No more pop. Freeeeesh Air. Pop Music Critics Traumatized by Ian Anderson. Gucci Gang. Lady MacBeth. Detox. Gino Vanelli. Classic Rock Detox. Halibut.

RCSo the new opera is out, last time you got your ranting done about Green Book. So our work is about done, right? (laughs)

JCHI was just thinking the same thing. It’s time to get back to the PROGRESSIVE ROCK.

RCNo shit?

JCHNo shit. I’ve told you. It’s been building for a while. Like year. I’ve mentioned it a bunch of time.

RCYeah, but it was usually just came off as procrastination (laughs). It didn’t really sound like you were working on new material so I didn’t take it too seriously.

JCHYou were very correct. I wasn’t disciplined enough to write down my ideas in a serious way. I’d get angry with myself for not focusing so I’d intentionally only write stuff down in a half-assed way.

RCYou’d self-sabotage the prog? (laughs)

[…]

Green Book, Detroit. The real Don Shirley and The Donald. The ‘N’ Word, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Abraham Lincoln, Uhura and Star Trek. Obama, Marc Maron and WTF. The Bruce Lee School Of Race Relations. Rent? Really?

Roger CortonSo why are we still talking about Detroit when you’ve got a whole new album and opera about Ireland?

JCHWell, a while back I mentioned that I was still getting some interest in Detroit. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this coincides with Black History Month. I went back and checked and duuuhhhh, all the initial inquiries about the score seem to have occurred around this time of year. I just never put two and two together before. What got me really thinking about it was that movie ‘Green Book’. Did you see it?

RCI did see it.

JCHWhat did you think?

RCI liked it it. It was a little cheesy but that’s OK. I […]

Songs From The Boats: AVAILABLE NOW. Free if you have no conscience. But there are vinyl and CD versions for decent folk. We discuss the cover. Shortest. Rant. Ever.

Roger CortonCongratulations. I’m looking forwad to some vinyl.

JCHSucker.

RCOh don’t be that way. The cover looks fantastic. I wanted to get the LP for that alone.

JCHYeah. It’s a great shot. Ya know I never thought I’d find any art that would say what I wanted.

RCIt’s not a common idea. So the thing looks like a skeleton, right?

JCHRight. We’d see skeletons like that occasionally when I was a kid.

RCWhat does that have to do with the theme? Is the story really that depressing?

JCHI think it had to feel that torn apart. You know what I wanted? I wanted the tone to feel like a tornado had gone through the village. It’s not literal. But you know, man. When you lose a job. […]

Songs From The Boats: Another opera, another album. Available April 1, no fooling. Free if you have no conscience. But there are vinyl and CD versions for decent folk. We discuss loudness. LUFS vs. dBs. Score printing. Authentic Frontier Gibberish. Next steps. St. Anthony, finder of lost objects.

Roger CortonIt’s been a while. Again. Happy New Year?

JCHSame to ya fella.

RCWe have a new record coming!

JCHWell, it’s not some big surprise.

RCIt’s essentially all the snippets we’ve been going through over the past…

JCHThree hundred and ninety four years. Seven months. Fourteen days. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. About three minutes.

RCWhat’s that joke you always tell?

JCHOh yeah, the Lenny Bruce. (Indian accent) “Oh great Swami, if I don’t smoke or drink or consort with bad women will I really live forever? No, but it will certainly seem like it!”

RCThat’s the one. It just seems like we’ve been talking about this opera forever.

[…]

We gotta add another year. Another little black dog from hell. Another voice change. Botox and Mister Ed. What’s next? Bodybuilding. We need a montage. War Of The Gargantuas. Ella Mai-Boo’d Up as metaphor for a new generation. Goodbye permanence! Goodbye tradition! Merry Christmas! JC hates meme generators.

Roger CortonIt’s been a while. How you been? Merry Christmas.

JCHMerry Christmas to you! I’m as good as I can be. Et vous?

RCGood. Good. Everything’s good. I always get a little nervous when I don’t hear from you for a while.

JCHWell this time, it’s been more a dog than me. I decided to do one last dog rescue and…

RCAnd?

JCHAnd I got THE LITTLE BLACK DOG FROM HELL!

RCYou got another Gus?

JCHNot exactly. I drove across the state to save this little shit and blew an engine. And that was just the beginning. He’s had over $3,000 just for an ear infection.

RCAn […]