Category Archive

My wife and I found out this morning we’re having a girl.  It’s due October 27th.

After I found out, I drove into Cousins and Jah Live was playing.  It was the perfect song to hear.

My friend Kevin is in the process of finishing his basement with his son.  They have a blog that updates the progress and shows off the work they’ve done.  They’ve named it Men’s Land.

What a cool project for a father and son to do.  At my house, I also have full rule of the basement.  My wife gets to do whatever she wants with the rest of the house, but the basement is mine.  At first, I crammed as much stuff to do as possible down there.  On one side I had a pool table, a dart board, a pinball machine, a shuffleboard set, and a crammed TV/record area on the other side.  Since then, I’ve bought a sectional coach and a Lazy Boy rocker-recliner to replace the gaming area, and dedicated the other side to my record collection and my computer, where this blog is operated from.  Along the wall is my small fridge and bar.  The walls and ceiling are drywalled and painted red, and the floor is black and white checkered tile.

 

  

My next big purchase will be a big screen, or a projector as Kevin has, pictured above. 

There must be something about basements that make it feel comfortable for a man.  For the music collector, a good basement is essential for storing big collections and having a good environment to play them in.  And for watching sports, there’s no better place than down in the basement.

My friend Isaiah has a music cove set up by the bar in his basement, where he’ll sit the whole time when he has parties and just play music.

Here’s to Men’s Lands everywhere: long live the one place where men can relax, drink a beer, listen to music, and watch the game.

I have a family history book written by my grandpa who talks about the life of my ancestors, going back to my great-great grandparents.  My wife and I recently read through it again, looking for a possible name for our baby (due in late October).

I don’t know what it is about the old days, but it always seems like it would have been a better life.  Was it really, or is it just always romanticized?  Our family were mostly farmers from Northern Michigan, early settlers to small towns trying to make it from nothing. 

I learned that my great-great grandpa David Shrauger was the first postmaster of Centerville, MI.  He also hauled grain to barges on the Erie Canal, subject to the danger of hi-jacking.  Apparently, he had the reputation of being an extremely strong man: “Whatever an ox could lift, he could.”

It’s like the old John Henry song.  And I’m sure I’ll pass down the legend to my kids and grandkids, just like the song.

I found this old guitar at the farmhouse where my grandma and her brothers and sisters grew up, a Sears Roebuck mail-away, circa 1930?  I don’t know whos it was, or anything else, but I’m guessing it was my great-uncle Eddie’s or Frank’s.  In my head, he was the great undiscovered American talent, like a bluegrass/folk version of Mississippi John Hurt.

Taj Mahal did a song called St. Kitts Woman where he talks about his grandma and the power of the spirit of ancestors, how they still live in your own soul.  I’ll post a clip after dinner. 

And know I feel that spirit, deep down in my soul, make me think back to my ancestors, who lived a long time ago…  listen

 

The last 25 I have listened to, as they’re sitting in my to-be-put-away crate (counting down to most recent):

25) The RFD Boys-No. 1-Jessup

24) The Rance Allen Group–Self Titled-Gospel Truth

23) Bob Marley and The Wailers-Catch a Fire-Tuff Gong

22) Bunny Wailer-Blackheart Man-Island

21) Rufus Thomas-Walking The Dog-Stax

20) Various Roots Reggae-Reggae Sunsplash ‘81, A Tribute To Bob Marley-Eectra

19) Various Roots Reggae-Feelin’ High, Sides 3,4-Columbia House

18) Various Roots Reggae-Feelin’ High, Sides 1,2,5,6-Columbia House

17) Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers-Natural Boogie-Aligator

16) Etta James-Tuff Lovers-Ace

15) Various Bluesgrass-An Evening On Buford Mountain-Fontana

14) Hank Williams Jr.-Sings The Songs of Hank Williams-MGM

13) Hank Williams-Greatest Hits Vol. II-MGM

12) Hank Williams-Greatest Hits Vol. I-MGM

11) Charlie Palmieri-Latin Bugalu-Atlantic

10) Mott the Hopple-Wildlife-Atlantic

9) Mott the Hopple-All the Young Dudes-Columbia

8) Various Rhythm and Blues-The Kings of The Rocking Fifities-Clarion

7) Fats Domino-Sings Million Record Hits-Imperial

6) Jerry Lee Lewis-Country Songs For City Folks-Smash

5) The Chambers Brothers-The Time Has Come-Columbia

4) The Impressions-People Get Ready-Imperial

3) Fenton Robinson-Somebody Loan Me A Dime-Aligator

2) Various Detroit Blues-Detroit Blues Factory Vol. 1-Bluesfactory

a. Harmonica Shaw, Detroit Playboy

1) Ford Nix-Songs That Never Grow Old-Flying Squirrell

What’s your last five?

-Cousin Geoff

a. First Eric, then Geoff, then Eric again, now finally stubborn Justin.  Let the re-birth begin.  Long live Cousins Vinyl and EG.

I’m watching the tournament and playing records too.  These are some I’ve been listening to:

I took a picture of the B side of Back To Ypsilanti playing on my record player because I wanted to hype it’s arrive coming soon to hear.  Van kept bugging me to make him a copy.  I made him a copy of Back To Ypsilanti and he kept asking for that B side.  Everyday, he’d say, “You got that other joint yet?”  I’d say no man, you gotta trade me.  He had this studio recording of the Temptations and Marvin Gaye and a few others all singing together, practicing.  One of the Temptations sons, who he knows on the Detroit soul and R&B karaoke circuit, gave it to him.  Van’s a big soul karaoke guy - he goes over to Detroit from Ypsi about 3-4 times a week to sing or host events.  And he sings to his middle school students everyday (he’s a gym teacher).  The nights he’s not singing he goes to watch high school basketball games.  But anyway, he wouldn’t give it to me.  He liked having that recording that nobody else had (or I had).  So I never made him a copy of that B side, Tarnished Love Affair.  But I will trade him though. 

But look Van, don’t you wish you just finished listening like I did?  It was good too - I can still hear it - (AND HERE’S A TEASER) so long, so long, so looooooooong…..

This next one is good for relaxing.  Like that end of the week relax when you first get home.  Jimmy Smith, with Grant Green.  A Blue Note classic.  And one of the best covers ever made.

Just a walkin’ the dog, if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll show you how to walk the dog.  1963 Stax.  Rufus Thomas.  I wonder if my wife will let us name our son Rufus?  I’m guessing no.  As you can see from the cover, ol’ Rufus sure did know how to make white people dance!  It must have been easy.

I love bluegrass.  And I love local music.  That’s why this is one of my favorite records in my collection.  The RFD Boys first record on Jessup.  I’d compare them to The Seldom Scene.  Which is another of my favorites.  They do a great version of Country Road.  And some good originals.  Overall just so good…I’m going to go see them on the 25th - maybe you should too?

After seeing the Holmes Brothers at the Ark a few weeks ago, I dug back into my gospel section.  Detroiters The Rance Allen Group is similar to The Holmes Brothers in their ability to blend gospel with uptempo soul and rhythm and blues.  This is their second album, on Gospel Truth, a Stax label.  They do a song called Just My Salvation that’s set to the music of the Temptations Just My Imagination.   

So that’s what I’m on so far tonight.  I’m thinking about making a mix CD from my vinyl collection, but I can’t decide if I want to pick a genre or do a multi genre.  My genre options I’m considering are: all Michigan bands, bluesgrass, funk, 50s to early 60s R&B, Blues, Funk, Reggae, or even something crazy like Gospel, Bluegrass Gospel, Zydeco/New Orleans, or old school Rap.  Of course, my laziness always takes over and I end up just playing them and thinking about making a mix some other day.

In other news, Max Conroy is visiting Cousin Justin this weekend.  Max is part of the 586 Gunson Street band from East Lansing that I’ve heard so much about.  Apparently there’s a long lost recording still floating around somewhere.  I’ll see the both of ‘em tomorrow so I’ll see what I can dig up. 

My wife Jessica took a pregnancy test on Friday on found out she is pregnant with our first child!  The due date is October 26th.  We are excited beyond words!  I am actually still in a state of shock - it just doesn’t seem real.  I wonder when it will actually sink in?

We took our little one (who is the size of a grain of rice right now) to his/her first concert last night - we saw the Holmes Brothers play at the Ark in Ann Arbor.  It was an incredible performance.  Their style is a mixture of sanctified gospel, soul, funk, and country blues.  They ended the show with a song that repeated the phrase “God be with you” over and over, and at the end, inspired by the music, our little grain of rice, and the four Stella Artois I had in me, I yelled out “And with you Holmes Brothers!” the instant before the audience erupted in applause.  It was awesome.

Any suggestions on the name?

A non-music post here, but I had to inform the world of my latest excitement.

I woke up early on Saturday and despite the below O temperature, decided to take my dogs for a run.  I usually try to go at least 2-3 times a week, even in the winter.  While I was running through a snow covered field near our house I suddenly had the stongest urge in the world to be pulled by my dogs on skis or a sled while I ran with them.  My dogs, Sally (70 lb hound) and Zoe (50 lp terrier mutt), love to pull and love to run.

When I got home I throught more and more about this and decided that my life had new meaning with the possibility of being able to do this incredibly fun new sport with my dogs.  I thought about what would be the most practical way of going about it.  I’ve never been cross country skiing so I had to do a little research about what’s out there for this sort of thing.

I found out the sport is called skijoring, and I would just need some sort of a ski to do this, as I already have harnesses and a cord to connect my two dogs on one leash.  I wanted to get something short and wide for control like a snow shoe, but still be able to be to actually ski and climb hills.  I settled on the Karhu Meta ski, which is an all terrain ski-snowshoe hybrid that doesn’t require a special shoe.

The next day I took the dogs out to a trail and brought a plastic sled and they could pull it with ease!  I sort of surfed but then just sat down and it worked great.  It was incredibly fun - they already knew my commands from running with me so much.  The school district was closed (no work for me!) Monday and Tuesday and we went out both days and just had a blast.  My skis should be coming via UPS sometime next week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

Also check this video out on Alaskan Skijoring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsvdAwPeJxg