The 2005 Recording Part 1

As you may know, myself, Atom Willard and Scott Shriner made a recording in the first half of 2005 that has since been shelved. After a reasonable period of reflection I believe now is a swell time to examine what took place and why it was ultimately unsatisfying on many levels.

At that time, =w= was right in the middle of recording Make Believe and many things were up in the air. Rivers was in school and it seemed as if we (I) had a short period of time to record some TSG before =w= became very busy. This effort was rushed and there really was no clear understanding of the artistic goal beyond the frenzy of a rock ensemble performing well. In my opinion, the songs weren't very good. The lyrics, melodies, chords and playing were strong but these do not add up to compelling songs.

I'm very excited to have realized these things. Along with a year of playing to large audiences I've begun to understand what I truly value about playing and writing. More to come.

NAMM is insane

Have you ever walked into a Guitar Center on a weekend to hear a lot of dodgy sounding wheedling on a multitude of instruments? Multiply that times 1000 and you get the National Association of Music Merchants freakout at the Anaheim Convention Center. I went there today to sign stuff at the Ludwig booth and let me tell you, it brought me back to the time I worked at a music store in Buffalo years ago. I would pull a JEM 777 off of the wall and show the ladies how to use that wang bar. Well, actually there were no ladies at the music store but the way the guys had mondo hair was close enough.

Factory Girl

Just returned from Shreveport, LA where Brian and I portrayed Lou Reed and John Cale from The Velvet Underground for the upcoming Sony Classics release "Factory Girl". It was insanely fun. Jimmy Fallon and I have mastered video bowling with advanced techniques. Actors acted, the script is sweet and confidence is high that this movie wont suck. Samantha Maloney from Eagles of Death Metal played drums and she was swell.

2006! wha wha wha?!?!?!?!

Greetings,
This site has been comically neglected for so long that I had to make amends! TSG has had a strange year; as you may or may not know I am also in a little project named Weezer which also has had a strange but fun year. Taking a cue from Rivers, I've decided to post whatever I think would be at least semi-interesting to =w= and TSG fans. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

TSG spent some time in the studio earlier this year with some interesting results that will inform the direction I'm taking this thing in the future. My biggest criticism with the recording is that the songs were basically an excuse to shred on the instruments which ultimately was unsatisfying! Along with a year of touring large places with =w=, it's given me a better perspective on what the hell I actually want to do. Many thanks to everyone who checks here to see what is going on, you shall be rewarded handsomely with a princely sum. A handsome sum even!
Late
Pat