NEWS
05/11/2026
Yeah, I've made the decision to release another edition of rare/unreleased stuff in the BIG BUSINESS MONKEY series. This'll be BBM #9. I'll master the songs in the next couple days and upload it to CDBaby for worldwide distribution. You might recall that CDBaby moves at glacial speed so I have no idea when the album would actually be available for streaming/download. I'll let you know, of course. In the meantime, I'll bet there are some BOK/Fear + Whiskey/Karl Rove/Plague Dogs material you haven't heard in a while! Better check some out now!
05/09/2026
No. I have not listened to any of the material off the new album. Might not for another day or two. I did “discover” a number of semi-rare BOK, Karl Rove, and Fear + Whiskey material that was only ever released on the since deleted BOK ARCHIVE which featured every album released by those bands at the time, plus a CD of unreleased live material and another CD of unreleased 21 studio and live cuts. Since I already have a dozen or more other rare songs, I could obviously compile a pretty hefty new edition of the BIG BUSINESS MONKEY series. And now I'm thinking since I have all of that material ready to go, it would make sense to go ahead and upload that album as soon as possible. On this dasy in 2003, Book of Kills played the Shark Club in Washington, D.C. The set list: Cave In, Style-->Bad Person, Gemini, Killing Time Again, Nelson-->Then I Kissed Her, Sweet William, Don't Stop The Scream, Face, AntiMan, Clever, Jesco White, Sweet, Why Won't You?-->Can't Stand It Anymore, Money
05/07/2026
I'm taking a couple days off from mixing and/or mastering even a single track on the new album. I need to let my ears rest. I'll probably take another two or three days off before I return to it for the final push. As I've said before, the album will be done this month. Tuesday I listened to nine songs in the car. The things you can catch in the car that need work and that you didn't even notice with headphones!
Steve Albini died of a heart attack on this day in 2024. What a shock that was. He was 61. His influence on alternative rock in the ‘80s, ’90s and 2000s is massive.
"Find people who think like you and stick with them. Make only music you are passionate about. Work only with people you like and trust. Don't sign anything."
"The bands that have been the most important to me, and the records that have been the most important to me as a fan, have been records that surprised me for one reason or another."
“I don't think anyone has exhausted the range of sound possible in a conventional rock band, but people do become slaves to their own easiest techniques.” – Steve Albini
05/05/2026
I've spent several hours today mixing and mastering the album. Man, I am ready for this one to be done! I like it so much but it's been so very hard to complete. I think I did a podcast about the process of putting a song together(?) several years ago and I alluded to how listening to each song through my car's stereo and taking notes on what needs more work is pretty much the final step in readying a record for distribution. It's amazing to me how different a mix can sound on headphones as opposed to a stereo system, be it in-home or in a car. I'm also not quite certain, even after all these years, why listening to a song in the car is such an effective way to monitor a final mix, but it is.
"With making records, whether you admit it or not, you only have so much energy per project. When we start a project, a band usually wants to record 15 or 20 songs. That's a great idea. They say, 'Then we'll pick the best ones and put them on the record.' Great on paper, but the problem is if you only have a certain amount of energy per project it becomes simple mathematics. Technically we're not gonna compromise, but there is still a finite amount of energy."" – Rob Schnapf
“You have the songs in your head. They all morph themselves into different shapes. Sometimes I can't remember where they got started. Different pieces will cram into each other. But I'm constantly writing; there are constantly words that come into my head that sit there a while.” – Jeff Mangum/Neutral Milk Hotel
05/04/2026
Recorded some guitar tracks with Randy Simpson Saturday at his place. The album is going to consist of thirteen new songs. Another will probably end up on the latest edition of BIG BUSINESS MONKEY, which ought to drop no later than the end of summer. As I've mentioned before, I've been dithering around with this album far too long. I'll be uploading it to CDBaby for world-wide distribution in a week or so.
On this day way back in 2002, BOK played the Little Grill in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The set list: Abandoned, Cave In, Accidentally Naked, Face, Bad Person, Running, Rain, To Dream A New Dream, Gemini, Just An Average Day, Sweet, I Hang Heavy->Up In Flames->I Can't Stand It Anymore, Money.
04/27/2026
Working on wrapping the album up. I still think it's one of the better ones I've ever recorded. But I also think it's going to be a pretty divisive one among those who've listened to BOK music for a long time. Not that it's particularly unusual in any respect; it's just a collection of songs that I think will take repeated listenings to “get”. It definitely isn't the work of a twenty-something-year old.
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
04/23/2026
I just checked the old “News” notes from last year. I started writng and recording this album in late June of 2025. I never take such a long time putting an album together. Good Lord, in two months it'll be a year since I first started been working on this thing. Well, the good news is that I have fourteen songs written and thirteen of them are either done or close to it. I'll be meeting up with Randy Simpson next Saturday to do some additional recording. This album will be done in May. Not late spring. Not mid-summer. Honestly, I'm already thinking about another collection of songs after I release the newest album and the next edition of BIG BUSINESS MONKEY.
04/21/2026
It should be noted that the genius Prince was found dead at his home on this day in 2016. He was 57. Ten years have gone by already?
The great Sandy Denny died from injuries sustained from a fall in 1978. She was only 31.
The Beatles completed work on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on this day in 1967. The world would never know what hit it.
“The truth is, you are either here to enlighten, or discourage.” – Prince
“If I have to sing ‘Matty Groves’ one more time, I'll throw myself out of a window.” – Sandy Denny
“I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know the people who call others weird are the weird ones.” – Paul McCartney
04/19/2026
What will be on the latest edition of the Big Business Monkey series (by the way, this will be #9)? There are several outtakes and alternate versions of various unreleased songs available, as well as many live cuts that I am in the process of re-mixing and re-mastering. I think the album will feature at least 20 tracks.
04/18/2026
It’s looking like I MIGHT be doing a double release whenever I’ve got everything recorded, mixed, mastered and have come up with some artwork. There’ll be a new Big Business Monkey collection (#8? #9?) and an album of probably a dozen mainly new songs.
More and more it seems to be an anachronistic act to write and record an album but you know as well as I that everything goes round in circles. One day they’ll be in fashion again. In the meantime I will keep plugging along writing new songs and making the occasional album until I can’t plug anymore. It’s just what I do. It’s what I am.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
04/09/2026
You might find it hard to believe, but I've written fourteen new songs for this album. No, obviously they're not all in the can, but…hey, that's fourteen new songs. I wrote earlier that I wouldn't expect the album to drop until mid-summer, but that could change to an earlier date now.
Randy Simpson is participating in a local even called “Rock Lotto” where whoever wants to join in on the fun can become part of a “band” of similar brave souls who have a few weeks to write and rehearse five new songs and then perform them live at The Golden Pony in Harrisonburg, Virginia. That'll be this Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
03/30/2026
Man…I was just listening to several takes of Johnny St. Ours’ and The Karl Rove’s “God Bless”! Whew! I’ve always maintained it’s one of the greatest songs of the twentieth century and The Karl Rove gave our shaky, spirited best to every performance of the song. And sadly it’s more relevant today than ever. Yeah we were a band of amateurs but we could kick ass.
And…I subsequently listened to “Not Like a Mirror Image”. That one too…more than ever.
“You can say wha you will, but now it’s time to care again.”
03/29/2026
On this day back in 1997, Dave and Brian Buracker, Brock Beatty and I played what was essentially our last show as Book of Kills at Harrisonburg, Virginia's famous Little Grill. The support band was The Necromantics. I'm still sad that that particular line-up didn't play a lot more shows, but we didn't. The (pretty cool) set list: Before and Ever After, She's the Kind of Girl, Because Because, Placebo, Get My Gun Allison, March of the Lima Beans, Don't Stop the Scream, Heaven, Cara Anne, My World Turned to Black, I Start to Fall, Killing Time Again, Fade, I Hang Heavy, Paperback Writer, Abandoned, Wonder Twin, Lost, Fade (again). If I remember correctly, this was a great show with a lively, standing room only crowd packing the place. Good times. Also (again, if I'm remembering correctly), the group broke up the next day!
03/28/2026
I kind of got sidetracked with adding albums to Bandcamp. I need to attend to that. Life does get in the way, though.
03/16/2026
I will have some good musical news soon.
As far as the band goes, for various reasons, I'm not sure when we'll be practicing again, nor when we might actually play live again. Of course, I'll let you know when I know more. The good thing is you have hundreds of BOK/F+W/Karl Rove songs to listen to already! Get to it!!!
03/06/2026
I think we'll start up practice again in a week or so. We'll be learning at least a couple new songs.
I have recorded another new song, though it's not nearly finished. Randy Simpson will be added some guitar to a couple songs over the next two-three weeks. I don't foresee the album dropping until this summer.
“I think I've always approached making albums pretty much the same way. I'm just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren't the same thing over and over.” – Alan Jackson
03/04/2026
On this day in 2011, Fear + Whiskey (Jim, Amy Bugg and Jeff Lown) made its public debut with a show at Harrisonburg, Virginia's infamous Little Grill. The set list: Hold the Wind, Cold Rain and Snow, Blue Heart Drumming, Jesco White, For What It's Worth, Shake My Tree, Bona Fide, To Dream a New Dream, Lost Highway.
02/22/2026
As I alluded to in the previous post, I finally got around to listening to the e.p., WELCOME TO CONCRETE. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but I've changed my opinion of it over the years from pretty much rank dismissal to a fractured sort of affection for it. It does feature several good tracks, including “Banquet”, “The Danger That Can Drive You Home” and “See You Again” (which I'd re-record in 2002 for the ALL ABOUT YOU album) and it does hang together in a self-contained, knotty sort of way.
1999 was a rough year for me musically (and personally) and I remember really struggling to come up with the desire to create anything new. After WELCOME TO CONCRETE, about a month later I released an expanded version of WRITING ON THE WALL and then in December I held a contest to win a limited edition e.p. featuring a few new originals as well as several covers (to which George Nipe III added some backing vocals).
But none of it was particularly inspired. And, in fact, it wouldn't be until a reconstituted Book of Kills (with almost all new members) made its first live appearance in the summer of 2000 that I began to find the spark to start writing and recording music that I actually believed in again. For the next 25 years I'd write, record and release at least one new album every year, occasionally two or three.
Nothing to report on the band. See below.
02/10/2026
Oh, finally got around to listening to the next BOK album in line as I attempt to listen to every single one of them, most for the first time in years. That would be, if I remembered correctly, the e.p. from 1998, IF I SHOULD FALL. This is one record of mine that I will never criticize. It is perfect. Every piece of it is exactly what it was meant to be. The new “remix” is interesting, though I'm not sold on it. Next in line was WELCOME TO CONCRETE. (I've already re-listened to it. Give me a bit to think about it. I do like it more than I did when I made it.)
The new album, you say? I hope I live long enough to finish it! If I do, I'm fairly confident it's going to be one of the better records I've ever done. (And don't forget that Randy Simpson is on three or four tracks.) I think it's going to take a long time to bring this one home. I wasn't kidding about the living long enough part…
02/01/2026
Man, I just cannot believe how fast the days fly by.
I am continuing to write new material. When I will get around to actually recording it is another matter. At this point in my life I guess I have to consider each new album I write and record as potentially the last one I ever make, so I am trying to create a really good one. You know, just in case.
I continue to have the occasional query as to when BOK will play another show. I don't know. I don't even know if we ever will. I do know, as I mentioned previously, that Restless Moons wants us back. We'll see. I have nothing against playing another show.
01/23/2026
There've been inquiries about photos and music from last week's performance. Unfortunately, I have nothing. I know there were numerous photos and videos taken, but nothing that I personally have a connection to other than some brief snippets of video that I might post later.
Apparently the owner of Restless Moons was quite impressed with the turnout and wants us back again. So perhaps there will be at least one more BOK show.
01/20/2026
I've had great response from folks who were at the show Friday night. Thank you all for attending the show on a frigid evening when you could easily have just stayed warm and snugly at home!
Again, that was not necessarily the last BOK show, but whether it was or not (and it would be a good one to go out on) will depend upon whether or not anyone cares to line up another show or two. We've played four gigs in two years, so I don't think the world will mourn a dearth of BOK live performances. But I can't see continuing to practice week after week if we're not playing out.
A close friend pointed out Friday that there are over 450 Book of Kills songs that have never been performed. Food for thought.
01/18/2026
Very fun night Friday night. We played to a packed, standing-room only house and the crowd was simply great all evening. Wax Bats played the best I've ever seen them, if you ask me. I got to talk with (and hug) several old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, too. Was that the last-ever BOK show? As I've said all along, I'd play out any potential gigs that might spring up in the near future.
What about the “new” album, you ask? Well, what about it? (But seriously, I am writing new material again. That's the hard part, believe me.)
01/14/2026
Guess since it has been three weeks I ought to write a little something, eh?
Good practice last night. One more before we play at Restless Moons with Wax Bats this Friday.
Oh…Happy New Year! Let's hope it's better than 2025, but I'm having my doubts.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
― Isaac Asimov
12/24/2025
Hope you have a very lovely Christmas tomorrow, if you celebrate the holiday, of course.
We have a show coming up, the first in months, in Harrisonburg, Friday, January 16. Hope you can attend.
12/16/2025
We're almost to the end of the year, so I thought I'd take a look at what were the most popular BOK/Karl Rove/Fear + Whiskey tracks for 2025. The top 20 this year was very different from the last few years. I'm not sure why. Anyway, here's the list:
- Ah! Ahh! Ahhh!
- Jesco White (original studio version)
- Dink's Song
- Man In The Long Black Coat (Fear + Whiskey studio version)
- Then I Kissed Her (original studio version)
- New James Shelley Blues
- Heaven (original studio version)
- Jesco White (Fear + Whiskey studio version)
- Man In The Long Black Coat (Fear + Whiskey live version)
- We Are Here Because We're Here
- Cold Rain And Snow (Fear + Whiskey studio version)
- La La La La La La
- Religion Is That I Love You
- The Shape Of Your Eyes Goes 'Round My Heart
- You Go To You And I By Me
- My Date With Kim Deal
- I'm Not Where You Are
- Few & Far (Fear + Whiskey studio version)
- Kisses Of The Crying Cooks
- Wild-Eyed Boy
12/07/2025
“Sometimes I wish I had taken the Bob Dylan route and sang songs where my voice would not go out on me every night.” – Kurt Cobain
12/05/2025
Because there's some interest in hearing the “remixed” live cuts of BOK that I worked on earlier this year, I'll probably release them on the Music page soon. I don't think I can pull together a complete album. I thought about possibly releasing the tracks I've completed along with some outtakes and alternate versions of various other songs, but I don't think I'll be releasing another BIG BUSINESS MONKEY collection right now.