Moth to a Fire

I wanted to bring this song out, but hadn’t because the story didn’t turn out great for everyone involved. I blew that cover last night. We tried. We were art buddies. We went to museums. We cruised the art supply stores. I showed him a paint store in the Mission that had millions of gallons of mis-mixed paint--sold cheap. I couldn't help it--things like showing him this paint store mesmerized him.

This recording was done in our little barn house in Iowa City in 1981, where we'd ended up for family reasons. Scot wrote this song, "Moth to a Fire", within the first year of our meeting. It is an example of some of the truly amazing stuff I've been chomping at the bite to bring out, but haven’t yet got the means to do (except for these few tracks (Unknown Artist/Unknown Album). We lived in Iowa City for just short of a year. The keyboards in this recording belonged to our dear friend and colleague, Mark Houseal. If you ever want an endorsement of Scot Halpin, call this guy.

Mark became the keyboard man for “T. Scot Bottom and the Rockabilly Funhouse.” Scot and I brought the idea for this band to Iowa City, when we were just fresh home for Europe—and all fired up. It was a little bit punk and a little bite wild-man Rockabilly. On this particular track, Scot is once again playing all the instruments, among which is a Fender Rhodes organ. This wasn't T. Scot Bottom and the Rockabilly Funhouse material, it was stuff Scot recorded and sent to Nashville, hoping to find an agent to rep the material, which didn't happen.

Both Scot and I some how found the sound of the Fender Rhodes keyboard a little limited by its sound. On the other hand, Mark also brought in a Hammond B-6, complete with its Leslie speakers and all; which we set-up in our living room. Now there is a keyboard whose only limits are the person astride it. Hopefully, we are going to hear some of that soon.

The artwork, once again, is a drawing introduced into the digital word and redefined.