Gray Goods

Live shows in May

2011-04-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

Its been a while since we last posted here and we've got a lot to tell you.

First of all, we've found a drummer in Alexis Fleisig. Our first live show with Alexis is going to be May 11th at Union Pool with Zach Cale and D. Charles Speer and the Helix.

We're going to follow that up a week later at Cake Shop with Willy Gantrim at Cake Shop.

Ryan was recently interviewed on Gimme Tinnitus.

Hope to see you at one or both of these shows, and if not, soon enough.

Leave it Behind

2011-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

As with I Can't Take It, this will be the last time you hear this song until we get it recorded professionally. Scott is playing drums, vocals are coming out of a guitar amp.

Labels attached to this post will bring up all the previous versions we've done of this song, I think there are three others in total.

Leave em Behind by Gray Goods

Dark In My Heart

2011-01-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

This weeks track is a cover of one of our favorite Lee Hazlewood songs, with Scott manning the drums. Can't say enough about Lee Hazlewood.

Tune in next week...

Dark in my heart by Gray Goods

For the last time, I Can't Take It

2011-01-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

I think its safe to say this will be the last time you hear this song before it ends up on an album. This version is with Scott on the drums and the vocals through a guitar amp. For all of the other versions, just hit the link on the labels down below.

I Can't Take It by Gray Goods

Man of the Times

2010-12-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

We're going to end 2010 with the first taste of what this song sounds like with audible vocals and Scott playing drums.

Won't you take a moment and click on the tag for Man of the Times below this post? You'll get all the versions to date and with it, a tangible evolution of the rock and roll song as we write them.

See you in 2011

Man of the Times by Gray Goods

Merry Christmas

2010-12-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

From our home, to yours.

Three Chords My Blues by Gray Goods

Southern Cross, Management Conflicts

2010-12-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

We are guilty of false advertising. We will NOT be playing any live shows this weekend. Hopefully sometime in the next few months.

Until then, more demos such as this one. This is a new one, no drums. For song demos with drums, check back here next week.

Southern Cross by Gray Goods

Leave em Behind, Scott Gursky

2010-12-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

This is another song we've posted here a few times, Leave em Behind. This demo was done with Scott Gursky from the Obits. To hear previous versions of the song, just hit the link for Leave em Behind in the labels section below this post. Kind of interesting to see the directions its taken.

Additionally, we'll be playing live a week from Sunday at Bruar Falls. Scott will be helping us for this night only, so it should be a unique Gray Goods experience. Not to mention we're playing with good friends and expert rippers the Tijuana Panthers.

Looking forward to it, more next week.

Leave em Behind by Gray Goods

Playing a live one, December 19th

2010-12-02T13:06:00.001-08:00

Looks like we'll be taking a hiatus from our hiatus.

We're going to be opening for the Tijuana Panthers on December 19th at Bruar Falls.

Scott will be our drummer for this night only.

Hope to see you out there!

I Can't Take It

2010-12-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Posted below is another track we demo'd with Scott Gursky from the Obits. Can't hear any vocals, but if its really an issue click on the song title in the labels below and all the previous versions we've posted on this blog will be at your fingertips.

Thanks again for listening and more to come next week.

I Can't Take It by Gray Goods

Man of the Times, Scott Gursky Edition

2010-11-22T10:29:00.001-08:00

We did some recording last week with our friend Scott. You most likely know him as the drummer of one of our favorite bands, the Obits. We ran through about four songs, the arrangements, playing, and recording fidelity could be kindly described as loose, but we had a lot of fun with them which I think comes across in these recordings.

Vocals are kind of inaudible, but thats all you can hear in previous recordings. Been a while since we shut the fuck up and played fast.

If you have a minute, click on the song title in the tags below this post, it will produce a record of all the versions of the song to date. Gives an idea of the evolution of the song, with this one in particular, it definitely took an unforeseen positive turn this last Friday.

Happy guajolote to everyone, we'll have more for you next monday.

Man of the Times by Gray Goods

Over My Shoulder

2010-11-17T15:28:00.001-08:00

Much to report this week. First of all, the song posted below will be the last of any acoustic forays for a while on this blog. We're going to do some demo recording with our friend Scott Gursky this Friday. Scott plays in the Obits, so these recordings will be the extent of the relationship, but nonetheless we're excited to play some of this material with a drummer.

Tomorrow we're going to play with another good friend, Milton Carter. The demos we finish then, along with what we do with Scott, we'll be pasted all over this blog for the next month or two. A few versions of songs you've heard, but mostly new material.

We should have some news to post about live dates in December in the coming week or two.

Stay tuned and see you next week...

Over My Shoulder by Gray Goods

Lee Hazlewood, Three Chords, My Blues

2010-11-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

So, there are a few specific people who inspired this idea of posting one song a week, basically writing and documenting more than I ever have. One of these grand inspirational figures is Lee Hazlewood.

This week, you're getting a song a week two for one. This is one of my favorites by him, After Six.

After Six by Gray Goods

... And one original.

Three Chords, My Blues by Gray Goods

Us Two

2010-11-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

And we're now back to drumless demos, which is how a majority of the material posted here is going to be in the coming months. Plenty more to come, see you next week...

Us Two by Gray Goods

Man of the Times

2010-10-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is another demo we had previously posted here without drums that we recorded with Nick a few weeks back. As with the others, everything you hear is live except for the lead guitar track which we overdubbed later.

This will be the last of these recordings that we're going to post here. Beginning next week and up until we go back in to record with a drummer again, we'll be posting new demos, mostly without any kind of percussion.

We've reached the point where we would like to bring a drummer in, and a second guitar. If you've been paying attention to what we've been doing lately, please pass this along to anyone you think may be interested. We've been operating in a somewhat unorthodox fashion by the 2010 band standard, so we're very flexible as far as what we're specifically looking for commitment wise.

If you are not interested, maybe someone you know is. Keep us in mind, and don't be shy, the more good people contributing the better this gets.

Man of the times by Gray Goods

I Can't Take It

2010-10-19T11:01:00.001-07:00

This is another track we recorded with Nick called "I Can't Take It." We never really got it where it needs to be, which we didn't see coming as we've played this the most out of everything we wanted to demo that day.

We went with the take in which we fucked up the ending.

I Can't Take It by Gray Goods

Rail Ties

2010-10-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

This weeks demo is another track we recorded recently with Nick. Same details, we recorded this live, drums, bass, guitar, vocals without any overdubs. Nick is drumming and responsible for the engineering of this recording, which I can't say enough about.

We'll be in touch again next week if not sooner, and as always thank you for listening.

Rail ties by Gray Goods

Leave em behind, version 2

2010-10-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

This past week we did one day of live tracking with our friend Nick Stumpf, who in addition to documenting the day, was willing to help out with playing drums on the recordings.

We're really happy with how these demos came out. This was the first time that I've tracked vocals and guitar live, I don't think I want to go back. With this particular song we came back and put down a lead guitar track, but aside from that, you're essentially hearing us playing this song for the third time together.

Thanks for sticking with us, more to come...

Leave em behind by Gray Goods

I Can't Take It

2010-09-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

This song is the oldest of anything we've posted here, we were even playing it live with Trevor, but its kind of moved on from what it was then.

Recording with Nick tomorrow, so next week will see some second versions of these initial demos. Been writing a ton, so more bare bones ideas to come as well.

Thanks again for paying attention.

I Can't Take It (ver. 1) by Gray Goods

So Long

2010-09-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

The name of this song is going to change. See you next week...

So Long (ver. 1) by Gray Goods

Man of the Times

2010-09-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hey there.

So if you've been following along with us over the course of the past month or so, you know that we've been posting one demo of a new song per week. To date these have all been without drums, however thats all going to change a week from Wednesday when we record the best of what we have to date with a drummer.

In the meantime, we've got two more drum-less demos for you starting this week with "Man of the Times." Thanks for keeping up with us and stay tuned.

Man of the Times (ver. 1) by Gray Goods

Rail Ties

2010-09-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

We named this week's demo "Rail Ties" a while back, even practiced it a few times with Trevor. This is where its at right now, as we mentioned last week, no drums until after we record on the 29th.

We'll be labeling all of the posts related to these demos and the progression of this album "Song a week," and labeling individual tracks with their titles so as the work builds you'll have access to a catalog of all the current and previous versions of songs.

Rail Ties (ver. 1) 2 by Gray Goods

Song a week

2010-08-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned a few months back, we have parted ways with the drummer who had worked with us on all of our material to date. I think the typical band response is to try and find someone who can play the material thats been written in a similar vein, hope this person can contribute to new material in the same way the last one did, and do so as quickly as possible.

Approaching music as a conventional band, write some songs, practice them, record them, play live, hope people like it, had worn the three of us numb. A new direction was needed.

Also mentioned recently, we've been writing with the intent of putting together a full length record, and we're doing so in a rather unorthodox fashion for the times. The results so far have been encouraging, to the point that these loose plans are beginning to solidify.

Our good friend Nick Stumpf is going to play drums on our recordings, which will begin with a full instrument demo to be recorded on Sept. 29th. There will be two more of these between then and when we go to the studio in the springtime.

I've been uncomfortable with the internet for some time now, particularly with blogs as an unbiased source for information and/or a barometer for culture. It wasn't until I began writing on a daily basis, built up a catalog of creative work that no one had seen, and looked back on this material as it developed that I began seeing things that went deeper than the songs. Constant documentation, good, bad, and everything in between has a way of communicating something beyond the creators control/intention.

So with all that said, we are going to begin regularly posting material starting this week. The idea being that in the process of documenting our pursuit of perfecting song writing as opposed to perfecting the art of being in a band, something meaningful beyond the songs falls into your lap.

Give us five minutes a week, and you will see this record grow from the ground up.

We're titling this song "Leave em Behind" right now. No drums, and there won't be any on any tracks we post here until after the 29th.

Leave em Behind (ver. 1) by Gray Goods

Roy Orbison

2010-08-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the past year or so, Roy Orbison has gradually become one of my favorite American song writers. I bought this record, "The Orbison Way," for about five bucks a couple years back, and I think when everything is taken into consideration, song writing, arrangements, quality of playing, and above all else engineering and production, it may be the best rock and roll record I have ever heard.

It doesn't include any of his hits, but there is zero filler, no wasted space. I recently picked up an album from the same era titled, "There is only one." Same business. The consistency of quality material isn't where it is on "The Orbison Way," but the engineering, production, and arranging stand out in the same way.

I watched a staged performance from 1988 titled "Black and White Night" for the first time last night. His backing band consists of Bonnie Rait, KD Lang, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, the Boss, and James Burton. Burton being one of the more legendary blues/rockabilly guitarists in the history of rock and roll. There is a statue of him in his hometown of Shreveport,LA.

Listening to these records and watching this performance pushed me over the edge to investigate the people who played on these Orbison albums. I didn't find much, but I did find this article about the Wrecking Crew, whom Burton was briefly a part of. If you read the article, you'll learn about these other communities of musicians in Memphis, Nashville, Detroit, and New York who selflessly drove the songs we consider staples of the rock and roll cannon.

I'm always at a loss trying to describe why I feel like rock music is continually losing something significant with each new release, but these Roy Orbison records and this era of production and songwriting have helped me identify a specific point where things happened the right way.

Writing...

2010-08-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

Austin and I have been spending the better part of these dog days writing material with the idea of the songs being part of a full length album. We're planning on spending a day recording demos in late September, tracking as much as we can live within one day, and then again in the winter and once more in early Spring.

We'll be looking to record in the springtime, and if it all goes according to plan, the recording process alone will be remarkable for the times. Its a waste getting ahead of ourselves now, but stay tuned here as we'll be posting all kinds of things album related, song demos, artwork, etc.

And elsewhere, I've been watching a ton of music documentaries recently, the best of which may be this one. Been looking for something good on Roy Orbison for a while now, if you have any suggestions, please don't be shy.

Stay cool out there and we'll be in touch.

2010-07-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Our last notice here indicated that the last shows we were going to play with Trevor would be this next week.

That is incorrect. Turns out our last show with Trevor was a few weeks ago. Very sorry to all of the bands, bookers, and good people who lose out on this. Its an embarrassingly pathetic world we live in sometimes.

2010-07-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

We have two shows coming up next week, and these will be the last we play with Trevor. Both are going to be great, sharing bills with friends at venues we either love to play or are really excited about getting the opportunity to play.

Thursday, July 15th at Union Pool with The Wrong Dots and Shortstack

Saturday, July 17th at 92nd Avenue and Beach Street, Rockaway Beach

Who's Talking?

2010-06-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Color Divide 7"s, Northside

2010-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Color Divide 7"s are now shipping and they came out swimmingly.

Also, looks like next Sunday has become a double header. We'll be playing at Coco 66 around 8:00 pm for our good friend Bill's Sound Bites Northside showcase.

From there, its off to Bruar Falls where we come on around 11:00 pm.

Hope you can make it to one or both

Upcoming shows, 7"s available

2010-06-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

We're going to be playing the Northside Music Festival after all. When? That would be Sunday night at Bruar Falls.

Better yet, we'll be playing Union Pool July 15th with our good friends the Wrong Dots and D.C. powerhouse Shortstack. Really excited about that one.

Color Divide 7"s are now shipping. Its about time no?

More to come, until then:

Hot times summer in the city

2010-05-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

I really only understood how funny this shit actually is about a year ago.

Dennis Hopper

2010-05-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

An Uncontrollable Urge

2010-05-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Just picked up this review of the Singles EP.

Thanks to our friends at An Uncontrollable Urge.

7 Inches Blog

2010-05-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite music blogs had some nice things to say about the singles:

"There's something about this back to basics catchy songwriting that's going to live on way past the low-fi fuzz resurgence...it's all related, but the heavy texture is going to scream 2009-2010 for some recordings out there. Sometimes you want some stripped down solid rock, 4/4 snare/kick with slightly off tune plain old electric. If you can record songs with this energy and simplicity then you literally are capable of anything"

Read the whole post here.

About those singles. There was a snafu between the pressing plant and plating guys, and the plates arrived about a month late. I'm told I'm getting test pressings today, meaning we're about a week to ten days out for the Color Divide/Natural Selection singles.

And according to pitching coach Darren Balsley, Tim Stauffer "looked normal to me" during his first throwing session since his emergency apendectomy. We'll take it.

Buy my amp

2010-05-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

The classic tone you demand:

1968 Fender Twin Reverb

Seriously though, buy my amp.

Vile Tuesday

2010-05-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

free vile.
today only.

thanks matador.

Comes a Time

2010-05-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

We recorded one of our new ones to a hand-held mp3 recorder last week, just posted it on our myspace page. Its named "Comes a Time" for now.

Myspace

Glasslands Wednesday Night

2010-05-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the official Gray Goods internet web log. We will be posting here weekly, sometimes a recipe, maybe a song from practice, the late Jose Lima's career statistics etc.

We are playing live this wednesday night at Glasslands. We perform at midnight for $8.