Presenting The Rain Crows!

Our CD is out! and I've been breathing down my wonderful Web Witch's neck to get a CD order button and page up on the blog and on my website. And she has done that!

Better than that, you can click on the button (see the little gray Rain Crows CD on the right sidebar?)

or on this link to listen to samples of each of the 16 yes SIXTEEN original songs on the CD!

So you don't even have to take my word for it that if you like reading my blog, you'll like the music our band makes. Give it a listen! Then it's up to you.

I can tell you this. I have about worn holes in this CD. I have every right to be tired of it, having been intimately involved with the creation of these songs in the past year and a half, and I'm not. I flippin' love it. And weirder than that, our kids love it. And so do their friends. Here they are, boogieing. If that's a word.

This is what the CD cover looks like. Our dear friend Joe Parisi at Flood Design designed it. It makes me laugh. And no, that's not me or Wendy waving. It's just some woman the photographer, Michael Northrup, also a dear friend, happened to be shooting that day.

 Much of this music was created in our music/guest room down in our basement, with Chet Baker in constant attendance. He makes every single rehearsal, and wishes we would bring him to the gigs so he could meet and greet the fans.

 I listen to the music and chew my toys. It is my favorite thing to do in the world, to be in the middle of the music. Chewing and listening. I know the words to all the songs. Sometimes they run through my head.

We Rain Crows have a lot of fun when we're together. This was our Halloween gig, when we all dressed up as characters from Scooby-Doo. Bill makes a very convincing Mr. Johnson, don't you think? Wendy is Daphne, and I'm pretty much in the zone already as Velma.

 In MovieSounds Studio during recording last December. Wendy Clark Eller and JZ. Wendy and Bill wrote and co-wrote most of our songs. As the Shake and Bake girl used to say, "And Ah Hayulped!"

As you listen to the CD tracks, note the strong guitar presence from Bill Thompson III. There is some pretty amazing guitar work on this album, most of it from Bill.

 He has a few to pick from.

 Another guitar hero: our bass player Craig Gibbs. You'll hear him on bass throughout (although Bill grabs the bass for several songs) and on gritty slide guitar on "Dirt Road." He even tickles the nylon strings in some classical runs on "So Long."  That's me on pennywhistle throughout.

One of the most amazing drummers we've ever had the pleasure of working with: Kage Queen. All of 19 when this photo was taken in January. Sooo tasty, and solid as a rock. We're so lucky to have him!

And the cherry on top? Fiddle from Memphis Symphony violinist Jessie Munson, who flew up from Memphis to play with us both on the record and at our CD release party at Washington State Community College in March. Bill and I will be playing with Jessie at the Potholes and Prairies Birding Festival in Carrington, ND, in June! Can't wait to see her again!

We played to a SRO crowd of 360 at the CD release party. I've never had more fun playing with any band. I'm sure that comes through in the photos, and I know, listening to it, that it comes through on "Looks Like Rain."

You'll find me singing lead (alto) on "Dirt Road," "Tell Me," and "Goes Down the Right Way." That's Bill and me together on "Meteor." The gorgeous soprano voice on many other tracks is Wendy. Bill's the guysinger throughout.

So give it a listen right here. And I will be more than happy to pack up a CD or two to send to you!

DOD, this CD's for you. I know you would have loved it.