Sunday rest...Contusion the story

Just to let anyone interested know:
Contusion my new CD on Mutantblues Music is available at CD baby the link is:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rexstratton2

How this came to be was really the fault of Dwyer and Michaels, two Davenport Iowa DJ's who were using a WEST Music company promo on their weekend warrior musicians program. In 2002 in the spring they offered to form a band from any former garage band players. I of course was the OLDEST bastard to apply.  But they chose me to be included and they created this band "strait jacket" and they got a guy called "Saber" to drum. Saber was about 25 over 6 foot tall and a blockhead. He couldnt lighten up with white gas assistance. Then they aquired a bass player John.  I cant remember his last name although it was slavic. He was very teachable but didnt have a lot of licks in his bag. But he did fine. Then Rick. Rick was somekind of outside salesman who smoked a LOT of dope. He had every imginable instrument, PA, Mixer, Korg keyboard, he had been the rythym guitarist for a Macomb, Illinois band called "Fat Sammy" and they had following. He had this friend "Larry" who I never got to meet who was a multi-instrumentalist and evidently beyond excellent. I wished I coulda met him. But like Rick was stoned. He was pretty good looking and had a fox/trophy woman who I thought was an ice princess...she wound up with us on our gigs like a yoko. Rick could play guitar real good. Not much on improvisation but able to reproduce others music quite exactly. Then me. And lastly we got a singer, a karaoke dood that Rick knew named "George". George could sing AC/DC and that was the clincher since none of us could. We tried that nickleback ballad "How do you like me so far" (thats not the name of the song but its the gist)
We played three gigs. At the last gig Bill Michaels the dj wanted to drum to an AC/DC tune and Saber had a fit. We wanted to change the song line up and Saber had a fit. At the first gig the bastard stabbed me in the back with a drumstick because I started a song too early for him. I m sure he could have killed me, but I was gonna wax him with my epiphone. (its pretty heavy) but I considered the show....and my age etc...But that was our last gig. Michaels played drums and
Saber sulked.
     I ran into a forklift driver at work one day. (no not like a crash jes like "hi howdy") and he told me he wanted to sell his old drums (slingerland) and I asked how much and he said 200.00. I thought...Jeeze a chance to get my own traps. I ought to do that. Well I'd seen Mike at our first  Dwyer and Michaels gig and I asked him if he wanted to play... We actually jammed at Ricks place near Geneseo, Illinois before "strait jacket" was no more. Then I set all the stuff I had up in our living room and borrowed a good friends PA that was jes collecting dust in his basement and we'd (me and mike) would jam here. Then Mike introduced me to Steve a bass player who was really good. He was a bluesman and we sounded real nice doing three piece white versions of Buddy Guy, and some Willy Dixon, and Bobby Blue Bland. So after a few months we sat in at a club in Preston, Iowa during a C and W's bands break. We rocked the house! They loved it even the hillbilly band wanted to know who we were... but I was singing and I am soooooooo not a singer..... So we needed personel. I sent out feelers and found two chick singers. Actually Mike found Marla cause they grew up together. She is above superb. I found Tracy but Tracy was offended by Marla I believe and never came back after the first jam. Steve had a drag racer, and he was an avid hunter, and it turned out that he couldnt be in the band much. And Mike and I found ourselves practicing alone again a lot. People over 30 dont have time to be in a band. Its just the nature of the work a day life. We got Jesse Pritchard from work he was a security guard and a good bass player. A BIG DOOD 6'6 or taller, and about 310 lbs. and then Marla told me to call Tim Bowzer, Kathy Bowzers husband. He is a marine biologist working for the Nuke plant down the road. He became the rhythm guitarist. So we had like three practices together and I set up the gig at Jonesys, thats pictured at my website.
http://www.freewebs.com/rexio/
We played that gig and got some video tape. I was wayyyyyyy too loud and in trying to get some effects through the PA I goofed that up in the begining... but hey we had fun. Marla turned out to be pregnant, and needed to get married, and Tim Mike and I practiced I had a bad feeling. I wanted to set up a recording session this spring (May 2004) and I'd gotten pretty prolific and set down a BUNCH of wordless melodies that I wanted to work on either with Mike, and Tim Bowser or Tim Abbott my brother in Law.  I got sick with kidney stones and all that went to hell in a handbasket. So while I was recuperating from the stones extractions, I took all the melodies that I liked the best, put em on a disk and called it "Contusion" and released it via CD baby this april. It just actually got on the market in July, however cause I had to do the covers, and Mike Hall set me up with the silver discs and printed what I needed right away at his studios in Le Claire, Iowa. I fired off a copy to the Library of Congress, and a bunch to CD baby for sale and well. It turned out pretty good. I'm hopin someone will buy the thing when it gets into digital download status. That way I dont have to make millions of hard copies... but I will if people like it. Its getting good reviews...(millions?  man is that wishful thinking..) Anyway thats "Contusion" so please check it owt... I done REAL good on dat one...
Bowe.