The book I\’ve been going on and on about, which will feature some of my brother\’s cartoons, is having a party:

Wide Array Presents Upstart Crows

Please join Wide Array for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to celebrate the release of the new book Upstart Crows.

Friday, November 2, 2007
Seven o’clock in the evening

3217 Chapel Downs Drive
Dallas, Texas 75229

RSVP contact stephaniemreid@gmail.com

For more information please visit www.widearrayonline.com.

To see some more of Bobby\’s art, visit the Simply Titled Yuck myspace site. An actual website is also in the works.

Sadly, Lance Hahn has passed away.

(Thanks to Chad for the information and The Sweethearts for the link.)

I am a huge fan of Lance and his music thanks to my brother. I have no idea how Bobby managed to get a hold of J Church\’s Arbor Vitae, but it absolutely changed our lives. It had everything we were desperately seeking in music: GREAT lyrics and never-boring music that sounded simple (until you tried to recreate it on your own guitar), all in the form of 13 rough-yet polished, two-minute bundles of pure, self-effacing passion. Still one of my top albums. And I still hold standing a foot away from Lance as he slammed out the guitar solo for \”Racked\” as being the ultimate live show moment of my life (which, by the way, I hate saying, because it sounds like I\’m only \”saying\” it. But, for what it\’s worth, I promise I\’m not).

From there, Bobby special-ordered every other J Church release that Off Beat Records could locate. Great songs everywhere you turned. I actually finally got a copy of Cringer\’s \”Greatest Hits, Vol. 1\” (Lance\’s band before J Church) the night before my brother passed away. After hearing \”If I Had Your Pen\” for the first time, Bobby simply shrugged as if he wasn\’t surprised in the least and said, \”Perfect.\”

Since then, I\’ve kept up with Lance through his music and his monthly-if-not-more-than-monthly newsletter. I am not bending a single fact when I say that Lance Hahn was the real deal. Humble, passionate, kind and influential as they come.

I wish I knew what to do now, other than this: Thanks, Lance.

UPDATE: Lots of nice comments here.

Two more songs from our new album Querulous are now posted on MySpace.

You can also download several more free ones here.

Here\’s a new review in Liner Notes:

Hailing 41 Gorgeous Blocks’ newest album Querulous is the poster child for great indie pop-rock. With the vocal and guitar stylings of Matt Riggle, the bass of Tanner Leaser and drumming from Matt Morris, these guys are emerging from the same music scene that great pop-rock acts like Bowling For Soup call home.

“Something That Rings A Bell” and “I’ll Just Wait” bubble and boil with pulsing guitar riffs. In “Standing Tall,” Morris displays first-rate percussive playing, which helps to create a potential punk rock hit. All of these songs follow fun lyrical rhyming patterns fun especially on the track “Reckless Words.”

The album’s title Querulous, a word meaning to complain, complements the lyrical content of a many of the album’s songs. The themes that Riggle explores on this album stem from the loss of his brother and former band mate, Bobby. Despite the depressing nature of the album’s lyrics, the instrumentation makes you want to dance. “Guts,” the track most likely to get radio play, and “It Should’ve” exemplify this.

41 Gorgeous Blocks definitely have something to be proud of with this cd, Though the album’s title refers to complaining, Querulous is definitely NOT something to complain about!

LR

You can still order it for 4 bucks here.

Wide Array has posted more information on the upcoming book featuring some of Bobby\’s cartoons that I told you about:

Upstart Crows, the first of possibly tens of projects from Wide Array, makes its debut October of \’07. The book is a collection of fiction from JD Reid, Alan Reid, Elijah R. Darkor, Gayla Chaney, Michele Cunningham-Scott, Benjamin Harvey, Jena Salon, Cindy St. John, and Barry Phillips. Interior comics were drawn by Bobby Riggle. The book can be found in our book section. The purchase of Upstart Crows is good for the soul and easy on the wallet. Please enjoy!

What an awesome music video. (And I don\’t recall those words ever escaping my lips. Or keyboard.)