I've got this guitar, and I've learned how to make it talk...

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:23:24 GMT

I just wanted to step up and thank everybody for the birthday wishes over the last few days, and also thank everybody who participated in Saturday's festivities and did their part in making it the most memorable birthday ever.

Thanks guys.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:03:37 GMT

http://dustymurphy.blogspot.com/

Your source for the reviews you need.

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:17:12 GMT

I am a prisoner in the sunlight
You are my cellmate in the darkness
I just hope I wake up before this streetlight changes
You know this world is eating me alive
But you just can't find the metaphor to describe
The bottle of pills and the emptiness in the soft light

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:51:17 GMT

Renee sent me an early birthday package with much color vinyls:

Lifetime: Pink
Lifetime: Transparent Gold
Lifetime: Marble Blue
Ryan Adams - Everybody Knows (12" EP): Black
Ryan Adams - Follow The Lights (12" EP): Black
The Lawrence Arms - Cocktails & Dreams: Pink Marble
The Lawrence Arms - Ghost Stories/Guided Tour: Blue-Clear w/ Silkscreen Covers (these were in the same plastic sleeve, are they a set?)

And finally (saving the very best for last!)
Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker: 2008 Repress on double-disc 180, hand numbered edition, 263 of 500.

Aside from the vinyl, there was also a really neat book from Japan that has about 500 pages of full color photographs of rare/one of a kind/custom/famous people's Fender guitars. I can't even imagine what it cost. It's beautiful though. There's this paisley double-neck Strat that was made for Richie Samboura, and it has a Fender Electric XII neck instead of those paddle headstocks they use now. So cool.

Seriously Renee, you're the best best friend ever.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:22:14 GMT

For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these badlands.

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:50:51 GMT

1. How did you get into 29?
Big Star: I had some old Box Tops records that I loved and I wanted to hear Big Star, and I bought a lot of their original three records on eBay in 1996 or early '97.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?
Bill Lloyd: Lonely You, from Come & Get It: A Tribute to Badfinger

3. How many albums by 13 do you own?
Dwight Yoakam: Four, all given to me by my uncle when he decided that he didn't want his records anymore.

4. What is your favorite song by 5?
Neil Young: This is too damn hard. If I had to pick just one, it would probably be Ambulance Blues.

5. What is your favorite song by 15?
Green Day: This is really hard too, probably Macy's Day Parade or Church On Sunday. My favorite album of theirs is Warning. Others are better, but this was really an album that hit me at just the right time. I bought it the day it came out and I was having a shitty time in life and it was something that I could look forward to and be happy about.

6. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy?
The Rolling Stones: If I had to pick one, it'd probably be Loving Cup. It's just got such a great groove that it's hard not to dance around and be strange

7. What is your favorite song by 10?
The Byrds: This is hard too, I'd have to go by eras, really. Early era: probably My Back Pages. Later era: either Citizen Kane, Truck Stop Girl, or something from Sweetheart At The Rodeo

8. What is a good memory you have involving 30?
Lily Allen: Driving around last summer listening to LDN with Renee, I guess.

9. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy?
Drive-By Truckers: They're not really a happy band. I guess if I had to pick something I'd pick Carl Perkins' Cadillac. It's a pretty good number.

10. How many times have you seen 26 live?
The Band: Unfortunately they were done with touring before I was of a concert going age. I did get to see Rick Danko once before he died though.

11. What is the first song you ever heard by 23?
Gram Parsons: I don't even know. I'm a huge Gram Parsons fan. If I had to pick one thing it would probably be Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down from when he was in The Flying Burrito Brothers. If we're talking solo, it was probably Return of the Grievous Angel

12. What is your favorite album by 11?
The Format: Interventions & Lullabies. I love this record. I never got into Dog Problems as much. This one's just perfect powerpop with their own bent on it.

13. Who is a favorite member of 1?
The Beatles: I would have to say John Lennon, although only by about .000001 percent. It's honest pretty much a three-way tie. Sorry Ringo!

14. Have you ever seen 14 live?
Harry Nilsson: Nope. : ( He was dead before I was able to go to concerts.

15. What is a good memory involving 27?
Lucinda Williams: Seeing her from the front row when I won tickets in the Top Petty raffle.

16. What is your favorite song by 16?
Bob Dylan: I can't pick, there's far too many good ones.

17. What is your favorite album by 18?
Van Halen: Van Halen. The first and still the best.

18. What is your favorite song by 21?
The Who: If I had to pick, gun to my head, it would be See Me Feel Me

19. What is the first song you ever heard by 25?
John C. Reilly (from the Walk Hard soundtrack): Whatever the first song in the movie is. Or maybe the song Walk Hard, it was in the movie trailer.

20. What is your favorite album by 2?
Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run. In my opinion, the finest rock album ever made.

21. What is you favorite song by 3?
Big Star: How can you make me choose? I guess September Gurls, although there's about a 30-way tie for favorite.

22. What is you favorite song by 8?
Dusty Murphy (Hey, that's me!): My favorite of all the songs I've ever written is still Backroads Town.

23. How many times have you seen 17 live?
Paul McCartney: Once. I couldn't see well, but it was still great!

24. What is the worst song by 12?
Rilo Kiley: They don't really have any bad songs. Maybe The Annoying Noise of Death? Except it's not really a song, but whatever.

25. What was the first song you ever heard by 28?
Ryan Adams: My Sweet Carolina. Still one of my favorites. He can sing a real heartbreak.

26. What is you favorite album by 7?
The Monkees: Probably the soundtrack to Head. That's one of the best.

27. What is your favorite song by 24?
Badfinger: I guess I'd say Maybe Tomorrow, although that was the Iveys. (Pre-Badfinger, although the same exact band.) If I had to pick a favorite from the Badfinger era it would probably be No Matter What

28. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy?
The Byrds: A whole bunch of them, if I have to pick one; Lady Friend. The guitar part in it is thrilling.

29. What is your favorite album by 4?
The Altamonts; High and Lonesome, although I'm the only one that's heard it in it's entirety.

30. How many albums do you own by 20?
George Harrison: Every single one, even w/ The Beatles and Traveling Wilburys.

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:56:35 GMT

The Altamonts - Lyrics @ Lyricsmania

What the hell is going on here? First I get recognized in two stores, and then I found this. Life is very, very, strange. (They messed up the first line though, it's "I'm gonna drown in it like water" not "I'm gonna drown in black water." Stupid people.)

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:37:24 GMT

Seriously? You're going to make this into an issue?

Old lovers, new friends.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:21:39 GMT

I just had the best afternoon I've had in, like, forever.

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:08:11 GMT

There's nothing here to be won or lost.

What used to be has passed, and isn't, nor will it be connected to the present or the future. I don't think that there's anything left to say that wasn't said that morning. Don't act like you're hurt or whatever. People change. They grow up. They find new interests. I changed. I grew up. I've moved on. I hope that things are the same for you. Our past doesn't merit a continued friendship, in fact, I think quite the opposite considering the circumstances of the visit that morning. I think it was all very necessary, but I think your methods were shitty, at best. Knowing what I was going to go through that day, what I was going to go through later in terms of recovery; what you did was cold. Cold actually doesn't even begin to describe it. The part that strikes me as the most odd is that the very thing you so often had accused me of is the very sin that you committed.

I've had deaths of friends, family, and loved ones in the last sixteen months. I've met people that I've deeply admired, and met people who admire me. And they've changed me too. I'm sure you're fully aware that for all of the accusations of my "change," you yourself changed just as much. The person I met would have never left things like you did. I was embarrassed and ashamed for you, to see you do something like that, even though it was me that it happened to. I hope that time has, and will continue to be good to you. I hope you find or have found whatever and whoever you want in life. I hope that you are or will be at least as happy as I am. I hope that life treats you well, and that you're always treated with respect and dignity.

There's nothing left to be said between us, I have my life, and you have yours, and never again shall the two meet.

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:21:31 GMT

Money can't buy friends but you got a better class of enemy.

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:59:01 GMT

I am the lie within the truth.

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:21:55 GMT

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be careful.

Strive to be happy.

--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

Fri, 16 May 2008 01:12:13 GMT

I was supposed to be playing in Nicaragua today, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday before everything happened.

It's weird how life works out.

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:40:49 GMT

I've got nothing to say to you or about you. You can quit checking back.

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:17:35 GMT

http://www.lawrence.com/bands/dusty_murphy/

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:41:21 GMT

http://www.lawrence.com/events/2008/may/31/28106/

Sat, 03 May 2008 07:28:15 GMT

It is a woken dream
Aren't you feeling alone?

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:34:18 GMT

The difference between then and now is that now I can tell when you're lying.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:30:10 GMT

There's people around who tell you that they know
And places where they send you, and it's easy to go
They'll zip you up and dress you down and stand you in a row
But you know you don't have to, you can just say "No.""

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:37:20 GMT

Broken Lucy whispers "Sing to me tonight."

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:01:56 GMT

Nowhere is there warmth to be found among those afraid of losing their ground.

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:01:59 GMT

I just wasn't made for these times.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:43:59 GMT

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:42:19 GMT

The fact that Neil Young got a mention on TMZ's TV show, along with is photo and a song clip of Old Man has brighten my night considerably.

Go KU!