Justin and Doug recording backing vocals at Pat Kearns’ Portland studio for The Revisions “Revised Observations” LP
Hello Friends,
I’m preparing to embark on my East Coast adventure playing guitar once again for Portland punk powerhouse RED DONS.
My 30th birthday falls on July 31st and I’m looking forward to living up the last few weeks of my twenties.
I just received a re-printing of my chapbook and will be selling copies at the merch table on the Red Dons tour, so pick up a copy if you’d like.
The fabulous acoustic alter ego of Red Dons is called The Revisions. Back in 2006 I released my 1st chapbook “Don’t Take Your Life” on Portland’s Future Tense Books. I asked Doug Burns of the Observers and Red Dons if he’d like to play some songs acoustically at one of my first readings. Sunday April 23rd 2006 at The Paragon in North Portland was the debut of The Revisions which included Daniel “Hadji” Husayn on acoustic bass. If you haven’t heard “On The Lam” or “Where I Stay,” these are gems of songs up there with greats like Violent Femmes and Dead Milkmen.
The Revisions in Albany, NY 2007
You can hear Revisions songs here
Footage of Revisions playing live at a backyard BBQ
Revisions “On The Lam” 45 One of their best songs
You can purchase Revisions “Revised Observations” LP/CD or the “On The Lam” 7″ single from Dirtnap Records here
Revisions LP – classic and criminally underrated
One of my favorite memories on tour is being in Winnipeg, Canada and seeing Revisions play a spontaneous set in the basement of a house party at 4 in the morning. Before the party, I found myself hanging out with a couple Winnipeg nogoodniks on the roof of a hotel, trying to steal a giant Canadian flag. After a couple attempts, we succeeded, sliding down drainpipes and running down the street “Another State of Mind” style with the massive flag unfurled…
The flag we stole off the hotel roof was literally about this big
One of our friends, John Nuclear, a licensed minister, married a couple outside of the party in the middle of the night. Because of all the noise (and fun), Winnipeg PD squad car was dispatched to shut everything down. Derek Skokan who was The Revisions drummer was outside the party on the sidewalk, he had just smoked a huge blunt. The Winnipeg cop asked him what he was doing and he explained how he was in an American band and had just played a couple of shows. The cop asked him what his plan for the evening was and he shrugged his shoulders. The cop, beginning to lose his temper, raised his voice impatiently, “So you came to Winnipeg without any plans, not knowing where you were going to stay?” Derek replied with a very stoned inflection on his voice, “Well, if worse came to worse, we just figured we’d get a cheap motel or something.” The cops gave up on Derek and stormed into the house with their flashlights to shut down the party. Witnessing this conversation I laughed until my stomach began to hurt. The cop’s face and disgusted reaction was priceless… That night I ended up getting together with a very beautiful girl, but that’s a different story…
We’re reuniting my stories and Revisions music in Richmond, Virginia on July 22nd at 7pm. If you’re in the area, swing by, it’ll be a perfect Monday night.
The Revisions live and a book reading from “Seventeen Television”:
Monday July 22nd Richmond, VA @ Vinyl Conflict Records 324 S Pine St Richmond, 23220 – 7pm, 804-644-2555
And I have a couple more readings announced:
Sunday August 18th Los Angeles, CA @ Rrose is a Prose w/ DM Collins, more.
Saturday August 24th San Diego, CA @ 3rd Space, Vermin on the Mount w/ Jim Ruland, more , 7pm 4610 Park Blvd, San Diego 92116. 619-255-3609
Looking forward to spending some days and nights with you all.
Be excellent to each other,
Justin
justin maurer 