Karl Straub Music

KARL STRAUB GUITAR WORKSHOP, THURSDAY JAN. 19

2012-01-13T14:04:00.010-05:00

KARL STRAUB GUITAR WORKSHOP
TEN IDEAS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER GUITAR PLAYER
NOVA Music Center, 12704 Chapel Rd
Clifton, VA 20124
703-830-7141
workshop time--
Thur, Jan 19, 7:00 PM

If you play guitar, and find yourself stuck at one skill level, wondering why other people seem to improve while you stay
in one place, this workshop is for you.

Karl Straub will show you strategies and techniques to start improving your guitar playing right away, and
keep you getting better from now on. Straub's teaching method begins with an overview of the different areas a guitarist
needs to focus in order to improve, and continues with tips on finding which areas need work, and what to do about it.

It's a systematic method that will work for players at any level. Whether you're an advanced player trying to build chops, or a beginner struggling to play something that sounds like music, this workshop is for you.

to sign up, please go to
www.novamusiccenter.com/workshop-10-ideas-to-make-you-a-better-guitar-player-thur-jan-19/

you can email
karlstraub@hotmail.com
with questions.

KARL STRAUB ALBUM RELEASE UPDATE

2011-12-13T14:06:00.001-05:00

Hi all,

For the first time in a long time, I have news of upcoming releases. The unfinished Graverobbers album "Harlem Hayride" is nearing completion. I don't know what this means in terms of time, but I can tell you that Peter Fox and I have been working on overdubs and mixing the last few months, and it's pretty close to done.

Once it's done, I'll make it available in some form-- not sure yet whether I'll put it on CD. That will depend on capital available-- perhaps I'll try one of those online fundraising things. I'll also be investigating putting the recordings on iTunes, etc.

This album is the last Graverobbers album, and features an eclectic mix of different genres, including rock and roll, country, jazz, and folk. It has what I think would have been the greatest Graverobbers single if we had released it as a single, a few remakes of earlier Graverobbers songs, some Bakersfield style country, a jazz ballad written by me that an elderly piano player told me sounded like Bix Beiderbecke's piano instrumentals, Martin Lynds with brushes (always a treat!), a few stolen guitar licks from James Burton, Johnny Thunders, Chet Atkins and Django Reinhardt, cowboy falsetto on the old standard "Carolina Moon," "Drunkard's Special," a song from the Harry Smith collection, a lot of great soulful harmony singing from Lee Wilhoit, Jimmy Gray on standup bass, a remake of "Sugar Rum Cherries" with Beach Boys-esque harmonies by once and future Graverobbers me, Lee, and the legendary D. Kevin Pera, a pinch of glam rock guitar, and three Thelonious Monk pieces played in country and folk styles.
It sort of sums up all the music we were trying to do in the Graverobbers-- including "some kind of weird Texas thing," as one disgruntled fan put it. I will always feel bad for inadvertently disgruntling that young woman, whose charm was exceeded only by her coquettishness. (I guess she's probably not young anymore, though. It's been a while.)

CrowTown, my new rock and roll band, is working on an album. That project is taking a while, and I don't expect final versions of it any time soon, but we are thinking about releasing some tracks that are close to finished to get our sound out there and generate interest in the band. It's the first time I've been in a rock and roll band for many years, so if you're one of the people who wistfully laments that I don't still write and play catchy pop songs, you're in luck.

This band is more or less all rock and roll music. The band is Antoine Sanfuentes on drums, and Pat and Jim Cavanaugh on guitar and bass. Mostly it's songs by me, most new for this project, with a few numbers written by Pat and buffed to a warm glow by me.

And I have just received electronic communication ("e-mail") from my colleague Eric Brace that we are about to put the Hangtown Dancehall album on front burner status, which is a change from middle burner, where it has recently resided. I'm not sure what this means, but it must be good. Most of that music has been recorded, but I've been taking forever to write the Overture. It promises to be a darn good Overture, though, when all is said and done.

KARL STRAUB HAS FINALLY WRITTEN A BUNCH OF NEW ROCK AND ROLL SONGS, TO BE PERFORMED BY NEW BAND CROWTOWN FRIDAY DEC. 2, 2011

2011-12-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

Karl Straub's new band, CrowTown, is the first time Karl has been in a rock and roll band for a long time. (The Combo occasionally plays rock and roll, of course, but it's not exactly a rock band.) Karl's written a lot of new songs for this group, which is
Karl Straub, songs, guitar, and vocals
Antoine Sanfuentes, drums
Jimmy Cavanaugh, bass
Pat Cavanaugh, guitar and songs

Antoine played drums for the Linemen for years, and Pat and Jim are bass and guitar for Jumpin' Jupiter.

this performance is a sneak preview-- we are the live entertainment at a fundraiser for a documentary about a female rock photographer who covered the Pacific Northwest rock scene in the sixties. Overshadowed in recent years by the Seattle grunge scene, the rock scene back then was pretty damn influential, including luminaries the Ventures, the Sonics, the Kingsmen, and the Ventures. Jimi Hendrix also came from there, although he didn't become famous until he went to England.

flier is above, but here's a little info.
EVENT BEGINS AT 8
CROWTOWN FIRST SET AT 9
after that it gets fuzzier-- some excerpts from the film in progress will be shown, and CrowTown will play another set after that.

address is 8517 beech tree rd
bethesda 20817
if you're interested in going, you need to RSVP heraimistrue@karenjwhitehead.com
$25 suggested minimum donation (tax receipts available for $50 donations & up)

KARL STRAUB LIVE FRIDAY JUNE 24, HARRISONBURG, VA

2011-06-23T11:44:00.001-04:00

If you live in or around Harrisonburg, Va, or are in the mood for a road trip, Straub will be appearing from 7 to 9 with the stripped-down Combo outside in a family-friendly atmosphere. Musicians appearing with Straub are Jerry Del Rosso on bass and Ariel Francis on keyboards. Straub is eschewing live dates this summer due to a huge amount of recording activity (five different albums are in the works at presstime), so this may be the only live Straub summer opportunity this year. Unless someone makes him an offer he can't refuse.

for more info, check out the Fridays on the Square facebook page.
www.facebook.com/pages/Fridays-on-the-Square/122075597832220

TWO STRAUB GIGS IN ONE WEEK. SAINTS PRESERVE US!

2011-03-18T12:01:00.005-04:00

hi all,

two straubinical gigs in one week-- dramatically different venues, music, and alcohol.

MONDAY, MARCH 21
KARL STRAUB solo (8 PM-- DON'T BE LATE!) opens for Danny Barnes (Bad Livers) www.dannybarnes.com

at IOTA
iotaclubandcafe.com/

some of you have probably known of this guy Danny already for a long time--
until today, I knew him only by reputation, but I'm sitting here this a.m., digging the music on his site. aside from being a good songwriter in a country-rock vein, he's also blending harder rock with old-timey banjo. (Unlike a lot of well-meaning artists in the
"alt-country" or "country with punk roots" ghetto, Danny Barnes can really play and write.)
plus, he's a fellow traveller in the "avant-garde" landscape. one of his many albums is called
"Barnyard Electronics," (best album title I've heard in a while) and you can bet I'm going to try to con him into giving me
a promo copy of that one. (although I'm willing to pay cash if need be.)

To keep up with this illustrious man, I'll be bringing out my loop gizmos and various fuzztones and slapback for this show, so you're in for an evening of good songwriting, picking, and just enough weirdness
to keep you awake.

LATER THAT SAME WEEK-
Straub brings out the A-list Combo (special guest Kevin Cordt on trumpet!)
for a bunch of jazz sets.

the event: Of Wine and Words
Friday, March 25, 2011, at the Boeing Building, which is located at 1200 Wilson Blvd. in lovely downtown Rosslyn.
7 to 9:30.
(the Combo will play jazz off and on during that time, including a few new jazz pieces written by Karl.)
charity fundraiser for The Reading Connection,
a great program that raises money to buy books for kids.
If there's anything more important than music, it's reading.
More info about the event and the organization--
http://www.thereadingconnection.org/index.php

STRAUB GIG TONIGHT IS AT NINE O'CLOCK! SATURDAY, NOV. 27, JV'S, WITH JUMPIN' JUPITER

2010-11-27T14:18:00.000-05:00

STRAUB STARTS PLAYING AT NINE O'CLOCK!
(EARLIER POST FAILED TO MENTION THIS IMPORTANT DETAIL)

Here's another gig with Karl Straub opening for Jumpin' Jupiter. It's Saturday, Nov. 27 at JV's, part of the JV's ongoing anniversary celebration.
This gig is special for another reason. Normally at JV's I play with the Jumpin' Jupiter rhythm section. That's happening this time too, but for a few songs we'll switch it up with guest drummer Antoine Sanfuentes, and Pat Cavanaugh will join us as well. This will be a low-key foreshadowing of the band the four of us are putting together-- Pat and Jimmy Cavanaugh, plus me and Antoine. Although, I have to admit, holidays have distracted me and I never really confirmed this with Jay, or the other principals, so maybe it won't actually happen.

The uncertainty should add a spicy layer of tension to the gig, though, which you won't want to miss. Come and experience the nail-biting, clock-ticking, pulse-pounding suspense, along with the usual beers, booths and barstools that constitute the familiar backdrop for these gigs. FLAME ON!

6666 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042
jvsrestaurant.com

STRAUB TO APPEAR AT JV'S, SAT. NOV. 27, WITH JUMPIN' JUPITER

2010-11-26T10:27:00.000-05:00

Here's another gig with Karl Straub opening for Jumpin' Jupiter. It's Saturday, Nov. 27 at JV's, part of the JV's ongoing anniversary celebration.
This gig is special for another reason. Normally at JV's I play with the Jumpin' Jupiter rhythm section. That's happening this time too, but for a few songs we'll switch it up with guest drummer Antoine Sanfuentes, and Pat Cavanaugh will join us as well. This will be a low-key foreshadowing of the band the four of us are putting together-- Pat and Jimmy Cavanaugh, plus me and Antoine. Although, I have to admit, holidays have distracted me and I never really confirmed this with Jay, or the other principals, so maybe it won't actually happen.

The uncertainty should add a spicy layer of tension to the gig, though, which you won't want to miss. Come and experience the nail-biting, clock-ticking, pulse-pounding suspense, along with the usual beers, booths and barstools that constitute the familiar backdrop for these gigs. FLAME ON!

6666 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042
jvsrestaurant.com

STRAUB COMBO TO PERFORM TODAY AT T.C. WILLIAMS TELETHON, ALEXANDRIA, APPROXIMATELY 6 O'CLOCK

2010-11-07T13:49:00.001-05:00

hello all. i'm even more eleventh hour than usual on this gig announcement, and as usual i feel just awful about it.

at any rate, today the combo will perform as part of TITANFEST, T.C. Williams high school fundraiser that funnels scholarship money to kids that need it. we're playing around six oclock, at TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, as part of this telethon, and it will be broadcast on local Alexandria cable TV.

I'm hoping I'll eventually get a DVD copy, so I can put some clips online.

info can be had by clicking on this--
www.acps.k12.va.us/news2011/nr2010110401.php

the blurb about me provides the factoid that i've been "hailed" by music critics, a word choice that always suggests an image to me of critics lining up in Roman centurion garb as they sing my praises. The fact that this actually did once happen to me doesn't change its basic ridiculousness.

THIS FRIDAY, STRAUB OPENS FOR JUMPIN' JUPITER AT JV's

2010-10-14T15:53:00.004-04:00

Another JV's opener (Straub 9 to 10, jumpin jupiter after that for two sets)
with
KARL STRAUB and Jumpin' Jupiter means
one thing-- lotsa guitar, lots of singing, lotsa
great songs, and more. Now that I look at it,
it's really more than one thing.

Along with the usual mix of Straub songs and
Country/Jazz standards, I'm planning to add some Ventures-type
arrangements at this gig, giving
Doug a chance to do his surf drumming
whilst I twang my way through some familiar
melodies. "A taste of honey" ? " Wabash Cannonball"?
"Theme from Exodus" ? Who knows what we might play?

It all depends on what I work up when I start practicing tomorrow
morning.
"Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves"? Probably not
for this gig, but only time will tell.

Here is address and website--

6666 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042
jvsrestaurant.com

KARL STRAUB TO WRITE SONGS IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE

2010-09-28T10:25:00.006-04:00

I am putting together a mini-event where I write a song while an audience watches and listens. The idea is that I will literally write a song in front of a bunch of paying customers, and I'll explain what I'm doing as I go. This "performance" could be seen two ways--

a look at my creative method for anyone who's interested in my music. Ever wonder what I think about while I'm writing? Now you have a chance to see it for yourself.

a master class in songwriting for musicians and songwriters.

I'm trying to figure out who would be interested in this. It will initially be very limited availability-- I'll probably only be able to accommodate about five people. If you (or someone you love) would like to be one of the five, please email me at karlstraub@hotmail.com and I'll put you on the list. When I get some names together, I'll work out a time to do it and discuss scheduling with the people on the list. If there's a lot of interest in this, I may do it on a regular basis, but there will still probably be very limited space available each time.

At some point, I'll let more people know about this but for now I'm just mentioning it here-- consider yourself exclusive!

KARL STRAUB COMBO, MOCKINGBIRD, STAUNTON, VA, SAT SEPT 25, 2010

2010-09-23T15:28:00.006-04:00

The KARL STRAUB COMBO will play Staunton, Va, this Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010.
It's a rare out-of-town gig for Straub, plus it's two sets! Always a bonus. I haven't checked my map yet, but how far away could Staunton be? Half hour? If you're up for a very brief road trip, I'm sure Staunton would be happy to have you for a few hours. Think of it as the last summer blowout this year. I assume Mockingbird has beer and whatnot. Here, I'll sweeten the deal-- anyone from the DC area that stumbles into this gig gets a "shout-out" from the stage. Perhaps even a song dedicated to them, if they are dancing. Man, what a deal-- I wish I was in the audience!
Another bonus, if you still need convincing-- this will be the first non-solo gig where I'll have the new Lo-Fi Loop Junky. This pedal made a real splash at the recent solo show-- now it's graduated to the ensemble gigs. Don't miss.
Mockingbird
123 W. Beverley St.
Staunton, VA 24401

www.mockingbird123.com/
showtime:8:30-10:15

(please note-- I have received several emails, some of which had a pretty aggressive tone, questioning my speculation that Staunton is about a half an hour from here. One person went on at some length, actually. I encourage anyone who doubts me to look it up. After that, if you don't accept it, I can't help you.)

STRAUB OPENING SAT SEPT 18 FOR (V-ROYS) SCOTT MILLER AT IOTA

2010-09-17T14:24:00.004-04:00

STRAUB SOLO SHOW, from IOTA's calendar--

SA 18 sept
SCOTT MILLER
W/ KARL STRAUB
9:00PM $15

info on Scott, whose band the V-Roys has worked with Steve Earle--
www.thescottmiller.com/scottmillerstuff.html

IOTA--
www.iotaclubandcafe.com/
sorry about not larding this post with blather. I will say this-- I've got a spankin' new gizmo I'll bring to the show called the "low fi loop junky," which will enable me to play some duets with myself. If that's your idea of a good time, I guess I'll see you there.

KARL STRAUB IS GUEST ON METRO CONNECTION RADIO SHOW, FRIDAY AUG. 27, 2010

2010-08-26T21:54:00.006-04:00

I'm going to be a guest on David Furst's Metro Connection radio show on WAMU. It's in connection with my work on Ed O'Connell's excellent album "Our Little Secret." The lateness of the hour (and the shortness of my pants) means I won't go into detail just now, but here's what you need to know in the near term.

I played guitar and sang a bit on an album of very catchy songs. I played so many overdubs and layered guitar parts I felt like I was back at the "Soul Parking" sessions in the early 90's. Other great playing by Scott McKnight and others, and I hope the others will forgive me skimping on detail because they all played great.

Four of us from the album, Ed, Scott, excellent drummer Jon Babu and I, did an interview on the show and played a few live-in-the-studio songs by Ed.

according to Ed, "David's show, Metro Connection, runs on WAMU 88.5 on Friday afternoon from 1 pm to 2 pm; it's rerun on Saturday morning from 7 am to 8 am (which David said actually gets a lot of listeners). Show archives can be found here, at least for a little while:
wamu.org/programs/mc/"

FRIDAY AUGUST 13, STRAUB IS OPENING AT JV'S AGAIN, WITH NEW SONG (MAYBE)

2010-08-11T13:08:00.003-04:00

YET ANOTHER JV'S OPENING SET WITH JUMPIN' JUPITER
This is practically the same text as the last gig post, but I figured it would still be fresh because most of you didn't make it to that show. plus, a bonus-- i'll have a new song that night. Tentative title-- AIN'T ONLY BUT A RAINDROP. Come to the show and find out if the song still has this title three days later! (of course, I can only play the song at the gig if I finish the lyrics in time-- always my least favorite part of the process.)

I'll be playing another opener at JV's, this Friday August 13. I'll play from roughly 9 to 10, with Jimmy and guest drummer Saul backing me up, then Jumpin' Jupiter will play the rest of the night.

You haven't lived til you've heard my songs with Jay Jenc sitting in on jaw harp. I hadn't lived til I heard it, either.

www.jvsrestaurant.com/directions-to-jvs.html

"MONK'S MOOD"

2010-07-01T11:27:00.003-04:00

From unfinished "Harlem Hayride" album. Marty, Jimmy and I recorded this Thelonious Monk tune with Peter Fox. I thought it was a demo, but the more I listened to it the more I liked it and so we kept it like this. Peter got an interesting room sound vibe here.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/07 monk's mood.mp3

ANOTHER JV'S OPENING SET WITH JUMPIN' JUPITER

2010-04-12T09:16:00.002-04:00

I'll be playing another opener at JV's, Saturday May 8. I'll play from roughly 9 to 10, with Jimmy and Doug backing me up, then Jumpin' Jupiter will play the rest of the night.

You haven't lived til you've heard my songs with Jay Jenc sitting in on jaw harp. I hadn't lived til I heard it, either.

www.jvsrestaurant.com/directions-to-jvs.html

JV'S GIG WITH JUMPIN JUPITER

2010-03-21T12:15:00.006-04:00

Last night's gig with Jumpin' Jupiter at JV's went really well. The people at JV's have been very nice to me, and it looks like I'll be opening for the Jupiter boys on a regular basis from now on. Not sure how often that will mean, but it will be a much-needed addition to my threadbare playing schedule.

Next time I should have some more notice on it, and I expect to see more of you guys come out! Thanks to everyone who made it, and especially to the beautiful people who were generous enough to leave cash in the tip jar. (Chad left a whole dollar! It seemed from his body language that there would be more where that came from in the future-- but I may have been reading into it.) And to those who assumed the show wouldn't start on time-- sorry about that, but at JV's, the trains run on time.

Photo here of me and a local Satan-worshipper was taken by my old friend John Askew. Thanks, John!

RED AND BLACK GIG MOVED TO FRI, MAY 14

2010-03-16T17:03:00.001-04:00

RED AND BLACK GIG DATE CHANGED TO FRI, MAY 14

KARL STRAUB COMBO TO APPEAR AT THE RED AND THE BLACK, FRIDAY MAY 14, WITH DIRTY BOMB OPENING

2010-03-11T09:39:00.006-05:00

KARL STRAUB COMBO, FRI MAY 14, RED AND BLACK D.C., DIRTY BOMB OPENS
Dirty Bomb goes on for one set around 9:30 or 10, Combo has
the rest of the night. I think music ends at 12:30.
The big news is that Karl Straub is playing a D.C. club for the first time in many years. (To make my statement more dramatic, I'm conveniently ignoring the handful of one-off opener gigs at 9:30 club.)

Apparently, Joe Englert has been busy building his little empire of nightlife. I've heard great things about the new H street area, and I'm looking forward to re-establishing a beachhead of sorts in the city. The Graverobbers used to play D.C. fairly regularly, which meant we had to keep begging and cajoling Virginia fans to drive into town. It was an uphill battle during a time when Washington was known to many suburban music fans (I'm trying to avoid saying "white people") as a dangerous hellhole.

Well, from what I understand, its hellhole days are over! D.C. is getting hipper, cleaner, and safer, evidently, and you are the beneficiary! The Red and the Black
will be happy to have us come back again and again, but only if YOU SHOW UP AT THIS GIG!
IRRITATED AT KARL STRAUB'S LACK OF GIGS? YOU CAN CHANGE ALL THAT! It will be hard for me to turn down regular gigs in D.C. if people are showing up, and I'm making a few bucks each time.

Opening will be my colleague Andy Sullivan's band Dirty Bomb, playing music from their song cycle about the trials and tribulations of funster Jack Abramoff. After Andy's musical screed, the Combo will play for the rest of the night, most likely a few hours.
PLEASE NOTE-- Andy writes for Reuters, and as a member of the fourth estate, he caters to a following of gentlemen and gentleladies of the press. This means, to the best of my knowledge, that you can expect to wade through a cordon of rumpled alcoholics in fedoras and Panama hats to get to the bar. The dance floor should be relatively free of traffic.

KARL STRAUB SITTING IN WITH JUMPIN' JUPITER

2010-03-10T10:08:00.005-05:00

PLEASE NOTE! I PREVIOUSLY HAD THE WRONG DAY AND/OR DATE. IT'S NOW CORRECT. THIS SHOW IS SATURDAY, MAR 20.

I'll be playing an opening set with Jumpin' Jupiter on SATURDAY, MAR 20, at

JVs Restaurant and Bar

6666 Arlington Blvd.
Falls Church, VA 22042

I'll start at 9,everything ends at 1-1:30. The plan is for me to play the first set with Jumpin' Jupiter backing me up. I may sit and play a tune or two with them at some point, who knows?

BUTCH WARREN, HOUSE BASS PLAYER FOR BLUE NOTE RECORDS

2010-03-10T09:22:00.005-05:00

Antoine Sanfuentes contacted me to try to set up a gig with Butch Warren, veteran jazz bassist, who is currently living in Washington D.C. Butch is one of those guys who never got famous, but played on tons of records. If you have any Blue Note records from 1960-1964, you probably have some of Butch's playing in your collection. He was Thelonious Monk's regular bassist for a couple years, and played on Dexter Gordon's best album, "Go!" (If you don't own that album, pick it up immediately! A word to the wise.)

Watch this space for information about a gig when we get it together, but most likely there will be a jazz group with Butch, including people like Antoine, Chris Watling, and Pat Cavanaugh, as well as my group. We'll probably play a mix of jazz and my songs, and most likely there will be a lot of cross-pollinating between groups.

In the meantime, check this out-- it's a facebook group where Antoine is posting interviews with Butch about his career, links, etc.

www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1096767277410#!/group.php?gid=278978848876&ref=ts

STRAUB'S GUITAR PLAYING TO BE HEARD IN STARBUCK'S

2010-03-09T13:57:00.004-05:00

Eric Brace just emailed to say that Starbuck's has just added two Last Train Home recordings to their glorious pile of licensed tracks. I played on the two cuts, a great Scott McKnight song called "Always Raining On My Street" and the French pop standard "Et Maintenant." This means that you may hear my guitar playing in Starbuck's at some point. I guess this is a good thing--

FROM AUSTIN TO THE AUTOBAHN

2010-03-09T13:06:00.004-05:00

Recently I heard from two different people that they'd been listening to my old records while driving. One listener was in Austin with the top down; the other was barrelling along on the Autobahn.

If you have collected any data about what it's like to play my music while driving, please post it here. (Jay Jenc from Jumpin' Jupiter told me that he had some of my stuff on a cassette which got stuck in his car's tape deck. As a result he was forced to listen to my music exclusively for a period of three years. I think the experience may have injured his brain.)

"DRINKING FROM A SWIMMING POOL," ERIC BRACE AND PETER COOPER

2010-02-12T18:48:00.006-05:00

Here's my song "Drinking from a Swimming Pool," as performed by Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. The band includes two of the best pickers in country music history, Mike Auldridge on dobro and Lloyd Green on pedal steel, plus the merely excellent Dave Roe and Pat McInerny on bass and drums, with Jen Gunderman on accordion.

(note-- I'll add links later for purchase of the album where most of these guys and dolls played and sang on a studio version. I had a rough day. You don't need to know the unpleasant details.)

GERMAN WEBSITE LISTS ONE OF MY SONGS IN 1000 BEST SONGS EVER

2010-02-11T15:55:00.002-05:00

At least, I think that's what they said. Check it out for yourself--

1000secretsongs.blogspot.com/search/label/Karl Straub

My song came in at #585, only about 20 slots after "I Want You to Want Me."

TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET

2010-01-25T08:52:00.007-05:00

I'm sure I'll get a lot of smartass comments on this, but I'm considering sending out tweets. Not because I want to, or because I think they are healthy. (I'm actually disturbed by the whole idea.) However, I read an article about author Neil Gaiman, and apparently Neil constantly tweets his dark army of followers. This direct connection to his fans has probably contributed to his great success. (Another key to his success is that he has products to sell.)

I'm torn, because on the one hand--

I feel that American's need to feel some kind of artificial connection with an artist they like is a troubling trend, part of America's creepy obsession with celebrity.

and on the other hand,

Anything that helps me sell product without getting some weaselly middleman involved is probably a good thing.

So, most likely I'll do what I always do when I'm trying to be businesslike-- half-heartedly adopt the promotional medium, while undercutting my tenuous commitment to selling myself by affecting an ironic distance through biting, biting sarcasm. If you want to be part of this magical opportunity to find out what I'm eating for breakfast each day, please sign up to be my "follower" on Twitter. (And may God have mercy on your mortal soul.)

http://twitter.com/karltstraub

KARL STRAUB BIO

2010-01-06T11:40:00.001-05:00

About Karl Straub
Karl Straub is a D.C. area songwriter whose material has been covered by numerous artists, including Last Train Home, Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, Mary Battiata and Little Pink, the Grandsons, Mark Noone,Virginia Coalition, Kevin Johnson, Lisa Moscatiello, the Kennedys, Cowlick Lucy, Eugene Chadbourne, and Lee Wilhoit. His songs have been performed everywhere from open mikes to Wolf Trap, the Birchmere, and the Kennedy Center, and reportedly a festival in Antarctica. Straub's cult following includes cross dressers, rednecks, and sushi chefs, as well as many musicians and children, (most of whom remember his lyrics better than he does).
Straub has been performing original songs since 1985. His former band, the Graverobbers, released 3 albums and 3 singles, as well as contributing tracks to various compilations. "Americana Motel," (a collection of cuts by local roots-oriented acts) featured Straub's material, and a smorgasbord of local players and singers recorded his song "Don't Take Advice." The album was on the Wall Street Journal's top ten list for 2001, and the recognition by his peers helped garner Straub a Washington Area Music Association nomination for Songwriter of the Year.

Straub's songs cut across many genres, throwing rock and roll together with country and jazz. His eclectic approach owes a debt to mavericks like Merle Haggard, Bob Wills,and Willie Nelson. The live show features Straub's Danny Gatton-influenced Telecaster playing. The shows can get wild -- spooky ballads lead into crazy western swing raveups, with plenty of trashy rock'n'roll along the way. Blues, surf guitar, and psychedelia pop up as well.

Straub puts his music together the way birds build nests. He uses the available materials, borrowing from the Beatles and Bob Dylan as well as Rodgers and Hart. Certain recordings already in the can feature what Straub calls "snowcone music," catchy bubblegum songs about lipstick killers and tapdancing early Hollywood starlets, as well as Thelonious Monk compositions interpreted in a country and western style.

Straub's lyrics are all over the map, sometimes frank, sometimes impressionistic. His subjects include the obsessive behavior that springs from failed romance, meeting the Devil in North Carolina, and radio stations run by mermaids. His best-known songs are often witty novelties like "Backwards Town" and "Don't Take Advice," prompting his mother's complaint that she "couldn't hear the words because people were laughing so loud." Straub's humor is definitely not from the smirky smartass school, however. Even the comic material is bitter social commentary, as if Ambrose Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary" were set to music.

While the Graverobbers are now defunct, all the members are still alive, so future reunions are not out of the question. In the meantime, Straub is performing with his Karl Straub Combo. The live shows are always a little different, and always feature the compositions that inspired Pete Kennedy to call Karl Straub the area's best songwriter.

KARL STRAUB SPECIAL GUEST ON NEW LAST TRAIN HOME CD

2009-11-29T16:21:00.001-05:00

redbeetrecords.com/?id=15631&inc=7&album_id=1358

Last Train Home has a new cd out, called "Six Songs." I'm playing guitar on each track, and it's some of my best playing on record to date. On some cuts, I just played a solo, but we recorded a version of "Autumn Leaves" where I'm playing a ton of guitar, including a five-part guitar "choir." I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds when I say that this track is the trashiest, craziest track Last Train Home has ever recorded. (In fact, after we did one take, I assumed we'd have to redo it because it was so fucked-up. Eric was smiling and waving me into the control room to listen, though, so it turned out that the first take was a keeper.)

We also recorded a few tunes where I played in my low-rent Gatton mode, one where I tried to get a Scott McKnight sound, and one where I tried to sound like I used to sound in the earlier Graverobbers era.

The link above will take you to the Last Train site where you can purchase the cd. I hope to persuade Eric to let me stream some of it on here at some point, but until that red-letter day, you'll have to take my word for it-- you should buy it. (One of my songs is on there, so I actually get a tiny cut of the sales, if that helps convince you.)

SOMEONE IS BOOTLEGGING ONE OF MY OLD SINGLES!

2009-11-14T15:18:00.002-05:00

Terry Fife just emailed me to tell me that there's a website where a guy named Justin is making one of my old Graverobbers singles available for free download. I've emailed him to politely ask him to stop, but I have no idea if he'll be respectful of my wishes or not, so in the meantime you might as well check it out if you're interested in getting a free download. All I ask is that when I finally make it available for download myself, you purchase a copy from me.

justincrash.blogspot.com/2009/11/graverobbers-mark-robinson.html

He explains on his site that he has been unable to find any additional information about me or my music. I passed along the URL of my site, in the hope that it would help.

Thanks, Terry!

RECENT NASHVILLE TRIP

2009-11-05T18:34:00.005-05:00

PHOTO BY ERIC BRACE (i think)

I was in Nashville recently to record with Eric Brace. We put a dent in the stack of Hangtown Dancehall tracks, with Pat McInerney on drums and percussion, and Dave Roe on standup bass and comedy. Pretty hot recording session-- those Nashville ringers learned the songs faster than a hog can choke down a corncob. I'm not sure what that means, exactly. (It should be noted that four of the five "Nashville" pickers I worked with while I was there were either from D.C. or Ireland. I'm not sure where Dave is from, but he sure played his ass off at the session.)

I also did an acoustic duo set at the Family Wash with Eric, and a set of psychedelic honky tonk with Jimmy Gray, Martin Lynds, and special guest Pete Finney on pedal steel. (All three are former D.C. residents, by the way.) Alex "Peanut" McCullough's SG was onstage as well. (Sadly, Alex was not.) We played "Bakersfield with fuzz," my shorthand for the sound we cooked up on the fly. I can't wait to get back there. If anyone reading this is crazy enough to do a road trip just to see this lineup, I recommend it. Maybe next time I can do a Saturday night there--

KARL STRAUB IS WILLING TO PLAY FOR MONEY

2009-10-05T08:53:00.009-04:00

I've played many different kinds of music in many different professional situations. My regular performance outfit is the Karl Straub Combo. This group plays mostly my original songs, in a wide variety of styles-- rock and roll, country, and jazz, mostly. We play a few old jazz standards as well.

I also have a group called Chicken Fried Swing. This group plays mostly instrumental versions of old country and jazz standards. We throw in a few vocal numbers also, sometimes including a few Straub songs.

I also can perform as an acoustic solo, or with a stripped-down group. (Acoustic guitar plus standup bass, etc.)

If you are interested in hiring me in any of these configurations, I will be happy to discuss logistics and fee with you. My email address is karlstraub@hotmail.com.

PRIVATE PARTY/WEDDING PERFORMANCE

I am available to play private functions--

In these kinds of performances, especially for weddings, I play my usual material as described above, but I can tailor it to fit your needs, or add some material at your request. If you are interested in hiring me to play a wedding, for example, I can learn a few songs to add to the set list. I can also play acoustic instrumental music during a wedding ceremony if desired. I've played many weddings, and I'm fairly flexible about finding a balance of material that fits your needs. (Please note-- I can't play every song ever written! Let me know what you're looking for and I'll let you know if it's possible.)

Examples-- I've played weddings as a purely instrumental jazz group. This can be guitar, bass, and drums, but I can also add a horn or two if needed. I've played acoustic instrumental versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D at ceremonies. Recently I put together some duets of Beatles songs with guitar and dobro for a ceremony, which came out very nice. If needed, I can come play your wedding and do a combination of all of the above.

TESTIMONIALS FROM CUSTOMERS.

WEDDINGS I'VE PLAYED

“For our wedding we had a club DJ lined up for later, but we wanted something classy and cool to kick things off right. Karl and his combo were more than perfect. Their jazz stylings rocked the cocktail hour…keeping even the older attendees entranced (well, at least those with swinging musical tastes). Then Karl jump-started the after dinner festivities with a special request for our first dance, followed by a terrific standard for the father-daughter dance. A great time was had by all! Karl, it wouldn’t have been a wedding without you….at least not as memorable a one.”

BUY KARL STRAUB MUSIC IN YOUR CHOICE OF FORMATS

2009-05-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

go to CDBABY TO BUY KARL STRAUB RECORDINGS
www.cdbaby.com/Search/a2FybCBzdHJhdWI%3d/0

NOTE-- widget below sometimes experiences technical difficulties. if it doesn't work for you, just try the CDbaby link. earlier Graverobbers product is currently unavailable, although sometimes copies turn up online.

This is a "widget" that can take you to various places that sell Karl Straub music. Most of these CD albums and mp3 albums and individual tracks are under the name of the Graverobbers, Karl's now-defunct band (for whom he wrote the songs).
I think there's only one track under Karl Straub's name on iTunes, ironically one of Straub's few studio-recorded cover songs, "Blue Train" by Kevin Johnson.

I'll be adding more downloads etc. at some point that you can download right on my site, but in the meantime enjoy these items. (PLEASE NOTE-- there are many tracks available for downloading and purchase that are NOT STREAMING on this site, but you can listen to them at some of the sites where you buy.)

SONG TITLE LIST

2009-05-19T18:10:00.003-04:00

These are the songs you can find on this blog.
(NOTE-- updating this list, including links, is a pain in the ass, so it's probably not always going to be complete. But it will help, if you can't find something with the search box, or if you can't remember a song title.)
ALL SONGS BY KARL STRAUB UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

ASK ME NOW
(THELONIOUS MONK)
karlstraubmusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/drunkards-specialask-me-now.html

AUTUMN LEAVES
(KOSMA/PREVERT/MERCER)
karlstraubmusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/karl-straub-combo-live-2003with-jim.html

AND ALSO www.myspace.com/karlstraub

BACK IN LOVE AGAIN (NOW YOU'RE BACK IN LOVE AGAIN)
on myspace page.
www.myspace.com/karlstraub

BLUE CHRISTMAS FANTASIE
(ARR. BY KARL STRAUB, MUSIC BY TCHAIKOVSKY, VINCE GUARALDI, AND HAYES/JOHNSON)
karlstraubmusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/blue-christmas-fantasie.html

CADILLACS ON MY EYES
karlstraubmusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/cadillacs-on-my-eyes.html

BULLETIN BOARD

2009-05-18T16:35:00.001-04:00

hi everyone.

please feel free to comment on individual posts. I'm putting up this particular post just for fan comments, in case anyone has a comment and isn't sure where to put it. if people start commenting a lot, i'll be more likely to process all of it if the comments are here rather than scattered around.

here are some suggestions to get the ball rolling. (note-- some things will be time-consuming or impossible for me to do, but it helps me to know what people want.)

1. songs you'd like me to post

2. albums you'd like me to post more completely

3. info you'd like me to include, or flesh out (more details about musician credits, more explanation about song lyrics, or for that matter posting the actual lyrics, etc.)

4. styles you'd like to see more of (i.e. more country, more instrumentals, more rock and roll, etc.)

5. songs you'd like to hear more versions of (i.e. i have numerous versions of autumn leaves, but i don't post all of them because i'm not sure anyone wants to hear ten versions of that song. but maybe you do! if so, let me know!)

6. songs you'd like me to play live, instead of just posting them here

7. your wish list for stuff you'd like to be able to download, instead of just streaming

8. particular live shows orlineups you'd like to hear more of (i.e. more chris watling, less kevin cordt, etc.)

"UNDER THE LIGHTS"

2009-05-12T00:17:00.000-04:00

here's more pre-Cambrian Combo, this time at the Roots Cafe. Chris Watling plays great tenor sax, as usual. I've done many gigs with Chris over the years, and so far this is the only one I've found that got recorded. Let's hope some more turn up---

"Under the Lights" was one of the first tunes I thought of as a "Combo" song, rather than a Graverobbers song. At this point the difference seems academic. Due to my laziness, this recording has a lot of stage patter that I should have edited out but didn't. I hope I eventually find the deej show where I talked for about forty minutes without playing a note.

STRAUB SONGS PEOPLE WANT HIM TO BRING BACK

2009-05-09T23:53:00.000-04:00

This is the place to put in your two cents. Please leave a comment, or even a few, and feel free to list any number of songs, with any observations or questions you want to include. Now's the time to weigh in, before I become so successful that I don't have time to interact with humans anymore.

CHICKEN FRIED SWING/"FADED LOVE" and "IN A MELLOW TONE"

2009-05-06T13:49:00.000-04:00

This is the band I formed for the purpose of not having to sing! We play instrumentals, blending country and jazz, and a bunch of other stuff too. Danny Gatton style, more or less.(There doesn't seem to be a huge crowd of people who want to hear all instrumentals, so I'll probably bow to commercial pressures at some point and sing a few numbers.)

Ira Gitlin plays second guitar, beautiful lines and tone.

Jerry Del Rosso on bass.

Matt Tebo on drums.
"Faded Love" is the traditional fiddle tune turned into a pop ballad by Bob Wills.
"In a Mellow Tone" is the Duke Ellington classic in Bb.

BLUE CHRISTMAS FANTASIE

2009-05-06T00:04:00.000-04:00

Here's the best of the tracks the Graverobbers recorded for Hungry For Music compilation albums. This lineup, only recorded once I believe, was Sean Chagall on acoustic rhythmic guitar, Marty Lynds on drums, and Jim Gray on bass. Don Zientara recorded us at Inner Ear, and Jeff Campbell was executive producer. Thanks to Jeff Campbell for support and encouragement, and for encouraging me to record tracks like this. (Jeff's charity, Hungry for Music, does great things. among other endeavors, he provides musical instruments for kids who can't afford them. that's one of the greatest ideas i've ever heard. he also has tons of interesting music compilations for sale. here's the link--

hungryformusic.com/hfm/)

I remember I was really nervous, almost physical ill, before this session. This was the most challenging arrangement I'd ever played. It was all written out on a couple of pieces of paper, the different feels, different melodies and chord changes from "Blue Christmas," Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy," and Tschaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite." This was the craziest medley I ever dreamed up (I suppose the younguns would call it a "mash-up.") It all came together (in spite of my nervousness which went away after I plugged in) with a minimum of takes and overdubs. Sean's acoustic guitar helped hold it together. A lot of what I played was sloppier than I had wanted, but the feel was good so I decided to call it a wrap. This was one of many things I wrote or arranged for a recording and then decided was too hard to ever play again.

KARL STRAUB COMBO LIVE 2003/WITH JIM STEPHANSON ON GUITAR

2009-05-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

I found this disc that just says 2003. I'm pretty sure it's me, Jeff Muller on bass, Matt Tebo on drums, and Jim Stephanson on Telecaster.
www.jimstephanson.com/index.html
I have no idea where this show was, but it's one of the cleanest-sounding recordings I have from a live gig, plus the balance isn't bad. I'm guessing Sam recorded this. The vocals are better than usual, too, suggesting that I must have been able to hear the monitors okay. Does this suggest that we were playing relatively quietly during the Stephanson period compared to now? Hard to say.

Here's what we do know-- I've played with a ton of fine guitarists over the years, and learned something from just about all of them, but when Jim Stephanson was on the other side of the stage night after night, I remember thinking-- "Hmmm. If he's going to follow my solo and play something LIKE THAT, I'm going to have to work harder so that the disparity is not embarrassing to me."

I'd reached the point where working like a dog to get better didn't seem like an impossible task, and the idea of learning how to improvise stuff that would fit with Jim's solos didn't feel like a fool's dream. So that's what I tried to do.
Some of these tracks sound pretty good. I especially like Charlie Parker's "Cool Blues," and listening to it I remember what Matt said after the first time we played that tune with Jim, at Carlyle Bland's place Marker 20 in Hampton. Matt said, after we finished it, that after a while not only could he not remember what tune we were playing, he couldn't figure out what kind of style we were playing anymore. And although some of you folks might be saying, god, not another version of "Autumn Leaves", this one's not bad. (In fact, it's pretty hot and has a mystery connected with it-- it sounds like three guitarists. Who's playing along with me and Jim? I can't recall. Whoever it is, he or she is playing hot stuff. Probably not a she, I guess, you'd think I would have remembered. Could be Justin Lees-- but I'm not sure.)

I believe Sam has a few more shows like this in his vault, and I hope we get around to mixing them one of these days.

"TWELVE (12) PERFECT FILES," "BACK IN LOVE," "LITTLE JOHNNY SPOTLIGHT," KARL STRAUB COMBO, EARLY EDITION, VELVET LOUNGE WITH KEVIN CORDT

2009-05-05T12:10:00.000-04:00

Here are some highlights from the early Combo days. (velvet lounge, march 2003)At this point, I was trying to move away from the guitar-heavy sound of the Graverobbers. Being the only guitar on stage enabled me to shift the dynamics more easily. If I stopped playing, it left a lot of space in the music. I liked this sound, but on a bunch of gigs in a row Kevin Cordt and Chris Watling weren't available, so in desperation I turned to guitarists I'd wanted to play with, and the Combo moved in a new direction.

On this gig, one of the few recorded from what now seems like a transitional phase, we had Kevin Cordt on trumpet, John Young on bass, and Matt Tebo on drums. It's interesting to hear how different this band sounds from the current Combo. Matt was doing a lot of his "quiet storm" playing, Kevin was seesawing between lyrical playing and wackiness, and I was continuing to try to develop my style. My concept for this band was to concentrate as much as possible on the kind of interactive improvisation I'd first learned playing with Eugene Chadbourne years earlier. Kevin was, and is, a perfect guy to do this with.

This was a pretty crazy gig, with a fired-up young crowd. There's a lot of bantering, which I take most of the blame for, but with Kevin and John on stage at the same time there's always a lot of comedy, some of it comedic in the traditional sense (i.e. humorous).

Some of the tunes have beginnings cut off, due to the track sequencing on the disc I have. Others have a bunch of talking after the song. It's not all dynamite, but there's hot stuff in there if you listen closely. (For those willing to listen very closely, some tanked-up guy in the audience started calling John Young "Johnny Y!" and there's even a moment in there where John says something and the audience guy says "that's right, Johnny!" or some similar affirmation.) I was working on my Roy Buchanan volume knob technique for a while there, which gave Kevin some ideas. (NOTE-- I just found another disc of this same show, which for some reason had another twenty minutes of music, including an "avant-garde" section with me and Kevin making whale noises. I have to edit that, which means extra work and delay, but I'll try to get to it one of these days.

"WORTH EVERY DIME," "TWELVE (12) PERFECT FILES," "CAROLINA MOON," "MERMAID DREAM," LIVE GRAVEROBBERS WITH JEFF LANG, IOTA 2002

2009-05-05T10:35:00.000-04:00

The date is a rough guess, as I forgot to write it down at the time. This is a soundboard recording, which means the mix is weird, and whenever the vocals are particularly out-of-tune they actually get louder. Jeff Lang got up and played guitar on a few numbers. Unfortunately, some of his hottest playing was on songs with less stellar performances by me.

That's the case with "Mermaid Dream." Even though the vocals are somewhat problematic, Jeff's guitar solo was so great that I decided to put this up anyway. (There's a solo demo of the song with a better vocal, elsewhere on the site.)

"Carolina Moon," recorded for the Harlem Hayride album, has no Lang, but a Straub solo that points to where my playing would go later. (this great song is an old chestnut by Benny Davis and Joe Burke.)

"12 Perfect Files" has a blistering Lang solo, and "Worth Every Dime" is a tune that got away. I wrote it for the Mermaid Radio project, and it only got played a few times. It was an early attempt to mix country and jazz/outside sounds, and I think this is the only recording of it so far.

NO MORE BOOZE/FIREMAN, SAVE MY CHILD

2009-05-04T22:55:00.000-04:00

Here's an oddity. I'd forgotten about this track. This was the only session documenting the last Graverobbers lineup with Scott McKnight, Lee Wilhoit, Marty, and Jimmy. Perhaps fittingly, it was unlike anything we'd ever done on stage. We'd been rehearsing in the basement of this house that Eric Brace rented, and Lee and Jimmy lived there at various times. We played some good music there, my trashy "psychedelic Clarence White" approach to guitar was developing at that time, and a lot of important arrangements first emerged there. (I was about to type "first saw the light of day" but then I remembered it was a windowless hellhole.)

Anyway, Niall asked us to record a track for his album of public domain songs. I found this song in the Carl Sandburg Songbag and used my newly acquired note-readin' skills to puzzle out the melody. The lyrics were wacky Roger Miller surrealism, and in the folk tradition I added a few verses of my own. We recorded this super low fidelity, maybe with Scott's old machines? I can't remember now, but I do remember Marty using an old Dirt Devil for auxiliary percussion. (NOTE-- LEE WILHOIT HAS ATTACHED A COMMENT WITH MORE INFO.) Lee Wilhoit's southern charm really came through here-- you can hear him yowling inspired nonsense in the background. Scott was on banjo. A lot of it was live, and then we overdubbed some weirdness. Done and done!

THAT GIRL RAMONA

2009-05-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

This is from the Brain Cloudy project. The initial idea for the song came when I worked at a record store with Justin Chearno, and this girl that looked like Joey Ramone used to come in all the time. Naturally, we called her Ramona. Once, she bought an Alice Cooper album, unwrapped it, and walked out listening to it on headphones.

There's really not much more to it than that. It's about the people you see that really seem to know their way around the night. I like the nighttime, but even though I feel most comfortable at night, I often see people that really seem to live for it. I don't think I've ever really been more than a fellow traveller in that world. The Ramona in the song is one of those people, or at least she's trying to be.

I was fortunate to be able to borrow a six-string bass (Jerry Jones, I think) that engineer Clark Hagan had borrowed from the late great Chet Atkins. (Of course, he borrowed it from him before he was late.) I played a sort of low-rent Chet/Les Paul solo, which at the time seemed to be one of the best things I'd played on a session to date.

NOVOCAINE CRAYONS

2009-05-04T18:03:00.000-04:00

trivia--A writer for the City Paper once called this song "Novocaine Pencil." more trivia-- I think this was the only track where Dave sang a lead line unaccompanied by my vocal. I loved the way it sounded, but he was less enthused, feeling that it stood out too much. We didn't try it again, I'm sad to say.

This song was about my memory of school as a place where creativity and individuality were discouraged. Now I'm a parent and a teacher. (I'll confess that in some of the middle school classes I've taught, I had to take a break from encouraging creativity and individuality so I could tell the kids to shut up for two seconds. I would never say it in quite that non-nurturing way, of course.)

Now that my son is in pre-school, I find myself thinking about this song. For the record, I don't tell him he has to color inside the lines. I give him credit when he does it, though. (As I've gotten older, I've come to feel that coloring inside the lines is not always bad. I suspect that even Salvador Dali colored inside the lines when he was a kid. It's a good skill to have when you need to travel amongst the humans.)

TONIGHT

2009-05-04T17:55:00.000-04:00

I stole the first few notes from a song by my friend and colleague Kevin Johnson called "She Changed the Country Station Back to Rock and Roll." A lot of people have told me this is their favorite song of mine. I know that for a while it was the only song of mine that my mom recognized. (She would deny this now, I imagine, but fortunately she doesn't have access to the internet.)

I wrote this song sitting in a seventeenth floor apartment, at a table that looked like it had once been used in a diner. I had read that P.G. Wodehouse used to put all the pages of a book he was writing on the wall, so that he could walk around the room and read it. If a page needed work, he'd put it slightly askew on the wall so he could see at a glance how much work a draft needed. (I guess today you could use a computer program to do this.) I liked this idea, and I used a scaled-down version of his approach; individual index cards placed on the formica represented one line each. I wanted each line to be really strong, so I kept at it until all the index cards were lined up evenly. I also operated on the theory that repeating the word "tonight" at the ends of verse lines would help people remember the song. Then I repeated it even more in the chorus. People seem to remember it.

(trivia about the recording-- I used a volume pedal here to mimic a steel guitar volume swell. Dave Giegerich heard the track and thought I'd used a steel. I ripped off part of the solo from some of the licks on "Lyin' Eyes." At the end, I was trying to make all the guitar overdubs sound like a sky filled with stars would look to someone sitting on a front porch. Or perhaps a back porch-- I'll let the listener decide.)

Last Train Home recorded this song as a shuffle. I recently played this song at a gig where most people there were not familiar with my music. Steel guitarist Lyn Kasdorf came up to me with a quizzical look on his face after the song ended-- he'd heard it before, but couldn't remember where. Mission accomplished.

ROCK SALT

2009-05-04T17:29:00.001-04:00

from the "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" album, produced by legendary John Alagia, and Doug Derryberry chipped in some legendary assistance when John would finally fall asleep, usually at the tail end of a ninety-hour work cycle. Around this time I was listening to the Jayhawks a lot. I think you can hear that here-- I love this kind of guitar sound. Gibson guitar, Fender amp, Tube Screamer pedal, and throw in some Neil Young/Clarence White ideas.

I haven't done that for years-- maybe I should do it again. I seem to recall it was fun.

(great rhythm track too-- the band played really well together on this.)

SLEEPING ON THE MOON

2009-05-04T17:02:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite tracks. Originally, Matt, Scott McKnight and I recorded this for a proposed Karl Straub solo album. This album never materialized, mainly because I ended up cannibalizing a lot of the material for Graverobbers albums and mostly what was left was either second-rate, or needed some editing/rewriting which I didn't feel like doing at the time. (Some of it was pretty good, though-- I might have to talk with Scott McKnight and see of any of it could be salvaged for posting here.)

An aside-- this was one of the songs that earned me a reputation for writing really short songs. Maybe my more recent penchant for indulgent long solos has made up for this early failing.

(Another aside-- readers of all these notes might get the impression that my main motivation for creative decisions over the years has been to get back at someone for making a comment that annoyed me. I deny this, although looking back on my career I have to admit it happened a hell of a lot. For example, around 1986 or so, my dad came to my first professional show at an actual bar. We did a set of mostly my original songs, and my dad's observation was that it was good, but all the songs sounded the same. Perhaps my entire career since then has been my attempt to refute this statement. I don't know. I'll leave it to the historians, to borrow a leaf from George W. Bush.)

I think this was one of the tracks where I overdubbed multiple electric guitars to get an imitation of a Jim McGuinn-like twelve-string sound. Dave Pera did some of my favorite backup vocal parts ever on this-- although my memory of the session is mainly of cruelly forcing Dave to redo parts endlessly. To his credit, he didn't complain. Instead, he finished his parts stoically and then never spoke to me again. When you listen to this little pop confection, I hope your enjoyment justifies our sacrificing our relationship to get the track in the can.

ELVIS COSTELLO

2009-05-04T16:36:00.000-04:00

Originally titled "The Curse of Elvis Costello," this song was a petulant reaction to the fact that people were always telling me my music sounded like Elvis Costello's. I got tired of hearing this after a while. A few years later, when Elvis Costello was forgotten or ignored by a lot of younger people, I started hearing that I sounded like Michael Stipe and that my songs and band sounded like REM. (It seemed to me then that, for a lot of people, REM was their only frame of reference for catchy songwriting. A narrow view, in my opinion. I will say now, though, it's easier for me to hear the connection between my voice and Stipe's, especially on the "Soul Parking" album. I hope I've purged my style of Stipe-isms by now.) At this point, I became nostalgic for the period when people compared me to Elvis Costello.

Anyway, when I first heard Elvis Costello, or at least when I first started listening to him closely, I felt that his style was pretty similar to what I wanted to do. I was paranoid about imitating him, so for years I avoided buying and listening to his records. (I had "Taking Liberties," and that was it. It's still my favorite of his albums.) This song was my attempt to use Elvis Costello's style to comment on my feelings about the comparisons. Nowadays, I like being compared to Elvis Costello, but it never seems to happen anymore. (Anyone who actually reads through all of this palaver on this site will probably get the impression that I'm always irritated by people's observations about my music. This is not, in fact, true-- I'm just not inclined to point out how much I agree with people when they say nice things about me, or give me credit for something. It is true, though, that even when people are praising me I don't always agree with them. Usually I agree, though.)

Anyway, back to the song. I spent a long time working up a Bruce Thomas-like bass line for this, and this song was used as a kind of remedial music exercise by the early Graverobbers. We had a giant chalkboard with the chords written on it, and we once had a rehearsal where we played this tune (in its earlier form) for eight hours straight. Later, the band had evolved. Dave Pera was now on rhythm guitar, and Jimmy Gray was playing bass for us. I remember Jim and Matt got together for a sectional rehearsal (not to be confused with a sectional sofa) and greatly improved on my original conception. Perhaps because of the original catalyst for the song, and my working on it through various phases of my life and career, by the time we recorded it I wasn't that excited about it. It sounds pretty good to me now, though.

(trivia tidbit-- Marty Lynds, I believe, is playing auxiliary percussion on this.)

I HATE THE RADIO

2009-05-04T14:23:00.000-04:00

With the advent of satellite radio, Bob Dylan's brilliant program, etc. this song doesn't seem as relevant anymore. I still like it!

PLUTO WATER

2009-05-04T14:09:00.000-04:00

When "Soul Parking" was released into the wild, some people liked it a lot, some people didn't, and I always felt some people didn't like it because it wasn't rocking enough. For the record, I never felt that that album was a conscious attempt to move away from the trashy rock we'd been playing for a while. I just wrote a bunch of songs over a period of time went into different areas and idioms. (I'm pretty sure that I didn't know the word "idiom" at the time.) I liked the material, and it was only after the fact that I noticed there wasn't much on there that was trashy or rocking.

So, I'm always annoyed when people criticize something for being a thing it was never meant or claimed to be. It was the record I wanted to make at the time. When we worked on the followup, it was a conscious effort to make a record that sounded more like our live sound. We threw in a few nice country and jazz things to balance it out, and in fact even the lyrics of the trashy stuff on the "Toast of the Town" album had some arch references to jazz. (I'm most proud of the quote from Duke Ellington's "Black Beauty" that I snuck into a guitar solo that otherwise sounded more or less like Johnny Thunders.)

"Pluto Water" was the first track, with a kind of AC/DC guitar tone kicking it off. (For some reason, most of the feedback I got after this album was that it was a little too pop-oriented, compared to the first album. In those days, people tended to approach me mostly with criticism. They were constantly comparing whatever I was doing at the time to whatever I had been doing the week before, year before, etc. and finding the new direction lacking, even ill-advised. Sometimes they were actually indignant and scolding. I'm not sure why this doesn't happen as much anymore. Maybe because my new approach live is to establish right away that we're not just going to get up and play catchy pop songs, so when we go into something weird it's not as jarring to a pop-o-centric listener. Or, maybe it's just that the people who don't like my eclectic and experimental side just stay away from the gigs entirely.)

STONE'S RAG/STRAUB'S REEL

2009-05-04T13:45:00.001-04:00

this is a demo of me playing the traditional fiddle tune "Stone's Rag." I learned it from Bob Wills's Tiffany Transcription version with Jody Holley on fiddle. Bob called the tune "Lone Star Rag," but when I looked it up on the amazing site, www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html , they say there are other tunes with the Lone Star title. If anyone has any thoughts about this raging controversy, please comment!

I threw in another demo, this one of me playing my original "fiddle tune" that I call "Straub's Reel." I tried playing this with a really behind-the-beat feeling, and I think I may have lagged a bit too far behind! I like the tune, though, so I put it up here anyway. I hope later to record these and play them a little better, but it seemed wise to get them up so I don't forget about them.

CAROLINA

2009-05-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

from the "Toast of the Town" album by the Graverobbers. This was one of the first country, or at least country-rock, items we did that was any good. One of the few of my old songs that I still play reasonably often. (Incidentally, if anyone wants to hear any of these old songs played by the Combo, the best thing to do is to comment here about it. Requesting a song at a gig will mostly force me to apologize because we don't know the song, but if I start seeing online that there are old songs that a lot of people want to hear, who knows?)

CHICK FLICK ON ACID

2009-05-04T13:29:00.000-04:00

here's a demo of a song I wrote about the comedy "Sweet Home Alabama" with Reese Witherspoon. Please note-- I neither endorse nor condone the use of drugs, including alcohol. (I mention alcohol separately only because Americans sometimes forget- if you can drink something that causes you to yammer a bunch of loud sweaty inanities while driving a vehicle in an erratic and dangerous manner, that's a drug of some sort.) Moreover, there's no good reason anyone, be they man, woman, or child, should be looking to some musician for ideas about how to live their life. If you want ideas about how to play a Telecaster, I'm your man. Otherwise, I suggest looking to your parents and the educational system if you need information. I write songs about fictional characters.

TWELVE (12) PERFECT FILES

2009-05-04T12:19:00.001-04:00

This song from "Harlem Hayride" has an interesting history. Matt Cook showed me a page from an old Time magazine (I believe he found it at the Library of Congress, where he was working then). It had a brief blurb about a man on Death Row. Reading between the lines, you got the impression that the guy suffered from schizophrenia, or some condition that caused him to talk of various hallucinations involving the Devil, black cats, iron pots, and the like. The Time prose was, by modern standards, insufferably glib and nauseating in its condescension toward this man. You hear a lot of bitching about "political correctness" these days, and occasionally you hear it from me, but in this instance it's pretty obvious that even a corporate weasel publication like Time has benefitted from the onset of the PC era. At least it's impossible to imagine them printing something like this today.

The lyrics are pretty close to verbatim, taken right from his quotes in the piece. I left out a little bit because it didn't fit rhythmically, but it's mostly all in there.

Thanks to Joel Sparks for finding the article for me on the internet so I didn't have to scan it. (TIME magazine, april 1, 1935)

CUSSER
In Raleigh, N. C., just before he was electrocuted for murder, Sidney Etheridge, 45, Wartime machine-gunner against the Hindenburg Line, gave his recipe for enjoying Hell: "The first thing is to boil your black cat. You get your pot and go into the woods. Just as you get ready to boil your cat, a wind will come through the woods and bow down the limbs of trees and sweep the ground clean for a place for the pot. After you boil the black cat, you pull the bones, every one of them, between your teeth. But first the wind blows and sweeps the ground clean around the bones. Then you walk to a signboard for nine straight mornings. Each time you walk backward nine steps and forward nine steps, cussing God and Jesus Christ with every breath.

"Suddenly you hear a voice and the devil appears before you. He puts a 50 cent piece in a horse track. You take the 50 cent piece and go to the hospital and have them put it in your stomach. Then you're possessed of the devil. He's your father, and your mother. Hell will be a fine place for me." From the adjoining cells came the moaning sound of Negro prisoners chattering their prayers.

here's the song I wrote about it. By the time I got around to recording it, Matt had moved and Marty was playing drums with me, but Matt deserves credit for inspiring the song. The title, by the way, has nothing to do with the rest of the song-- it was an ad for metal files on the facing page. "Twelve Perfect Files in Every Dozen!" Hard to imagine a half page ad for files in Time today-- (Peter Fox on accordion, I think.)

SOUL PARKING

2009-05-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

One of my favorites. This was mostly live, unlike most of my recordings over the years. I wrote the song, taught it to the band a day or two later, and we recorded it within the week (before I had a chance to get sick of it). When we recorded it in Sam's apartment, Randy played accordion; he walked nearer to the mike when he wanted it to come up in the mix.

Eric Brace recently recorded this song with me, Marty, and Jimmy. We did a much louder and trashier version. Jared told me that in the control room they were amused because I looked like I was falling asleep while playing it, even though the guitar sound was huge.

SHONEN KNIFE

2009-05-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

My tribute to the great Japanese all-girl rock and roll trio Shonen Knife. This song was inspired by seeing them play to a New York audience larded with indie-rock hipsters. It was hard to see the band at that show; if you stood on tiptoes you could sometimes see the tops of their heads.

I hope I won't piss anyone off when I say that I preferred their early sound, which still included some Japanese musical idioms along with the American stuff. When they came to this country to tour, the indie rockers embraced them; the albums started featuring indie-rock special guests, and for me became less interesting. There was an irony in this, because in those days indie bands would often get signed to a major label and release slicker records that were immediately denounced by indignant hipsters as evidence of the poisonous influence of major labels. The Shonen Knife situation was, at least for me, an example of well-intentioned indie-rockers poisoning something pure-- ah, but perhaps I'm being uncharitable.

At any rate, seeing Shonen Knife on that early tour was one of the great rock and roll experiences of my life.

trivia tidbit about the recording-- I think this one of the few examples of me using handclaps on a record. I remember Dave, Jason, and I crammed into some dank closet with a microphone. I love handclaps on records, but I always forget to put them on a track.

DRINKING FROM A SWIMMING POOL

2009-05-04T09:54:00.000-04:00

EARLY VERSION, NO VERSES

LATER VERSION, NEW VERSES ADDED

First up is "Drinking From a Swimming Pool," early version from "Soul Parking." Years later, with the second "classic" lineup of the Graverobbers, we recorded another version in more of a Merle Haggard style. (That one is in the second miniplayer.) I finally added new verses to accomodate all the gripers who were troubled by my use of the same verse over and over. Originally, I tried to write more verses, but ran into trouble because they kept revealing too much information about the story. I didn't want to add new verses unless they added to the song, and it seemed to me that more information would ruin the haiku-like effect. I still like the early version, but I like the later version too.
(Eric Brace and Peter Cooper recorded this song, in kind of a hybrid of both versions. They did it as a shuffle, a la the original, but added the new verses about a down-at-the-heels ne'er-do-well. You can find their version in the straub song covers post, karlstraubmusic.blogspot.com/2009/02/covers-of-straub-songs.html)
trivia tidbit-- Jeff Searle came to some shows and got interested in trying to decipher the "secret meaning" behind certain lyrics. He once asked me if anyone had figured out that this song (keep in mind, he was hearing the original version with chorus only) was from the point of view of a lovelorn suicide, post-drowning. (Kind of like the framing device of "Sunset Boulevard.") The song in my mind has nothing to do with suicide, nor is it about a Kaw-Liga-esque statue in the middle of a pool or fountain (someone else's theory). These interpretations were fascinating to me, though. Many times someone asked me what a song was about, and then looked crestfallen (sometimes ashen) when they heard the answer. In this case, I got the idea for the title when drinking some really lousy gin someone gave me. It reminded me of poolwater.

DRUNKARD'S SPECIAL/ASK ME NOW

2009-05-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting item-- not a medley exactly, but the traditional tune "Drunkard's Special" (sometimes known as "Cabbage Head") segues into a nifty Chet Atkins/Django Reinhardt-esque version of Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now."

NOTHIN' BUT A BABY

2009-05-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

Here's "Nothin' But a Baby," from the upcoming Peter Fox-produced "Harlem Hayride" album. Beautiful pedal steel by Dave Van Allen. We were going for a stripped-down semi-acoustic sound on a lot of this material.

MERMAID DREAM

2009-05-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

Here's a solo demo of "Mermaid Dream," one of many songs from my long-promised song cycle "Mermaid Radio." Just one of the many projects in my head, this one has bubbled under the charts of my imagination for many a year. Maybe I'll put it together one of these days--

(trivia tidbit-- I recently came up with a plan/rationalization for linking a bunch of songs together for this concept. I can't reveal the ultra-secret plan right now; it's kind of like Nixon's secret plan for getting out of Vietnam. I can tell you that I stole it from something I read about great filmmaker F.W. Murnau. I think it was Murnau-- I'll get back to you on that.)

CADILLACS ON MY EYES

2009-05-04T09:39:00.002-04:00

from the Graverobbers' first album, "Soul Parking." This song represented a departure for me, the first step in my gradual move away from an exclusive focus on
trashy rock and roll. When we first recorded this song, I thought about releasing it as a single; I chickened out because we were known for a different sound at the time. These days I don't worry so much about stuff like that. Nice playing by Randy Austin, and one of Dave and Matt's best rhythm tracks. Maybe I should start playing this song again--

UPDATE-- As I type this, I'm listening to the song and trying to relearn it for a wedding gig. The bride and groom requested the song, and playing it now I realize I haven't played this tune in maybe more than ten years? Feels like a lifetime ago-- as with a lot of my older songs, when I hear them now I feel like I'm listening to another artist, maybe one I was a big fan of years ago but lost track of--

FOUND A BUNCH OF GRAVEROBBERS OUTTAKES at my parents' house

2009-05-01T22:05:00.000-04:00

it's not exactly the Charlie Parker Dean Benedetti tapes, but I stumbled onto some cassettes of Graverobbers outtakes today. I thought at first they were just the "Soul Parking" album on cassette, but it turns out they had a few pre-Soul Parking tracks we recorded on a session that ended up just being a single with two songs. I can't promise this stuff will sound any good at this late date, but if I can figure out a way to digitize them without accidentally destroying the tapes, I'll see what we've got. I think it's a few Straub songs that never made it to a proper release, and eventually got dropped and forgotten.

I believe this was the session with Don Zientara where we had to stop recording because smoke started coming out of my amp. I remember thinking, "That can't be good."

OLD GRAVEROBBERS SINGLES-- "SCRATCH MY YOUTH OFF"

2009-04-30T23:02:00.000-04:00

here's the b-side of the "Justine" single. Matt Cook on drums, Dave Pera on bass and harmony vocals, Aiko Butler on lead guitar, Karl played rhythm guitar and sang. This is what we sounded like back in 1990. Aiko and I were a good guitar team, I thought, but we had some personal problems that led to trouble, and I didn't handle it very well. (Some people are probably protesting, "Oh, my god, he's whitewashing his own role so shamelessly!)
Anyway, this is one of the few artifacts preserving our sound at the time, which was much more consistently raunchy than my music has been since. I loved this kind of sound at the time, and I continue to love it, but I just got bored playing that way after a while. (Hearing these tracks for the first time in many years, I'm thinking I'd like to do some more stuff like this again-- we'll see.) It should be obvious to anyone listening that Aiko's excellent and rude guitar playing (influenced by the Dolls, the Stones, etc.) was an essential part of what we were doing. This point was certainly not lost on me, because people kept reminding me of it after I fired her.

note to listeners-- you can actually hear Alan MacEwen's turntable arm lifting off the vinyl at the end of this "digitized version." And if you think I'm going to spend money to get it redone, you don't know me very well, do you?
(Covered by the Grandsons.)

OLD GRAVEROBBERS SINGLES-- "MARK ROBINSON"

2009-04-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

These Graverobbers singles go back to the early 90's, pre-"Soul Parking" era. It's weird for me to hear this stuff again-- none of these singles sound much like that album, or anything I've done since. For those of you who fondly remember these recordings, enjoy! For anyone who knows me through my current music, you're forewarned-- these tracks include some sloppiness, my youthful vocal sound, and a boatload of injokes that probably seemed amusing at the time, at least to me. I also discovered a bunch of saucy lyric content. PLEASE NOTE-- IF YOU ARE A PARENT, DON'T LET YOUR KIDS LISTEN TO THE "SKINHEAD GIRL" TRACK. IT'S NOT EVEN UP YET, BUT THOUGHT I SHOULD PUT UP THE PARENTAL ADVISORY NOW. THE "JUSTINE" SINGLE IS PROBLEMATIC AS WELL. AND PLEASE, NO LECTURES ABOUT HOW MUCH COOLER I USED TO BE. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL IN RETROSPECT, ANY COOLNESS WAS PROBABLY ACHIEVED THROUGH SMOKE AND MIRRORS. Alan MacEwen "digitized" two of these seven-inches for me, and I promptly "mislaid" them. Jim Saah continued hounding me about them, until his inevitable decision to go back to his actual life. Today, while in the process of planning to move all my music, books, etc. to our new house, I saw the copies Alan gave me. (In retrospect, I'm not surprised I couldn't find them, as they were in plain sight for the last two years or so. For those of you who find this an example of idiocy, I refer you to Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Purloined Letter.")

At any rate, no time right now to tell all the many stories about these singles, but here's the A-side of the "Mark Robinson" single. At the tail end of the track, we put a bossa nova version of the song, with scratchy vinyl sounds mixed in by Sam Hinds. Alan's digitizing process included actual scratchy vinyl sounds as well, so now I guess you can say we've used modern production methods to blend several eras together for your listening experience. (I actually can't remember who played the bossa nova guitar part. I would guess Randy Austin, as I don't recall actually knowing any fancypants chords at that time, but who knows? I'll see if Randy can remember.)

IOTA LIVE RECORDINGS IN THE WORKS

2009-04-17T15:28:00.000-04:00

If you can all promise not to ask me anything about when it will be done, I'll tell you that Sam Hinds has been doing some mixing on his live recordings of the Combo at the recent Iota gig. On this show, we had spur-of-the-moment guest guitarists Jim Stephanson, Anthony Pirog, and Joao Erbetta sitting in on a couple tunes each. We hope to get a few of these songs up online at some point, maybe even make a few tracks available for download. That'll be a while getting that together, but we'll try to at least get stuff streaming sooner rather than later.

there's one really sick version of "Lonely Round the Clock" where we mix a little electric Miles/McLaughlin with a little bit of Jeff Beck, a little bit of the Ventures, a little Sonny Sharrock (Andy doing some crazy delay pedal stuff), and I don't know what all.

probably my favorite live version of "Autumn Leaves,"

(both with Anthony Pirog on guitar)
anthonypirog.com
www.myspace.com/anthonypirog
a great version of "Crazy" with Joao,
www.myspace.com/joaoerbetta
and a few more items.

GIGS COMING UP

2009-03-23T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here are a few Straub gigs coming up.

Saturday, June 27, Del Ray Music Festival.
Chicken Fried Swing (Straub's mostly instrumental group) will play a set at two in the afternoon. It will be hot, and outside. (This refers to the music and the physical environment as well.)

www.delraymusicfestival.com/music.htm

There are some Chicken Fried tracks on this site, and a couple on these other sites too--

karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/

karlstraubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/

Straub plays one of his rare solo appearances at Iota, Sunday, June 28, opening for Freedy Johnston.

I hate playing solo, (mainly because there are always a few ne'er-do-wells yammering through every song) but it is an opportunity for people who like the quieter side of Straub to get a full dose of that. You also might hear some songs I don't play that often.

www.iotaclubandcafe.com/

STRAUB AS SESSION MAN

2009-03-05T10:54:00.003-05:00

As Ray Davies once sung, "he's a session man-- a chord progression--"

Here is a list of recordings by other artists where I was involved in some way, either on guitar, vocals, in a production capacity, or just there at the session to argue with the artist about what their music should sound like. As always, this list is a work in progress and I encourage suggestions for things I left out inadvertently, or advertently as the case may be.

PLEASE NOTE-- KARL STRAUB IS AVAILABLE AS A SESSION GUITARIST/SINGER ETC. FOR JUST ABOUT ANY KIND OF RECORDING PROJECT YOU MIGHT BE IMAGINING.

ERIC BRACE/LAST TRAIN HOME
I've played on a few of Eric's tracks over the years, in a few different styles. Some of the stuff I did with Eric that I'm most proud of is still unfinished, but I'm looking forward to hearing these recent recordings when they're done. On top of that, we've been working on a collaboration album project, and hope to start recording soon for that.
In the meantime, here's Eric (and me, and a bunch of other great players) in something of a Spanish mood. I played a bunch of pseudo-Latin nylon string licks on here, in one take, and I'm still scratching my head about how it came off. When I listen to it, it sounds like it was recorded by some other guy.

SCOTT KINNEY
"EMERALD EYES" single
I sang lead/backup vocals, played bass, and played a tiny bit of acoustic guitar somewhere in there. (This was the first time I was ever on a session with a bagpiper, and I hope it won't be the last.)
to hear this track, click on
www.myspace.com/rodrockmusic

BUTCH WILLIS

Here are some very strange items. Early on in my career, I read a Washington Post review that said Butch Willis's first album was the worst album ever made. You hear people say things like that a lot, but it's more rare for a reviewer to make such a statement. I immediately decided I needed to join this band. There's a lot more to the story, and I don't have time to tell it all right now, but here are some tracks I played on.

First, an unreleased track, "Heartache," by Butch Willis and the Rocks. This was a track that even Butch thought was too weird to put out. It's my favorite thing we ever did, and I try to listen to it once a day for therapeutic purposes. Obviously Butch's vocals are the main event, but listen closely for Al Breon on "throat guitar;" for those who have never seen Breon perform, he karate chops his adam's apple while improvising a combination of monosyllabic guitarlike sounds and actual excerpts from the lyrics. Al is Keith Richards to Butch's Mick Jagger. (Or, if you prefer, the analogy could be Roky Erickson and the guy who played "electric jug" in the "Thirteenth Floor Elevators".)
Connoisseurs will want to check out the four bars at 3:47 where the band kicks into a tighter groove, and Butch locks in with a more Otis Redding-esque vibe.
(note-- at presstime, reverbnation is having trouble processing this recording, due to its strangeness, so it cuts off in the middle. the whole track originally is two different takes, the reverbnation version cuts off just as the first one is coming to an end.Dean X and I are looking into the problem, so stay tuned.)

here are another couple tracks to tide you over while we sort out the "heartache" situation. "Concrete and Birdfeathers" is from the first time I ever played on a session at a real recording studio, Don Zientara's old basement studio. I worked up an extremely complicated solo, and then I couldn't play it. I ended up fumbling through it, improvising solutions when I hit a wrong note, trying to keep a crazy energy going to disguise the mistakes. And thus, a style was born!
(from that same session, "Can't Keep Me Away From You" with me on a heavily compressed Fender Strat. You can hear I got caught in my strings or something at the tail end of the solo. Apparently Don must have left that in, possibly because the executive producer's budget ran out? I don't know, I wasn't really privy to behind-the-scenes machinations like that.)

A few years later, I had the opportunity to do another Butch record, this time with Mark Robinson (Unrest, teenbeat records, etc.) on guitar. I was very happy with the result, I thought Mark and I were an interesting and effective pairing, and I still think it's some of my best playing. this is "Love Fad," which is Butch in sort of a Rolling Stones/country rock mood.

Mark Robinson (for those of you who don't know this, he is in fact a real person) is working on a documentary about Butch Willis. God only knows when Mark will even finish editing the interview footage, but if he ever gets it done I'll talk about it here for sure. Working title-- "Amateur on Plastic." If you're interested in finding out more about the documentary, or buying Butch Willis cd's, check out www.teenbeatrecords.com

I played guitar and/or sang on various Kevin Johnson and Eric Brace albums. I played/sang and did some co-writing and production on the first Little Pink album. I played guitar on some of Date Bait's album "I Split On Your Grave." I played guitar on several Butch Willis albums. I played some guitar on a Lee Wilhoit track, but I'm not sure it ended up on the compilation album it was supposed to be part of. Lee, if you're reading this, whatever happened to the Gene Clark track?

Here's a clip from Galaxy Hut, Sept 2009. My friend Billy Fox has written a lot of great instrumental music. He threw together a pickup band to play a few tunes at the United Mutation reunion gig. The band here is Billy on drums and composing, Chris Watling on tenor sax, Scott McKnight on bass, and me on guitar. (I stumbled through the head, but the music survived intact, and my solo sounded okay so I thought I'd post the clip here.

www.karlstraubmusic.com/kooky spooks, GalaxyHut3.mp3
There's more of Billy's music at www.myspace.com/billyfox2

NOTE-- I OBVIOUSLY HAVE BARELY EVEN BEGUN THIS LIST . I GUESS I'M HOPING THAT POSTING IT IN THIS INCOMPLETE FORM WILL MAGICALLY RESULT IN THE REST OF THE TEDIOUS WORK BEING DONE WITHOUT MY INVOLVEMENT. SO FAR IT HASN'T HAPPENED.

COVERS OF STRAUB SONGS

2009-02-26T10:18:00.003-05:00

UPDATE, NOV 2009. Eric Brace and Peter Cooper have recorded a song I wrote with Eric, titled "It Won't Be Me." I also played on upcoming Last Train Home mini-album to be called, I think, "Six Songs." We recorded a version of my song "Soul Parking" for that, as well as my arrangement of Autumn Leaves. (as an aside, i'm proud to be involved with what will no doubt end up being the weirdest track ever recorded by Last Train Home.)

Eric and I also finally "broke ground" on the long-discussed "Hangtown Dancehall" album. We recorded ten songs, all written by Eric or me or both of us. There's a lot of work to go on this project, but we're off to a good start.

This is an incomplete list; I figured I'd put it up a little bit at a time. If anyone knows of omissions, please feel free to comment here and I'll update the list. I also plan to eventually put links and discographical info so you can actually hear and buy these cover versions.
(I also want to list songs of mine that other people have played live, but not recorded. I'll need help with this list, as I can't be everywhere at once! As far as I know, every time someone recorded one of my songs, they told me about it. Often I even got paid a nominal fee. I don't always hear about it when people play my songs live, though, so I depend on my operatives in the field for information about that. Supposedly, there's a big festival-type show in Antarctica, where they sometimes finish the night by bringing everyone up on stage and playing "It Doesn't Matter." Henry Kaiser has played on some of these gigs, for those who know who he is. Just another example of name-dropping, Straub-style-- when I drop a name, I usually have to provide footnotes so people know what I'm talking about.)

I'm including songs of mine that other artists have recorded, as well as the few songs I've co-written with others. In some cases, the songs were recorded by others, but I played or sang on the track-- I'm calling that a cover, although some might quibble. Quibble away!

STRAUB SONGS RECORDED BY OTHER ARTISTS

Eugene Chadbourne, "Backwards Town."
(Eugene came up with the inspired idea of singing the final chorus backwards. As I have enough trouble remembering my lyrics forwards, I won't be adding this to my arrangement, but if you click on the player below you can hear Eugene do it. )

this track was on Eugene's top-notch album "Country Protest Anew," a sequel to his classic "Country Protest" album. I was proud to have my song alongside material by Donovan, Love, Lauren Hill, Left-eye, and Doctor Chadbourne himself. The band Noahjohn provided the excellent accompaniment. www.myspace.com/waterhymns

Lisa Moscatiello, "Now You're Back In Love Again."

I love this version, as it's a little more straight jazz than what I would do. The pianist altered the chord changes a bit, which initially bugged me, but then I remembered-- that's what jazz musicians do! I guess if Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, etc. didn't complain about it, I shouldn't either. Lovely track--
(note-- since I wrote this post, I found out that sometimes songwriters from that era did, in fact, complain about it when jazz musicians altered their chord changes.)

Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, "Drinking from a Swimming Pool."

(Along with the great harmony sound these guys brought to the song, the legendary Lloyd Green played pedal steel guitar on the track. If you don't know Lloyd Green, you have no idea of how it makes me feel that he even heard one of my songs, much less played it.)

Cowlick Lucy, "Drink With You All Night."

Another kind of harmony singing I love just as much-- bubblegum! The late, lamented Cowlick Lucy had a great sound-- an unaffected innocence mostly lacking in rock and roll since about 1964. I wish I could get this kind of sound on my own recordings.

I Like Dinner, "Mermaid Radio."

I believe this was a more or less studio only project, but please feel free to correct me on that! Eric's guitar playing is a nice blend of twangy and noisy a la Robert Quine/Marc Ribot, nice vocal from Vivian Kao, interesting reading of the song.

Last Train Home.
"Tonight."
"They Dance Real Close There."
"It Doesn't Matter."
"Soul Parking." (unreleased, as of yet.)
(I feel like I'm forgetting something--)

Virginia Coalition, "Dried Out Loud."

Little Pink.

"Dried Out Loud," and a few others I need to add. plus some co-written songs with Mary.

The Grandsons, "Scratch My Youth Off."

kevin johnson, carolina.

I'll add more later--

"CATHODE RAY BLUE"

2009-02-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

more from "Brain Cloudy Blues." this song had been around, in an earlier form, during the pre-Soul Parking era. It was a favorite at the Roratonga Rodeo gigs. We even recorded a demo of it at the time, but it didn't make it onto the "Soul Parking" album. After a while, I got sick of the song, because it always seemed to me that it needed a bridge to take it out of "Wooly Bully" territory for a bit. I didn't have the musical knowledge back then to write the bridge I eventually came up with, but after a few theory classes at NoVa, I was able to put some Thelonious Monk-esque chord changes together and drop them in. The recording turned into a mixture of Wooly Bully, the Ventures "In Space" album, and Monk's chromatic approach to chords.

I'm thinking about tweaking this mix before releasing the track; I hope to bring up the guitar so it's not drowned out so much by Cash Bolan's theremin overdub. It's mostly all there, though, so I hope you enjoy it in the meantime. And here's some name-dropping, Karl Straub style-- the Farfisa type organ was played by Kyle Lehning, who (among many other achievements) produced some of Waylon Jennings's best albums. Thanks, Kyle!
(this song was covered by Mary Battiata and Little Pink, on the "Americana Motel" compilation album.)

"UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED"

2009-02-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

another track from "Brain Cloudy Blues." more session details to come (for example, I can't remember who played steel guitar, but i'll get that info up here soon.)

This song is one of my many attempts over the years to capture the nervous excitement of youth in a song. My foggy memory of my high school years is a mixture of adrenaline and melancholy, and I suspect others might be able to relate.

I'm using my ambivalence about cars as a metaphor here; not for the first time and probably not for the last time either. (Also, when I wrote this song, the Ralph Nader reference didn't carry all the political baggage it does now. I hope that doesn't ruin the song for you!)

I was pretty fired up about the guitar solo on this;(maybe more than you need to know, but Jason tells me I was playing through Clark Hagan's hand wired French Selmer amp with a marshall 8 x 10 cabinet. A very unusual sound and very rare amp combination. I was mic’d by a sennheiser 421 going through a Neve Mic pre-amp with a Tektronix LA-3A compressor.) Anyway, I got a kind of trashy, yet metallic, Telecaster sound on here which I've never quite nailed since then.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2009-02-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

FAQ. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

Q. When will Karl's next album be released?
A. Karl doesn't know the answer to this; if he did, he'd be bragging about it on this site somewhere. Believe me, all of us who toil here at Straub Industries are even more anxious than you to have a new album finished!

Q. Why is it taking so long for Karl to finish an album? I hear he's an obsessive perfectionist in the studio. Is this true?

A. Yes, he is an obsessive perfectionist, but that's not the reason so much of his recorded work is unfinished and unreleased. There are various reasons, generally connected to shortage of time and money. Things are speeding up now, though-- this site is making it easier for us to make music available at least for listening.

Q. How can I buy Straub's older albums?
A. The first two Graverobbers albums are out of print. Sometimes they turn up on amazon, ebay, etc. for insane prices. They will eventually be reissued, or at the very least be available for download, streaming, etc. You might be able to find a copy of "Soul Parking" at samrecords, if Kevin Johnson hasn't run out of them by now.
The third album, "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," is available through sam records. www.samrecords.com/deepblue.htm

Q. What about the three Graverobbers vinyl singles?
A. I hope to have those eventually up, streaming, downloadable, etc. (I'VE BEGUN STREAMING THESE-- MORE COMING.)

IOTA, FEB. 17, TUE, KARL STRAUB COMBO

2009-02-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

shows.

the combo hits the stage approx 930, plays til approx 1100. our opener is the excellent guitarist joao orbetta

www.myspace.com/joaoerbetta

IOTA club and cafe

www.iotaclubandcafe.com/

"LONELY 'ROUND THE CLOCK"

2009-02-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is a track from the legendary "Brain Cloudy Blues" album. I'm still working on getting all the session info, but this is from the unreleased fourth Graverobbers album. I finally have possession of those recordings again, and with producer Jason Stelluto on board, we are working on finishing that album. While we work on this and other projects, I'll make some music available for streaming.

This song is one of the few from that album that I have continued to play regularly with the Combo. This recording has Marty Lynds on drums, Jim Gray on bass, I think Dave Pera on backup vocals, Cash Bolan on theremin, and various fine Nashville players as well. more info to follow as it crosses my desk here at the world headquarters of Straub Industries.