August 21, 2005 - Somewhere in the San Luis valley in southern Colorado, there is a well with an improperly installed pump flowing water. A small pond has formed around the well, and the pond is teeming with mosquitoes. In the next ten days, a 24-foot Airstream trailer will be moved next to the pond, and the well pump will be tightened.
__________
August 2, 2005 - It's been over a month since Eric sent us anything worthwhile. We talked to his neighbors and apparently he's making some kind of unholy ruckus in his basement, sometimes punctuated by the scream of a circular saw. We DID, however, receive a short story from Ranger Jay, gonzo journalist/poet of the Texas panhandle. It will be posted directly. In truth, you don't want to know what's going on.
__________
June 26, 2005 - Last weekend, Director Greg Fitzsimmons was in Denver to shoot a video for the song 'Actual Size' from the new album. Thanks again to the Bug Theatre for being a perfect setting and to photographer Laura Klein, artist Tia Christine and to the band for their time and mad skillz. Eric has (deserved) rope burns on his neck and arms from the shoot.
__________
June 22, 2005 - Over the next two weeks, Eric plays drums for the Jami Lunde Band at the Grand County Blues Festival (Saturday July 7th,Solvista Ski Resort, Granby CO) and the Winter Park Folk Festival (Saturday July 9th, Winter Park CO). Ten bucks says he "plans" to practice and frequently says he will, but doesn't.
__________
June 16, 2005 - First you scrape, then you sand, then you prime, then you paint. Then you gut, mud, sand and repeat. Yesterday Eric signed a contract to purchase a 40-acre ranch in southern Colorado. Today he's painting the exterior of his Denver home to get it ready for sale. Tonight Director Greg Fitzsimmons arrives in Denver to shoot a video for Eric's song "Actual Size," which happens to be Song Of The Month on fantastic internet station KRFC (Radio Free Colorado).
__________
June 8, 2005 - open letter to the DMB...
__________
June 2, 2005 - As of yesterday, Eric is doing an ULTIMATE MAKEOVER on his house. It's the first step in a process that will lead him to a small recording studio/home in the middle of nowhere. Probably powered by windmills and the sun. Today he sent us a picture of the tiller he rented to turn over his dead lawn. Not worth posting. His new album El Diablo is finished except for a few minor changes. But it will probably be fall 2005 before his affairs are enough in order to actually release it.
__________
May 23, 2005 - With it logistically impossible for Eric to go to California during the next six months, Director Greg Fitzsimmons and Screenwriter Dave Kajganich are (keep your fingers crossed) set to come to Denver in June to shoot a video for at least one song from Eric's new album, with Warner Brothers picking up the tab. There's a chance Eric will be covered with spiders, scorpions or both for the "Actual Size" shoot.
__________
May 5, 2005 -
...beep beep beep.....hey hey hey...
You'll have your answers soon enough. But unteeeeeeeeel
thennn...just look up at the light and think about rocketships while the needle goes into
your arm.
__________
April 4, 2005 - There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home. There is no yellow rose on the door. I won't be home.
__________
March 15, 2005 - Last night Eric sent us an incoherent, rambling update. We gleaned from it he is roughly halfway finished mixing the new album. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like he was in Colorado Springs this past weekend playing with a band of drunken hillbillies. We bet that went well.
__________
February 23, 2005 - This week Eric sent us finished mixes of a few songs on the new album. ETA for the album is now June.
__________
February 22, 2005 - Why are you here? So far this month, wayward souls have come to this site searching for the following...
stephanie abrams ... Weather Channel meteorologist
who happens to be very attractive, wears no wedding ring, and with whom Eric has been
rumored to spend time on days off
sharon resultan legs ... another Weather Channel starlet (but with a
wedding ring, and frequently heavy with child)
enigma outbreak specs tornado ... we're lost on this one
deep-fried cheeseburger ... rumored to be the most popular food item
at the Arizona state fair several years running
i knew heather tesch ... Heather is the Weather Channel's offering to
the soccer-mom-loving demographic
milka cow died ... news to us
job in transaction processing ... this is the saddest internet search
we've ever heard of
__________
February 11, 2005 - Nashville is a fine place to live as long as you're not into music. In that case, anywhere other than Nashville, New York or L.A. works fine. Despite a nasty snowstorm in western Kansas, Eric returned from Nashville in one piece. Mentally however, he's not well, and his new album is in indefinite limbo. We're tired of his crap so that's all we're going to say right now.
__________
January 22, 2005 - Tonight Eric leaves for Nashville where he'll set up at his parents' house to edit and mix his new album until February 3rd. The drive from Denver to Nashville wouldn't be so bad if not for Kansas, but Kansas is also the most relaxing part of the drive. And the weather can get exciting quickly on the plains. Twelve degrees in Denver is no big deal, but twelve degrees in Kansas is like these giant icy hands that reach right through your pockets and scrape your legs bare.
__________
January 20, 2005 - Yesterday Eric emailed us a progress report on his recording along with descriptions of dreams he's been having. Recording an album is much like writing a dissertation. You get immersed and your brain gets flexed and doesn't unflex for the duration. So you have strange hours and strange dreams. A few nights ago Eric dreamt about a pack of dogs and horses stampeding through his backyard, with one huge horse attacking and maiming the smaller animals. Then he had his recurring dream about being back in college, trying to find the Psych building in his underwear before class starts. This time his family was in tow, disagreeing about which direction was south.
__________
January 19, 2005 - Whether they want to or not, almost everyone believes in a higher power. Some give it a name. To some people it's a comforting thing, to others it's something dark that comes and goes but is always in control.
__________
January 11, 2005 - All this month Eric is locked in his house recording. Today he escaped through the coal room window to get coffee from Burger King. When you have your coffee without sugar, you learn that fast food places have the best. Doubt us? Get a cup from McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts and drink it straight. Anyhoo, Eric won't be getting out through that window again unless he can handle an arm covered with black widows, which he can't. Deadlines are deadlines. In two weeks he goes to Nashville to mix his new album and meet with a few shiftless trend-followers at small record labels who will treat Eric with the exact amount of respect he deserves.
__________
January 3, 2005 - Someone taking Parnate must avoid cheese, sausage, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and other ingestibles or risk a blood pressure spike that can cause a headache so severe it's accompanied by an ambulance ride. Parnate is also very expensive and not covered by most insurance plans.
__________
December 20, 2004 - Internet Radio station KRFC (Radio Free Colorado) for some reason picked Eric as their "Artist of the Year" for 2004. Go here to listen to this excellent station (you might need to download a player). Being picked for any best-of by this station is miraculous for Eric when you hear how much good music they play. Song of the Year is "The Idiot in Me" by the Thornbirds, and album of the year is "Sally" by Sally. An enormous thank you from us to station programmer Dave Tallent. Seriously, go here right now and listen. Or you're just hateful.
__________
October 25, 2004 - Jon Miller, baseball commentator for ESPN and the San Francisco Giants, is a treasure. Even if baseball bores you, make a point to hear him broadcast a game. It will take you back in time to somewhere you were safe and happy and everything was going to be alright.
__________
main
news here shows
what the papers say
the deserters
write
pictures music words desert air
recording and