Hello Friends,
We've got plenty of cool shows coming up, which I'm most grateful for considering the way things have gone in the past few months.
The economic recession has affected us as much as any other. Clubs and restaurants always cut their entertainment budgets first, before anything else. So even if you see the Tarantulas are working, we are working for less money in most cases.
I (Pistol Pete) am most affected by this because the band is (was) my sole source of income. (and has been for 13/14 years!)
Most of you know that I was very sick a few years ago and racked-up a considerable medical debt as a result. That debt has been at nipping my heels ever since then, but I've always been able to stave them off with whatever I had... until now.
I am one of those Americans you hear about who was ultimately bankrupted by medical bills, and an illness that crippled my band/business for two years. I know this is airing dirty laundry in public, but I don't care. I tried hard, like most people in my situation, to pay everything coming in and keep-up with the ever-excelerating treadmill of debt. But once my gigs started paying less, and coming less often, I couldn't outrun it any longer.
So. . . I'm selling stuff that I no longer (or never did) need, and I've had to stop playing shows that made little, or no money. (Which means less out-of-state travel, I'm afraid) But the long-term solution didn't come to me until I was already sinking (also like most people in my situation).
That solution being. . . DO SOMETHING ELSE, DUMBASS!!
So. . . enter "The Crowned Heads of Rhythm". A new act featuring Tarantula guitarist Gorgeous George and me, Pistol Pete.
The new act is a duo with a very elaborate drum machine/sequencer, with a very slick old-school look, that is doing a very modern take on an old tradition. That tradition being the lounge act. We're doing a cross-section of traditional lounge music like Burt Bacharach, Cole Porter, and Cab Calloway, mixed with lounge versions of a wide range of pop music from the 70' and 80's. There is something for almost everyone. Here's a short list of artists we cover: Michael Jackson, Prince, B-52's, Echo and the Bunnymen, Lou Reed, Billy Idol, Green Day, Teddy Pendergrass, Bauhaus, and even Duran Duran.
This new band is not meant to replace the Twistin' Tarantulas, who will go on playing to eternity, I promise !
I just needed another creative outlet after doing the same thing for 15 years, and another act that can insure more gigs on the calender. (most of you have seen me play some pretty sad gigs in order to keep working, so I'd like to think you are all happy for me now!)
Until the Crowned Heads of Rhythm have their own legs to stand on, I will include those gigs on the Tarantulas schedule-page. Come see both bands real soon!!
Sincerely,
Pistol Pete
click here to find out where we're playing.