Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Rabbit Choir is now on Facebook

Hi Everyone,
The age of the blog is over.

There is now a Facebook Group called Rabbit Choir Friends and Fans Peer Group and it's where all the action is. All the band members are on it and a bunch of old friend and fans posting music, photos, etc.

Just go to Facebook, search for Rabbit Choir and join up.

See you there.

Raz

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A photo is worth a thousand words


Thank you Kiona for sending me the pictures from our first trip to Davis. I posted them with the "Live from KDVS show" below. That was a great trip.

If anyone has any more pictures, please email them to me at razbury666 at gmail dot com.

Here is a handout that Paul from San Diego sent (Thanks my man!). We sure were busy November 1990, starting in Humboldt, then Portland, San Diego, Davis, Berkeley, San Louis Obispo, and Eugene.

And thanks again to everyone who posts a comment or story. It is great to read them and always brings back a bunch of memories.

I was just reading a comment from Rick from Eugene who remembers the time that our drummer, Doc, blew up our manager, Robert... A great story for sure. I'll post it soon.

Keep 'em coming.

Thanks everyone.

Raz

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Nothing shocking

"Never buy a vehicle that catches on fire."

Said matter-of-factly, with only a trace of irony in her voice. I think she said it mostly to herself, to provide some purpose, some lesson learned to make the current situation somehow bearable. I remember her saying it only once, but she may have repeated it over the course of the next three years. It didn't matter though, I heard it many times anyway. An echo whenever there was a need to put on a head-shirt and overalls and fix the van once more.

"Never buy a vehicle that catches on fire." Words to live and grow by from Stacie Black.

We were Southbound on 101, somewhere north of San Louis Obispo when I smelled something burning, there was a loss of power and I had to pull over. We just left our one bedroom apartment on 54th Street and Shattuck Ave in Oakland three hours earlier to embark on our first tour.

For six months prior, we managed to hold down jobby jobs, me at La Vals for a while, then Gino's, Stacy at ToGo's then Domino's, Tommy and Jimmy working with autistic adults. I remember that I made $120 a week from Gino's and on payday I'd stop at the Alcatel Liquor Store on Alcatraz and Telegraph, buy a six pack - 3 Anchor Steam, and 3 Anchor Porter for black and tans. This was my reward for the week.

All the rest of the money would go to only three things: rent (not much, we shared a one bedroom in the hood), studio time, and a new van. All of us were in the same boat. We worked, we gigged, we went to parties, and we spent all our money on studio time or saving for a new tour van.

To put this in perspective I brought home $120 a week and studio time at Live Oak Studios in Berkeley cost $54 an hour and 24 track tape cost $140 for 18 minutes at Leo's Music around the corner. Everything we had went to the band.

It was June when we where wrapping up recording of Eat Music Not Meat and we socked away $600 in the van fund. I found a 74 Chevy Van for sale in Alameda, gave it a test drive and bought it on the spot. I was pulling up to 54th Street with smoke pouring from the engine and a carburetor with flames shooting out each time the engine backfired. The transmission dripped so bad it already needed another quart of fluid.

"Never buy a vehicle that catches fire."

I assured everyone that these were minor issues and I'd have it ready to roll in time.
I can't remember what I did, but I got it working good enough to restore confidence. We set out for San Diego.

By San Louis Obispo, the transmission was out of fluid and smoking bad. It didn't look like the van could make it to SD. By the side of the road, Stacie said what we all were thinking, "Never buy a vehicle that catches on fire." It was after midnight when I hobbled into the gas station and loaded up on Type II Automatic Transmission fluid to nurse the van all the way to Ocean Beach and our first stop on the tour. The Texas Tea House.

I admit, I like to mow the grass. It's my time to put on the noise canceling headphones, plug in the iPhone and spend some quality me time. Last Sunday morning I decided to listen to Jane's Addiction Nothing Shocking. When Ocean Side came on, the van memory came to me.

You see, Jane's Addiction had just released Nothing Shocking before we left. This was our soundtrack for the six weeks we were stranded in San Diego with a busted van. We listened to it over and over. By the end of the six weeks we would lose our drummer, gain a manager, die our hair black and blond, Stacie would get a nose ring, there would be a personal hygiene protest and the Chevy Van would have a new engine and transmission.

Nothing shocking.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Been a while...


So about 3 years have passed since my last post. I kind of forgot about this site until today and much to my surprise there were comments! Glorious comments! People sharing some of there experiences and what a smile came to my face.

After reading each and every comment, I decided I better post another story.

In February of 06, our good friend and manager Robert Finn got married. It was a weekend to remember. Tommy, Stac, Doc and Robert all together again telling the old stories (if only Jimmy was there). It seems that each of us have entertained the idea of writing some of these down but the memories always seem more suited to the oral tradition than the written word.


The photo is Robert with his lovely bride Sheela.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Rabbit Choir Live on KDVS 2-8-90


Now let’s see... We bought the Chevy and gave up our one bedroom apartment in Oakland and started our tour in May or June of 89. I recall it was quite a party we through when we left. It seems we started a tradition in San Diego of completely trashing the house we lived in when we embarked on an adventure of unknown length. It was a symbolic act of destruction so we could be “reborn”, so to speak, in our new life (O.K. Maybe I’m reading to much into it, but it does seem poetic). I believe the highlight was Tommy stapling butter to the wall – the low point was Stacie getting served papers months latter at a show at the Starry Plough. I still feel bad about your resulting credit rating.

So as I said earlier, after WOW hall we decided to keep going – and did we ever. Show after show up and down the West Coast. Robert Finn kept up busy, playing every coffee shop, bar, festival, college campus, farmer’s market, you name it. These were the days of being completely broke. We survived on Taco Bell, eating what we called the Singer/Songwriter Special, 1 Bean and cheese burrito ($.59) and one tostada ($.59) and split a small soda between the 6 of us. After a show, we would buy Wiedemens Beer ($2.99 a 12 pack at Safeway) and a couple packs of smokes - not Camels of Marlborough, we settled on Viceroys as the cheap brand of choice. After eight months of touring, Jenny Nedrow got us a party in Davis CA, a campus show at UC Davis at noon on the Quad, and this show KDVS. She bought a carton of smokes (Marlborough Lites, the good ones) and kept the fridge filled with beer – we were in heaven. For the next 12 months, we would keep on the road, playing town to town and start recording High Fidelity Hare Cuts without any jobs or homes. Like I say, Rock ‘n Roll is a young man’s sport.


Live at KDVS, UC Davis, CA 2/08/90

Patrick
Where We Are
The Fish
Full of Love
Waiting
Crossfire
Home of the Free
Radio
Tragedy-Where’s the Weed




Monday, October 31, 2005

Rabbit Choir Rarities and Relics

This is tape that Tommy made for Jenny before her after college trip to New Zealand. It has some great songs that I doubt anyone else has unless Tommy and Stacie still have some of these old original recordings.

There are really some classics - "Maggie Maroon" live at the High Sierra Music Festival, "GPC" (Yeah buddy full flavor) recorded on a 4 track in the Oakland Warehouse, "Patrick" recorded in a basement home studio in Portland and "Through The Rain" recorded late night at a San Franciscan studio that I can't remember the name of. Daren Long was the engineer and I think this is the studio we laid down the tracks for "Where's the Weed" that ended up on the "Cultivation '92" compilation. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong about this.

I still get shivers when I listen to "Big Brother" - always did when I was playing it, truely a powerful song.

Tommy labeled all the tracks on the tape so I know where these came from. I don't know the dates. Maybe Tommy, Stacie, Jimny or Doc can remember.

Leaving - High Sierra Music Festival
Maggie Marroon - High Siera Music Festival
Cabin Fever - High Sierra Music Festival
T-Funk - Warehouse 4 track
Follow Me Follow You - Warehouse 4 track
Quick Song for Jenny - Warehouse 4 track
Big Brother - High Sierra Music Festival
Revelations - SF Studio rhythim track
If Only - Berkeley Square
Palmer Fair - Backstage, Seattle
He Needs It That Way - Warehouse 4 track
Patrick - Portland Basement
Until Then - Portland Basement
GPC - Warehouse 4 track
Through the Rain - SF Studio rhythm track

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Above Paradise 6-17-91

Hey Kids!

Dave Goo here (it started out Dave Goob, but it regressed to Goo one night when Robert was on a bender ;).

This is the first Rabbit Choir show I taped with my D6, and has always been one of my favorites. Several of the then "older" tunes (like Bombadil, Summertime Lover, Younger Days, Part With Your Sadness, The Comfort, Patrick etc) fell out of the rotation soon after, so this tape got a lot of play over the years... even when RC was still playing live! It also happens to be the only show I recorded with the mics placed on the table (as opposed to somewhere near the soundboard and/or up and away from the crowd) which puts you two tables away from the stage if you put on headphones and close your eyes. The effect is enhanced by the omnidirectional mics, which basically pick up the whole room. Of course, this means everyone gets to enjoy hearing the bartender blend my margaritas during the acoustic set, assorted chitter-chartter, glasses clanking, and plenty of exuberant outbursts of "EEEEEE-YAW!".  I've always dug the sound of the bus pulling away outside of the club at the end of Younger Days... it couldn't have been better timed.

First set is acoustic (well, sort of!), and the second electric. Enjoy!!

Rabbit Choir -- Above Paradise, San Francisco 6-17-91

Romantic
Bombadil
Summertime Lover
Friends I have Found
Younger Days
Part With Your Sadness-Full of Love-White Diamond Jewel
Watching the Corn Grow

Patrick
Barking Dogs
The Comfort
Monkey on a Stick
Chosen One
One Love-Joyful Noise
Waiting-Muster Up
Judgement
Tragedy-Where's The Weed?
Scott Go Ahead and Jump - Paints Her Own Picture
Nirvana
Shelter-Poppadiddy
Crossfire
Chain of Fools
Crawdad Song
Gentler and Kinder