Rich Ruth - Calming Signals
scum stats - regarding the green vinyl, Swank says “they only gave me one copy” how many did they make “I think it was a hundred” the rest are on black (350?)
Sorry if this one feels a little rushed, but I’ve been playing Kanye detective for most of the day. But I am so PSYCHED that my dear friend, TMR co-founder, best bud and all around fan of tarantulas Ben Swank has started his own record label!
His imprint, Plant Life Records, co-released this with General General Records.
The best context to give you on this one is the thank you to “Brian Eno and all the real heads out there.”
If I need to explain THAT context…spacious pseudo-ambience with a layered groove and the distinct ability to be appreciated by damn-near anybody. Reminiscent of my Detroit heroes Westerbur & Rowe. Calming indeed.
I’m giving away a copy of this record (black vinyl, duh) for the best comment here about a moment where you were SO proud of a friend. Make ‘em good.
my god I love TMR and all you produce! what you’ve created, the beauty, richness of history you share is truly incredible. You all never disappoint. sounds so corny but truly my life is richer coz of discovering Jack/his bands, the Vault and the TMR world! Thxfor all the hard work!
one of my best friends in high school was artistically blessed far beyond what most anyone was aware, other than me. He was frequently the target of teasing by wealthy assholes in my school. He began building his first electric guitar at the age of 17. after he graduated high school, he bounced around from college, to construction, then bartending. He never lost his curiosity for building guitars, and later moved to Nashville and convinced Gibson to hire and teach him to be a luthier. After quickly becoming their star, he was hired away by Washburn, where he began making guitars for the likes of Paul Stanley, Dimebag Darrell, and Steve Stevens. He is now one of the electric design engineers in the world. So very proud to call him my friend!
My friend and bandmate is also a chiropractor. A patient came in for an appointment and my friend that they had just got a golden retriever puppy. They also explained that, out of the entire litter, all pups were gone except one. There was one puppy who was born with a deformed paw/leg. His one paw did not form properly and that same leg was quite short. My friend/bandmate started (who is an animal lover like myself) started thinking about the dog that nobody wanted. He and his wife (who is also a chiropractor) adopted the puppy. They figured they could give him a happy life with routine chiropractic adjustments. They named him Auggie. He gets monthly adjustments. He is one of the happiest/fastest dogs around! The local news even did a story about Auggie and his owners. I am REALLY proud to have a friend who cares about/for animals. I wish everybody could see a pic of Auggie!
My friend just bought a brand new gorgeous home with her fiancé who she met in jail, she went from living under a bridge smoking crack to having a beautiful home with her family through so much hard work and sacrifice and I couldn’t be more proud
All I can say is that my friend just received 11 years of sobriety on October 21st. I am SO proud of him.
You had me at Brian Eno! Off to learn more about Westerbur & Rowe and Rich Ruth. Oh, and… a dear, dear friend of mine from high school has always excelled in the art of ceramics, but for a long time it was “just a hobby.” When I learned a couple years back that she started her own brand/line of beautiful, functional ceramic dinnerware that is gorgeous and durable, I had to sit back with a smile on my face for her. Genuine pride at one who is following her heart and exploring her passion.
So me and my 2 friends always get into arguments about our favorite bands, mine being the White Stripes, another’s is Green Day, and one is neutral. We are always fighting about who sounds better on vinyl (White Stripes), who is a more bombastic band (White Stripes), and which band copied the other (Father of All… sounds a lot like Blue Orchid.) One day, my neutral friend were jamming into Cannon into Astro and Jack the Ripper (With him on my drum set, me on my vintage Tele wired through my BD-2), a White Stripes medley classic that they played live, and I stopped him and asked him, “Who do you like more; White Stripes or Green Day?” He took a moment to think, but it became obvious soon thereafter it was a sarcastic silence. “White Stripes,” he said, and then we went straight back into jamming with an ever-so-big smile all over my face. We walked up to my room where we jammed Lazaretto on my record player. Then, we drove my parent’s 1958 Ford Mustang into the sunset. Haha, fact check, it was raining that day and my family doesn’t own a sports car, they own a minivan.
I highly recommend picking this up. richruth.bandcamp.com I’ve been listening to is since I got my copy and it absolutely has me in a trance. I think there are still some Green copies available but you might want to hurry. Congrats on the AR discovery Blackwell. Keep kicking ass Swank! I can’t wait to see what’s to come.