Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
home page of the well -- I see that maybe once a year, being an oldschool 
picospan user. 

Facebook -- not sure if I've ever visited the FB Well page. Not sure 
what would lead me to do that. Is it a place where exclusive announcements 
are made? Added value beyond going to the actual Well?

hosts of Inkwell in the circles they frequent -- Apparently our circles 
do not intersect, though I thought they did.

gail, I suggest that the Well would be making a mistake to neglect 
picospan users. Perhaps we can discuss this elsewhere.
  

    
Anyway -- I must go out and find a copy of this book. I will have 
pertinent questions. 

Jon, will you be playing in the Bay Area anytime soon? 
  

    
Mekons at HSB Fest in Golden Gate Park on 30th Sept at 3pm
Swedish American Hall that night too

Tubby Brothers is a song about undertakers, chemical spills, friends &
family dying, exotic locations in Baneswell, the sell off of the
railways, going home, going on holiday in the 60s and driving oast the
graveyard in Aberfan, watching Reggie Kray's funeral on the BBC news
etc. There are some undertakers in Newport called Tovey Brothers and
since writing this song I have made use of them and discovered they
serve a very useful purpose.
  

    

You'll have to try harder to scare this lot off, Jon.

Sorry, I was away from the computer all day so I wasn't able
to taunt you. Jon, tickets are secured for both City Winery
and the much beloved Bell House. I'll be sure to say hello.
  

    
I probably will not attend HSB but will get tickets for the Swedish 
American Hall gig asap. (I looked on your site earlier and saw that 
listing.)

Jon, we have never officially met (though I always try to say thank you 
and shake your hand after a performance, most recently at Starry Plough a 
few years back) -- but in August 1993 I had the privilege of chauffeuring 
Tony and Gary to your house a few times, and to Dave Trumfio's studio, 
while you were recording Killer Shrews. (I'm not a chauffeur, I just 
happened to be in Chicago with a rental car and a depressing family 
situation and it was fun to do that.)

Later I was lucky enough to attend the record release party for I [heart] 
Mekons at the Lounge Ax.

I have some questions in mind for this interview but am still trying to 
formulate them into coherency.
  

    

Glad you found this, fom!

Just the other day I was listening to that Pulsars record and wondering
what Dave Trumfio was up to.
  

    
Look, here he is on LinkedIn:

<http://tinyurl.com/3mnruhy>

He's in LA now, still running Kingsize Soundlabs.
  

    
Every summer Dave returns to Chicago from LA with his family and we go
up to Lake Geneva WI where his parents run a B&B and we race around
the lake in his motor boat drinking beer and "having a laugh". I was at
the new Kingsize in Chicago the other night recording with Mike Hagler
Dave's former partner.
  

    

On your recent gigs with the choir, are you doing only SOR
songs or mixing it up. What is your take on bands doing
entire albums for a gig? I liked your anniversary shows
with the Mekons in NYC where you did "eras" with the Sadies
as the Mekons cover band doing another era.
  

    

Jon, I promise I'm not stalking, but I saw someone post a photo
of your son singing with you and the choir. It's really
remarkable that you managed to involve your whole family
in the SOR project. Do your kids take music lessons?
  

    
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7nZRG3kBlY

It was a big weekend I have to say - very emotional now I come to
think about it and all the better for having family & friends close. My
boys are both singers - Tommy's in the Chicago Children's Choir and
Jimmy is in The Un-Gnomes an as yet to be revealed punk rock combo. 

It was such an amazing festival. Somewhere there's a photo of my
youngest boy and Mavis Staples having a big hug.

Didn't wanna be too precious so we do a bunch of tunes from Skull
Orchard + Tom Jones covers and other singalongs like R U an
Entertainer? a song I wrote with the Sadies - 
  

    
Oh, man, the Hideout: the club that's #1 on my list. I met the folks
who run it at SXSW some years ago and we had some good times running
around to see acts, and then I reviewed one of their Workmens' Comp
CDs, where their employees get to contribute to a compilation. 

If I'm not mistaken, they're both social workers, and there's a
non-profit side to the club operation as a neighborhood social center.
But the main thing is, they have good taste and seem to be good people.
  

    
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-22/entertainment/ct-ott-0923-hideou
t-main-20110922_1_dive-bar-hideout-tim-tuten

this was in the tribune on Friday - yup this place is unique.
  

    
I got pursued around SXSW by Tim & Katie back in the late 90s. They
wanted the Wacos to play their bar, really badly. I thought they were
nuts and I was right but what they've done over there by streets &
sanitation (with their partners Jim & Mike) is quite remarkable. 

From the stage in the parking lot the Hideout itself looked so tiny
across that sea of people; like a kid hiding round a corner.
  

    
off on tour with the mekons this week so any other thoughts or
questions etc. express them forcefully about now....
  

    
1. some of my all time favorite concerts have been mekons shows--especially
one y'all played in austin in the early 90s in some club that is no longer
there, i think it was the island

2. Alan Doughty is a fantastic bass player

3. Thanks a bunch for answering my questions and all the time you spent here
  

    

Thanks again, Jon. I'll see you at the two NY
shows. It's been fun!
  

    
Thank you so much, I learned a lot from the discussion, and got to
turn some friends on to some sweet videos! 
  

    
Yeah, thanks for dropping by. Sorry none of your extensive fan-base
took the opportunity to chime in, but it's their loss. We sure had fun!