Boy, time's a flyin'. As the year winds down we find ourselves bewildered as usual, wondering where all the days of 1997 have gone. All in all, it's been a pretty good year.
Terry spent a couple of weeks in Nashville last month, helping Derri Daugherty with his solo record. He wrote some songs with Derri, Phil Madeira, and Steve Hindalong. Terry, Derri and Phil are talking about doing a record together. We're discussing the possibility of making Stunt a co-op label and Derri and Phil are interested in pitching their solo efforts into the pile. We'll let you know more about that later.
Big news. Terry has agreed to be the head of west coast A&R for the Killen Music Group, a Nashville-based record label. This label, owned by Buddy Killen (Hank Williams' bass player, producer of Heartbreak Hotel, etc.) will be predominantly Christian and has acquired the old Frontline catalog. Ironic, isn't it? So Terry may be overseeing the reissues of his older music and there's even talk of an Alarma Chronicles boxed set!! Keep your toes crossed. Right now he'll be scouting bands and building the roster and probably producing some. He also hopes to start work on a new DA record early next year. If we can get Stunt flying and John Wayne out the door, he'll be making his own music for Stunt and simply signing new bands to KMG. Anyone interested in sendinng demos, please send them to Terry Taylor at:
711 1/2 Larkspur, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625.
That's pretty much it for now. Have a great Christmas and don't forget to put the Pet Sounds Sessions boxed set on your wish list. See you next year.
We are pleased to announce that we have Terry's Neverhood Songs CD available
on our order form. If you
haven't gotten it yet, it's a blast.
Well, well. Time's a flyin'. Somebody must be having fun. Who is it? Is it YOU?! Well, settle down, we can't keep up around here. Here's "der shkyoop":
The 700 Club chickened out of running Terry's segment. Somebody must have gotten a hold of "Sacred Cows". The producer tells me he's going to try to sneak in on at 3am or something. Don't hold your breath.
Terry's finished the music for Skull Monkeys, the sequel to the Neverhood. This one will be for Sony PlayStation. Look for it in a few weeks or so. It's similar to the Neverhood music but weirder, if you can imagine that. I can't.
Terry's been producing a band called Rich Young Ruler at the Green Room for Benson. Young kids with great pop sensibilities. Fun, fun, fun.
Loam was set to play a showcase at the Whisky in Hollywood when frontman Frank Lee Drennan was stricken with severe appendicitis. He had to have emergency surgery and very nearly died. Doctor's had to remove some of his colon and small intestine due to the advanced infection. He's home now and recovering slowly, but keep him in your prayers. The local San Diego music community is planning a number of benefit shows to help offset the medical expenses.
There are rumors about some Lost Dogs shows, but they are just rumors. Mike Roe is doing a solo tour and there was some talk about the Dogs joining him for a couple of dates. As far as I know, they won't be. We'll let you know if anything changes. Terry and Derri are talking abouut going out together for some intimate acoustic shows. Just talking now, but we'll let you know if anything comes of that , too.
OK. That's it for now. Hang in there, good people. Until next month...
PS- Frederick Buechner's new book is out. It's a wonderful re-telling of the apocryphal book of Tobit. It's called "On the Road with the Archangel". Check it out.
Well, well. It's been a month already! Hard to believe. Cornerstone was a blast! Great weather, great crowd, great show. It was truly a pleasure meeting so many of you fine people. And special thanks to Tim, Brent & Todd for all their help at the booth. For a run down on the show visit Curt Border's C-stone page.
Saturday proved interesting as Terry did a special report for the 700 Club where he took a life-size cut-out of Pat Robertson around the festival and showed him the sights. Pat went crowd-surfing at the Hardcore tent and ate an ostrich burger for lunch. Terry then took him to the Imaginarium tent and introduced him to a life size cut-out of Mr. Spock! Wacky stuff. Who knows if they'll have the guts to air it. We were told to watch for it at the end of July. Go figure. Check out Kevin Shafer's DA page for some photos. Terry also did a short solo acoustic set at the booth which included "Buffalo Hills," "Amber Waves Goodbye" and "Tomatoes, Potatoes, & Peas" from the Neverhood soundtrack.
The CDs are out! Ten Gallon Hat ( a pre-release rough mix EP from John Wayne) and Neverhood Songs. Check out the order form page for more info. Visit the Neverhood site to order the soundtrack CD.
More great news! Frontline Music (the label which owns a ton of out-of-print DA, Eddies, etc. music) has a web page and a survey asking readers which OOP CDs they would like to see reissued. Go there now and vote. Let's fight to get these CDs back into circulation again.
Greetings people of Earth! How the heck are ya? Good, good. E'nuf chit
chat. First the bad news. One of the dangers of publishing updates on this
site is that from the time I get wind of what Terry's up to and inform you
fine people, "stuff" happens. Know what I mean? Well, it turns
out that the studio time that was allotted to put the finishing touches
on John Wayne and mix and master this puppy, fell through. We scrambled
for a few weeks trying to come up with alternatives and the needed funds
to complete the record, but alas, we failed. Add to that the fact that we
are negotiating with a distributor, and what you have is a still unfinished
record. We're are very frustrated and know you are too. So, the final, official
release of John Wayne has been delayed again, for a couple of months. I
know, we hate us, too. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel and
when we return from Cornerstone, this will be the priority piece of business.
Trust me, though. We know you'd want the final stages to be as carefully
executed as the recording stages, so it will all be for the best after the
disappointment wears off.
The Neverhood soundtrack CD is here, so it will definitely be available
at the festival.
So, the sorta-good news is that we are working on a special pre-release rough mix EP of some of the songs, which will be personally signed and numbered by Terry, and sold at a special reduced price, to hold over you frustrated fanatics and collectors. These will be available at Cornerstone and if we have any left over, we'll make them available. We're only making 1000, so there won't be many, but it'll be a taste of things to come and will be very valuable in the near future. These are rough mixes, which means that the songs will be structurally the same as the final CD, but there will be slight, subtle differences, like a few missing guitar or organ parts or different vocal takes, etc.
Other news. Terry spent the past few months writing some memoirs of his life in Christian music. These sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching stories go back to his earliest days in music (when a nervous young Terry played one of his songs backstage in San Jose for Chuck Girard and Love Song) to stories that happened this past year. It was a monumental undertaking and Terry has hundreds of pages of great nostalgia and never-before-heard stories about the early days of DA and his entire career. This odd, charming, enlightening book will be a joy for every DA fan and anyone even remotely interested in the ways of the music business in general. It's a rare glimpse into the heart and mind of a rare man. We're looking for a publisher right now, but we may have to publish it ourselves, if it comes down to it. Either way, you'll be the first to know about it.
DA recorded a version of Mark Heard's "Strong Hand of Love" for the 2-CD tribute set called "Orphans of God" on Fingerprint. Get it if you haven't.
Our dear friend and video producer, Dave Perry was killed in a freak skateboarding accident in November of 96. Dave had been part of the DA team since the mid 80s and produced video for us on the road for concerts as well as all the Swirling Eddies stuff and more. His loss is heart-breaking to us all. He was one genuinely great person and his impact on our lives will be forever cherished. He had been living in Nashville for a couple of years and was coming out to California for a skateboarding competition. Terry spoke with him on the phone for a couple of hours, sharing the trials and tribulations each had been facing, and planned to get together for lunch the day after the competition. The last thing they spoke of was the grace and faithfulness of our Lord in the midst of doubt and confusion. Dave shared that he felt more at peace with God than he had in years. This poignant tidbit helped us all get through a very dark time. We'll miss him.
Back in 85, during the Fearful Symmetry sessions with Doug Doyle, Terry and the guys recorded some spontaneous, ridiculous country versions of some Beatles songs for fun. They called themselves the Farm Beetles (check the FS liner notes). Well, they had an opportunity to get together with Doug in his new digital studio recently and spontaneously recorded a few more tunes, so we now have enough for a wacky little novelty CD. It will be called "Meat the Farm Beetles" and we'll let you know more about it later on.
We'll either see you lucky ones at Cornerstone or we'll be back in July for the next update.
Buh-bye! So long, now! Love you!
Oh my! Hello everyone! It's been quite a while, I know. You may have begun to doubt whether we were still among the living. To be honest, so did we. But, Hark! and Forsooth! and other exclamations- we are ALIVE!!!
Things have been rather chaotic around these parts lately. But, we're settling in to some new digs and life is returning to what we know as normal. (Which is what you'd probably consider... LIVING HELL!) Just kidding.
First things first. Cornerstone '97- Boondocks, Illinois. Terry has put together a semi, quasi, sorta-new band and will be performing on Sunday night, July 6th. The band consists of Ed & Tim on bass and drums, ex-Prayer Chainer Andy Prickett on guitar, and some special surprise guests. The set will include songs from almost every phase of Terry's career, including Daniel Amos, the Swirling Eddies, Lost Dogs, and solo stuff (with a few rowdy cover songs thrown in for good measure). This will be the very first time he will perform songs from Zoom Daddy, Songs of the Heart and his brand new solo record John Wayne.
Speaking of which, Terry's new (?) solo record John Wayne, will be available for the first time anywhere, at the festival. As it stands now, we will be releasing it on STUNT Records and you can get it at our booth. For those of you who will not be attending, we will let you know how you can get your hands on a copy as soon as we figure out how we're going to distribute it. This record has been two and a half years in the making and will surely not disappoint. It's vintage Terry and the vino just keeps getting better with age. (Terry turns 47 this month- Happy Birthday, ya palooka!)
More good news. Many of you know that Terry wrote the soundtrack to
a very popular CD-Rom game last year, called The Neverhood. That game and
the music both won awards and the game, which was created by Doug TenNapel,
received rave reviews in the industry. Now Doug has obtained the rights
to release the soundtrack (over 30 of the wildest, wackiest ditties you'll
ever hear) on audio CD. This CD will also be available at Cornerstone!
Until next time, we bid you adieu. Ciao. Arrive derci. Au Revoir. Tootles.