Army Of Larry

Old Man Muffin Jar info

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:37:00 +0000

I know I have been quiet for a good bit of time, so here is an update. I have been really busy working on this "Old Man Muffin Jar" project. Most of the work has been re-drafting of lyrics, getting my own gear in line to bolster the quality of the recording and making sure that the concept of the album works in a way that still keeps the flow of the music just right. It is a concept album, sort of like "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" of blues. The themes are earthy, but the characters that present them are a bit surreal at times.

I find some sort of weird synchronicity going on here, because two artists I admire have just put out a cabaret concept album called Evelyn Evelyn. Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley got together and just spat out this brilliant album telling the tale of conjoined sisters who decided to start a band.

Of course, I might look like a bit of a hack rip-off artist for what my project becomes except that I have been working on this project quite openly for well over 3 years (and even posting news about it on Amanda's message board). Amanda Palmer is a huge influence for sure. "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" was an album that really kick-started me into taking this concept seriously and going for it. Mad props to her.

So many of these songs have been heard before in demo form here and there over the years. About half of them have been shared with close friends. Three of them have been heard by no one except me. All of these early demos except two will be eliminated from all Army Of Larry related websites. If you have an mp3 of them or a burned disc, hang on to them. They will not be released in any form ever again. Feel free to share if you wish. As long as you do not sell them, I have no issue with it. I want people to hear my music.

I am going to try to hold things back now so that people can be impacted by the finished work in a fresh way. While most people are hailing the death of the album, I'm holding on to it for dear life. I like grouping songs together and making them work. I know I'm not the only person who doesn't just put my ipod on shuffle all the time. I know some people still put records on and just listen all the way through. This one is for them!

BTW, I do have 2 albums for sale through my website. They have been available for quite some time. I have no sales yet. This is the only way to get the mastered recordings of these tunes. What are you waiting for? Larry needs a new guitar amp, help a brother out!

P.S. To my loving father: Don’t you dare buy those albums to get my sales going! You paid for that music a long time ago in spades with support, equipment purchases, drums lessons ect. ect. All of this is for you and Mom!

Old Man In A Jar

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:09:00 +0000

A new album is in the works. I would describe it as lo-fi blues with a bit of a concept. The Old Man Muffin Jar is a character I came up with a long time ago, born from a misheard sentence from afar. I thought my wife said these words when she was talking to me from the other room. I can't remember what she really said, but I wrote down "Old Man Muffin Jar" for later use. This is how I get most of my ideas. I mix chance, misinterpretation and a bit of creativity together and come out with my own brand of jumble stew.

The Old Man Muffin Jar started as one guy in a song, but now he has become a storyteller for a rag-tag group of characters that have one thing in common: they are overwhelmed people drowning in circumstance. The Old Man Muffin Jar is also a persona that let's me do something in my music I rarely do. I get to be a little silly and odd. He lets me bring out the weirdo that I bottled up after years of trying to be "mature" in my music. I have learned that being serious all the time in music can be quite boring. Some of the messages I have been trying to drive home all these years were lost in the swamp of pretense and dark oppression.

Maybe I'm just losing the fear of making an ass out of myself? I'm starting to feel a freedom I have as a performer, but rarely let myself experience in my writing. I'm amazed that it took me this long to see this in myself. Slowing down my creative process has let me look back a little and get insights like this. This feels like real growth as an artist, not a pointless drive into the unknown. I'm actually waiting, watching and having creativity make house calls to me.

Clip-on Tie

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:42:00 +0000

Here is a holiday gift for you, a song I recorded this week about my childhood memories of Christmas in Dunkirk NY at my Grandparent's house. The song is called "Clip-on Tie". You can save the link http://oldmanmuffinjar.armyoflarry.com/clip_on_tie.mp3, or listen to it on the Army Of Larry Myspace player. Happy Holidays everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:34:00 +0000

I have done something that may tear open a rift in space and time and bring doom upon us all: I have written and recorded a Christmas song! Of course, being sung by Mr. Old Man Muffin Jar, it is not the usual X-mas fare. One more overdub left, and I will post a link to the mp3. Maybe sometime tonight?

Project: Archive

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:41:00 +0000

I have been making home demos for many years now. Keeping all of it organized has always been a challenge, because I tend to work on what is happening right now and leave the past in the dust. The technology used to record these demos has changed so fast, converting them has been put off in favor of creating something new. Also, I did not value the old recordings of songs because of the limitations in sound quality. Some songs have been lost forever, which is regrettable.

One person who has always had access to all of my recordings is my Father. He recently had a hard drive crash which means he lost most of my music. I promised him to replace what I could. I will be giving him everything I have recorded that is on a hard drive first. Then comes the hard part; going through cassette tapes to make digital versions of the much older recordings. I have done a little of this before, but the amount of tapes including live shows with various bands and the early demos are LEGION!

I plan on putting together compilations of my solo work, mostly in order of when it was created or recorded. I did not document sessions at all, so most of it will be based on memory. Any of the bands that I was in, I will have to get permission from the other band members before making any of it public. I have to respect that some people don't want their early work released. My solo work will all be made available without shame. I'm sure some of it is junk, but that does not bother me. You have to start somewhere. Going through some of the tapes, I have already found some forgotten gems, and I am bringing them back into my current play list.

Thinking...

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:41:00 +0000

I'm busy as ever here in Armyoflarryland. I have a ton of new songs and have revived a few ones from long ago. One of the older ones "We Are Not Ourselves" is from 1998. Hard to believe, but that is like a golden oldie now! I never played it out live, and I think only my Father and few close friends have heard it. The lyrics talk about the same subject I have been addressing on my new material.

It all comes down to how we lose our true selves by becoming enslaved by other's expectations. How we let outside pressure deny us of following our dreams. When we begin to think that growing up means losing our playful and creative nature. The human race seems so intent on racing into our demise, never taking time to enjoy simple things. We all seem so worried about coming off as silly or unrealistic. To have Utopian dreams is frowned upon by those who want us to worry our lives away, just like them.

Being responsible is a noble thing, I would never argue with that. Yet, do we have to feel guilt over every non-practical choice we make? I think not. Life is too short to be practical all of the time. There is room to dream. What a different world it would be if people could just let go of so much fear and guilt. Fear, guilt and worry can kill a person long before their body has died. I am fighting against these feelings as hard as I can. I will fail at times, but that is ok. As long as I keep trying. I do not want to waste my life with regret. I want to seize joy and love at every chance I get.

To close, I will post lyrics of one of my favorite songs.

"Within You, Without You" lyrics by George Harrison

We were talking about the space between us all
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth then it's far too late when they pass away.

We were talking about the love we all could share when we find it
To try our best to hold it there
With our love, with our love we could save the world
If they only knew.

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking about the love that's gone so cold and the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know, they can't see
Are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself
Then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see
We’re all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

for Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:43:00 +0000

I don't have it in me to write a poem right now, just wanted to note that my Mother passed away 4 years ago today. She always loved to see me have fun playing music. So in her honor, I'm going to lay some jams down tonight at band practice, and show up early even to jam some acoustic blues with Randy. She told me to keep on Jammin', and I know better than to disobey my Mother. Jam I will!!!

Hound Dog Taylor Rules!

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:04:00 +0000

The week of ending

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Another passing, another anniversary

Sorrow and bitter anticipation of what we all must face

So hard to keep in mind how lucky we are

To have the days and the sharing of experience

Knowing that it ends can cloud your living time

Remind me

Remind us all that grieving is essential

Yet we have to let go

We have to stand and find our time

We must not waste our days in fear of death

Life is the destination

Death is the trip

Dreaming is the middle ground

Every day we can start over

Every minute we breathe a gift

untitled

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:51:00 +0000

I want to live inside my head
Dream of worlds which overwhelm me
Control, a dead phase
Shade of death, kingdom of shadow
Whispering joker recruits meek children
Insanity and love
The sun murders the shaded realm
Hitler and God, puppets and string
We hold the reins

Drum Decoupage

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:05:00 +0000

My drums are all decoupaged (except the metal snare). Here are a few pictures of my basic kit.

oh wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:20:00 +0000

to think you are above others, i've lost that gift
i hope
wishing kings and doubtful queens, torn magazines and wither

i wait for it
it only shows up when no one else is looking
grindermen parade the monkey charade, hills lose their grade
i'm a genius as long as my trap is shut
wisdom may be knowing when to keep quiet
but what do i know?

children know it all by knowing nothing
heart is parted by worried minds
money and wine, wasted time, end of line

Well...

noreply@blogger.com (Army Of Larry) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:50:00 +0000

I have decided to make a public blog to keep everyone up to date on what is happening in ArmyOfLarryland. I used to use Myspace for this purpose, but it seems that Facebook and Twitter have made Myspace into the 10 year old shopping mall. I wonder what will come next to make Twitter into the next dinosaur? Digital life is so ephemeral.

So many things have changed in the music world over the past 20 years. The change is so fast, growing pains seem to be felt so after-the-fact. The music industry is becoming smaller, whether they like it or not. Guess the new digital age didn't work out how the big guys planned? All of a sudden vinyl is good idea again? It is so pathetic how these thieves have such nerve to point their fingers at anyone. Years of ripping off artists and fans has come back haunt them in such a perfect and poetic way. The new digital age opened up the doors to some range of freedom for artists and their music.

The problem is, where do we go from here? Not an easy question to answer. With greater freedom comes a much greater workload. If you want to be indie, you are pretty much going it alone. I really can only answer for myself. As of now, I have decided that digital distribution is the only way I can go. It costs so much money to put out a Cd. My last band put out a Cd that I still owe them money back on 6 years later. 500 Cds that we could hardly give away. I am proud of the work we did, and the band breaking up hurt any potential we had in promoting it, but we were a local band. There is only so much impact a band with full time day jobs could make. I can't see making that kind of investment right now in a format that I was never really keen on in the first place. If I am going to spend that much time, effort and money on a physical product, it is going to be vinyl or a Blue Ray Video. I want something with some grit and artistic value.

As far as playing live, I am going to get my feet wet with some local shows soon. I have to get used to playing solo again. That way, I can start to branch out of Ohio and try to build a real fan base. I'm not looking to get rich. I'm looking for experience, inspiration and art. I have enough connections to find places to crash, places to play and people to work with. I just have to make these first baby-steps. Playing live is what I love. It is how I intend to spend the rest of my time on earth. I have little interest in being a home studio musician, or a cog in a corporate machine anymore.