So here’s the second of our EP Series. A Groover’s Christmas is our take on Christmas Music, new and old. With these EPs, our plan is to go into new areas where we wouldn’t maybe go for a whole full-length album. As an Improv-based Jam Band, the New is always more interesting than the Thing You Just Did, and this is our next step in that direction.

With that in mind, we did a completely new thing (at least for most of us) when we threw the “Miracle on 47th Street” Party/Recording Session.  For those who are not familiar with this particular gambit, we invited hard-core fans into the Studio with us while we laid down the tracks that would eventually become this new EP.  As our resident control freak, I initially was spooked by the entire concept, but being thoroughly outvoted and reminded of my often rudely and loudly proclaimed statement that “there’s nothing to be afraid of…literally”, I accepted my defeat and went on as best I could…
It turned out to be a Blast! One of those things where you find yourself telling people “I was never so glad to be wrong” and tacky things like that. People brought donuts. And Liquor. And Sub Sandwiches. And Liquor.
Did I mention there was Booze? What’s Christmas without it when you really get down to brass tacks? I mean, it seems to help, and why do the tacks have to be brass anyway? It seems like a bit of overspending since it just keeps the carpet from sliding around. The Crew says that anything you can’t do with Duct Tape isn’t really worth doing in the first place, which casts a somewhat creepy and not-at-all-Christmassy light on their interpersonal pursuits, but I digress…
Along with the above-mentioned things, the Miracle on 47th crowd also brought a cool energy that I think got captured in the process. It was certainly a first for us and we’re looking forward to trying that again. Soon, hopefully…

We should mention that a huge part of why this EP exists is due to WXRT, and more specifically Richard Milne.
For the non-Chicagoans in this group, WXRT/93.1 FM is a total jem of a radio station where, for a long time, Richard hosted a Show called “Local Anesthetic”.  He would introduce WXRT’s listening audience to Local Bands that they might not be aware of, have them in the Studio for interviews, and would play their Music.  He had us on the Show a bunch of times and we were, and are, grateful for that. Those of you that have a copy of Just Did It #1 can hear Richard introducing us at the Vic Theater Show where it was recorded. It’s just another way helped support us and the Chicago Scene.
A highlight of the WXRT Holiday Season was the annual Local Anesthetic Christmas Special.  This Show would air on the Sundays before Christmas and would include local bands singing a short Christmas message (generally about 20 seconds or so). In our case, these messages began to grow quickly in length and complexity. We also began to set records with Richard for how close we cut the time between dropping off our message and when the Episode was set to run. Kind of like “Blotto Time” but on the Radio. To the Blotto Family, this is a common enough experience, but it’s kind of how things seem to operate in our Bubble and Milne always went out of his way to accommodate us. Or Indulge us. Or Tolerate us.  But it always worked, even though we had to race across town to drop off our 3 minute Epic on a Sunday morning when it was supposed to be only 20 seconds long and should have been turned in the previous Tuesday.

So, it wouldn’t be right to not include a bit of the Local Anesthetic Christmas Tomfoolery in this here thingamabob.
Thanks Richard, and to all a Good Night.

-Chief

 

Back in the days when Vinyl Albums were the way we heard Music, part of the fun was opening the Album (if it was a double LP or even a single that opened like a book), and reading what was printed inside. Some records included the Lyrics, which I made my self specifically Not read until I’d heard all the songs at least once. Not everybody felt this was important, but for me it made the words come alive, out of the mouth of the singer as opposed to feeling like the singer was reading something off of a page (which he/she probably was, in fact, doing, but suspension of disbelief is more essential than one would initially think, right?).

So, given the restrictions on space on the Christmas EP, we decided to print the Lyrics for the songs that nobody knows yet with the CD, and in a nod to both the Vinyl and Digital Ages, post the Liner Notes here in the Blog.
If this were a Fold Out Album, you’d open it up and see…

Mr. Blotto is-
Alan Baster-Drums
Steve Ball-Keyboards and Vocals
Mike Bolger-Bass, Vocals and Synths
Paul Bolger-Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Mark Hague-Electric Guitar and Vocals
Jason “Jah Son” Litwin-Percussion and Bird Calls

Recorded by Colin Peterik at the Jam Lab November  2019

Thanks to God, Peer Munck, Richard Milne, The Groovers who came to the Miracle on 47th Street, and Whoever makes Guinness..

Copyright 2019 Casa Moolah/BMI.
All Rights Reserved

-Chief

 

Math Stuff…

Merry Christmas!
As the Third and Final (you’re welcome) Blog post regarding the new A Groover’s Christmas EP, we thought it appropriate to point out a couple of things.
Both are Math-based for those who think these things Count… (Sorry for that).

I-(The Short One)
“Why did you wait until December 13th to release the CD?”

I-First off, when they asked Lemmy of Motorhead why they named their most popular Album “Ace of Spades” he immediately answered “Because it’s Bad Luck”.
Here in Blotto-land, we’ll take a lesson from anyone, so when we had a chance to release a CD on Friday the 13th we figured it was a great start.
Then, when one looks at the Numbers, December the 13th is the first day of the 12 Days of Christmas, since 13(th) +12(days)=25 (which is Christmas).
That seemed kind of cool for both reasons, so we went with it.

II-The Math of the 12 Days.

One day, during Finals in December, I was mentally fried. Looking for a distraction in the Library, I came across a random odd book, the title of which I cannot remember. It dealt with the deeper roots of Holidays. As a student looking down the barrels of Finals (which are somewhat darkly titled, if you’re asking me, but that’s another paragraph I suppose…but what if it isn’t a different paragraph? What if we stop farting around and denying the very real questions in front of us and grab the proverbial Bull by his proverbial horns [since female cows don’t have horns, no judgement] and asked the question that I think you’d like me to ask so we can get on to the Math, which is frankly insulting as (1) No one EVER really wants to get on to the Math and (2) Stop Interrupting or I won’t get to the Math, and (3) I never actually heard about a Bull in a Proverb, and (4) Finals are a bit dark, but we haven’t been able to come up with a really bright and cheery word for “a Test that might Define One’s Future”, so maybe it’s best to just move on)
I welcomed the distraction.
Don’t worry about the syntax of the preceding sentence. It’s grammatically correct in a Dr. Who sort of way. But it is.
Now, getting back to the thing,

I welcomed the distraction.
Opening the book to a random page and putting my finger down on a random line as one does when one is dating a certain type of New Age-y type girl whose methodology you suspect but her solidity of results you increasingly find hard to dispute (so you try it when she’s not around) leads you to do, I actually landed on an article that pointed the following out.

Here’s The Fun Math part. Thank you for waiting for it.

If you add up all the gifts in the 12 Days you come up with a cool thing.
There’s 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree. That’s 1.
But it happens 12 times because there are 12 days. Since it’s each day, it’s 1×12=12.

Then there’s the 2 French Hens. Its 2, but they only show up 11 times, since they are not on the first day, but on all the rest. So 2×11=22.

If you break down the Gifts times the amount of times they are given, you get the following…
1×12   +  12
2×11   +  22
3×10   +  30
4×9      +  36
5×8     +  40
6×7     +  42
7X6     +  42
8×5     +  40
9×4     +  36
10×3    + 30
11×2   +  22
12×1    + 12
 364
…and the love we get and give on Christmas is the thing we need every day of the year so add 1 to make it 365!
Merry Christmas from Mr. Blotto*.

*and whoever wrote that Article.

-Chief