household ink newslets 
News re: HI matters…
HI newsletter, 7-4-24
(In which we discuss some album projects, old and archival, coming soon: Lucinda Lane’s debut album, Dudley‘s long-awaited follow-up, Headless Household Takes El Paso, 1988, and Richard “Dick Dunlap‘s remarkable solo piano recording from 1981, Intersphere, soon to go CD).
HI newsletter_12-31-21
HI newsletter, 5-14-20
oUT nOW:
The wait is over. Summer is Over is out and about.
Lucinda Lane, Santa Barbara’s premiere self-described “IndyBossaJazzTwang” band, has been whittling away on its debut album for the past year and a half, in various Santa Barbara studios and with a friendly posse of musical guests and friends. The finished 11-track product is the fruition of a story going back a dozen years, when singer Nicole Love and guitarist/songwriter Joe Woodard knocked heads and formed a new kind of hybrid style project.
Putting that style council down into album form was always part of the agenda, but interruptions–including the COVID-ized black hole–got in the way. Fast forward to now and Summer is Over, on Household Ink Records, is public item number one in the Lucinda Lane discography.
See Santa Barbara Independent story here.
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Although the veteran experimental new music entity and slightly cracked party band Headless Household (b. 1983) is presently in limbo due to health and existential circumstances, an ongoing archival-dipping project continues. The past is calling, with lots of buried archival nuggets and taste treats. Next up: a fascinating blast from the past, Headless Household Takes the El Paseo, 1988, a digital-only release of a live show in the historic Santa Barbara landmark. The recording documents the original quartet (Dick Dunlap, Tom Lackner, Chris Symer, Joe Woodard) in its stripped-down and prog rock/free jazz/aggro ambient form, before the band morphed in a more eclectic, guest-invitational outfit.
HHEP88 bio here
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birthed in 1983, the new music combo Headless Household slices across genres and pursues better living through eclecticism. with a slower, cooler head on the ninth album, Balladismo (2015). Guests include Julie Christensen, Glen Phillips, Nate Birkey, David Binney, Tom Buckner, pedal steelist Bill Flores, and more… Previous albums in this millennium were their double-disc album, celebrating the band’s 25th anniversary (a year late), Basemento (one disc leans “inside,” the other “outside). the expectedly eclectic Blur Joan(2005), and the slightly less eclectic post-Polka (2003), on which the departure point is the polka genre, with elements of rock, punk, funk, zappa, nino rota, charlie parker, and other flavors. another one (or two) is/are in the works presently.
Links on the interweb:
Headless Household Takes El Paseo, 1988 (2024) 
Balladismo (2015)
Basemento(2010) ,%20.jpg)
Blur Joan(2005) .jpg)
post-Polka (2003)
mockhausen (2000) 
Free Associations (1999)
ITEMS (1996)
Inside/Outside USA (1993) 
Headless Household (1987)
Headless Household, “Holed & Hunkered Re(al)mix”
Santa Barbara’s hopelessly eclectic outfit Headless Household hits the dance floor again, while trying not to step on anyone’s toes. The band’s remotely recorded pandemic dance tune “Holed & Hunkered” was released in a raw, unfinished mix form in the thick of viral things, in 2021. Now, here comes the “real thing”–“Holed & Hunkered Re(al)mix.”
This mix includes all the parties who came on board, flying in their parts from hermetically sealed home studios in remote locations: saxists David Binney and Tom Buckner, drummer/studiomaestro Tom Lackner, Joe Woodard, bajo man Chris Symer, and vocalists Shelly Rudolph, Nicole Lvoff and Liz Barnitz.
listen up: bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify, soundcloud
bio
Headless Household, “The Numbers Game” (live in 1995)
As part of a campaign to explore the vast archives of unreleased material by Headless Household, going back to the 1980s–a so-called “vault-finding mission–” Household Ink Records is embarking on a periodic series of reissues of items of interest from the vaults. Expect singles, albums, and formats of choice.
Phase one: the reissue of the previously unreleased tune “The Numbers Game,” recorded live at Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, December 4, 1995. The spotlight is on the mighty, and mighty lyrical, Nate Birkey, on vocal and trumpet. Have a listen, if you will, here: bandcamp, spotify, Apple Music, soundcloud, YouTube…
bio
Joe Woodard, Wedding Album (On this Day)
(Household Ink Records, 2022, HI-157)
Wedding Album (On this Day) is an EP consisting of instrumental guitar pieces by Joe Woodard, as played at the wedding of Claire Woodard and her betrothed John Pemberton, on June 21, 2022 at Greens in San Francisco. For the occasion, Claire asked if Joe might play pieces from his large book of what he called his “pleasant, noodly” guitar instrumentals at the event. As a summer project with a cause, Woodard recorded these numbers at Would-Be Studio.
Ambient Dinner Music? Could be…
* The EP is available, in digitalia and CD forms, in a lot of the usual outlets… Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Discogs, Apple Music, iTunes, the Household Ink Records products page, and more to come.
–Read Callie Fausey’s article in the Santa Barbara Independent, 11-9-22 here
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Tableaux Sonique, the new band formed in the confabulation of singer Shelly Rudolph and guitarist Joe Woodard, forged in the smithies of studios in Portland, Santa Barbara and elsewhere, springs to recording life with its debut single, “December: Dreaming Forward,” released on December 21, 2021 (Winter Solstice). The song, written by Woodard, is an ode to the hope for hope, in uncertain times. Wintry, in its way, it also warms itself by the fire, proverbially and otherwise.
Full Sonique album to come in 2022… Please enjoy.
Links to “December: Dreaming Forward:”
bandcamp
soundcloud
YouTube video
www.tableauxsonique.com
Joe Woodard’s new “faux folk” album, Goleta Electric. 18 tracks in various shades of folkishness, recorded during the hunkerdown, with multiple guests flying in tracks… officially dropped on November 26, aka “Black Friday.”
CDs are in the oven, on the long-bake plan.
Links to album (so far—Spotify and its kinfolk in process):
bandcamp, soundcloud
www.householdink.com/joe-woodard
Goleta Electric bio, here.
Sample: opening track, “Falling in with the Out Crowd,” linked here, and first single, “Freedom in Kentfield” here.
Check out Charles Donelan’s review in the Independent here.
After putting out 40-plus albums (mostly CDs, plus an LP and a coupla’ cassettes) since its founding in 1987, Household Ink Records has branched out, dropped the “Records” and has released it’s first book: Josef Woodard’s debut novel,
Ladies Who Lunch–on Household Ink, the press. This satirical romp through LA in the ’90s, available in e-book, book book and soon audiobook form, can be found through the usual bookish portals, as well as its own home store page, www.ladieswholunch.me.
At long last… flapping, Flapping’s long-awaited new, and third, album seeyoutonite has been birthed. The “para-pop” and/or “rock ‘n’ droll” band’s first two albums came out in the roaring 1990sTEX (1995) and Montgomery Street (1996) and the current release has been cooking for many years, rolling through changes. Read about it in the latest HI newsletter.
Press bites:
Based in Santa Barbara and featuring journalist friend Joe Woodard, the band flapping, Flapping reemerges from a 24-year hiatus with the pop gem, seeyoutonite, on the Household Ink label head/songwriter Joe on guitars and vocals and partner Tom Lackner on drums and synthesizers (with 20 guests throughout) pop in all its old-school perfection, with 14 catchy songs, lyrics worth perusal, varietal instrumentation in support on various tracks, including accordion, pedal steel, glockenspiel, marimba, saxophones, B-3 organ. lyrics run the gamut from the perils of talk radio to asparagus running wild in the backyard plus cool instrumentals on the guitar and synth playground. seeyoutonite is a rare treat, worth tracking down.
—Dan Oullette, celebrated music journalist link
On and off for 25 years, this unusual Santa Barbara (and beyond) collective has been making thoughtful, rooted, well recorded rock music. With attractive tracks such as the wistful “Something for Nothing,” the upbeat popper “The Aim of Love” and the thudtrippin instrumental “Ruffriff,” the latest from guitarist Joe Woodard, keyboardist Tom Lackner and friends showcases the band’s virtues while softening the wit. Mature in a good way. Listen/buy here.
–Greg Burk, MetalJazz.com
clapping, Clapping for flapping, Flapping
Semi-occasional “rock ‘n’ droll” band (Woodard’s term) flapping, Flapping (his capitalization) offers a song like “Tuesday Afternoon” on its latest and third album seeyoutonite (his spacing), its horn break will make you think Beatlesque. But Woodard, no doubt, thinks of a specific Beatles moment, when he first heard it, who else has nicked it, and who arranged the charts each time. Other songs on the disc will tickle your memory receptors for bands as diverse as Steely Dan, Radiohead, Little Feat, Neil Young, Van Halen, Peter Gabriel, The Move, maybe even Terry Allen.
seeyoutonite is a total delite. (Couldn’t resist.) It’s an engaging stroll down rock and pop’s hallway of mirrors with a brilliant guide to give you only the best reflections, aided by many of the best Santa Barbara musicians, in particular the one other remaining original player in the band, drummer Tom Lackner, while the album does hold classic FM radio sound as its lodestar–”heck, I called it an album!” It also ranges far and wide for texture, nuance, grace.
–Food/culture writer George Yatchison, “George Eats” blog, link
Drawing inspiration from classic rock heavyweights such as the Band and Little Feat, and filtered through jazz’s sophisticated harmonic sensibility, the record sits comfortably alongside the work of better-known ’80s/’90s acts such as Pavement and R.E.M. Not for nothing has this creative duo of Woodard and Lackner gone to school with the world’s top improvisers; seeyoutonite sounds both fresh and timeless. The gorgeous and warmly inviting production, all of which took place at Lackner’s studio on Mountain Drive, adds mightily to the album’s sonic appeal.
In a town often touted for its resemblance to paradise, music ought to be equally divine. With the arrival of flapping, Flapping’s seeyoutonite, Santa Barbara has got the world-class rock band it deserves.
–Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent, link
Links to listen to seeyoutonite:
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check out story on Household Ink Records’ 25th anniversary in Down Beat magazine here (download pdf)
Headless Household meets Lucinda Lane, in an “alt-Viva-La-ing” show at the Mercury Lounge,
Friday, August 2, 2019
What: Headless Household and Lucinda Lane
When: Friday, August 2, at 8 p.m.
Where: Mercury Lounge, 5871 Hollister Ave., Goleta
Cost: $5
Info: 967-0907
HH is: Dick Dunlap, piano; Tom Lackner, drums; Joe Woodard, guitar; Nicole Lvoff and Liz Barnitz, vocals; Randy Tico, bass (and guests tba).
LL: Lvoff, Woodard, Lackner, Tico
Still buzzing from its March show at SOhO, celebrating the 25th birthday of its seminal album Inside/Outside USA by playing the whole thing in sequence, Headless Household returns–in time for Fiesta. The hopelessly eclectic, veteran SB band will share a bill with the “indiebossajazztwang” group Lucinda Lane at the Merc, for a special “Viva La-ing” gig on Fiesta Friday. Old Town Goleta style.
Headless Household’s albumography: Headless Household (1987; vinyl), Inside/Outside USA (1993), ITEMS (1995), Free Associations (1999), mockhausen (2000), post-Polka (2003), Blur Joan (2005), and Basemento (2010), Balladismo (2015), tba (2019?).
Lucinda Lane plans to birth its discography with a debut album by the beginning of 2020.
To hear Inside/Outside USA:
Streaming/download:
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Headless Household celebrates the 25th anniversary of its pivotal album Inside/Outside USA at SOhO, Wednesday, March 20
What: Headless Household, toasting the 25th birthday of Inside/Outside USA
When: Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: SOhO, 1221 State St., Santa Barbara (upstairs)
Cost: $10
Who: Dick Dunlap, piano; Tom Lackner, drums; Joe Woodard, guitar; Tom Buckner, tenor sax; Nicole Lvoff, vocals; and Randy Tico, bass (and guests tba).
Nate Birkey’s brilliant new (and tenth) album, Rome, –recorded in said city with artful Italian musicians–got a great four-star in the April 2018 issue of DownBeat magazine… link
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Headless Household returns to Center Stage Theater in CD release wingding for its new, ninth album, Balladismo, Saturday, September 12
What: Headless Household, CD release wingding for new, ninth album, Balladismo
When: Saturday, September 12, at 8 p.m.
Where: Center Stage Theater, upstairs in Santa Barbara’s Paseo Nuevo. Tickets are $17, general and $12, seniors and students. Box office: (805) 963-0408, or, web-wise, www.centerstagetheater.org.
Who: Dick Dunlap, Tom Lackner, Joe Woodard, Tom Buckner, Jim Connolly, Nicole Lvoff, Tom Ball … and ?
For album number nine, the hopelessly and mostly happily eclectic band Headless Household (born 1983, in Santa Barbara, Calif.) set out to tighten the stylistic/vibe focus knob and go the ballad route. They partially succeeded, as heard on Balladismo, a collection of tracks with balladism (or “Balladismoâ€) which settles into an easier, sometimes melancholic place and attitude, but also takes detours. Detouring is the Household way, after all.
Following the 25th anniversary double-disc album Basemento (the second in the B-title trilogy, after Blur Joan and preceding Balladismo), the group slowly got in gear for the new album. Once again, the menu ranges from jazz to rock ‘n’ avant-pop ‘n’ waltz/polka turf, free improvisation, Americana and Europeana, and then some.
After a two-year period of semi-dormancy–time spent brewing up the next batch of action as well as mulling over the meaning of label life–Household Ink Records is re-emerging with some new musical call and response factors in motion. The HI factory, founded in 1987 and now with 40 titles to its name, is back in action, whereabouts and destination semi-known.
As of May 2015, the label’s flagship band, the hopelessly eclectic outfit Headless Household, is finally releasing its ninth album, Balladismo. (Think “balladism” meets “machismo.”) The core Household foursome (Dick Dunlap, Tom Lackner, Chris Symer, Joe Woodard) is joined by familiar friends and generous cameo-makers, including singers Glen Phillips, Julie Christensen and, new to the Headless fold, Nicole Lvoff, powerhouse saxists Tom Buckner and David Binney, trumpeter/vocalist Nate Birkey, pedal steel player Bill Flores (who, like Lackner, plays in Jeff Bridges’ band), and bassist David Piltch. It is a mostly-ballads project which took many turns, expected and otherwise, in its year-and-a-half creative process. Balladismo is brought to fruition, in part, by the kindness of Kickstarter patrons. We salute you.
Simultaneously with the release of Balladismo comes the beginning of a proud new relationship with rising German jazz saxophonist Nicole Johaenntgen, via her new and wonderful jazz/blues/pop/etcetera album, Moncaup. She is Household Ink’s first European artist, and one steadily gaining acclaim and an international presence. We’re more than please to meet her, and introduce her to a deservingly wider Stateside audience.
Meanwhile, congrats go out to longtime Household Ink artist Nate Birkey, whose wonderful, spiritual (and spirituals-minded) album of last fall, Just a Closer Walk–his sixth album on Household Ink–received a glowing review in the April 2015 issue of Down Beat magazine (check it out here). It was the first review for Nate in that august publication, and a first, as well, for a Household Ink release.
Stay tuned. We will, too. (Except when intentionally otherwise.)
Newest Household Ink album…
After working on its latest long-playing record for the past 15 months (with various interruptions and detours), Headless Household is finally poised to release its latest album, Balladismo, the ninth in the band’s 31-year history–and its first since 2010’s double-disc Basemento. Balladry is the theme, although the distractions and seductions of the group’s built-in electicism leads the song set into the usual bewildering sonic bevvy.
Many of the band’s usual and beloved guests help make it special, including vocalist Julie Christensen (now hailing from Nashville), Glen Phillips (now hailing from Santa Barbara.. and the world), trumpeter/vocalist Nate Birkey and alto sax wizard Dave Binney from NYC, longtime HH tenor saxist Tom Buckner, pedal steeliist Bill Flores, violinist Sally Barr, bassist David Piltch and a newcomer–vocalist Nicole Lvoff, sneaking into the Headless mix, the Headless way.
Stay tuned: with luck and fairydust (and with the help of our very kind Kickstarter helpers), an April release date is in the cards…
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nate birkey, Just a Closer Walk (2014): the jazz trumpeter-vocalist of quiet intensity continues his discography with the eagerly-awaited new album, Just a Closer Walk, a unique and soul-felt treatment of spirituals and gospel-flavored material…
check out the review in the April, 2015 issue of Down Beat here…
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HI-143= $15 (postage paid) to buy bio
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HI gigs coming up in July, including CD release for NYC’s Nate Birkey’s new album:
Lucinda Lane, with Spencer & Todd’s Swingin’ Moods, @ SOhO, Wednesday, July 16, 7:30 flyer press release soho
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Nate Birkey at SOhO, Monday, July 28
presenting the CD release party for his brand new gospel-oriented album, Just a Closer Walk
Message from Nate:
Hello all,
The new album is finally here! Stepping into some familiar musical terrain, Just A Closer Walk offers Jazz infused approaches to the realm of gospel music and spirituals. These are songs I’ve known and grown up with my entire life. We recorded this album live last August when I was in Santa Barbara, CA., spending a day recording in the sanctuary of Saint Michael and All Angels Church in Isla Vista. We did it the “old school” way – putting a stereo mic in the middle of the room, positioning ourselves accordingly and then just playing. The album features Tom Buckner on tenor sax, Jamieson Trotter on piano, Jim Connolly on bass, and Peter Buck on drums. I believe we captured something special. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it, and I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming release shows. (see details below) Thanks, Nate
Dazzle Jazz Club
in Denver Saturday, July 12 at 7:00 and 9:00pm 930 Lincoln St., Denver, CO.
55 Bar
in New York City Monday, July 21 at 7:00pm 55 Christopher St., NYC
Squashed Grapes
in Ventura Wednesday, July 23 at 7:00pm 2351 E. Main St., Ventura, CA
SOhO
in Santa Barbara Monday, July 28 at 8:00pm 1221 State St., Santa Barbara, CA
Links
Natebirkey.com
iTunes
Soundcloud
facebook
CD Baby
YouTube
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Headless Household postpones xmas,
plans 2013 xmas concert/CD release shindig in February
Greetings, Household friends, fans, allies, strangers-here-but-once, curiosity seekers, curios, and outliers:
Just a note from the Headless Household front to let you know that we have decided to postpone what would have been our 21st (sorta) annual xmas concert at Center Stage Theater in early December, and work on a date in early 2014, possibly around Valentine�s Day.
We are currently and doggedly at work finishing our new, ninth album –a reportedly �all ballads� affair–and wanted to finish the album before our next official concert. This project, timed with the 30th year in the trenches for the band (ouch, how�d that happen?), is coming along nicely–and in agreeably surprising degrees, �not nice�-ly–and is being made, in part, by the kindly donations of folks involved in our Kickstarter campaign.
�And a hearty Happy Holidaze to you all, from our Household to yours.
Previous albums, on Household Ink Records:
Headless Household (1987), Inside/Outside USA (1993), ITEMS (1995), Free Associations (1999), mockhausen (2000), post-Polka (2003), and Blur Joan (2005), Basemento (2010).
Headless Household has joined the Kickstarter generation!
Thanks to one and all who helped us achieve our goal, raising money for our ninth album, an all-ballads project in the works, in time for our 30th anniversary year.
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HI@25
a “microfest,” celebrating 25 years of Household Ink Records, SOhO, May 21
with Headless Household, Julie Christensen, Natalie D-Napoleon, Lucinda Lane, Zen Horse Repair, and … ? flyer press release
—Check out the sweet review in No Depression of Natalie D-Napoleon’s Leaving Me Dry
News re: “HI @ 25”… check out story on Household Ink Records’ 25th anniversary in Down Beat magazine here (download pdf)
–this month’s “secret” track: “Everybody’s Talkin'” mp3, an outtake from Dudley, doin’ jack…
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–20th (sorta) annual Headless Household xmas concert at Center Stage Theatre, Monday, December 3, 2012 … press release flyer
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Household Ink Records proudly welcomes to the HI family, the fine Australian-turned-Californian alt country singer-songwriter Natalie D-Napoleon, whose album Leaving Me Dry is a thing of pleasure and wonder… with Natalie’s induction into the Household Ink zone, the label steps further forward into the brave new-old world of “Americana.”
Headless Household, jazz division, plays at Muddy Waters, Thursday, September 13
At the invitation of Colter Frazier, intrepid founder of the “Santa Barbara New Music Series,” Headless Household returns to its more seminal, “jazz” form, in an instrumental quintet, at Muddy Waters on September 13. Quintet in question: Dick Dunlap, Tom Lackner, Joe Woodard, Tom Buckner and Jim Connolly… press release
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Headless Household goes for another “Spring Sing” at SOhO, Wednesday, June 6
Santa Barbara’s hopelessly eclectic and seemingly demise -resistant band, Headless Household returns to a favorite venue, SOhO, for its annual-ish “Spring Sing ’12,” on Wednesday, June 6. Santa Barbara’s favorite (and only?) “etcetera-ist” band still mixes up elements of jazz, free improvisation, avant-Americana, Europeana, rock, soul, Braziliana, dada, yada yada…
In this, the 25th anniversary year of Household Ink Records, one of the exciting new releases is diversely-gifted Julie Christensen‘s eagerly-awaited new album, Weeds Like Us... Following up her jazz album Something Familiar and the folk-rock-soul Where the Fireworks Are, comes a strong new song set of “great plains soul,” with natural veins of Americana running through it…
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“A Brief History of Headlessness,” for SBMA blog:
…Headless Household plays Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Sunday, Feb. 26, from 1 to 4 in the afternoon, celebrating the new “Pacific Standard Time” exhibition, “Pasadena to Santa Barbara.” press release
Free Community Celebration
Sunday, February 26, 1-4 pm Location: Santa Barbara Museum of Art 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara
Members of Santa Barbara�s Headless Household featuring Dick Dunlap, Joe Woodard, and Tom Lackner (not pictured Chris Symer, Tom Buckner and Glen Phillips)
In the Plaza: Enjoy live music from Santa Barbara’s own Dada-inspired band Headless Household, and a special re-visiting of Intersphere, a visual and aural project created for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art by Richard Dunlap in 1981. Interact with artist Patrick Melroy and his Fluxus-inspired team as they improvise from period performance art pieces. Experience “Now and Then,” a re-invention and homage to the poetry- and jazz-laced performance created by artist Richards Ruben in Pasadena in 1962–led by noted local poets Paul Willis, Perie Longo, David Starkey, and Chryss Yost, with jazz iterations by Jon Nathan. Cheer for your favorite team in the Marcel Duchamp-inspired “Five Minute Found Object Sculpture Game.”
Headless Household goes Rhapsody… and Spottify
Biography
No, Headless Household is not an Industrial band. They sound like Miles Davis playing with the Kronos Quartet conducted by Sun Ra with occasional vocals by George Jones and backup singers from A Man and a Woman. Wonderful and wonderfully bizarre. If and when Twin Peaks gets another stab at prime time TV, Headless Household would be the perfect band to play at the lodge.
–Nick Dedina, Rhapsody.com
–two Santa Barbara gigs on the horizon: post-Polka returns for a “N�vemberfest,” at Muddy Waters on Saturday, November 26, and Headless Household finally gets back to Center Stage on Monday, November 28, for its “19th (sorta) annual Center Stage xmas concert” (after 18 in a row, the band hasn’t played there since 2007, but ready to get back to it… )
–news alert: the Household Ink site now sports streaming radio stations on each artist’s page, with programming suitable to that artist. check it out…
—Julie Christensenis busy working on her next album for the Household Ink label, Weeds Like Us… we’re all ears.
–a nice review of Headless Household’s 2010 album Basemento review in Relix…
Santa Barbara’s Headless Household celebrates 25 years of criminal neglect with a wonderful double album, Basemento (Household Ink). Come for “This, That…”, guitarist Joe Woodard’s song-oriented SoCal strip-mall blend of jazzy bossa nova and Bakersfield country laments (i.e., “Jobim Meets Jim Beam”). But stay for “…The Other,” a disk’s worth of some of the smartest and friendliest psychedelic jazz you�ll ever snuggle up to. Guest saxophonist Dave Binney applies the hot sauce liberally to these nine smart, incisive sonic meditations encompassing everything from British progressives like Henry Cow, gnarly New York downtown jazz, Weather Report’s international feel and the heady cosmic geologies of countless Grateful Dead space excursions.
—Richard Gehr, Relix, July, 2010
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Headless Household paid tribute to friend and ally Kenny Edwards with “Remembering Kenny,” featuring the band, and guest singer-songwriters, Monday, March 21, 2011, at SOhO
What: Headless Household, “Remembering Kenny,” with guest singer-songwriters
When: Monday, March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Where: SOhO, 1221 State St. Santa Barbara CA
Cost: $10
Information: (805)-962-7776, www.sohosb.com
Who: Dick Dunlap, Tom Lackner, Joe Woodard, Julie Christensen, Tom Buckner, Jim Connolly, Sally Barr, Bill Flores, Tom Ball and ? Guest singers include Rebecca Troon, Natalie D-Napoloen, Julia Baucke, Susan Reeves, Rich Phillips, Tom Kell, Freddy Koella, and more… (photo: Paul Wellman)
Members of the eclectic group Headless Household were among the many shocked and saddened by the passing of the wonderful musician Kenny Edwards last September. There was a highly personal connection in that Edwards had recorded and performed with the band for seven years, always game to join in the band’s style-hopping antics and enriching the band’s music – especially the “Americana” chapter of the band’s songbook.
In tribute to Edwards’ contribution to the band, and to the music of other artists in his adopted hometown of Santa Barbara, Headless Household is hosting a tribute night, Monday, March 21 at SOhO. “Remembering Kenny” will feature a set of its own music which involved Edwards, live and on record (he was involved in the albums post-Polka, Blur Joan and Basemento). An opening set will feature singers connected with Edwards’ work, as producer, guitarist, vocalist, mandolinist and all-around supportive, spiritually centered and deeply musical persona.
Edwards, who moved to Santa Barbara a decade ago and got enmeshed in its musical community (including with Headless Household) had finally begun recording as a solo artist in the last chapter of his life, releasing the wonderful albums Kenny Edwards (2002) and Resurrection Road (2009). This capped off a stellar resume including working with Linda Ronstadt, starting with her earliest public phase in the Stone Poneys, working as an important architect of the ’70s country-rock sound in Los Angeles, and working as accompanist with longtime ally Karla Bonoff and Wendy Waldman.
Links:
Links:
Press bites
��solid musicianship and an admirable willingness to toss in whatever strikes their fancy.�
–Aaron Steinberg, Jazz Times
–�Music this wildly diverse can never be properly marketed in this age of specialization, but that doesn�t make it any less extraordinary.� ––Bill Milkowski, Tower Pulse magazine
–�Headless Household still seems to think that a mind is a terrible thing to waste..� –Greg Burk, L.A. Weekly
–�Overall the vibe was great and the music eclectic enough to satisfy any head, household member or not.� –Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent
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post-Polka plays “N�vemberfest”
at Muddy Waters, Friday, Nov. 26
After a booking mishap kept the “alt-Oktoberfest” from going down last month, the band post-Polka (a subsidiary of Headless Household) is back in Muddy Waters action, for a special post-Turkey-day “N�vemberfest.” The band kicks up the polka at Muddy Waters on Friday, November 26. Opening for p-P is Eliza Rickman.
On the worldwide interweb:
post-Polka (a subsidiary of Headless Household) kicks up the polka in the second degree, at its 2nd annual “alt-Oktoberfest,” at Muddy Waters on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Joining them will be Hot Ghoulash, featuring Spencer Barnitz in full-on polka mode. In 2003, Headless Household released the conceptual polka album post-Polka. Some loved it. Others didn’t. Others are still snoozing in the jury box. After a couple of strictly-polka gigs, a resolve was made to create a spinoff band, hereby dubbed post-Polka. see press release flyer
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Headless Household, featuring Julie Christensen, plays for the Santa Barbara Jazz Society,
at SOhO on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 17, 2010
Veteran Santa Barbaran band Headless Household, featuring vocalist Julie Christensen, was the special guest of the Santa Barbara Jazz Society, at SOhO on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Infamously eclectic but with strong jazz roots, the band will be leaning on the jazz side of the by-now hefty Headless songbook, including original tunes from the latest of its eight albums, the two-disc set called Basemento, which celebrates the band’s 25th anniversary.
In the band will be core members keyboardist Dick Dunlap, drummer Tom Lackner, guitarist/composer Joe Woodard, along with longtime ally, tenor saxist Tom Buckner, bassist Steve Nelson, and Christensen. Christensen, a renowned solo artist in her own right, has worked with Leonard Cohen, Van Dyke Parks, and others, and her own discography includes the jazz album Something Familiar. That album, as with all Headless Household titles– Headless Household (1987), Inside/Outside USA (1993), ITEMS (1995), Free Associations (1999), mockhausen (2000), post-Polka (2003), and Blur Joan (2005)–have been released on the band’s independent label, Household Ink Records.
At SOhO, the band will dig into its diverse jazz bag of instrumentals, vocal tunes, moody ballads, swinging saloon numbers, straight ahead notions and gently twisted variations on the theme of jazz, America’s greatest music.
Fresh off of a March concert at the Lobero Theatre to celebrate the release of its 25th anniversary CD, the double-disc Basemento, Headless Household returned to another favorite Santa Barbara venue, SOhO, for its “Spring Sing ’10,” on Wednesday, June 23. Noozhawk’s Jeff Moeholis was there, and had some thoughts on the subject: review.
(photo: Paul Wellman, at Knapp’s Castle: check out new pix on pix page)
Headless Household to play its first concert at the historic Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara
To celebrate its 25th anniversary (a year late) and the release of its eighth and newest album–a double-disc, multiple-identity thing called Basemento—Headless Household played Santa Barbara’s beloved and historic Lobero Theatre on Friday, March 19. Basemento mixes up elements of jazz, free improvisation, C&W/Americana, Europeana, rock, soul and a new strain of Braziliana, and noises words can’t touch… the Household remains Dick Dunlap (keys), Tom Lackner (drumcussion), Chris Symer (bass) and Joe Woodard (guitars). Guests on the album include Tom Buckner, David Binney, Julie Christensen, Glen Phillips, David Piltch, Nate Birkey, Tom Ball, Sally Barr, Bill Flores, and Kenny Edwards… stay tuned, turn out, and drop in… www.myspace.com/headlesshousehold Basemento bio
photo, Kim Reierson, from Eighteen
links:
Old News…
2009 was a strange and slow year for Household Ink, for various reasons, but things heated up in the last quarter. The newly-launched band called post-Polka (a subsidiary of Headless Household, focusing on the avant-polka segment of the songbook) made its official debut at an “alt-Oktoberfest” show at the picturesque Mercury Loungein Goleta, California, on October 29… also
Nate Birkey opens for Diana Krall at the Santa Barbara Bowl, August 23
Trumpeter-vocalist Nate Birkey, a longtime member of the Household Ink Records family, brought his quartet to open up for the Diana Krall concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl, on August 23, 2009, and had the crowd wowed. Birkey, who spent years in Santa Barbara and has been based in NYC for a few years now, has been venturing upward and outward into the jazz world. The latest albums in his Household Ink discography are Almost Home and Christmas–his first recordings with his east coast-based group. (press release)
The “Ink” on the Internet, a work-in-progress: in its slow but sure effort to investigate and penetrate cyberspace, Household Ink Records is venturing into new internet locales, such as…
Headless update: Headless Household postpones its planned concert/CD release party at Center Stage Theater
Eclectic new music combo Headless Household, which was working towards its 25th anniversary concert and CD release party, postponed the event, in the aftermath of the tragic Tea Fire. Most likely and with luck, the album and concert will occur sometime in 2009.
Drummer Tom Lackner’s Mountain Drive home/studio–known as “The Tompound–” miraculously survived the Tea Fire blaze, in the midst of some of the fire’s worst devastation. Due to clean-up, helping neighbors and other factors, the Headless Household project has been put on hold.
The newest addition to the Household Ink family of fine artists is bassist-composer David Piltch, whose fascinating new EP, Minister of the Interior is now available on Household Ink. Piltch, the Toronto-born musician, has been an internationally-known and traveled figure, working with k.d. lang for years, as well as Holly Cole, Bill Frisell, Madeleine Peyroux, Joe Henry, Loudon Wainwright, Lizz Wright, and many others. A tasteful blend of instrumental and vocal fancies, Minister of the Interior features k.d. lang, Bill Frisell, Petra Haden, Holly Cole and Perla Batalla, among others, and heralds the beginning of Piltch’s life as a leader… Piltch page… (available now, at products page)
On Monday, December 15, Piltch brings his music back home to the live stage, starting with his first official show in Santa Barbara, at SOhO on Monday, December 15. Joining David will regular allies Gaby Moreno, on vocals and guitar, and ace guitarist Mark (Jackson Browne) Goldenberg–who join him at his regular residency shows at Largo in Los Angeles–with assorted guests dropping by–including Joe Henry and Brandi Shearer… and… ? gigging
What: David Piltch (with Gaby Moreno, Mark Goldenberg, Joe Henry, Brandi Shearer)
When: Monday, December 15, 8 p.m.
Where: SOhO, 1221 State St. Santa Barbara CA
Cost: $10
Information: (805)-962-7776, www.sohosb.com
RADIO DISPATCH: Piltch’s song “Wonder Why” (featuring Petra Haden) was featured as the “song of the day”on KCRW, on Friday, September 12… live and in person, Piltch continues to bring his music to a more or less bi-weekly bresidency at the new Largo–with the Hitchcockian title “David Piltch presents…”. So continues the new adventure. gigging
Largo: 432 N Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036, (323) 852-1073, www.largo-la.com press release
Ever-tasteful jazz trumpeter/vocalist Nate Birkey, formerly a Santa Barbra and now doing well in New York City, now has five albums out on Household Ink: the eagerly-awaited new album, Almost Home–Birkey’s first recording with his NYC-based band–shortest day, Ballads, The Mennonite, and Indelibly You. Nate’s off to Italy and other points and ports this summer, and playing regularly in NYC. He’s going strong, and subtle… (download bio, word, pdf) to buy
this just in:
Nate and his NYC crew have just released a fab, heart and ear-warming holiday CD, called simply, aptly Christmas … bio
Headless Household went public, and went bust! the band’s first show in the popular (and free!) “Courthouse Jazz Series,” fizzled, due to a power problem and lack of sound. but a rematch is in the works–possibly on Halloween evening, 5-8 p.m. http://www.courthousejazz.com/schedule.html
Also joining the Household Ink fold is Zen Horse Repair(being primarily singer-songwriter-artist-poet-mystic-nut Neal Crosbie, with ally Tom Lackner, and rotational guests): their long-labored over new project is called Ghost Brain, a two-disc set of artful sound, poetry and desert delirium. see message… pressrelease
On the terrestrial radio front, the Julie Christensen and Stone Cupidalbum Where the Fireworks Are has been racking up airplay on discerning stations around the country this spring… some kind of wave is underway. photos
…Household Ink Radiohas been upgraded, streaming 25/8 at 96 kbps! now you can dip into the large and expanding Household Ink Records catalogue with our new streaming radio station. no commercials, no irritating DJs or other distractions from the shamelessly eclectic musical source… listen up … press release
Julie Christensen and Stone Cupid recently nestled into the Long Beach public access studio to be part of the “Portable Universe,” pianist David Witham’s long-running and respected showcase for musical artists deserving a spot in the teleuniverse. They donned both “art pop” and “jazz” modes in two separate episodes, which can be seen here: http://homepage.mac.com/witham/iMovieTheater38.htmlOR THE snipped url:http://tinyurl.com/2xwu4n
Household Ink Records celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2007, having started out humbly and without any particular plans back in 1987 with the debut release by Headless Household. On the roster, so far, are the Household, Nate Birkey Quintet, Dudley, Julie Christensen, flapping, Flapping, Shelly Rudolph, Lean-To, Brad Dutz, Brad Rabuchin, Jeff Elliott… HI catalogue
Headless Household made its way to Santa Barbara’s Center Stage Theater on Dec. 3 for the 18th annual xmas concert. guests this year included Julie Christensen, Tom Buckner, David Piltch, Glen Phillips, Sally Barr, Kenny Edwards, Bill Flores, and Tom Ball�
…Elizabeth Tashjian, founder of the Nut Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, passed away on January 28, 2007, at the age of 94. Hear/watch her sing her charming nut anthem here… check out the Lean-To song “The Beauty of Nuts,” a tribute to Elizabeth and her vision, recorded on the 1989 album Malarchitecture.
..Julie Christensen, the dynamic and versatile singer who has gamely performed and recorded with Headless Household for years, has joined the Household Ink ranks, we’re happy to report. Julie has just released her long-awaited “art-pop” oriented Where the Fireworks Are, a timely, poetic and generally moody, rocking and lovely thing. (hear Where the Fireworks Are, streamed in its entirety on HI Radio)…
Late in 2006, Julie put out her “standards” album Something Familiar–her first release on Household Ink. The album includes Jeff Ballard and Kenny Wolleson on drums, Greg Liesz on pedal steel and Jeff Elliott on trumpet, as well as her soul sister Karen Hammack on piano… On the big screen, she’s also a featured singer in the acclaimed new fllm Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (having sung with Cohen for years, and been involved in Hal Willner-produced Cohen tributes, including recent shows in Dublin, singing duets with Lou Reed… photos
visit Julie’s web page(s): www.myspace.com/juliechristensenandstonecupid, www.stonecupid.com
…Household Ink Records is proud to introduce the latest member of the HI family of fine artists–unique “world soul” singer-songwriter Shelly Rudolph. Shelly’s new album, Water in My Hand, made with time and care up at the Tompound studio in Santa Barbara, is now available on Household Ink Records. Shelly and band played CD release gigs in Southern California in early 2006… press release… photos, bio
…Headless Household has joined the expanding universe of myspace: go to www.myspace.com/headlesshousehold. be our friend.
…old news…
… Headless Household “came of age,” 21 years on the planet, and, for the occasion, they released their new “hyper-remix” album Vertical Medleys, Vol. 1 (bio)
…Headless Household celebrated its 20th anniversary as an ongoing band/entity this year, 2003. They officially released their new album, post-Polka, at SOhO on Nov. 23, 2003… post-Polka is available now (products). All-important musical guests on the album include Julie Christensen, Glen Philips, Ellen Turner, Allegra Heidelinde, Tom Buckner, Nate Birkey, Tom Ball, Sally Barr, Bill Flores, Spencer Barnitz, Shelly Rudolph, Jim Connolly, David Piltch, Kenny Edwards, Bruce Winter…
…Household Ink is proud to announce the release of the debut solo album by the tasty virtuoso trumpeter Jeff Elliott. Elliott has been lending his bold, vibrant sound to the likes of Les McCann, Airto and Flora, and the legendary post-fusion band, The Eraserheads, for many years. Now comes Different Jungles, a diverse collections of ideas and sounds in and around jazz and groove music, showing off his trumpet chops, his melodic gifts, and also his unique ideas as a writer and arranger. Guests on the album include Airto Moreira, Mike Clark (Headhunters), Cougar Estrada (Los Lobos) and bassist Randy Tico…
…John Rapson, the marvelous and forward-leaning trombonist-composer-conceptualist, returned to Santa Barbara for a special concert at his old academic stomping grounds, Westmont College, in March Rapson now hails from Iowa City, where he teaches at the U. of Iowa, and has worked with Anthony Braxton, Billy Higgins, Vinnie Golia, Bobby Bradford and many others over the past 20 years. His “California Octet” features trumpeter John Fumo, saxists Kim Richmond and Ron McCarley, organist Wayne Peet, guitarist Joe Woodard, drummer Tom Lackner, and bassist Jim Connolly… rapson info page
…joe woodardfinally released his solo album, between, a self-described “faux folk” song set, 17 tracks of originals between one thing and another…
…Household Ink is venturing, sideways, into the weird, warming world of musical theater, with the forthcoming release of a cast album for Turnip Family Secrets, an original “play with songs” written by Michael Smith, with music by Joe Woodard. The musical premiered at Center Stage Theaterin Santa Barbara, April 12-21, 2002. An original cast album will be available at the performances and through this site: the “pit band” consists of Woodard on guitar, Dick Dunlap on keyboards, Tom Lackner on percussives, and Jim Connolly on bass. the singers are Paula Re, Fred Lehto, Geren Piltz, and Geoffrey Bell…
…headless household, currently joining the global campaign to render capital letters obsolete, had its 12th annual xmas concert at center stage theater, on monday, dec. 3, 2001….they are presently at work on a new cd, post-Polka, to be released in late spring, th egood lord willin’ (press release)
…Headless Household had another successful shindig, with their 11th annual Xmas concert at Center Stage Theaterin Santa Barbara. The gig, par usual, involved multiple guest musicians and assorted notions, new items and old favorites. Speaking of which: the gig was also the official release party for the CD reissue of Headless Household 1987 debut album, previously available only on collectible vinyl. Read Ted Mills’ nice reviewof the album in the Santa Barbara Independent, all these years later…
… after a bit of a dry, energy-mobilizing spell, things are picking up in Household Ink land. The splendid, poetic singer-songwriter Cara Towerreleases her debut CD, Living on Bread and Circus, on Rawdog Records in conjunction with Household Ink. Check out herpage, mp3 bits, and other things of delight.
life in the extended family: Jennifer Terran, whose first album, Cruel, was a product of her own Grizelda label and Household Ink, has released her long-awaited third CD, The Musician, and it’s quite a weird and lovely concoction, worthy of your ears and mind and heart and other organs…check out her e-hq.
several Household Ink projects have recently been covered in the respected on-line music site, All Music Guide… The Outpostpage–designated for mostly-local artists of note, outside the Household Ink realm, proper–has seen the arrival of the debut CD of the Santa Barbara folk-rock-pop group Buckley V. Valeo, and the long-awaited second album from Wasted Tape, goSolar, on the Portland-based FILMguerrerolabel. It’s a doozy.
…one new member of the Household Ink family is percussionist-composer-musicman Brad Dutz, via his fine new project, Heat the Grill Cook Loin, his first for the label and a doozy, at once cerebral and gutsy. Personnel includes venturesome players from the Los Angeles area–Kim Richmond, Jim Hershman, Clay Jenkins, Vinny Golia, John Fumo, Joel Harrison, Trey Henry, and Glen Garrett, plus Dutz on array of sound-producing objects…
Headless Household’s 10th annual Xmas concert at the Center Stage Theater doubled as the CD release party for the fifth and latest feature-length Household album, mockhausen, a collection of “out”takes and mostly improvisatory debris that takes a very different trajectory than any previous Household item.
Keyboardist, mind man and charter Headless Household member Richard Dunlaphas released a wonderful and evocative new CD, Ode to the Sistrum, conjured up virtually on his machinery, but with a great painterly, ambient flair. Created as part of a recent retrospective exhibition called “For Eyes and Ears,” at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, it’s a journey into a space with no name….
Violinist Gilles Apap, the virtuosic, genre-leaping and impish wit of a violinist who has appeared on a few Headless Household CD projects, now has his own web-site, label, and a grand classical CD out. Apap, who was signed to SONY for a spell before going indie and who traverses the world with his fiddle/violin, always makes a sound worth hearing…check it out, at www.gillesapap.com
Rob Taylor, a founding member of flapping, Flapping (formerly flapping, Flapping, FLAPPING), has been making good noise as the lead guitar hero of the band Lapdog, led by former Toad the Wet Sprocketers Todd Nichols and Dean Dinning, and with spanking good drummer Erik Herzog. Taylor is also slated to record the new album with flapping, Flapping… real soon. Also: check out Taylor’s fine, raw-spirited solo album, Lumpy Bumpy… It’s real good.
…Dudley, being singer-songwriter Ellen Turner, has just completed recording six new tunes in Austin, Texas, hosted by Interscope Records… on the Household Ink front, we have finally released Dudley’s beloved debut album, Public Nudism, on CD, after a five-year life as a tape-only album. Pick one up on the productspage. Dudley has now mutated into a more-or-less solo operation for singer-songwriter Ellen Turner, who performed, along with guitarist Joe Woodard, on the radio show “Morning Becomes Eclectic” on KCRW (89.9 FM), and recently played the Mint in L.A. She’s also hunkered down in MP3 mania, was featured on a recent sampler of artists-deserving-wider-recognition. We’re waiting to see what happens, alert and aloof…
Household Ink has joined in the surging number of indie labels encouraged by the potential of the MP3 format/web-site to create a conduit that slips right by the usual industry forces that be, to make a more direct, non-corporate sound-to-listener impact. Proceed HERE to check it out…
flapping, Flappingis finally getting off its duff and plunging into work on its third album, a double CD. The band now includes Todd Capps, Rob Taylor, Bruce Winter, Joe Woodard, and Tom Lackner, and will no doubt veer in several rock-ish directions at the same time. Look for a release in the winter of 1999…
…Headless Household, meanwhile, officially released its new album, Free Associations, at the annual Christmas concert at Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara (album number four, counting the 1987 vinyl debut). Recorded at Beagle Studios in Santa Barbara, with Dennis Dragon and Emmet Sargeant twiddling knobs and sliders, the album celebrates the band’s 15th anniversary as a continuous group. Plenty of associates were willingly roped into the party, including Tom Buckner, Dave Binney, Jeff Kaiser, Ellen Turner, Jennifer Terran, Jeff Elliott, Gilles Apap, Theo Saunders, Julie Christensen, Glen Phillips, Marjorie Extract, Bill Flores. …
…Household Ink had three reviews in recent issues of the respected music magazine Cadence–covering Headless Household’s ITEMS, the Nate Birkey Quintet’s Indelibly You, and Lean-To’s Malarchitecture. check out the verbiage on the Presspage…
…Household Ink Records is now duping for its supper, offering humbly-priced small-order CD duplication, that is. Check out the humble new web-page for more info: …
…Brad Rabuchinhas garnered the gig playing guitar in Ray Charles’ band, and is touring the proverbial world, among other fretboard-related activities…
…the page called Outpost offers recordings by artists not “officially” on Household Ink, but who live close enough to our hearts to warrant inclusion in our extended family. Take, for example, Wasted Tape, a fine and smart and semi-legendary prog-pop unit, with a fine and smart album, Lando Calrissian, jazz singer Jerome Smith’s Artist of the Year, and singer-songwriter-guitarmaniac Rob Taylor’s classic Lumpy Bumpy…
last modified: january 16, 2023
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