TW Walsh – The Modern Age Demos from TW Walsh on Vimeo.

Here are some reviews of the album:

• Paste Magazine
• Prefix
• You Indie
• Critical Mob
• Mind Equals Blown
• Popmatter
• Friends With Both Arms
• MyUDaily

And here are a couple of in-depth audio interviews with me:

• BARRR Podcast
• The Brianstorm

And here are transcribed interviews:

• My U Daily
• Vol 1 Brooklyn

Songs of Pain and Leisure has been released! It’s now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc. It’s also on Bandcamp, and you can now like my music on Facebook.

Paste Magazine has a full album stream of Songs of Pain and Leisure here.

I did an interview with a student journalist at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. You can read it here.

You can now order Songs of Pain and Leisure on LP/CD/MP3 and receive the album download immediately no matter what format you choose. Go to the Graveface Records Gift Shop.

You can also hear another song from the album, “The Modern Age”, over at Paste Magazine.

My new album, Songs of Pain and Leisure, will be released (CD, LP, Digital) on October 11, 2011 on Graveface. This is my first solo album since 2001 (Blue Laws). You can stream and download the opening track, “Make It Rhyme” below.

Make It Rhyme by twwalsh

1. Make It Rhyme
2. My Little Brother
3. Natural Causes
4. Plant a Garden
5. Rattling Jar
6. Pawn Shop Guns
7. Capital Gains
8. Build Me a Ballpark
9. The Modern Age
10. Struggle and Strife

Make It Rhyme

I raise the flag, you cut it down
I break the ice, you let me drown
I cage the beast, you let it out
You speak so loud I gotta (shout)

You make the call but I drop the dime
You sing the song but I make it rhyme
You call in sick, I take the heat
You wrote the law, but I walk the beat

You disappeared, I led the search
I couldn’t help you burn that church

When you’re in charge, I toe the line
If you cross the street, I pay the fine
You build the house, I bring the nails
I’m in control, you’re off the (rails)

I’m working hard, you’re drunk on wine
I’m sick of life, you’re feeling fine
You’re throwing money on the fire
You conjure devils on the wire

You taught yourself, I went to school
But you’re in charge and I’m a fool

My Little Brother

My little brother
Never got caught
He could slip through your life
Like a subliminal thought

He could play the guitar
Like he was painting a shroud
He could make a mother guilty
And a murderer proud

And I tried to save his life
You can give us gloves my friend
You can’t make us fight

When he sang at my wedding
He made the shuttle explode
At the end of the war
He broke the enemy code

I took him back to the country
Where our family is from
He took the government down
And made the cardinal come

He kept a few secrets
He made a lot of mistakes
But he never broke a promise
That he couldn’t replace

My little brother

Natural Causes

Got plastered
That means drunk
Drove around

Read books
Went to school
Got a job

And I may not
Be the man
That you wanted
I may not be the man
You were looking for

Wrote songs
Played the drums
Told no lies

Found god
Joined a band
Changed my mind

And I may not
Be the man
That you wanted
And I may not
Be the man
You were looking for
And I may not have
What you desire
I may not be the man
You were looking for

Plant a Garden

Mother took off on a cruise
Called my buddy and we bought some booze
Flipped the couch
We paid the toll
Digging for diamonds with a shovel made of coal

I am lying on the ground
I am sick in my own home
You can give a man a conscience
Just don’t make him live alone

Brother, keep your kids in line
Wear a watch so you will know the time
I cannot stress this point enough:
Plant a garden for when the going gets rough

I have captured bits of knowledge that the idiots have thrown
I have learned to keep my distance
I do my business on the phone

Son, let’s put the past aside
Every man must bum his own ride
God knows I’ve lost my place in line
I’m still here
I gotta try to get mine

I am passed out at the station
I am drunk with stupid rage
I see bold procrastination
Every time I turn the page
I have ridden tired horses through the streets of my own shame
I would kill my brother’s mistress for a sliver of his fame

Rattling Jar

I wear a ring on my hand so I know where I live
I keep a sin in my heart so I know to forgive
And I run from my love so I can return home
I complain of my freedom wherever I roam

My past is a map that is burned at the edge
I trampled my song while I was pulling the sledge
And I ruined my eyes at the helm of a ship
Now I’m watching TV while you empty my clip

The bell’s always ringing
Except when I’m singing
The Devil comes round with his rattling jar
Wherever we are

My children are grown and my mind is in half
I drink through the pain and I smoke for a laugh
And I’ll never confess because my God isn’t real
I work and I play behind Big William’s Wheel

The bell’s always ringing
Except when I’m singing
The Devil comes round with his rattling jar
Wherever we are

Pawn Shop Guns

Pawn shop guns
And Fear Factor reruns
For every secular Jew
And every Christian tattoo

Tried to shake the quake
But I lost my religion
Need a couple drinks just to
Make that incision

And I won’t sew my clothes
Mary, mother of God, she knows
Just ask my wife for proof
They look better new

You’ve seen my boots
You know I keep them pretty clean
But I’m saving my machine
For the war

I’ll count the days
‘Til I can count the hours down
Until his fever melts the crown
My father wears

And I will see the light
And I will find the one true way
Your crucifix is crooked
Come close while I unhook it

I won’t sew my clothes
Mary, mother of God, she knows
just ask my wife for proof
They look better new

Capital Gains

You can find me on the side of a road
That used to be a river
Taking money and advice
From a strung out indian giver

Yeah, the paper in my hand
Is worth more than its weight in anything
You better pony up, boy
And start paying those capital gains

Capital gains

Yeah, I’ve seen the white girls
Deliver what a brother needs
But the one hand’s copping a feel
While the other bleeds

You can promise the moon and the stars
To an uptown dame
But when the chips hit the table
You’ll be paying those capital gains

Capital gains

You can find my be down by the road

Capital gains

Build Me a Ballpark

To tell you the truth
I’d have to befriend you
There’s only so many postcards
I’m willing to send you

I don’t need a new buddy
I don’t care where you’re from
You gotta build me a ballpark
If you want me to come

Yeah, I cried wolf
For so many years
They only come to my rescue
If I swear the coast is clear
I cried wolf

You gotta give me some proof
I can believe
If you won’t let me start the game
At least let me relieve

But if these punks start charging the mound
I’m gonna read ‘em the news
I got more dirty tricks
Than I even know how to use

I spent too many years
In the minor leagues
To sit here on the bench
While the girls cheer

I spent too many years
In the minor leagues
To lay down

I cried wolf
For so many years
They only come to my rescue
If I swear the coast is clear
I cried wolf

The Modern Age

Fast cars and a flashy watch
Twenty-five dollar wine and single barrel scotch
You worked hard for everything you got and that’s a lot

Won’t read no fiction books
Eating every dish that the government cooks
You kneel at mass when gravity pulls you in

The modern age is just what you needed
Your shoes all shined and your pants all pleated
You can buy your food with the money from your job

I ain’t saying i’m better than you
I got pride in the things I used to know how to do
But I’m vain, self-destructive and full of regret

The deaf gods got turned around
Put birds in the sky and man on the ground
Put beauty into light
And blindness into sound
Windows on the wall
And sequins on the gown

Coals on the fire
And diamonds on the crown
Angels in the heavens
And demons all around

Struggle and Strife

Packed my bags and the trip began
Showed up ready for the full body scan
Flashed my smile at a skirt on the plane
Free newspaper and a glass of champagne

My passport photo is double-exposed
Look like a ghost in fidel castro’s clothes
Made a girl in reno just to watch her conceive
Knew what she was doing, but she acted naive

I can’t read these books that they write
These jobs they give me feel like throwing the fight
I broke ground on a brand new life
Same love, same hate, same fear, new struggle and strife

Got my bags at the carousel
My liver’s in limbo and I feel like hell
Keep coming back to the wrong I’ve done
By light of moon and in the morning sun

I still have days when I feel like a man
And I can face the darkness like my father can
At the threat of lightning, I could feel my heart stop
Make a deal with the devil, he’s gonna loot your shop

I can’t read these books that they write
These jobs they give me feel like throwing the fight
I broke ground on a brand new life
Three healthy kids and a lovely wife
I severed my past with plastic knife
Same love, same hate, same fear, new struggle and strife

I’ve set up a Formspring page where you can ask me questions.