they found a hand, they found the dollhouse room

it was very cold on sunday afternoon when we pulled into the oshkosh public museum parking lot. the museum is kind of a cool place--an old mansion that has been turned into a local history museum with some nice interpretive exhibits and the apostle clock. they also host traveling exhibits, and just had one about pirates which featured a sweetly dessicated corpse--for the kids, of course!

anyway, it was cold and we loaded all of our stuff up. jessica was sick, but played anyway, even after we forgot the cables for her piano (she drove home and got them). we were led into a small, well-lit room in the basement. this was the dollhouse room, being filled with three large, fully decorated and peopled doll-sized buildings. there was a space for us against one wall and a few rows of chairs set up. emily and jesse showed up and we proceeded to play the oddest "show" ever. we started playing at noon and basically nobody showed up until after our well-earned cookie and "perked, spiced cider" break at 1:30. at 2:00, the four of us called scott and told him not to come; namiah never showed up, which is all the better. we did have a packed room for our set of inkwell collective songs from about 2-3. then the puppet show started upstairs and we were playing to ourselves again for the next half hour. oh, an 80 year old woman stopped by as we played christmas carols and noted that it was nice to hear some good music, not that pounding noise! which i can only assume meant that she had probably not heard our earlier set.

so, this gig was stranger than my high school reunion gig, but it paid 7500% more. although we were basemented, it was still kind of a fun way to spend a cold afternoon. thanks, oshkosh public museum. see you next year!

the inkwell collective

the bremen cafe

thanks so much for the turn out at the bremen cafe. we had a fine time playing there. i only hope we didn't piss off the establishment as apparently we were supposed to play last instead of second. then nearly everybody left after our set. i was battling the vicious flu bug that night and am still kind of sick today, but i think that was our first performance in a while where i didn't forget any lyrics. . .

we have a few more shows to close out 2005:

dec. 4th at the oshkosh public museum
Noon-4pm we'll be doing a couple of sets and some christmas songs during their annual holiday open house. the museum is small, but has great exhibits and is free! so if you're in the area, come on over to see us.

dec. 10th at the wonderful world cafe in sheboygan
8-10pm
this is a "solo" show with me, kara, and emily. i'll be playing over two hours of my songs acoustically. so if you like that kind of thing, and you live near sheboygan, come on over. they have good food and coffee there; and we get paid in tips!

dec. 17th at the new moon cafe in oshkosh
8-10pm
$3 cover
we're playing our annual mid-december show at the new moon. southerly is opening and no longer micah. also we'll have some artwork on display there, but i'm not sure by whom. it's a mystery!

jan. 26th at the water city grill in oshkosh
9-11pm
21+
we're the background music for drinking. you can watch sports and listen to us play! it's the perfect combination! sports! sports! sports! i like when they kick the ball.

steev

various topics, some of which will interest you

just got back from a kind of late practice. namiah, our current drummer hopeful, has decided not to play with us on thursday (i guess that's tomorrow since it's a quarter of 1 in the morning), citing various issues, none of which have to do with us particularly. but rest assured, he's coming along nicely and should hopefully play with us on december 17th at the new moon.

but tonight scott, emily, jessica and i recorded a song on my portable recorder. it's not the best quality, but you can at least hear what we're up to lately. the song is called "newfoundland" and it's been put into regular rotation in our setlist since mid-summer. i'll post it in the next few days on our website, so look for it there.

still no news on recording, but i have a few new songs so we have a lot of stuff to choose from. old songs like "book of job" and "don't try" (arguably the first official inkwell collective songs, along with "small town skin" and "medicate!"), a couple of tunes that were left off our last cd ("ghost story" and "ECR", neither of which we play live anymore), new versions of old songs ("they found a hand. . ." has improved dramatically along with "my use of metaphor") and a whole slew of songs new this past year: "domestic fiction," "o lord have patience," "i need you to fail so i can succeed," "did you find russia," "newfoundland," "the leaves are falling and so am i," "bloodstains," "middlewest," "moscow, idaho."

some of these songs will appear on my solo cd "leaving wisconsin," which i haven't really worked on in a while, but which i have lots of ideas for and which i hope to get out before sufjan steals my state from me.

be sure to come and see us in milwaukee on the 19th! we need all the support we can get!

best,

steev
for the inkwell collective

Years of dust. . .

For the 7th year in a row, we played at the Little Farmer Apple Orchard in Fond du lac. This was my very first brush with public performance nearly a decade ago (my brother ben lugged his drum kit 150 miles to play on a few songs), so i feel a little nostalgic whenever i go there. it was also the place where i proposed to my wife and the place where we conceived our first child. just kidding.

so i volunteered through this group i'm a part of to be in charge of the little farmer weekend this year. i did the sound and contacted people to play. there were several folk-singers of the pete seeger type, a few of the bob dylan type, and a bluegrass band. then we played. jesse brought his acoustic guitar and the very large pedal array and kara, emily, and jessica also played. it was very dusty and hot, but there were a ton of people there. it's hard to say if they "dug" us or not, but i did give a copy of the cd to a guy from the oshkosh public museum. he wants to get a program started where every sunday afternoon musicians are broadcast live from the museum and we might possibly be invited to play.

next we play the kewaskum kettle kountry kolors festival. i still don't know who'll be playing the show; jesse and kara won't be there, but me, emily, jessica, and scott at least will be. sounds exciting, no? no. no it doesn't.

steev

Folks like us are doomed. . .

I was minding my own business (as per usual) on the internet and found us in a couple of places: Green Bay Press and also the Appleton Post Crescent.

We got to play a cool show at the New Moon Cafe in Oshkosh on Saturday night. Southerly had asked if I wanted to open for him, and I was figuring on it being a solo show, but then a bunch of other bands were added to the list and we ended up being one of 6 performers that night. In addition to us, Southerly, and the Willis, there were some other cool bands. Old Seed , from Canada, is a great singer/songwriter with a strong, authentic folk voice, great lyrics, and some nice guitar work as well. An indie-pop band from Milwaukee, Those Royals , was also on the bill. They played with a ton of energy and had some cool songs--a kind of noisy hipster lo-fi pop band. They were really good and I got a chance to talk to the singer after the show. Turns out he plays in Juniper Tar sometimes! (We just played w/ Juniper Tar a few weeks ago in West Bend) If anyone is in Milwaukee reading this, they should check out Those Royals and Juniper Tar. Both excellent bands, although pretty different in sound.

sb

From my inkstained hands to yours

The Drummer
Thanks to Jeff for drumming 1 1/2 shows with us. The half show was a short set that me, jeff and emily did at the new moon with tuesday parker. Jeff is now at bible college. Have fun, jeff. We have a new temporary drummer in Omar Mendez. Why is he temporary? Simply because we don't have a lot of "drummer shows" lined-up the next few months. But we do have a ton of shows to close out 2005. Details will follow.

The Violinist
Jordan Santiago, child prodigy and FUN-LOVING CHUCKLE-HEART, is playing a few shows with us this fall. How many? As many as we can stand.

The shows
Please check out our myspace page for updates on our fall show schedule. We have a lot of things planned, including playing with a few great bands, playing outside, and Jesse doing push-ups, onstage. A few of the bands we'll be playing with are Southerly, No Longer Micah, and Juniper Tar. Visit us at our shows and cheer us on! Do a little dance!

An Early Retirement
We're talking about taking some time off of playing live in the winter to record a new cd. We might do that.

until next time,

steev

more art, please!

you really should plan on coming to see this show:

"Rock is Art"
in celebration of local rock music

the inkwell collective
heller mason
the willis
happy

@ the algoma club
september 3rd
7pm-11pm
$5 cover 21+ (sorry, kids!)

this is during and after the gallery walk in oshkosh, so if you're a supporter of local art, be sure to check out the aural art scene.

best,
steev

Explanations, explanations

Hello friends, here we are again in the center of a lusty July, wishing for that elusive swimming pool, those creamy pudding pops, the valuable lessons learned from the "teaching time" at the end of G.I. Joe. You know what I mean--nostalgia for the simple midsummer days of youth, before indie rock, before you knew of deconstructionism, when those cornfields were actually cornfields and not just subdivisions named after cornfields. But I've always been accused of taking things too seriously and yesterday I was exhorted to listen to Dr. Phil and try to hang on to my childhood. Look, I don't think the terrorists are doing that, so why should I? You know?

Anyway, we're booking a few more shows; we've got stuff on through October including a date at the infamous Kewaskum Kettle Kountry Kolors (KKKK) and a date in Shawano at Beans and Books. So we're stretching our boundaries and loving everybody with great gusto and YOU SHOULD SEE PEOPLE STARE AT JESSE'S GUITAR PEDAL ARRAY! There were literally two people bowing to him at our last show, like the Ewoks to C3PO!

Keep looking around the net for us and keep coming to see us play. Thanks for all of the support. I'll leave you with this:

WARNING: The Harry Potter books
*Blur moral boundaries
*Desensitize children to the occult
*Portray witchcraft as harmless entertainment

steev

i was an island to you

so it's summer now. officially. and it's 100 degrees in the coffin factory. we've been making plans to record this summer and the first step is finished--scratch tracks of vocals and guitar have been created. now we wait to see what happens with a drummer. as a whole, i'm not completely happy with the songs we've got this time around, but i would like to hear them completed. . . anyway, we've got a bunch of shows in july and are trying to find more for the future, but the going is tough. keep watching this space for more details of anything exciting. finally, you can go here to listen to and download a demo of a new song we're working on.

thank you,

steev

dear guilty hands let me look at you one last time. . .

how are you? i am fine. it was hot on tuesday night at the coffin factory and FYTS was practicing next door, which always makes it hard to concentrate on being slow, quiet, and sad. but we got to run through a new song that i don't know if i like or not. perhaps i'll post a demo of it online? perhaps.

we're now on myspace. visit us here and add us to your friends!

a couple of new shows added and a few more in the works, as they say. we'll also be starting that recording soon. jessica and i are careening to the left side of the map to lay down guitar, piano, and vocal tracks in a few weeks at "cat haven" studio in mt. horeb (home of the mustard museum). then who knows what'll happen? jon will be drumming on the disc, which is always a grand thing.

also, we're finally going to be at a real website. for information coming soon.

nodding your way in silent greeting,

steev

waking up to birdsongs

it was maybe 4 a.m. this morning when i woke up to birdsongs and with attention to details slapping me on the cheeks. my 4-year-old son had the hall lights on, complaining of nightmares and repeating "no imagination! no imagination!" i was haunted by the unfinished lyrics laying on the floor by the bed.

so we're going to start recording soon, an EP length thing that we're doing by ourselves and maybe with a little help from others. the coffin factory will be a very warm place this summer and we only have two live dates so far, but with hopefully at least three more on the horizon.

here is the tracklist:

ghost story
did you find russia
o lord have patience
domestic fiction
i need you to fail so i can succeed
don't try

i'm also in the midst of doing up "demos" or working on my new solo EP leaving wisconsin. all are songs in kind of a traveling theme. the tracklist is as follows:

leaving wisconsin
friend of a friend
i will not go to london
did you find russia (solo version)

unironically,

steev

listen closely, but don't breathe a word of this to anyone. . .

our secret is: vitamin pills. how do they pack all of those vitamins in little pills? we don't know. vitamins AND minerals? i have no idea! but is it true that the calcium in these pills comes from ground up animal bones?

so our next small public humiliation is scheduled for this thursday. when i used to play two or three shows a year, i used to get "the jitters®" and "the shakes®." now i just get tired. you know the line from "hello, hospital" that says "i bled myself dry"? that's me every time. that's why i close my eyes when i sing and play because it's kind of humiliating to think people are watching you singing these private words. i'm not one for entertaining; if we're entertaining to you, fine, but i'm really here to a) excorcise my own demons and b) create something beautiful. the collective idea is working out well so far. because we don't ever have the same people playing with us, each show is a new interpretation of the songs. this can make practice an uncomfortable chore, but be that as it may. . .

it looks like we're doing the following on thursday at the water city grill: from 8:45-9:45 i'll be performing semi-solo, doing mainly my more folk-y solo material. at 10pm we'll be doing a set of collective stuff with:

steev-acoustic guitar
scott-electric bass
jordan-violin
emily-cello
jessica-piano
and maybe jesse with his damned electric guitar

so come over and see us drinking free beer and getting paid $200 to entertain you,

most affectionately,

steev

the up and coming sounds

so we've been hard at work crafting new layers of sound and fun. our most recent incarnation was friday night at the windhover center for the arts in fond du lac. we played four songs as part of a multi-performer benefit concert for the windhover. turn out was small, although we made lots of new friends. we played as a four-piece with acoustic guitar, piano, violin and electric bass. emily was busy that night with dr. kickbutt's orchestra of death and was not able to join us.

we have two shows coming up--saturday the 23rd at the rock island cafe in neenah; and thursday the 28th at the water city grill in oshkosh. make sure to come to both of those shows to hear how various line-ups interpret the songs. on saturday, jesse will be playing electric guitar, scott on bass, steev on acoustic guitar and kara on viola. on thursday, the line-up will be emily on cello, jessica on piano, scott on bass and steev on guitar.

jessica and i went over to madison on saturday to watch damien jurado. he stopped by our table and chatted with us for quite a while--mainly about our kids. we were able to slip him a copy of "falling signs", so hopefully he'll to listen to it on his tour and we'll gain a friend in high places. his set, by the way, was incredibly great. he played a smattering of new songs, a few older songs--many from "i break chairs" and he had a tight, noisy backup band that really made the songs energetic. i picked up a copy of his new album, "on my way to absence".

much heart,

steev

grow.

last weekend we had a wonderful time performing as part of the "grow" benefit shows. these were in honor of kevin kendall, a local activist, writer, and friend to many. i only met kevin once, at a pedro the lion show at the catacombs, but the family and friends who knew him and loved him best put together a great tribute to him. there were a ton of talented and inspiring bands that basically took over the new moon cafe in oshkosh and put on four nights of rock music. it was humbling to be a part of the whole thing, even though the part we played was small--i.e. me, scott, and emily played a set on thursday night. we are also on the "grow" compilation disc with our song "she watches birds". the cd, which i recommend trying to find a copy of, contains tracks by several stellar local indie-folk and indie-rock bands. musical highlights of the weekend included robby schiller, whose authentic folk/gospel singing is chillingly simple and unforgettable; the elanors, whose radiohead meets the innocence mission rock is going to make them all rich someday; and the new kentucky quarter, who are just great songwriters and great musicians and make me happy.

steev

the great acoustic showcase

well, emily and i got a chance to open for peter mayer--a real, live touring musician. (he's been touring full-time since 1995, according to his bio. ) we played at the windhover center for the arts in fond du lac as part of the fondy acoustic musician's alliance concert series. it was a cold, snowy friday night and emily was very sick. in fact, she played on thursday night, too, in her weak, sickened state. we got our own backstage room, with bottled water supplied. we got our own microphones. we got our own studied silence, knowning nods, and polite applause. i even sold three of my hand-made solo albums. we got to play 4 songs: jesus on lithium, ECR, leaving wisconsin, and berry lake. all were crowd pleasers.

we were asked to come back and play a set for the windhover benefit show on april 15th. so we'll be there that evening. we'll be playing with a bunch of other bands and singers, although we'll be the only "rock band" performing. and i'm not sure how expensive it'll be, but it's for a good cause and the venue is wonderfully awesome. i don't have any other details, but they will eventually be found here. so check back for future reference.

don't forget to come to the show this saturday. it'll be grand!

steev

more inkwell shows! the collective shrinks and grows!

we've got a few more shows lined up for this spring. on saturday, april 23rd we'll be in neenah at the rock island cafe--formerly the blue moon. we'll be performing (at last) with the daffodil mafia. lead singer/songwriter tuesday parker has been a fixture in the oshkosh music/art scene for a few years now. she runs the "underwood graffiti" spoken word/poetry open mic every other wednesday evening at the new moon cafe. she also has a lot of tattoos.

on thursday, april 28th, we'll be bringing the noise to the water city grill in oshkosh. those downtown pub crawlers won't know what hit 'em. i'm not sure what time we'll be playing, but it'll be later and probably not our usual set. although these day we don't really have a usual set. . .

yes, jon the drummer will still officially be a member of the collective, but he has also officially dedicated the majority of his musical powers to madison-based rock band dafino. you can hear songs from them on their pretty website. you can also download their three-song demo for free! jon will be joining us on march 19th at the new moon and will probably be one of his last performances with us for a while. but we love him and wish him the best and he'll probably "pop up" around from time to time. literally, since his legs have been replaced with a complex series of pistons, springs, pulleys, and steam-driven cybernetics.

we are always on the search for musicians who might want to be a part of what we do. we are mainly looking for people playing non-traditional rock band instruments--strings, brass, woodwinds, etc.--but would also love to incorporate tape loops. so send me an e-mail if you're interested.

thanks for listening,
steev

heller-mason cd release

we got a chance to play with another great local band on saturday. emily, jessica, jesse and i took the stage as the inkwell collective to open for heller-mason. we did a 50-minute set of mostly rock material, including new songs "i need you to fail so i can succeed" and "did you find russia". it was a good show. heller-mason did not have cds, as they were supposed, but they did play a nice set of "indie folk" along the lines of denison witmer. coming into the new moon on saturday, with the crowd of shaggy-headed 20-somethings wearing corduroy jackets and punk buttons, i thought we had finally found our niche. as indie-folk music gets big--the recent success of sufjan stevens, iron and wine, and the critical favorite damien jurado--i hope the inkwell collective can find an audience. although we are darker and a bit more on the "rock" side than the other acts we've played with so far.

we also played a nice show at celestial coffee in beaver dam. keshansky opened as only he can--creating intimate, gentle, damaged folk music with his guitar and warbling voice. he'll be playing with us in west bend on friday at the filling station cafe, so i hope everyone who is reading this blog will come and see him. for the celestial show it was me, emily, kara, scott, and jessica. a few of the songs worked really well, some did not. i also got a chance to try out my a capella song "i will never go to london", which i will be playing (accompanied by cello) next friday in fond du lac as emily and i open for peter mayer.

thanks for listening,

steev
for the inkwell collective

new shows added! new digs gotten! new songs performed!

hello listeners of every ethnicity, the inkwell collective is rarin' to go in '05. like you wouldn't even believe it if we told you. we gots a slew of new performances upcoming. nowhere south of washington county, i'm afraid. for those of you who have any sway in the milwaukee music scene, you tell those jerks to love us! tell them to accept us for who we are!

just kidding. we're really happy to be playing shows in and around the fox valley this spring. and we got a new practice space which is smaller, warmer, drier, and just a little less private. it's on the third floor of the coffin factory, and there is NO PARTYING ALLOWED!

here are the new songs we are working on:

i need you to fail so i can succeed
did you find russia
domestic fiction
the great lakes
aorta/interchange
i will never go to london

if you add ghost story, book of job, leaving wisconsin, and o lord have patience, you have the makings of a pretty good second album. we'll see if that happens. if and when we record again, chances are we won't sound much like the "falling signs" inkwell collective you have come to know and love.

look to the left for new shows added. i will try to add links to maps and such. also, we hope to provide you with a new website on which to view this information in the near future. we just have to get our act together.

loverly,
steev

well, it's been a while and things are moving slow these days. the collective is gearing up for the surprises that 2005 will hold. will we lose members? gain members? record? will we ever play live again? after a string of exciting shows the past year, we are still trying to break into the milwaukee nightlife. it may be that we are only "coffee-house" material. regardless, we'll keep trudging along. up next: a second show at celestial coffee in beaver dam, a benefit show in the oshkosh area, and another show in appleton. and we're moving into a new room in the coffin factory, so just watch the creative juices start flowing!

steev