Updated June 13, 2008
Check out our BumbleBee Girl in summer glory! Now THAT's what we call a FAN!
Now scroll down to see our Halloween Contest winner this past October.
So is THAT enough to get you up to Murtaugh's this summer?!?!?!
Fear and Loathing in the Lizard Den:
Been an Ugly Couple of Months
So that's it.
We're officially the "Top Secret 'Wimmin' Hater's Society". Not that we hate women. Quite the contrary. But after 5 years of having two very talented members of the female persuasion in the band, we find ourselves dropping the whole chick singer thing and coming back to the music and vibe that was always the trademark of our early Lizard shows. I don't know if it's testosterone, or pheremones, or lunar cycles, or alignment of the planets, but I think we strayed far from our roots. And as tight as we played, and as fun as some of the stuff was, it wasn't US. I know, I know, some will lament the passing of some of our pretty songs and we will probably lose many fans of Brenda's singing. But we hope we bring some old fans back as well. We found ourselves dropping tunes and bands like the Stones and the Dead that have always defined our sound, and picking up songs that we didn't have our hearts in to accomodate our new singer. So when Travis expectedly left with job and other committments, and after Brenda dropped the bomb on us in December, we tried it one more time. And after 19 - yep 19 days - and ONE job, our choice for Brenda's replacement, Patty, goes AWOL after many hours of rehearsals and apparently a case of good karma gone bad. Or cold feet. Or sumpin'. So, se ya Patty. Once smitten, twice shy. But I digress...
So it's just the Boys. Chickless. And we are energized and anxious to tweak and revise our set lists with some new surprises and blasts from the past. With the addition of Tom Clasen to the band as our drummer, we have a five piece line-up that all want to pursue original music, tasty covers, and a jam band approach like the old days. Expect hot solos, jazzy synths, some prog and some great jams with the new line-up. I think you'll like it. As much as I will personally miss having a Chick Singer (and Brenda knows that is the ULTIMATE compliment!), and as much as I enjoyed playing keyboards in songs with a little more delicacy and finesse, it isn't my true Muse. I'm a rocker in sheep's clothing (zip up your pants, you rednecks!), I guess. I am glad to be morphing back to the music that made us and has sustained us for the past two decades.
I hope you will all give us a listen. Come to our shows and be prepared to rock.
All is good again,
Mark
Mark's Spring Break Gallery:
Utah 2008
left and right: Grand Gulch Ruins
left: Pictographs, Junction Ruin right: Split Level Ruin
left: Todie Canyon right: Night in Todie Canyon
left: Clegg Hikes Canyonlands right: Hands and Figure, Grand Gulch
Travis passes the Den keys to Tom. The Circle is unbroken!
"Egg of the Phoenix" CD Available Here
A hip compilation of bands from the Musch-Plantico Benefit. All proceeds go to the family for
damages and loss from their house fire. Contact jeff@weavils.com and rapidsdrummer@yahoo.com for copies.
Halloween at Murtaugh's in Minocqua. How I loved having Marilyn draping herself all over my organ!
Walt Disney should be so lucky!
And our First Place costume winner! - our one and only Bumble Bee Girl. Hard to... type... with one... hand...
If you've been following our site, you may know that one of the goals of the Lizard Gazette is to make it a fan supported and fan driven site. We can only do this with your help. One of the coolest ways to support our site is to submit an article, poem, story, photograph, artwork, link or whatever you'd like to see on these pages. We here at Area 31 Productions will see to it that your piece gets posted, and in return, you get a small piece of the web to showcase your work! You can do a couple of things to insure your submission gets full consideration (i.e. make it incredibly easy for our webmaster to post it!). For poems, articles, or stories, just send it to us at the following links either as an attached Word document or as an e-mail itself. Photos and scans of artwork should be sent as a JPEG image no larger than 150K. Ideally image file sizes should be between 50K and 80K in size. These can also be sent as an attachment to your e-mail. Be sure to include your name and complete contact information with your submission. The last detail that will get your work posted quickly is to include a statement giving us permission to publish your work. A sentence in the the message window of your e-mail will do. Send all submissions to: lizardz@wctc.net.
