2003 went by damn quick. Its a wonder people had time to put out so many great books and records. Here are some of our favorites:

RECORDS • Belle & Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress • Belle & Sebastian Step Into My Office, Baby (Single) RECORDS • Miles Davis The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions • Neil Young On the Beach [remastered] BOOKS • Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at Right by Al Franken • League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 2 by Alan Moore RECORDS • David Bowie Reality RECORDS • The Constantines Shine a Light • Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man Out of Season • Lost in Translation soundtrack • The Postal Service Give Up BOOKS • The Believer magazine

RECORDS • The Clash The Essential Clash [remastered] • Kathleen Edwards Failer BOOKS • Diane Arbus Revelations by Doon Arbus • The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 by Nikki Giovanni • Devil's Playground by Nan Goldin • Smartypants: Pete in School by Maira Kolman • Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory • Her Husband: Hughes & Plath: Portrait of a Marriage by Diane Wood Middlebrook • Old School by Tobias Wolff RECORDS • Araby Your Wate and Fate • The Constantines Shine a Light • Jim Guthrie Now, More Than Ever • James O'Brien Church of the Kitchen Sink • Rachel's Systems/Layers • Roh Delikat Row Delicate EP • Sufjan Stevens Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State RECORDS • Bitch and Animal Sour Juice and Rhyme • Ani Difranco Evolve BOOKS • She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan • The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum

Want more? Check out our 2002 favorites...

Eddy Dyer has been seen around town lately with a motley group of characters he calls the Walking Shoe Revival. The new band didn't play their first official show until recently, but the seeds have been planted for several years.

Brad Clarke played drums on Eddy's as-yet-unreleased third album (also called Walking Shoe Revival), having been introduced to Eddy back in 2001 by friend and artist Che Arraj. Clarke has been playing for years, mostly in speedcord bands, and was the drummer for local grindcore legends Disrupt.

Chris Drosnic, who had played bass on the Walking Shoe album, was asked to join the band. He had to decline, as he was moving to Colorado, but recommended Van Lawton — an impressive singer-songwriter in his own right — whose own album was produced by Drosnic.

Eddy met jazz flutist Bonnie Rovics in Jamaica Plain several years ago, through her brother David — an active political folk singer — who Eddy had known for quite some time. Bonnie has played on several of her brother's albums.

Katie Donovan had done some vocal and percussion work with the Reagan Babies (Eddy's other band and sometime arch-nemesis), and knew Eddy from many of his gigs at the Bernstein Bookstore (R.I.P.), where they had many great conversations about music. Unlike the rest of the band, she is new to music, but is turning out to be a natural.

Eddy and the Walking Shoe Revival are already playing quite a bit in the Boston and Lowell areas. Keep on eye on the tps calendar for upcoming dates.

We’ve got an update for all you Summer Pierre fans out there, patiently awaiting the long-anticipated release of her debut album, Far From Here. Summer, who relocated to her home state of California last year, returned this past July to perform a showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. While she was here on the East Coast, she spent a couple weeks in the studio with producer Rob Laurens, engineer and co-producer Tom Eaton, and a slew of backing musicians—including Jon Nolan and Jon Pistey of New Hampshire’s Say Zuzu (who, sadly, disbanded early this year).

Pierre, Laurens, and Eaton were able finish recording the remaining tracks on the album and mix several songs before Summer flew back to California. They've done an incredible job. It’s been worth the wait.

Since then, Laurens and Eaton have finished mixing the remaining tracks, a song order has been decided upon, and Summer has been working on the design of the artwork for the CD with tps Media’s Nathan Pyritz.

As it stands now, the album is due to be mastered within the next month or so, and it should not be long after that before the CDs are pressed and available to you—the fans, friends, and family of one of the most promising up-and-coming singer-songwriters of the twenty-first century. Thank you for your patience and support. We hope you are as excited about this project as we are.

We here at tps have compiled our own list of favorite releases of 2002. Craving new music? Want a new book to read? Here’s some recent stuff that kicked our creative asses:

RECORDS • Apples in Stereo Velocity of Sound • Guided by Voices Universal Truths and Cycles • The Hives Vendi Vidi Vicious • Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf • White Stripes White Blood Cells BOOKS • The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music (reissue) by Nick Kent and Iggy Pop • Stupid White Men (and other sorry excuses for the state of the nation) by Michael Moore BOOKS • In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches RECORDS • Jen Kearney Bravery RECORDS • Tori Amos Scarlet's Walk • The Be Good Tanyas Blue Horse • Patty Griffin 1000 Kisses • Flora Reed Settle Down • Tom Waits Blood Money BOOKS • 100 Demons by Lynda Barry • Caramello by Sandra Cisneros • The River Why (20th Anniversary Edition) by David James Duncan • The Fact of a Doorframe (reissue) by Adrienne Rich • Summer Blonde by Adrian Tomine

RECORDS • Araby (3 song EP from their upcoming album) • Damn Personals Standing Still in the USA • Bob Dylan Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue (The Bootleg Series Vol. 5) • Jim Guthrie Morning Noon Night • Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights • Damien Jurado and Gathered in Song I Break Chairs • Jurassic 5 Power in Numbers • Little Joe Gould Like the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing • Piebald We Are the Only Friends We Have • Red in Rescue (5 song EP) • Flora Reed Settle Down • Say Zuzu Every Mile • Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot BOOKS • Lost Joy by Camden Joy RECORDS • Ani Difranco So Much Shouting/So Much Laughter • Rabbinical School Dropouts Cosmic Tree • Kate Schutt Broken • Open The Gates! New American-Jewish Music for Prayer, Vol. 1 (Robert Cohen, Exec. Producer) BOOKS • This Thing Called Courage by J.G. Hayes • Avoidance by Michael Lowenthal BOOKS • Get Your War On by David Rees

1999 began with the celebrated release of Eddy Dyer's debut album, Explosion Alone. The Bernstein Bookstore in Lawrence, MA was packed with a crowd of devoted fans for the release party and ever since, we've been hearing from all kinds of people (from as far as Great Britain) who say they love the CD and listen to it all the time. But the praises have not only been for the music. People have also been raving about the brilliant watercolors by Summer Pierre featured on the CD.

As you may already know, in addition to being an extraordinary painter, Summer is also one of the most talented singer-songwriters in New England today, and has nearly completed her first full-length album, which will be released later this year on That Promising Seadog Media. The album is being produced by 1999 Boston Music Awards nominee Rob Laurens, and is being recorded at Thomas Eaton Studio in Newburyport, MA.

Summer said goodbye to her home state of California to move to Boston just a few short years ago and barely hesitated before she began snapping up East Coast fans left and right with her lightning fast rock 'n roll guitar, catchy pop melodies (watch your head - these songs will stick), and intelligent, poetic lyrics. She writes folk songs with a punk edge, captivating anthems about heartbreak and cross-country soul-searching.

But to be truly convinced, all you need to do is wait for the album to come out, plug your CD player into the car stereo, get onto the nearest highway and her words will do the rest... "Now these towns that we sing by in the darkness / know my footsteps well, / and though I can recall all their names / I won't recognize their faces of change, / nor what will remain / of the days I lived out of gunny sacks / filled with sea shells and paperbacks / and dreams of cypress trees: / so much like hands reaching up to Heaven..."

Summer Pierre was selected as one of twenty-five artist to participate in the Emerging Artist Showcase at the 2002 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, NY. The festival ran from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, July 28. The showcase was on Friday from noon-5pm on the main stage.

The festival also included a dance tent, children's performances, music biz workshops, sign-language translation, and lots of sunlight. In addition to the showcase artists, dozens of musicians performed over the course of the weekend, including Kris Delmhorst, Erin McKeown, Greg Brown, and Ani DiFranco.

tps Media was happy to help out TNI Books with their Little Engines issue 3 Electronic Reading Tour. For the week of June 17-24, 2002, we hosted new content every day from the third issue of TNI's literary magazine, Little Engines.

TNI Books is a independent punk-rock publishing company based in Seattle, WA, founded and run by fellow Hoosier-expatriate Adam Voith. Check 'em out, and follow the links below to read excerpts from Little Engines:

	Welcome!
	The Pockets by Paul Maliszewski
	Letters to a Grade School Teacher by Anonymous Students
	excerpts from Les Savy Fav: Cheerleaders for the Apocalypse interview and story by Mike Daily
	an excerpt from Jesus Christ Lord of Hosts Meets L.A. County by Holly Day

After one hundred gigs and six successful years of rock 'n roll, Lowell's Chris Ware Band decided it was time for some big changes. Founding member and guitarist Sean McSheehy left the band to pursue other things. The rest of the band decided that it was a good time to finally dump their name, which they'd long felt misrepresented what the band was all about. Too many people saw their name on a flyer somewhere or in the window at O'Briens and assumed they were some kind of blues or jam band. Too many bands were surprised how much they rocked, confessing that they hadn't expected them to be so good.

All because of the name. So, after one hundred gigs and six years, the Chris Ware Band is no more.

Meet the Dives! Stripped down and more focused, the band is ready to move forward and turn Massachusetts upside down. Vocalist Chris Ware, guitarist Donny McHale, bassist Scott "Brober" Brodeur, and their new (and most stable to-date) drummer Sean Burgess are beginning right where they left off. They just finished recording five songs with Mark Sheehan(Out Cold, GG Allin) and are planning to go back into the studio for some more recording soon. Look for their 7" on tps Media in 2003. And check out their website, www.thedives.com.

Visited our website lately? If so, you may have noticed that we are now accepting credit card orders for all of our products. You can place your order directly from the catalog section of thatpromising.com, and charges will appear on your credit card statement as CCNow, our authorized online retailer. We here at the tps office will ship out your order within the week.

So surf on over today, and buy your mom a red That Promising Seadog Media t-shirt. Get a copy of the Chris Ware Band’s new CD, Soul Shakedown, for your kid brother. Stock up on old 7” records to save for gifts for those last-minute birthday parties. And get a copy of Eddy Dyer’s debut CD, Explosion Alone, for yourself, your upstairs neighbor, your favorite professor, and the each of the tellers at the local bank. Heck, everyone should have a copy!

And don’t forget, Explosion Alone is also available online from our friends at Folkweb.com!

Her winning story, “The Terrorist Game”, is about how a group of students use faith, friendship, and cerebral games to deal with fear. It was inspired by Stein’s own experiences as a student in Israel, when a bus on a route she took regularly was bombed. The story was published in the Winter 2001 issue of the Jewish Education News.

Audrey is currently working on a collection of short stories, which will include “The Terrorist Game”, as well as “On the Eighth Day”, which won second place in the same contest in 1999. Audrey’s other current projects include the autobiographical Map.

To get a copy of Audrey’s story, you can send a check for $3.50 to: CAJE Publications, 261 W 35th St, Floor 12A, New York, NY 10001, and ask for the Winter 2001 issue of the Jewish Education News.

For other news about Audrey’s writing career or to join her mailing list, go to: www.audreybethstein.com, or write to her at audrey@thatpromising.com.

In the Fall of 2000, a very unfortunate event gave singer-songwriter Summer Pierre a good idea. Partners in Health (PIH), the Boston-based nonprofit where Summer worked at the time, had started the Children's Surgical Fund to help transport poor Haitian children to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment they could not otherwise get.

One such child, a young boy with a brain tumor, had recently died, having been unable to get the surger he needed soon enough. His death saddened everyone at PIH, and underscored for Summer the importance of the fund.

Enlisting the help of coworker Jenny Severin and prominent local musicians Rob Laurens, Beth Amsel, and Nate Borofsky, she created “Music with a Mission on Mission Hill”— a house concert to benefit the fund. Severin donated the use of her rented old mansion at the top of Mission Hill and Summer and friends donated their time and talent.

The concert was held in early December 2000 and was a definite success. The candle-lit living room was packed with eager friends, colleagues, and fans for the unplugged concert in the round. The benefit raised about $600 for the fund, which was just about enough to cover the plane fare of a Haitian girl PIH was bring to the States for treatment of a tumor on her kidney.

For mor information on Partners in Health, or to find out how to make a donation, go to www.pih.org.

In the Fall of 2000, Lowell’s mighty Chris Ware Band released the follow-up to their now-classic 1997 CD Mill City’s Burnin’. Wih the aptly titled Soul Shakedown, the kids from the mill city have taken their signature car-crash ROCK and punk-a-billy ROLL thirteen steps further. With the help of producer Bob Nash, the Chris Ware Band has created a catchy, foot-stomping, must-have record. Not only is this a damn good CD, the band personally handmade the packaging, so every CD cover is unique!

Get yours at www.thatpromising.com today! And look for a new Dives (ex-CWB) 7” later this year.

Labor Day weekend (2000), the legendary Club Passim in Cambridge, MA hosted what is quickly becoming one of the hottest folk festivals in New England (and there are a LOT of folk festivals in New England).

The "Cutting Edge of the Campfire", is, perhaps, unique in that it brings to its stage both talented (if unknown) up-and-comers such as Jacinta Whitcome and Oen Kennedy as well as well-known regional and national names like Ellis Paul, Melissa Ferrick, and Andy Stochanski. Past Campfires have included That Promising Seadog Media artists Summer Pierre, Nathan Pyritz, and Eddy Dyer.

With over 100 musicians on the bill, this was the biggest Campfire yet. As each of the four days of continuous live music drew into evening, the club filled to capacity and overflowed out onto Palmer Street, where crowds watched through the windows and listened through the speakers set out on the curb for passersby.

Although there were too many noteworthy moments to recount, highlights included the live debut of Summer Pierre’s band. Bassist Brian Karp and guitarist/producer Rob Laurens backed up Summer, and appear on her upcoming tps album, Far From Here.

As part of its mission to help create and support a strong artistic community, That Promising Seadog Media is proud to have been one of the sponsors of the Campfire Fest. The festival occurs every Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend. For more information about Club Passim, or for information on future Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festivals, dial up www.clubpassim.com.

November '99 was a busy month for Nathan, who also recorded and released Volume 2 of his work-in-progress, Rough Cuts on the Way to Poetry. A follow-up to his 1998 live demo, Volume 2 was a studio endevour, recorded and mixed by Steve Friedman at Melville Park Studio. Rough Cuts, Vol.2 is now available on CD-R.

In May of 1999, Eddy Dyer, along with 5 other activists, were arrested for trespassing at the Raytheon plant in Andover, MA. Calling themselves the Bread and Roses Affinity Group, they blocked the road leading to the plant holding signs saying "Closed for Disarmament". Raytheon is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction.

At the trial in October, the group chose to represent themselves. They declared they were bringing charges against Raytheon for war crimes. On the stand, Eddy recited his anti-war song "G.I. John Doe" for the jury. The activists were given thirty days.

You may think that sounds like an extreme sentence for simply blocking a road for fifteen minutes. Another group of protesters at the same location the previous year got a $35 fine or 7 hours community service. Perhaps the judge was frightened this time by a group of people whose faith in their beliefs were so strong they chose to forego the standard court procedures and defend themselves without the aid of a lawyer. Or perhaps it's just that rock 'n roll still has the power to scare the establishment, at least in those rare cases where people making the rock 'n roll actually mean it. Too bad there aren't more people like Eddy out there playing rock 'n roll (or reciting it to a jury). Perhaps then the world would get some much needed shaking up.

Eddy Dyer's Explosion Alone, released at the end of January 1999, was tps Media's first major release since ending a brief hiatus. It is a phenomenal piece of music, bringing together elements of blues, punk, and psychedelic folk Syd Barrett style. Armed only with a lefty acoustic guitar and a head full of poetry, Eddy creates an intricate landscape of sound.

The album is an homage, it seems, to his years growing up in Lowell, Massachusetts—home of old mills and juvenile delinquents, Jack Kerouac, the Shods, and the Chris Ware Band.

The album is also the story of a young man stretching beyond milltown life, striking out on new roads, asking new questions. Although no one but Eddy appears on the recording itself, the album is truly a collaborative effort. It features liner notes by Chris Ware of Lowell's Chris Ware Band, photography by North Carolina artist Kevin Mertens, and watercolors by Somerville, MA singer-songwriter Summer Pierre.

The CD release show was held as a benefit for the Bernstein Bookstore, a progressive book shop run by the Lawrence Grassroots Initiative. The room was packed with longtime Eddy Dyer fans and several hundred dollars were raised. An intimate performance, it was filmed by Lowell Public Access television, and included openers Nebraska, Nathan Pyritz, and the peerless Michael Troy.