The Last Laugh
It was the summer of 2003, I think, that I spent a month in Philadelphia recording this album with Greg Weeks in a loft apartment on 3rd Ave. It’s hard to tell if my attachment is greater to the songs or to the dreamy instrumentation. I love Greg’s production, as well as the sensibility of the people performing on this record… and the fact that we recorded it all to 8 track tape with vintage mics. I only wish we’d made a vinyl release.
The record label was beginning to cut corners. No videos were made and everything was rushed into the world, even the tour felt haphazard. I’m sure I participated in that sloppiness. This was my third attempt at album artwork design. It’s a photo of me in my mother’s kitchen, having just arrived from another long bout of playing shows. It’s not a beautiful picture, but it captures the spirit of what my life was like.
Playing live 👉
The first video is a full recording of one of the solo shows I played in France promoting this record.
When creating setlists over the years, I tend to favor songs from The Last Laugh. I can tell by watching the second video, of a 2007 show at Madrid’s Moby Dick club. I’m also reminded of how during those years I never found a steady band of local players, each show I did with a band had a different lineup of good intentioned drop-ins.
In 2008 I started performing regularly with Robbie Jones and Marcel Mihok, and playing with a band became fun again.