T.K. Bollinger has resurrected. Five years ago he commited himself to release an EP with four songs every month during a whole year, in total 48 songs, a.k.a. the "Ordinary" project. Said and done. He pulled this project through. Some songs were great. Other songs were good, while some songs were not so good. In summary, a typical Bollinger normal distribution when it comes to releasing music. After this monumental project, it's been quiet. Maybe he exhausted himself in the process. But much to my surprise, I received a Bandcamp notification of a new song called "Beyond Bomb". No doom and gloom this time. According the consumer guidance on Bandcamp "it plays on my love of the piano led rock of the 70's and beyond". By the Bollinger yardstick it's life-affirming and uplifting. I sent him an email asking if this was part of something bigger. He replied: "Currently it is a one off for t.k bollinger. I have a huge backlog of songs but more time constraints these days. I have a great bunch of musos I’m jamming with called the Cold Hard Ground. We are releasing 3 singles in the new year. I think you might like it. There are dark country overtones in the mix as we started by playing my old songs. Things are a little more complex in the music now as there are 3 songwriters." I had the opportunity to listen to the masters (not final versions). In my opinion, good songwriting and nice arrangements but only one of the three songs can be characterized as leaning towards dark country. However, we will see what the future brings.  

I have always been and will always be an avid Black Sabbath fan. However, my commitment is limited to their first six albums and the original line-up. When they were at their peak, I dreamed of a live album. Why? The 1970s was the golden age of live albums. Deep Purple released "Made in Japan" in 1972 and Led Zeppelin released "The Song Remains the Same" in 1973. It took nearly 30 years before a live album from their peak period was released. "Past Lives" (great title, by the way) was released in 2002 as a double cd (digipak and later in a standard jewel-case). The first cd is known as "Live at Last" and is not a proper release from the band. The band's former manager Patrick Meehan owned the rights to the recording. The songs were recorded for use in a planned live album release, but the project was ultimately scrapped despite its plans being already promoted. The first cd was recorded at the Hardrock in Manchester, England on 11 March 1973 and at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England, on 16 March 1973. The second cd consists of live recordings made for television and radio, previously only available on bootlegs. I should have been pleased, but I wasn't. First, the live album came too late. By the time of its release, the ship had sailed. Spandex trousers ruled. Second, the arrangements were the same as on the studio albums. Not even a mandatory drum solo. Third, it has a tinny sound despite all the remastering. Shit in, shit out. Still, Black Sabbath were at their peak. Raw and unpolished. "Past Lives" is more about legacy than limelight. As the saying goes, better late than never. 

 

Dad Horse has spoken out. "I’ve been wrestling with this for a while – now I’ve had enough. The platforms that, back in the Myspace days, actually helped weird, unhinged and deviant artists connect have turned into a toxic, dopamine-soaked cave where we all keep running just to grease the wheels of a proto-fascist cyber-capitalism. I’m stepping out for good now and moving over to other channels." More precisely, Dad Horse is leaving Facebook. One of the other channels mentioned in his post is Substack. It's a publishing platform for creators to write and share newsletters, podcasts, and other content directly with an audience. It functions as a subscription network, allowing writers to offer free or paid content and build a community by interacting with subscribers through comments and chats. Anyway, I got his first newsletter the other day. It's a long and well-worded piece about how he lost — and "now trying to find my way back to—my connection with my U.S. audience after the States showed me the door in 2016, and why I’m leaving dopamine-driven platforms for a less frantic way to stay in touch." Substack seems to promote slow reading, the practice of reading deliberately and slowly to increase comprehension, critical thinking, and enjoyment. And the verdict? A successful exit strategy. Nicely planned and perfectly executed.  

Uncle Sinner is back with a new album. It's been a while. In fact, it's been five years since the release of his latest album "Trouble of This World". What can we expect? In an e-mail Uncle Sinner reveals the following: "There are 13 songs on the album. There's one full original, three or four what you could call covers though I revised them, and the rest use traditional songs as the jumping off point at least. I play more electric guitar for a somewhat heavier sound on many, though there are also fretless banjo (with percussion) tracks and a few acoustic tracks. Much of it is blues-based, or at least based in the roots of blues, though it's not a blues album exactly. It's set up as a church service, so it begins and ends with Uncle Sinner hymns though there is an epilogue. The actual service is, of course, not religious and sometimes veers into the irreligious or deeply secular. Nor are the hymns really face-value hymns. The themes center on death as well as relationships (particulary though not exclusively sibling relationships). In short, it's a standard sort of Uncle Sinner album. The cover image is from a photo of "God and the Devil" by Armand Lemiez, a homesteader in the interlake (Sinterlake) near Grahamdale, Manitoba. He's dead but his concrete sculptures remain on the property. I waited till it was dark out and my son photographed it, using light from a torch I held, made out of a broomstick, a cotton rag and some kerosene. There's another sculpture photo on the back." The upcoming album cover image is really stunning. I followed up with a question about the omnious title "Everybody Wants to Know How I Die". Uncle Sinner replied: "It’s the title of one of the songs — a traditional song I expanded on. That’s the original title so I kept the original verb tense even though they would have meant “died”. I like the present tense because I like the notion that death might be something that happens to us regularly in our lives (“I’ve died a thousand times I could die a thousand more” were words I added to Trouble of This World). The cycle of creation and destruction, re-invention. I also like the notion that heaven and hell are not places but states we can exist in during our lifetime. With the title, it’s like people are envious of the way I can regularly die. The lyrics I was building off are sung from the point of view of the more literally deceased, whose point of view is “where were all these people when I was on my sickbed? Where were you when I was struggling?” Maybe that’s more information than you wanted, but that’s why it’s the title and that’s what it means to me." There's no such thing as too much information for a dedicated website. I have no further questions. The album will be released on December 11, 2025. There will be a few cds available for sale, but no pre-order. For my part, I know what to do next.    

 

Most bands in the gothic country genre peter out without any notice. There's no energy left for any long-term severance, conflicts, animosity, envy, defamation or dramatic ending. They just stop playing. Reunion in the music business is rare. Reunion in the gothic country genre is unheard of. Now it has happened. No less than the mother of (almost) all gothic country bands, Sixteen Horsepower, is going to reunite. Not permanently, the reunion is a one-time thing. Frontfigure David Eugene Edwards wrote on the Wovenhand Facebook page: "It is a special honor and privilege to reunite and drift like sleep into the Hotel Montana. To the Great Blackfeet nation’s sovereign lands for Fire In The Mountains festival 2026". The Fire in the Mountains festival will be held in East Glacier, Montana, from July 23-26, 2026, at Red Eagle Campground. I will follow it from a distance. David Eugene Edwards is 57 years old, but is still active. He released a brilliant solo album in 2023, read more here (opens in a new window). A new album has been announced. David Eugene Edwards wrote on the same Wovenhand Facebook page: "To whom it may concern. Follow up album to Hyacinth (pictured below) is now completed. Thanks to all of you who helped support its creation. Title, artwork and release date coming soon". This was equally unexpected and fabulous. Expect nothing and appreciate everything.