The Days Are LOnger Now

WEDNEDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2009

Another round of the same, thank you. In all fairness, we haven't heard that much from "T. Scot Bottom & the Rockabilly Funhouse" here on the T. Scot Halpin Memorial Blog. In this series, we get more of an intimate view into Scot's Rockabilly laboratory. He was on the spot, dissecting the form. He was exploring the outer edges of twang. Dig that pulsey rhythmic agenda! Remember too that this is winter of 1982, just a few months after "The Stray Cats" had released their first album. Rockabilly had been at that time, a dusty form--mostly seen as an oddity on library back shelves.

Scot took a deep dive into the Iowa City public library and pulled some deeply buried pearls from out of the silt. There was also a Rockabilly tendency going on at the time. A kind of Rockabilly confluence. We got hooked up with the old woods guy, whose name has escaped me (will get). This guy had been doing it from the beginning. He really took to Scot and vice versa. He had a real light jazzy style that Scot picked right up on.

There were also other cool Rockabilly groups that came through town--our favorite among them, "Big Daddy Sun & the Outer Planets"--true representatives of the 'Rockabilly Cause'. They traveled around in an old unheated school bus in which they slept. After a gig one winter night Scot asked 'The Little Red Rooster, lead singer of the group, how they kept warm. He replied they hoped people asked them to stay--which we did, and ended up getting to really hang with the guys. And so it goes.

Today’s artwork is another “Sharpie” drawing. Here’s the deal. The “Sharpie” line would stand up to any punishment a watery wash might give it. Scot could actually lay it on, without having to wait for too much to dry.

Check out today’s masterpiece. Talk about synthesis. Talk about synergy. Scot was fascinated with the concept of the trio. He loved the striped down nature of the instrumentation. He loved the conversation between the instruments.

“T. Scot Bottom & the Rockabilly Funhouse was not actually a trio, but it was definitely a band where everyone did double duty. Regarding this piece, I urge you to check out these spatters. Love these washes. Notice that these guys are really jamming together.