Gather ’round ye computer screens, friends. Here’s the just-released video for Watershed’s “American Muscle.”
Directed by Tim Hodge, this mini-masterpiece features a cavalcade of stars, including Ryan Gosling as “Chief Economist,” Elizabeth Banks as “Girl Reading on Couch,” Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as “Bungling Cops,” and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse as “Cows in Pasture.” Also note the breathtaking cameo by Alec Baldwin, playing the Minuteman III warhead. Enjoy!
Greetings from Dixie, where 2011 is coming to a close with a flurry of good news:
Here’s hoping 2012 treats you well.
HITLESS WONDER won’t be released until June 2012, but for those of you who want to get an early start on your summer reading list, the book is available for pre-order now. I know that June seems like a long way off, but this is America, dammit. Shopping is always in season.
Be a good citizen. Click the links below.
To Bruce Springsteen, for permission to quote from his lyrics in my book, Hitless Wonder.
Without Springsteen, there’d be no book about Watershed. There’s be no Watershed period. Without Springsteen, I’d probably be twenty pounds heavier. I’d certainly be a whole lot dumber. I’d know much less about life and love and how hard and beautiful both can be. But most of all I want to thank Springsteen for teaching me the difference between the guys that die little by little, piece by piece–and the guys that come home from work and wash up. And go racing in the street.
Go ahead and start judging, friends. The book now has a cover.
Many thanks to the great Jayna Wallace for taking the jacket photograph. She captured this shot after a Watershed show at Little Brothers in Columbus, February 2005.
The book and a new, full-length Watershed album will arrive in stores in June. Check this space for more news and updates.
The spankin’ new Watershed single, “American Muscle” b/w “Sticky Bomb,” is now posted here and at the spankin’ new Watershed website. Dig the lyrics and credits at bandcamp.
Is “American Muscle” a sympathetic portrayal of an unfairly maligned international banker (read: job creator) or a critique of capitalistic bravado and Friedmanite Economics? That probably depends on whether or not you own stock in LVMH.
The song and its b-side, “Sticky Bomb,” were recorded in Columbus this summer with Mike Landolt (Maroon 5, O.A.R.) producing, and they, along with a batch of other tunes from the sessions, will be featured on a new, full-length (as yet untitled) album that will be released in June 2012.
The Louisville Review has just published my play, “Los Camioneros” (“The Truckers”). It’s the story of three immigrant smugglers in Galveston, TX, told from the point of view of the smugglers themselves. Click HERE to go to the journal’s homepage, where you’ll find a link to a PDF of the excellent new issue.
Don’t call it a comeback, kids, but November is shaping up to be a big month for the mighty Watersheds.
First, in early November, the band will release a new single, “American Muscle,” about which, more later.
Second, on Wednesday, November 23, the day before Thanksgiving, Watershed will perform at the 2nd Annual Andyman-a-Thon Benefit Concert, at the LC Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Nick Tolford and Company, Lydia Loveless, and The Phantods will join Watershed on the bill. Get your tickets now.
Also, to coincide with this year’s Andyman-a-Thon, a film is being released of last year’s historic show. This One’s For Andy will make its world premier at Studio 35 in Columbus on 11/11/11.
Here’s the trailer:
Watch this space for more Watershed news in the coming weeks.
The frustrating thing about being a fan of a band is that it’s so damn hard to express how much you love the songs you love by that band. Transcendent. Sublime. Totally fucking kick ass. Pick your adjectives and adverbs. They don’t come close to getting the job done.
Whenever I hear Marah’s “Demon of White Sadness” or Springsteen’s “Racing in the Streets” or “The Ballad of the Opening Band” by Slim Dunlap or The Gaslight Anthem’s “She Loves You” or “Always Love” by Nada Surf or “Try It Again” by The Hives or “Falling” by Ben Kweller, I want to karate chop the coffee table in half, partly because I love these songs so much, it makes me want to break stuff. And partly because I know that I’ll never, ever be able to fully communicate how much I love these songs without sounding like a creepy stalker idiot.
That said, I’ll try anyway. This ain’t much, but it’s the best I got.
Hey Marah, Hey Bruce, Hey Slim, Hey Gaslight Anthem dudes, Hey Nada Surf, Hey Hives, Hey Ben: Listen up. Whatever it is that you hope people will hear when they hear your songs?
I hear it.
I hundred percent hear it.
Here’s a link to “Towing and Recovery,” a short story of mine that was just published in storySouth. It features Mike Dulaney, a car-towing, crime fighting superhero!
