A call to Party! Party! Party! With the 7th Restrung-Resung-Remixed-Remastered: A LONG LINE & HAND GRENADE (FOR JESUS). Originally recorded and mixed at the Thunderground Sound Studio by Dan Tinker in Laramie (WY), we revisit two songs we always played live.
A LONG LINE –A call to battle song. I recall writing this song after thinking about how every song by the then popular Mumford and Sons were all constructed as old British battlefield songs to rally the troops. I figured we needed our own troop rallying song—to get the dancers up and twirling at the Trading Post and Beartree Café. One favorite memory was closing with this song at the Snowy Range Music Festival at the Albany County Fairgrounds. Blind Dog Smokin’s Carl Gustafson had pulled together a string of amazing festivals in Laramie with world-class talent (e.g., Mavis Staples, Los Lobos, Neville Brothers, Bobby Rush). We were a grateful local replacement band because the Soul Survivors from New Orleans were stuck in a hurricane. After playing one of our best sets, we got to our closer. As we started up I looked over at the stage manager who was tapping his watch and pointing at the clock. We had 4 minutes to play a 5 minute song. Jascha set a tempo faster than a tagged bobcat released back into the wilds. Ending with seconds to spare, the stage manager smiled. That was a good day.
HAND GRENADE (FOR JESUS) – My mom took me to church most every Sunday during the Vietnam war. I missed the draft by a year. We all lived with Walter Cronkite’s voice reverberating in our heads for years. All this background must have mattered because this song materialized in my head one afternoon while hammering nails into rafters on tract homes out in Las Vegas. This song is my mom’s favorite. Surprised, I asked why such a lovely church-going lady would like this off-kilter tune about religion and armory weapons, her reply was: “I can dance to it.” Fair enough.
Party! Party! Party! - Art by Frida
credits
released December 17, 2021
A LONG LINE
Kelli Trujillo—vocals; Mandy (Bohlender) Gifford—vocals; Jascha Herdt—Drums; Shaun Kelley—bass; J Shogren—vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, misc; Original recordings at Thunderground Sound Studio (Laramie, WY); Dan Tinker, engineer; Original mastering by Jim Wilson. New recordings and remixing by J Shogren at the Stump (Laramie, WY); Remastered by David Benyamin (Paris). Original is on Bird God Bless these Crooked Little Songs (2012), JAHA!#4
HAND GRENADE (FOR JESUS)
Dan Tinker—vocals; Lisa Swett—vocals; Shaun Kelley—vocals; Will Plumb—drums; J Shogren—vocals, guitar, lap steel, misc. Original recordings at Thunderground Sound Studio (Laramie, WY); Dan Tinker, engineer; Original mastering by Jim Wilson. New recordings and remixing by J Shogren at the Stump (Laramie, WY); Remastered by David Benyamin (Paris). Original is on American Holly (2008), JAHA!#2
This album speaks to the continuum of African diasporic culture that is central to the vibrant canon of Americana folk music. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 29, 2020
