The Dogmatics Still Keeping the Faith (2022)

NOTE: Here's an interview I did with the Dogmatics' Jerry Lehane back for the Shepherd Express before they played Last Rites in Milwaukee in 2022 (posted July 14, 2022). The Dogmatics have a new album out on Rum Bar called Nowheresville.

Here's a funny quote from Lehane that I wasn't able to fit in the original story. I mentioned to him how in the Trouser Press the band is described as "dirtbags and proud of it." Lehane told me: "We've had all kinds of things. We'd go into radio stations and they would say, 'You guys are the ugliest band we've seen from the pictures. We're like, 'What!?'. The twins (Pete and Paul O'Halloran) were always known for the faces they made on stage. They've got quite rubbery faces, and if you like at those albums, it almost looks like we are from England or somewhere, early Stones look, you know. But we weren't dirt bags and proud of it. If anything there, you know, we like to take showers, just like the next guy."

Tragedy ended the first run of The Dogmatics. But it wasn’t the end of the story for the Boston garage rock’n’rollers, who make their Milwaukee debut Saturday night at Last Rites MKE.

Back in the early ‘80s, The Dogmatics played shows locally and traveled in a van across the United States sharing stages with bands like The Fleshtones and Replacements. They lived together in the same Boston loft, where they also wrote and tried out new songs together. They would also grieve together when bassist and founding member Paul O’Halloran died in a motorcycle accident on Oct. 23, 1986.

“We just got back from a tour of the Midwest and the West Coast,” says lead singer and guitarist Jerry Lehane. “He was on the back of motorcycle in the afternoon, and they got a flat tire. He went under a truck and got run over and passed away. That was 1986, and we stopped playing after that.”

O’Halloran had formed The Dogmatics in 1981 with his twin brother and guitarist, Pete, drummer Dan Shannon and Lehane. The brothers and Lehane had grown up together and attended Catholic school in Dorchester.

Tommy Long, who is still with the band, would replace Shannon on drums after the band’s first year. They self-released a debut single on their own Cat Records in 1983 and then put out two full-length albums, Thayer Street and Everybody Does It, on the legendary Homestead Records, with unhinged rockers like “Gimme the Shakes,” “Whipped,” and “My Little Sister’s Got a Motorbike.”

Reunited in Earnest

In the years after O’Halloran’s death, the Dogmatics would continue to play two or three times a year, but around 2018, as band members’ children began to grow older or leave home, the band decided to reunite in earnest and record new material. They have kept most of the same lineup, with O’Halloran’s older brother Jimmy taking over on bass and the addition of James Young on mandolin and other instruments.

The Dogmatics have connected with Boston-based label Rum Bar Records for a series of well-received EPs, as well as a collection of the band’s older material, and have received enthusiastic airplay on Sirius XM’s Underground Garage channel and elsewhere around the country, including Milwaukee’s WMSE.

Ramo Records, run by Miss Georgia Peach and Travis Ramin, both also members of opening band Beebe Gallini, reissued The Dogmatics’ Cat single, which includes a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “20 Flight Rock,” in 2008.

The band is keeping busy with shows this summer, including an upcoming date serving as backing band for Barrence Whitfield, and will likely take a break afterward to work on new material, a process that moves more slowly these days, Lehane says.

“It takes a while,” he says, “It’s not as easy as the old days. You have to work at it. You’re not living that life 150% like we used to.”

Rock‘n’Roll Spirit

While they have grown older, the rock’n’roll spirit that has always guided the band has not disappeared. How else can you explain their willingness to participate in the show Saturday at Last Rites? The Dogmatics will fly from Boston to Minneapolis on Friday afternoon to play that night in St. Paul, drive five-plus hours to Milwaukee on Saturday and then hop on a plane at 6 a.m. Sunday morning out of Mitchell.

“There’s something wrong with us,” says Lehane, laughing. “We like to torture ourselves.”

But they keep doing it because, ultimately, it’s what they love to do, Lehane says.

“I kind of make the analogy that we’re in single A baseball,” he says. “We’ve been trying to make it to the big leagues forever, but we’re still stuck down here in single A, still slugging. But it’s a lot of fun, you know? We wouldn’t been doing this if we didn’t like each other and we weren’t having fun.”

The Dogmatics, Beebe Gallini, Fun Bois and Lavish Waste perform 8p.m. Saturday, July 16 at Last Rites MKE, 625 S. Sixth St.

Lost in the Suburbs: A Tribute to Jonathan Kaplan & Over the Edge

 

Over the summer, I taught a college class on 1970s movies, and one of my favorite parts was showing two movies by the always entertaining and delightfully distinct director Jonathan Kaplan: Truck Turner (1974) and Over the Edge (1979). I was very happy that both movies played well with the students and prompted lively discussions. Sadly, as the summer session was concluding, news broke that Kaplan had died Aug. 1 of liver cancer at age 77.

Students had particularly connected with Over the Edge, and one scene hit me a little differently this time around, sitting there in the classroom in the dark. Sometimes a moment in a movie locks into you, knocks you around, turns you inside out, maybe brings on the tears. It could just be the way you are feeling right then. Sometimes the scene, or the actors, or something else, strikes you so hard, just thinking about it a week later might activate Crying Time or at least Far Away Eyes Time. Lorraine Newman and Tim McIntire in American Hot Wax (1978), Eddie Albert and Ida Lupino in Out of the Fog (1941), and Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea  in Dead End (1937) – there are parts by those actors in those movies that just tear me up even thinking about them.

Add to that list Michael Kramer and Pamela Ludwig in Over the Edge. Carl (Kramer) runs away from home and holes up in an unfinished condominium, his world in turmoil after the death of his best friend, Richie (Matt Dillon), at the hands of Officer Doberman, a local rabid cop played by Kaplan regular Harry Northup. Carl has no one to turn to except for Cory (Pamela Ludwig), and he calls her on a payphone (we know it has to be her) to meet up later at the condo. She sneaks off after her parents go to bed and arrives at the condo with a sleeping bag. They sleep together and she returns home in the morning before her parents awaken.

Cory’s arrival: a teenage prayer delivered in the dark by a girl who apparently dreamed of big trucks and lost highways. She tells Carl a story about a female trucker, a 95-pound “gypsy of the road” who has given her a new idea for a potential career path, and a fucking way out of New Granada, Colorado. In the morning, she stands at the door of the condo and stares out at the road at a traveling truck, awakening to new possibilities for the future, before slipping back into the reality of needing to get home before her dad wakes up for work.

She had almost made Carl a statistic earlier at the condo while doing an ill-advised “gun dance” to a stolen radio playing Cheap Trick. Only moments before she had told him, “You have pretty eyelashes.” Richie reads the scene perfectly after Carl fake dies: “I bet you’re in love with her now that she almost blew your brains out.”

Construction trash litters the outside of the half-finished condo, a secret hideaway that Richie and Carl have claimed as their own. “My father said they ran out of money,” Carl says. It’s another reminder of the failures of this town, of development at any cost, an attitude that has made the teenagers and  their lives far less important than property values, which comes out explicitly at the explosive community meeting following Richie’s death.

Cory and Carl talk briefly about women truckers and remember Richie, but Cory gets cold, and they both end up in the sleeping bag, which she says she used to play in when she was little.

“You know, I think you’re really beautiful,” Carl tells Cory. “No,” I’m not,” she says. “I think you are,” Carl says.

Then they kiss and pull the sleeping bag over their heads. It’s a touching moment and both young actors are so incredibly tender in the moment. Kaplan captures it all so beautifully, so sweetly.

In the morning, Kaplan frames them kissing in the doorway as the sun is rising. They look like Wild West lovers embracing before the final shootout. And as Cory walks away, it’s a lovely shot of her, looking back at Carl, still standing at the door, as she, and this magical moment in their teenage lives, fades away.

It’s a powerfully emotional scene, and it’s a testament to the powers of Jonathan Kaplan and the classic movies and moments he directed.

Charm City Confidential: Hidden Volume Records (2020)

(Note: Here's a Q&A I did with Hidden Volume's Scott Sugiuchi for the now defunct Quixotronic website back in May 2020. Sugiuchi, now based in New Mexico, is the art director at the Alamo Drafthouse and the designer behind Estrus: Shovelin' the Shit Since '87 with author Chris Alpert Coyle. You can find an all-Hidden Volume show that I did back on May 22, 2020 right here: https://wmse.org/program/zero-hour/)

Baltimore’s Hidden Volume Records has been responsible for some of my favorite rock-n-roll releases over the last decade from a wildly impressive lineup of bands, including the Insomniacs, Subsonics, Satan’s Pilgrims, the Above, the Ar-Kaics, and many more. Label honcho Scott Sugiuchi is a freelance graphic designer whose distinctly cool artwork has graced Hidden Volume’s output and promotional material. Sugiuchi, who has performed as a member of the Stents, Hate Bombs, Hall Monitors and Candy Smokes (in action with above), is also is co-author, with Chris Coyle, of the upcoming book, Estrus: Shovelin’ the Shit Since ’87 (Korero Press, UK).

I talked to Sugiuchi recently about starting Hidden Volume, his love of 45s, the Estrus book and more.

What or who convinced you that starting a record label was a good idea? I’m still trying to decide whether it was a good idea! haha. Actually, the idea had been gestating for years. I had some experience with self-releasing records in the ‘90s with The Hate Bombs (Speed-o-Meter Records, along with our drummer Ken Chiodini) and I think the bug never left me. By the early 2010s, I had some spare cash so I decided to make it happen.

Were there other labels or individuals you looked to for inspiration or advice when you started Hidden Volume? Why did you decide to focus on 45s? Obviously, I was super into Estrus Records and their perfect marriage of music, design and fun—that was the main inspiration. I’m also a big fan of labels that have a collective vision—where the focus on the look is equal to the music. I’d say that ranges from UK experimental label Ghost Box to Third Man Records.

The focus on 45s started with the fact that it’s an easy ask to get a band to release two songs with an unknown/small label. Over the years and after releasing a few LPs I find the 45 is much more fun format to work in. The bands aren’t as picky about things and the packaging allows for a lot more experimentation. Also nothing beats the explosion of putting on a 45—it’s like having a band’s collective creative energy compressed into the end of a needle. Two songs/ five minutes to get your point across. Magic!

What has been your top-selling or quickest selling release? Who were you most surprised to work with? Who else would you love to release something by? Hmmm, that would probably be our recent Satan’s Pilgrims “Happy Holidays” single. That sold out in maybe three days. It was a beast! Most surprising—there’s a few. I think I was shocked when The Ar-Kaics said “yes” because they were total strangers when I approached them about a single. My other early singles had bands that at the very least had one person I was friends with. I also just started the label so it was a miracle they even responded. I was elated.

Oh geez, there’s tons of artists I’d love to release if I had the time/money. If we’re talking total fantasy, I think Redd Kross would be the ultimate. If not, then maybe they would consider a Tater Totz record!

What release is most unlike the other Hidden Volume releases? I guess the pithy answer is that they’re all Hi-Vo releases because they’re just an extension of what my taste is. But that’s kind of too clever isn’t it? I would say Sick Thoughts is the closest. It’s more “punk” than the others. Drew was still in high school when we did that record! I love it—it’s his attempt at “garage rock” although it’s pretty poppy for him. Now that I think of it, it’s pretty much in keeping with the other records. Catchy rock and roll.

You are an excellent graphic artist as well. How helpful have those skills been in making the label a success or promoting releases and events? Awww, thanks! Part of the reason for starting the label was also an excuse to flex my design skills in a format I love so it’s been super helpful. As I was saying earlier, I love labels where the art and music work in harmony so to be able to have that level of control (woo-ha-haaaa) is essential. People have responded well to it over the years. I definitely have heard that people buy the records partly because of the packaging. The bands (mostly) love it too. hahaha...

Do you have any upcoming releases or plans you would like to share? How’s your book on the history of Estrus Records coming? Interestingly, those are complementary questions. I’m focusing on the existing releases right now from DC’s Teen Cobra as well as The Resonars then taking off the rest of the year to get that Estrus book out. I might do some digital releases with my band Candy Smokes on Hi-Vo (since we’re not playing any time soon) but not doing anything with new bands. I say that now…

As far as the Estrus book itself goes, we’re currently in the throes of that project. It’s MASSIVE. Not only did Dave C have a lot of releases, each release has fantastic artwork and a story behind it so corralling that has been a Herculean effort that writer Chris Coyle and I have been engulfed with for a while. It’s definitely a labor of love. I’m still in disbelief that I get to work with Dave Crider and Art Chantry on this (they’re “executive producers”) —basically my fave label and fave designer. It’s a dream but incredibly daunting. I also have to say everyone we’ve talked to has been amazing. It’s nice to see how bands/fans are still excited about Estrus and how it was kind of life changing for many people. After all these years! That’s the true mark of a successful label. What more could you ask for?

Photo credit: Eric Planck

The One-and-Only Billy Joe Shaver (2002)

NOTE: Yep, I lived in Texas for a minute. I did this review of a 2002 show for Country Standard Time, which continues to survive. Sadly, Billy Joe Shaver went to the big chicken coop in the sky back in 2020, 19 years after suffering a heart attack on stage and five years before he shot a man, famously asking him beforehand, "Where do you want it?" He would have turned 86 on Aug. 16.

Cactus Cafe, Austin, Texas, Nov. 24, 2002

AUSTIN, Texas - Colorful and charming to the core, Billy Joe Shaver is a delight to watch perform.

In a show on the campus of the University of Texas for the CD release of "Freedom's Child," his exceptional new album on Compadre Records, Shaver was in a very good mood, having earlier in the day won some sort of "chicken shit contest" at Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon.

The early part of the show focused nearly exclusively on material from the new album, including "Hold On to Yours (And I'll Hold Onto Mine)," "Magnolia Mother's Love," "Corsicana Daily Sun" and the naughty "That's What She Said Last Night," which became a running punch line throughout the night.

Shaver and his more than capable backing band then tore through his classics like "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train," "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal" and "Woman is the Wonder of the World" and provided a rollicking rendition of "Black Rose."

He played "Love is So Sweet" and "Star in My Heart" from "The Earth Rolls On," the last album he recorded with his late son Eddy, who died of a drug overdose on Dec. 31, 2000. He made reference to Eddy at the conclusion of "Star in My Heart," a song about the sometimes rocky relationship between the two.

It's been well documented that his son's tragic death is far from the only heartache Billy Joe Shaver has experienced over the years. Literally in some cases: He had a heart attack on stage on last year.

But Shaver showed no signs of slowing down. He often acted out lines from his songs and was full of energy and enthusiasm all night. Hell, he even jumped up in the air and smiled when he sang, "Love is so sweet, it makes you bounce when you walk down the street." And it was impossible not to smile with him.

Shaver concluded with "Try and Try Again," a song that he delivered with more evangelistic intensity than what's good for a man with a history of heart trouble.

Somehow, though, it seems foolish to worry about the strength of Billy Joe Shaver's heart.

Opener Hayes Carll was outstanding during his brief performance. The Houston-area singer-songwriter is getting a lot of acclaim for his debut, "Flowers and Liquor" (also on Compadre), and it certainly seemed warranted.

Carll was good-natured and humorous between songs, and his well-written story songs such as "Highway 87" and "Easy Come Easy Go" bring to mind the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett and Charlie Robison.

DM Bob: White Trash Meets Euro Trash (2011)

NOTE: This is an interview I did for the defunct WMSE blog, Sonic Diet, back on Sept. 12, 2011. It doesn't appear DM Bob (Bob Tooke) has had any new releases since this album, but according to his Facebook, he was still doing shows in Germany as DM as late as last fall.

A new DM Bob & the Deficits album is always reason to beat on your bucket and rejoice, and their latest, the not-so-lost They Called Us Country, is certainly no exception. As always, the band, which has recorded for Crypt and Voodoo Rhythm Records among others, is loose and sloppy but with a driving swagger that hooks you and sends you swirling in trashy/fuzzy/sleazy goodness. The newly released recordings, which stem from around 1999-2002, burn the honky tonk down with revved up and refreshed covers of Buck Owens, Al Ferrier, and the Velvet Underground as a well as a handful of excellent originals including “Don’t Give Me Nothing” and the sequel to “Hooker Bones.” DM Bob (Bob Tooke), a transplanted Louisianan who also is noted for his paintings, recently took time to respond to respond to my questions from his home in Hamburg, Germany.

How did They Called Us Country come to be a “lost” album? How did it make its way to Germany’s Off Label Records?

At some point after the band broke up, I simply collected this group of songs that sort of fit together with our country side. Every now and then someone would call us a country band – hence the album title – later I started doing Sanford Clark’s version (kind of) of “They Call Me Country.” This LP isn’t really a lost record (those weren’t my words) – more like a dormant demo! A couple of years ago I got a single (vinyl 45!) of The Dead Horse Experience from Off Label in the mail (which was quite nice of ‘em). So, then I offered Johnny Hanke the chance to listen to my dormant demo and he was kind enough to take the dare and put it out. Wonderful production on Johnny’s part!

The title comes from your excellent cover of the Sanford Clark obscurity “They Call Me Country” on the album.  You have great taste in covers (Hasil Adkins’ “Yard Sale,” T-Rex’s “Jeepster,” Johnny Paycheck’s “Slide Off Your Satin Sheets,” Velvet Underground’s “Satellite of Love,” etc.) and deliver distinctly enjoyable interpretations. How would you describe your approach to picking and performing cover songs?

Thanks for this compliment-filled question!  The way I see it it’s sort of traditional, respectful, R&R! and Fun! to do interpretations of other peoples’ tunes – it was certainly what I experienced growing up in south Louisiana. Anyway, I’ve never had any problem with it. I suppose “the art of covering” sort of solidified when the BushHogs were formed in 1986 (with Rick Olivier and Charles Franklin – the band still exists in New Orleans – we play once a year – only Red Deveca has been on bass since 1990).  Rick and I would trade off on guitar and drums and both of us had this strong desire to play all this killer Louisiana music that we were constantly discovering (starting around 1977) – we sort of had this attitude toward not doing original stuff – not to say that all the great songs have been written – writing just seemed pointless to us back then –  of course we took perhaps too much liberty with some tunes – but in general we were simply paying tribute to our mentors (the list is too infinite to mention). In the end, I’d say I’m simply indebted to recorded music.

I understand you are originally are from Louisiana. How did you end up living in Hamburg, Germany, and become DM Bob? Are there ever any “cultural misunderstandings” with fans or others there that like your music but maybe don’t get the references?

Yeah, I’m from Raceland, LA – 35 miles west southwest of New Orleans – supposedly there was once a horse racetrack in Raceland but I’ve always doubted this story – anyway yeah born on the bayou (we did have decent radio back then). How I ended up in Hamburg is “the same old story” – it was because of the love of a woman (I met my ex at a BushHogs thro-down in NO in ‘89). I moved to Hamburg in January ‘91- flew over on the very day the first Gulf War started. It was difficult at first, but in less than a year I found folks to make music with – Hamburg, like New Orleans, is a music city but of course I was confronted with a somewhat new take on things – different tastes, attitudes, styles etc. – lots of stuff I wouldn’t have experienced had I stayed in Louisiana ( perhaps I’m a white trash/euro trash combo).The Deutsch-Mark name story is too long to tell here, but basically it was suggested by the artist Todd Severson (a friend who like me ended up living in Germany – he also wrote the lyrics to Hooker Bones – 1 and 2) – anyway the name was suggested because of my hustling music and paintings plus my general interest in “political economy.” Yes, there were a few “cultural misunderstandings” especially playing some country stuff in Germany – we used to play Johnny Paycheck’s “Apt No 9” and this one for some reason left  the audience consistently cold and playing in the former DDR and often left me saying “they don’t get it” after a show.

Your recent work has been with Jem Finer (a founding member of the Pogues) and the Watzloves, but you are still playing with the Deficits some, right? Any plans to come to the U.S. or to record new music?

Jem and I did two really special albums and a lot of shows in the UK and Germany, but he lives in London and is very busy with his multitude of art projects. I got the Deficits back together for a one-off record release party and we ended up doing two. I’m afraid the Deficits won’t turn into a regular touring band again unless we get a generous offer or play somewhere not too far away – we might yet make it to Berlin or Bremen – I hope so. The markets will decide I guess. The Watzloves are about to start making plans for some U.S. activity – it hasn’t been worked out yet but it would be in LA/TX – for the most part – “a gallery circuit” – basically doing as many gigs as we’re offered between NO and Marfra, TX. I’m now in the process of finishing up recordings of/by “DM Bob & Speedy Jake” – Jakobus (aka S Jake). He once played steel and trombone in the Watzloves. Anyway, now he is a master of the tuba, which compliments my onemanband set up right on. We are finalizing recent recordings plus Silky has a big bag of killer tunes that will be attended to in winter. Yes! Always recording! (thinking about changing the name of the next combo to “Euro Bob and the Sea-Bells”)

You were on the John Peel show twice. He actually sang Merle Haggard’s “Lonesome Fugitive” with you on one of the appearances. What do you remember about that experience?

We did a Deficit session and I did one with Jem for J Peel. He also did a film for BBC TV called “On the Road with John Peel” and the Deficits were fortunate to be included (this was before our first JP Session).  It was a stroke of luck that “Lonesome Fugitive” was one of his favorite songs – he said he used to sing this to his children when they were on the road. Maybe that’s why we got invited to Maida Vale (the amazing BBC recording facility)!  Of course if I hadn’t moved to Germany I would have never met John – it was something very special and wonderful – he was a wonder to music. He told me during the “Lonesome Fugitive session” that he got his first real radio DJ gig in Dallas, TX! – “It was the 60’s and I had the accent.”

The Deficits are very much associated with Crypt Records. Do you keep up with label head Tim Warren, who now lives in Berlin?

I must say Tim Warren and Crypt Records are very “instrumental” for the Deficits – it was really by chance that we landed a contract with Crypt (and yes, he did it up proper) I am in contact – I usually see him when I go to Berlin – we met up just a few weeks ago at Silky Watzlove’s last exhibition – he was there with his dog Roky – he has a fantastic pad in Berlin – relatively happy – doing fantastic mastering and tending to his emporium.

Were you really sued for infringement by the company that owns the Bush Hog trademark after your Bush Hog’N Man album? 

Well, we weren’t never sued – it was one of those “cease and desist” letters – I forgot the name of the corporation that owns the Bush Hog Co. but they didn’t have a case – but of course Tim became a bit nervous and asked me to write a “letter of defense.” Anyway, I explained that the phrase “bush hogging” has long been a euphemism for mowing in the south (even with a lawn mower!) and that actually I was paying tribute (in their letter they said that they didn’t find the song positive to their trade mark – what an insult!) I mean really!  Are there any words one can’t use to write a song?! Seems safer to stick to the covers but the next letter might come from the corporate law firm of Lou Reed!

 

Nashville Pussy: They Scare You Some (1998)

Note: I reached back to the 20th century for this old article. This review was published April 26, 1998 in The East Carolinian, the student newspaper for East Carolina University. All my memories of Nashville Pussy shows are fuzzy yet still fiery. Hope you enjoy this, and I was happy to see Nashville Pussy is still on the road performing. You can see them July 9 in Lichtenfels, Germany. Also, don't miss Blaine Cartwright's work with the fabulous Miss Georgia Peach; they have new and barn-burning new album out on Rum Bar called Class Out the Ass.

Baseball Season is Upon Us; Long Live the Baseball Project (2023)

(NOTE: I wrote this article for the Shepherd Express back on Aug. 28, 2023. We are just about a week away from Opening Day 2025 on Thursday, March 27, so it seemed like a baseball-related story was appropriate. It doesn't appear that the Baseball Project has any upcoming dates or new music; however, The Minus 5, featuring several of the same musicians and "captained" by the same man, Scott McCaughey. has a new album, Oar on, Penelope!, out May 30. They have a slew of tour dates, too, but nothing in Milwaukee yet.)

Baseball box scores are disappearing (even whole sports sections actually) from America’s newspapers, and viewership for the sport continues to rapidly decline, but one band is still fighting the good fight to spread the word about the grand old game.

The Baseball Project is back with its fourth album, Grand Salami Time!, and returns to Milwaukee tonight at Turner Hall.

The supergroup, featuring Scott McCaughey, Linda Pitmon, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Steve Wynn, came together for the album after releasing its last album in 2014. Several factors caused the nine-year gap between Third and Grand Salami Time!, including the members’ busy schedules with various other musical efforts, unsuccessful recording attempts, the pandemic, of course, and McCaughey’s stroke in 2017.

Finally last year, they joined with producer Mitch Easter at his Fidelitorium Studios in Kernersville, North Carolina, to record the new album. The experience was a reunion for Mills, Buck, and Easter, who famously produced some of R.E.M.’s earliest efforts, as well as bands like Let’s Active, Game Theory and dozens more.

Scene of Earlier Triumphs

Being in the studio with Easter, recording again with the Baseball Project after all the time, and “bringing Mike and Peter to the scene of their earlier triumphs,” was amazing, says McCaughey.

“It took a lot of effort to get to that point,” he says. “It was tricky, but we managed. But it was worth the wait I think.”

Worth the wait indeed. Grand Salami Time is filled with fun rock songs (experiencing a low ebb like baseball), like the boisterous, brain busting title track that opens the album, stringing together “genius/knucklehead” catchphrases from announcers: “Everybody's got a favorite catch phrase, my oh my/Clear the deck, cannonball coming, you can kiss it goodbye/Now the sacks are drunk and so am I, so am I/Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma, it's grand salami time!”

A song with so many words might be hard for anyone to remember, but it’s particularly impressive for McCaughey, yet no less difficult, he says.

“I’ve have a lot of trouble anyway remembering words since I had the stroke,” he says. “That one is really, really hard. It’s so rapid-fire, one thing after another, and they don’t really make sense. It’s a real struggle, but I’m getting pretty good at it now.”

Ball Four

Another standout track is “64 and 64” about pitcher Jim Bouton, who wrote the notorious Ball Four, an inside and sometimes unflattering look at baseball players that served to inspire McCaughey, who says there might not have been a Baseball Project without the book. He explains that he and Wynn bonded over the book at the start of the band.

“He was talking about Ball Four and what a great book it was, what a great source of stories it was, and how it really changed how he thought about baseball as a kid,” McCaughey says. “You know, we love the sport. We’re crazy about baseball. At the same time, we realize not everything is right with baseball, not everything is perfect with the characters who play baseball. We kind of make it pretty obvious that we were going to write songs that were maybe a little unsavory about baseball.

“A lot of them are like, yeah, this was a great player. But we also wanted to be true to ourselves and true to the game, which Bouton kind of exposed a little bit when he did Ball Four.”

An earlier Baseball Project song, the incredibly catchy “Ted Fucking Williams,” written by Buck, was also inspired by Bouton and Ball Four, McCaughey says.

The band’s Bouton-inspired approach has not kept away Major League Baseball. Several teams, including the Brewers, have invited the group to perform at their stadiums. The Baseball Project sang the national anthem at then-Miller Park on July 27, 2016, during a tour they did with Milwaukee/Minneapolis band The Woolridge Brothers.

“We’re big Brewers fans,” says McCaughey. “I wrote a song for the third album called ‘82 Brew Crew,’ maybe we’ll put that out some day.”

McCaughey has other connections to Milwaukee. After his stroke, it’s one of the first places he played when he was able to go on the road again. The Baseball Project did a series of shows in Milwaukee, Madison Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest.

“I really associate that with the Baseball Project and the Milwaukee and Madison area,” McCaughey says. “I remember how exciting it felt, and people came out and were really wishing me the best. They were really moved that I was there, and I was moved that I was there.

“I didn’t know I would ever get back to the point of being able to travel. I was really thankful for everyone who came out and made me feel so good.”