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Shores of Erewhon

by Wolverton

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    The second of two releases recorded live with Joe Reyes at his home studio, December 2010 - March 2011. The 23 songs of this album and Tiny Chair were recorded spontaneously in groups of two or three with Hills on guitar and vocals and Joe on guitars. Some tracks have added instruments and many were single takes.

    " 'Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.' Though spoken by Jimmy Stewart as Elwood Dowd in the 1950 movie Harvey during psychiatric review of his invisible rabbit companion, one could draw a more than a superficial analogy to Hills Snyder and his music, written over about twenty years and recorded in two volumes. The first volume, Tiny Chair, came out in 2012 from 2011 sessions produced by Joe Reyes, a San Antonio artist and musician. Shores of Erewhon, the second, is from the same sessions and was recently released, capping a fairly active two years of performing. These songs are not as ephemeral as a 6-foot plus rabbit, but at some point, one might have pondered their actual existence.

    Though ostensibly solo albums, Tiny Chair and Shores of Erewhon were released by Wolverton, the San Antonio quartet that Hills has been part of since 2011, and include contributions from everyone. Though the primary tracks grew out of a spontaneous live-in-studio performance by Joe and Hills, Wolverton’s Caralyn & Kate added voices live as well; Jeremiah contributed cover art. Some instrument tracks were added to songs later, but they feel completely at home, balanced and accretive. I found Tiny Chair the quieter of the two, but the songs of both works would flourish on either. I suspect any difference between the two is a derivative of the time frame when they were finished, but it’s not of huge consequence – they go back and forth through time and tide invisibly.

    Hills Snyder is mostly known as an artist, teacher and writer, so it’s not surprising that the lyrics can go anywhere, cutting a wide swath of reference through film, art and literature. Some of the songs reference culture overtly, like the Tin Star film overtones of 'Just like Hello' or the Renaissance meets WWII of 'History Lesson.' There are also songs grounded firmly in nonsense – these are less comedic than nuanced and more rigorous than random, with 'Rope with a String' 'ESL' and 'Funnybone' being prime examples. Lyrically, they’re clever and sometimes baffling, like word of the day songs done by an obsessive compulsive. Musically, they remind me of garage rock, a staple of the San Antonio scene, and a deep musical and lyrical thread running through both these volumes. I recall thinking 'garage folk' when first hearing Tiny Chair and through this aesthetic, I see Tiny Chair and Shores of Erewhon as two of a pair.

    There are a number of songs that feel more experiential and make it easier to see the artist in a single light. These songs are more first person, but abstracted to serve the emotional experience as well. The actual spark could have been anything, as in 'Sissy’s Lament' and 'Entropy' on the first album, 'Wreck on the Highway' and 'Lava' on the new one. I don’t know that they’re true, but they feel true, though maybe in the way good fiction does. The title track, 'Shores of Erewhon', seems to challenge critics, know-it-alls and finger-pointers alike; words, images and memories are the bones of our experience, and for Hills, the assailable living fuel for art. Really, I don’t know what these songs mean, but I get it."
    --- Gordon Miles Clarke, No Mission Statement

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1.
Wreck On The Highway there’s a wreck on the highway tonight there’s a wreck in my town, there’s a wreck on my block, there’s a wreck in my house tonight and the wreck on the highway is all right we might walk away tonight from the wreck on the highway Saturday morning we had big plans throw some food in a basket and go to the country with our friends we was gonna have some big fun you bet I don’t know why I put the .44 in with the cigarettes I just didn’t know it would play like a wreck on the highway Saturday morning we parked the car I remember the sun shining down but it looked like a star when it happened I couldn’t hear I didn’t see it coming not even in the rear view mirror I just didn’t know that day about the wreck on the highway there’s a wreck on the highway tonight there’s a wreck in my town, there’s a wreck on my block, there’s a wreck in my house tonight and the wreck on the highway is all right tonight we might walk away from the wreck on the highway
2.
Shores of Erewhon I see by your outfit you’ve got the right stuff by the bruise on your horse lips I see that you’re tough by the marks on your boots I see you’ve been rough and I can see by the look in your eye that nothing is ever enough you worship at the altar of mark-throughs and slurs you was raised in the briars and the brambles and burrs your back country ways you left at the door you check like a scorecard your mind where nothing is sure a hat of newspapers you wear on your head the headlines obscured by a crown of pure lead your forehead the color that fell down the stair you lie like a nun on the shores of nowhere your people stare at me in iron shackles bound you rolled out the red like a wheel in your town I have not a pistol nor even a dime you can see in your crystal I’m guilty and thin like a mime your feathers are ruffled by the smallest of things trouble takes flight in your brain and just sings you cannot escape it through fun or finesse your wings are weathered but worth nothing less
3.
E.S.L. 03:26
E.S.L. basil is a word sometimes mispronounced Basil is Sherlock Holmes basil is a word sometimes mispronounced Basil is Sherlock Holmes said S – H – E – R – L – O – C - K and you know I could care less I couldn’t and you know I could care less I couldn’t and you know I could care less I couldn’t basil is a word sometimes mispronounced Basil is Sherlock Holmes basil is a word sometimes mispronounced Basil is Sherlock Holmes and you know I could care less I couldn’t and you know I could care less I couldn’t and you know I could care less I couldn’t irregardless
4.
Catatonic 06:29
Catatonic she gets catatonic if she can’t give a cat a tonic she’s got a ring on her finger that’s morosely masonic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey there’s a lift in her linger that’s lately laconic she gets so dramatic if you dewdrop your duelamatic but her freak is fantastic at least to a fanatic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey she’s easily distracted by deez and doze and dis and datic she’s got a belt in her bugle that’s belately Byronic and a mute in her meltdown that’s minutely moronic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey there’s a swish in her swelter so sweetly symphonic she gets dogmatic if you try to give her dog static she’s got a bat in her belfry or was it her attic? Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey there’s an owl in her upstairs honestly automatic she’s got a plague in her playground that was briefly bubonic and the chrome on her kisser is consistently chronic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey there’s an ilk to her her illness that’s inertly iconic she dreams of Atlantis if you pray to a praying mantis and her spurs go on welfare if you can’t give a helping hantis Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey then she screams like a screwball and runs and rips and raves and rantis she was sad in her sandbox and succinctly sardonic but there’s a hoot in her hoopla happily hydroponic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey there’s a fissure in her future that’s sufficiently phonic there’s a fish in her gym bag orgiastically antic and some fruit in her flashbulb flamboyiantly frantic Little Miss Offit is on it today she drinks champagne with her curds and whey and the mush in her Merzbau sailed across the Atlantic
5.
Lava 02:52
Lava I see lava as far as I can see I see lava as far as I can see ash on my back my head is gray still in the heat and I walked all day if I could only find me the water I might get away It cuts through buildings, dirt, rocks, water and trees if you stand stationary it'll cut your knees you gotta keep moving you can't stand tough no one on earth is cool enough to stop this stuff face the facts brother lava is your enemy you stand on the dresser then you jump to the chair somehow you get both of your feet on there then you swing on the curtain over on to the bed never touch the floor that's what I said it's lava! face the facts brother lava is your enemy I see lava as far as I can see I see lava as far as I can see
6.
Bargain Hunter I am just a martyr on my own little path to god if you want to we can barter between Jesus and Jihad I’ve got you in my cross-hairs you’re a picture in my mind when I destroy your arms and legs it won’t be unkind I am just someone you’ll see in the yellow light so low a flash of recognition granted just before I go yes you’ll remember me my friend the remainder of your life and you’ll recall a face reflected in a silver butter knife I stand here in the shadows with a vision in my hand on a trail of tears built in four years I hope you understand that mercy is as mercy does in a mercenary land and that in the instant when we meet you’ll know who I am I am a bargain hunter with a pocket full of cash and when I’m done you can always hope you’ve got a few teeth left to gnash I can hear the nails of both your hands on the street begin to scratch a quiet word that goes unheard like the striking of a match
7.
Funny Bone 02:43
Funny Bone I have a funny bone at home I keep it by the phone I have a funny bone at home I keep it by the phone I have a funny bone at home I keep it right by the phone And when I’m home alone I play with my telephone I have a fuzzy face someplace I keep it in my space I have a fuzzy face someplace I keep it in my space I have a fuzzy face someplace I keep it right in my space And when I’m in my space I play with my telephone I have an ice cream cone at home I keep it by the phone I have an ice cream cone at home I keep it right by the phone I have an ice cream cone I keep it really pretty close to the phone And when I’m home alone I play with my telephone
8.
Far Away 02:54
Far Away this is story bout how Chuck went to bible camp he went to hear the word but he ended up more like getting amped the bible peoples heads was stuck up inside the cold and damp so they couldn’t see nothin not even with a real good lamp down by the dock Chuck would go far away the bible people would come and say are you doin OK? he’d say I’m doin OK and they would just go away yeah, this is story bout how Chuck went to bible camp he went to hear the word but to him it just felt like a cramp so he asked his counselor if he could maybe have a stamp and he wrote his mom a letter said I really like bible camp because every day he would go far away the bible people would come and say are you doin OK? he’d say I’m doin really OK and they’d go away
9.
Rocket 02:54
Rocket just like it always happens time for you to go you get to watch those fingers tie it in a bow you always knew that it would come but you didn’t really know you’d get to watch it for so long how could you know? the sunshine on your tablecloth that’s your favorite thing it comes in fast through the glass and touches everything the shadow of your coffee cup is a crater on the moon you’re in a rocket blasting off and it’s leaving soon your eyes open and its dawn where did that day go? you have a feeling that you know from a long time ago still and all you’re really here that’s all you really know
10.
Burning Lamps I deal in floats she deals in ties some cards with coats of arms signified her hand rests on the top card she’s on her guard this empty street well lit by night no one walks near just you in sight one hundred burning lamps are not waiting for the dead to rise my throat has wings will my words fly ? head of a pin ain’t no needles eye I been talking to you for years but this time the night has a thousand ears
11.
Us and Them 03:23
Us and Them in the palm of my hand is the wind that blew through us alone in your room with a pen like Meriwether Lewis or Johann Sebastian Clarke on your knees with a flame in the dark you crawled after them ain’t you on that big white horse that almost threw us why can’t you ride past our door and pretend you never knew us when you’re done do you think you could do us a good turn I’m talking to you you like to think you redrew us but you know you really only tried to undo us someday the deed will be done to mark through us but we’re done with you
12.
Rumor 03:54
Rumor you say you think that we should talk this over as if some kind of treasure’s there to find but I don’t hear no words to say people talk too much anyway I’d rather be a rumor in your mind now Johnny he may wait at the cliffs of Dover but this place can be all earth shoes and blank stares it’s a price I just won’t pay and you won’t entertain today no there won’t be any angels unawares once I laid you down in fields of clover and never did I measure to refine now I’m a kite that’s blown away on a string that could not stay in your hand I’m just a rumor in your mind

about

Slipcase with photo of The Misery Repairman by Jeff Wheeler.

credits

released May 15, 2013

Produced and recorded by Joe Reyes, San Antonio, TX // Mastered by Carl Saff, Chicago, IL // Reproduction by Sooper Dooper, Madison, WI // Recorded live, 2010 – 2011 - Hills: guitar and vocals; Joe: guitars, lap steel. // All additional instruments: Joe. // All songs © Hills Snyder, 1986 – 2005, All Rights Reserved // Front cover photo: Jeff Wheeler // Back cover: Todd Johnson // Chair: Justin Parr // Art Direction: Stickbug

Thanks to Joe, Carl, Caralyn, Kate, Jeremiah, Michele, Justin, Andréa Caillouet, Erik Sanden, Callie Enlow, Kelly O’Connor, Steven Evans and Christopher Langkamp.

The guitar passage near the end of Rumor is quoted from the film High Noon.

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Wolverton Magdalena, New Mexico

The core collective is Kate Terrell, Caralyn Snyder, Hills Snyder, our key collaborator, Joe Reyes, and others who come and go, sit in or otherwise join the Wolverton musical family.

Lyrically, Wolverton is unanchored, very visual and moving equally through memory, story, and association, with dark streaks of tradition.
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