amazing as well and much different than Tony. Kind of like ALT COUNTRY gets smacked in the face with the Blues. Some excellent slide guitar work and mean vocals put him on my list of people to see again!

So, what have we learned from this class? Names can be deceiving and very pleasantly so.

g

The die has been cast. Harvest has officially came for me. While both combines are still down and we have yet to put the header in the wheat, the aches in my muscles tell me the fun has begun.

Anyone know of a good bass player who won’t upstage me?

Thanks to Josh for the place to set up and work during his party. Thanks to Egging for the help and the documentation. Now I can’t convince G it was all in his head.

I made it back in time for Logan’s wedding. I scrambled home to change and begin working on the Masseys. We blew a header reel lift control hydraulic line on one machine and the other still has a broken header reel hydraulic pump. I put together the generator I bought Thursday at the auction. It finally started when I put oil in it. It didn’t work so well until I did that, though had I arrived at the realization a little earlier my arm would probably hurt a little less right now.

I changed and went back to Medicine Lodge to catch some of Logan’s reception and some of the Dorfus Cracktractor show. Big crowd at June Fest…drunk hilljacks made up the better part of the crowd, but it was nostalgic nonetheless.