Yes, the van made it all the way (though it apparently did a big chunk of the trip running on only 7 cylinders). Six and a half weeks spiraling around the U.S. and Canada, shopping at every thrift store and always on the lookout for a Cracker BarrelTM. I got three Tim Hardin albums and 15 old tape recorders (some of them still work, more or less), Alan bought $7000 worth of the finest free jazz and polka records (but couldn't find a cowboy hat that fit), Katie bought four baby blue vinyl jackets and three baby blue vinyl shoulder bags and Sue came home with a single pair of high heels, the Henry Cowell 9CD box set and two Dolly Parton records. Those of you who may visit the new Matador corporate offices will be able to see our house warming gift: a giant 3D painting of bull and matador (there's no signature but I suspect this a David Hockney piece from his black velvet period). Most nights, to celebrate the day's purchases, we would put on a little show for the locals. The gigs went very well, over all, and we played with some fine fellow musicians: Portastatic, Guitar Wolf, Seely, Bettie Serveert, Fuck, Helium, Modest Mouse, Rome, Pansy Division, Chavez, Yo La Tengo, Will Oldham and The Sea & Cake. Their fans went wild for our heavy new sound and our fans found themselves tapping their feet all night long! Not to slight the other fine instrumentalists we encountered but special mention must be made of Joel (?), the tambourine player of the Brian Jonestown Massacre who could give the Juilliard percussion department a lesson or two in stamina and control. Along the way we also played on a few radio programs and in a couple of record stores doing a set of bass- and bass drum-less arrangements (no, I don't mean "drum 'n' bass") of our greatest hits, giving us the chance to re-imagine songs whose standard versions may have worn out their welcome)... No Way, the Run On record that made all of this possible has been out for a while now and has been causing all sorts of excitement with radio programmers, musico-sociologists, record reviewers and conspiracy theorists. Brass instrument chauvinists are boycotting the record, of course, but we feel we have nothing to apologize for (in fact we're hoping to get Freddie Hubbard and Lester Bowie to play on a new recording of "Anything You Say"). Apparently nobody can believe that there's no high-hat on the record and many are taking to playing "Lab Rats" backwards to prove otherwise! Aware that radio people would be in a moral quandary over "As Good As New", Matador's Kris Gillespie schemed the creation of a censored version and we OK'd the addition of a little grime to replace the smut! Apparently some stations are focusing instead on "Something Sweet" which may be because the song is so catchy, because it is so representative of the band's "sound" or just 'cause it comes first on the record... There will be an EP of Run On music released by Matador Europe this fall, details of which are still being discussed. We'll very likely use a version of "Xmas Trip" from one of the radio broadcasts I mentioned above and Casey Rice has expressed an interest in re-mixing "Half of Half" from the new album (we have to promise not to be breathing down his neck and arguing amongst ourselves over the speed of the auto-pan). I suspect that at least one of my thrift store tape recorders will serve us well in supplying more material for the record... We'll be woodshedding in NYC this summer and making occasional guerrilla forays to East Village and East Coast rock clubs, keep an eye on the Matador web page for precise details of any shows. The rebirth of the world which inevitably occurs in September (I guess not everyone looks at it this way) will find us gearing up for another substantial North American tour and it looks like we're gonna get our big chance to play for the remaining European fans of "rock" music played by humans. If all goes well, we will be the opening act on Yo La Tengo's 39th tour of Europe, scheduled for this November... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -rick brown also at: rbrown@ymail.yu.edu