My blog at rabbitvalleyroad.com was hosted on a friend's server. In August, the friend gives me advanced warning that he was selling it to another mutual friend. I could continue to use it if I pay for it. Fair enough. But the price would be close to my own personal server.

So I start shopping around and get lazy about making a switch. After a while, I realize that the site isn't going to be taken down, and I keep using it - without paying. Yeah, douchebag.

Now in my defense, I had plans to get my own host. I was going to share space with the Coral Castles site, but we got sidetracked and still haven't put a site together. So I wait. And wait some more.

Earlier this week, I discover that the site is permanently down. Crap! Luckily, I backed everything up in September, but I still didn't have the last 2 months. Then, I remember that you can access Google's cache of your page and get all the basic HTML off. Perfect.

I'm in the process of putting together 3 blogs right now. One is a new and improved Rabbit Valley Road. The other is a collaboration with my friend Safeguy. And the third will deal more with Chattanooga. That one will come later.

I doubt most of the old content will go back up. I like fresh starts. So if you've linked to rabbitvalleyroad.com in the last year, you're shit out of luck. Sorry.

Anyway, I thought it was a funny story and I'm anxious to get back to writing.
God bless the Google. It lets me look at my ranch in Crawford...

DM

Rabbit Valley Road 2.0

Damien Jurado records a cover of Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" (just the song).
Read the Article.

Download.

In other Damien news, it seems a new record is due out 10/10.
It will be called And Now That I'm In Your Shadow (Secretly Canadian).

And of course you can check out tour dates, here.

AOL's Interface did a podcast with Jeremy Enigk solo. Download here.

And as Safeguy said, "We all need to get out of Stereogum's ass."
My response, "Sure beats the hell out of Pitchfork."

Magnolia Electric Co. is the recent band from Jason Molina (Songs:Ohia). Dark,
brooding songwriting mixed with americana arrangements. Touring in support of
their new record, Fading Trails. Listen to Lonesome Valley. On the Myspace.

Catfish Haven just released Tell Me on Secretly Canadian a few weeks ago. The
band plays Memphis-style soul with bluesy lyrics and great arrangements.
Listen to Please Come Back or Crazy for Leaving. On the Myspace.
Do not miss their set.

Recently, Josiah posted a link to the newly formed, city-funded program,
Arts Move Chattanooga. A lot of discussion has taken place thus far, and I
encourage local readers to check it out.

Coming out of those discussions, I've sorta felt prompted to ask some important
questions about being an artist (of any medium) in Chattanooga.

1. What do you feel is the biggest challenge faced by local artists?

2. What keeps the 'arts scene' from becoming fully realized?

3. How often do you actively support local artists? (through attending galleries,
purchasing art, etc)

4. To what extent is the city responsible for actively improving the arts?

Upcoming album, Friend and Foe (January 23, Barsuk).
Here is the first single, "Wet and Rusting."

Some of the dates:
09-22 Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
09-23 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
09-24 Raleigh, NC - King's Barcade

Lady Sovereign is touring North America starting late October in support of her
debut LP, Public Warning (Release Date 10/31 from Def Jam Recordings).

A few of the Tour Dates:
11/26/06 The Parish New Orleans
11/27/06 The Beta Bar Tallahassee
11/28/06 Studio A Miami
11/30/06 The State Theatre St. Petersburg
12/01/06 The Loft Atlanta

Tickets go on sale 9/15.

Website.
Myspace Page.
Download the first single, "Love Me Or Hate Me" and shake yo ass.

Start my 1st of 5 final days at Fresh Market today.
Bastards scheduled me to close every day this week.
Go figure.

Yesterday, spent most of my time setting up Audio for my computer.
Reason is up and running, and I'm about to setup GarageBand for editing,
MIDI, and digital capture (long story)...

Does anyone have any experience with calibrating turntables?
Basically, I need to setup my Marantz so that A=440 Hz.
Any links on the web you know of would be helpful.

The crashed hard drive worked for about 15 minutes yesterday, but I wasn't able
to get any of the data off. James, did you get my e-mail?

Still working on wordpress site too.

Finally, I am in the market for the following:
cheap MIDI controller
Roland Juno-60
any sort of decent acoustic guitar

I can't help but raise a skeptical eyebrow towards the upcoming online stores.
I think a better idea might be to have merchant pages on iTunes (similar to Ebay).
Just a thought. And yours? Would you download from these online stores as
opposed to iTunes, Napster, Limewire, etc?

Last night, we ended up eating at a venue I played once with J-Roddy.
Cafe Eleven is less than a mile from our hotel, and has really great food and
some excellent concerts coming up (Tapes n Tapes).

Tonight, we head to the historic area which should be cool. I think we'll have
some pictures to post later.

Oh. My friends Nick and Bethany created a website to chronicle their travels
(they've been officially homeless since June). It's a little cheesy, but I got a big
kick out of it.

Tonight, I meet back up with The Good Players. It's been months since we've
played together, but it should be interesting. I've been informed I'm working
out electronic beats from Four Score tonight.

Monday, I take off to St. Augustine for a little relaxation. Thank God.
Oh, and I leave Fresh Market 2 weeks from today. Thas right. New job.
I'm stoked.

Despite the great week I'm having, my music hard drive is dead...meaning I lost
my entire MP3 collection. That bums me out, but I think I'll be able to recover
a lot of it without transferring CDs again. See. File-Sharing does have a time and
a place. Though, not as detrimental, I will let this be a stab at anyone who
argues that hard disk recording is a viable option for permanent storage.
Geek rant ending in 5...4...3...2...

How I Became the Bomb surprised an ethusiastic crowd with their personal blend
of geek meets dancepop last night. The band played songs from their debut EP,
Let's Go!, with a few new numbers throughout the set (at least new to me). I was
blown away by how closely the EP resembles the live show. Their energy was really
great, and the room responded well. The lead singer resembles a
Frank Black/Morrissey hybrid on stage. In between lines of Secret Identity, I
realized he was toying with the pinky rings on both of his hands.

For those that missed How I Became the Bomb, take comfort because they are
coming back on October 28 @ Parkway Billiards with J-Roddy Walston and The
Business. That's right, in case you missed it, J-Roddy will be back in town for a
Halloween show. Those 2 bands, costumes, and beer = October 28.

The Features debuted their new EP, Contrast, as well as new keyboardist, Mark
Bond (former De Novo Dahl). It was interesting seeing them with someone other
than Parish on keys (I've been told Parish was in attendance at the show too). I
realized today that I've seen The Features more than any other band in my life.
So that's a lot of history for me. I thought Mark handled his new shoes quite well.
There were a couple of things I heard that were different, but they were minor,
and didn't affect the overall feel of the songs. My biggest complaint was on Mosis
Ptosis which few people know around Chattanooga anyway.

I ended up leaving before their encore with my ears ringing and my throat
scorched from cigarettes and yelling. Rock.