Robi Lyle

Robi Lyle passed away early Sunday morning, quietly, surrounded by his family.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday, Oct. 25. Let me know if you need details.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

Anyone who might be reading this who was a fan of my former band Radiant City... Robi Lyle, also a former member, is currently in the hospital. He has been in a coma for a week. I won't presume to guess at the prognosis, but please keep him in your thoughts.

TAAS at the Earl (Atlanta, GA), 08-Feb 2008

with: Herman Put Down The Gun and The Yum Yum Tree

Last night on the spur of the moment I decided not to bother with blogging the show and instead took pictures. So now... YOU! ARE! THERE!

The stage is set up:


Backstage:


Lee during our set:


Some of us were up during Sonia's set, so I took some more photos from the stage:


Thanks for coming out!

28-July - Eddie's Attic (Atlanta)

w/ Kaiser Cartel

I sure did like them Kaiser Cartels people (it's actually Kaiser Cartel. I know that. I just like saying it like that). You should go listen and buy all their stuff. CONSUME! CONSUME!

Okay, now that you're back... seriously, they were really very amazing and good people. There's a song by the Tragically Hip called "Escape Is At Hand For the Travelling Man" that more than anything else I know sums up the strange sort of moments musicians sometimes have with each other when you're playing the same bill. The moments between sets and after the show, where you're just talking and being reminded that you're a member of this bizarre secret club with its own language and concerns. I sat and talked for a while with Courtney, who I think I will now simply refer to as The Kaiser, because between that conversation and the show itself I find myself with my current dilemma.

No, no, it was a good show. A really good welcome back. You made us feel great and I can't thank you enough. Oh, we were sloppy, sure, but it just resulted in more smartass banter onstage. A great crowd, a good show.

So, what's the dilemma? Well, music and I seem to be getting back together again. So now she and I have to sit down and have the conversation. You know, the one where we discuss where this relationship is headed.

I hate that conversation. And I blame all of you and the Kaiser for making me have it.

Disclaimer: No actual blame should be construed as being placed on either Courtney Kaiser or the members of the Arts and Sciences viewing and listening audience. This is a literary conceit Paul dreamed up pretty much just for the sake of calling Courtney "The Kaiser" because he found it amusing.

Update

Things slowed down in May and June while half the band rehearsed as the Susi French Connection. But now our actual "return" show is finally getting close. July 28th at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta. Kaiser Cartel, a great duo from Brooklyn. Come to this one because I have not, as yet, bothered to book anything else. Though I'll probably actually start trying in the next couple of weeks, but even that means probably another two months. I'm in no rush.

But I DID want to have new material before I played any shows and for a while it looked as if that wasn't going to happen, but luckily, things have suddenly started to come together. The writing process is totally different this time. Normally, I came up with music and let it stew for a bit and then usually wrote lyrics in one sitting. I came to the band with complete songs, with a few exceptions, and we spent time working out parts for the rest of the band. This time around, I wanted to deliberately break that pattern. So far, I've only brought in half-ideas and we've built songs from there, and now that they're taking shape I'm writing lyrics bit by bit. The better news is that this time around Lee's bringing in songs as well, and right now it's an even split between us as writers. You'll hear some of them at Eddie's.

Hope you can make it out.

This may just be of interest to other musicians, but anyone else who's ever seen album art as some sort of artform might find it interesting, too. I know as we begin the slow process of building new songs and trying to figure out where to take them, this is something on my mind a lot.

Designers Work to Rescue a Dying Art Form -- the Album Cover

Now that the housecleaning is out of the way, there are a couple of other issues...

During the layoff our domain name was skunked from under us. So, from here on out you can find us at either theartsandsciences.net or paulmelancon.com.

Also, during those salad days, I managed to lose our entire database of mailing list names. So, if you've ever signed up before, please do so again. Either at the form at the top of our website, or in the comments here, or any other location you think might work. All we need is a name, an email address and a city (so you don't get emails for shows that are on the other side of the country).

Thanks!