Category: news

Please join us on Friday, December 31 at the Kessler Theatre in Dallas TX.
with very special guests RTB2 and Slobberbone.

Tickets are on sale now!

Have plans this Saturday (10/16)? If you are free, why not quote rock out unqoute with Centro-matic in beautiful Goldthwaite, Texas? There will be free music, camping, beer and BBQ; not to mention a great selection of prizes donated to a silent auction. It’s all to benefit a children’s charity, New Horizons. Please do come on out, partake in some good times, and donate what you can to a worthy cause.

For the past 40 years, New Horizons (non-profit 501 (c) (3)) has provided specialized treatment and care to children who have often suffered from sexual, physical and/or emotional abuse. From a 150 acre ranch in Goldthwaite, to regional programs in Abilene, Brownwood, Wichita Falls, Midland and other Central Texas counties, New Horizons provides a full spectrum of care including residential treatment, emergency placement, foster care and family preservation.  www.newhorizonsinc.com

If you wanna come out, just show up. No ticket is required. Directions are posted below, and please drop the organizers an email with any questions you might have: goldthwaitemusicfest@hotmail.com

Donations are wonderful, but not mandatory.

Here’s a little information from the event’s organizers:
2nd Annual Goldthwaite Music Fest

The event’s Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104771186253309

Music Schedule:
12:00 – The Angelus
1:00 – Burgess Meredith
2:00 – Zapruder Sequence
3:00 – J.Charles And The Trainrobbers
4:00 – The Naptime Shake
6:00 – Matthew And The Arrogant Sea
8:00 – The Lemurs
10:00 – Centro-matic

with DJ Dirty Cha-cha spinning great tunes between sets

Silent Auction Items (so far…)
* 2 round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets
* SXSW – 2 Film Badges
* Autographed Guitar- Monsters of Folk (M.Ward, Jim James, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and
Will Johnson)
* Autographed football – 3 NFL players – Tim Brown – Heisman Trophy winner, Rickey Dixon – Jim Thorpe Award Winner, and Frank Harris
* Blackberry Phones
* Waterloo Records – CDs
* Good Records- Gift Certificate
* Electric Guitar
* Autographed Guitar, CD & Picture – Pat Green
* Bombat Washers – washer set
* Framed Eric Clapton picture – A Moment in Time Photography
* Idle Rich Gift Basket – 2 $50 gift certificates & Chimay Beer
* The Belmont Hotel Dallas – $50 gift certificate to Smoke Restaurant
* Amanda Wood Belt Buckle
* Wine Basket
….AND MORE!!!!

Texas Monthly featured poster artist, Dirk Fowler, has again agreed to design hand-signed and numbered letter press posters to commemorate the event and will be available.  Dirk’s work can be seen at f2-designcom.

We are also providing free bbq and have secured Real Ale Brewing, Atomic Moss and Franconia Brewing Company as our beer sponsors.

**T-Shirts & Koozies designed by Marc Ferrino!

Location:
Here is the address you can use to pull up directions on Google Maps or to input to your GPS phones, devices, etc: 140 CR 327, Goldthwaite, TX 76844

We found that using the address above in Google maps will direct you to Bootjack Ranch.  There are several ways other ways to get to the Ranch, depending on your origination.   As such, please be aware that most of the County Roads (CR) are “dirt” roads. GPS devices may plot the shortest route, which can include several county roads.  The “farm to market” or “ranch Roads” are usually paved roads.

On Google Maps you will see ranch road 572 (I think also referred to as FM 572).  If you can get to 572 (paved road) then you will only have less than 1 mile of dirt road driving if you take CR 327 from 572.  Hope this doesn’t confuse everyone.

We recommend you give yourselves plenty of time to get to the ranch in case you get lost.  Try to make your way into Goldthwaite and stop at the Exxon: 1418 Fisher Street, Goldthwaite, TX 76844 /Ranch Road 574. (325) 648-3020

It is across the intersection from The Redbud Inn.  We will drop-off directions to the station and they should be able to give you directions from that location if necessary.

Ranch Property Rules:
We encourage everyone in attendance to camp at the ranch.  It’s a very spacious, clean, and beautiful ranch.  The owners of the ranch are very supportive and accommodating to this benefit.  We ask that everyone be good stewards of the property and not litter or start unsanctioned fires.  A fire pit will be available after the festivities if necessary.  We also ask everyone to be considerate to the family who lives at the ranch house and the other families who will be camping and refrain from loud car stereos during the late night hours.  We will have a separate camping area for families.  To those bringing children, although we will have activities that are kid-friendly, we are unable to provide babysitting for the children in attendance. We ask parents to supervise their own children.

Will Johnson and Anders Parker will continue their House Show Tour on the west coast this week!

These will be a totally acoustic (no sound system) shows hosted by fans in their homes. Limited to only 30-40 tickets per show.

Please help us spread the news about these shows if you have friends that live in any of these towns.

Thursday, Sept 16 : Seattle WA
Friday, Sept 17 : Seattle WA
Saturday, Sept 18 : Portland OR
Tuesday, Sept 21 : Oakland, CA – SOLD OUT
Wednesday, Sept 22 : San Francisco CA – SOLD OUT
Thursday, Sept 23 : Los Angeles CA
Friday, Sept 24 : Los Angeles CA
Saturday, Sept 25 : Guerneville, CA
Sunday, Sept 26 : Reno NV
Tuesday, Sept 28 : Corvallis OR
Wednesday, Sept 29 : Portland OR

BUY TICKETS

As always, thanks for your continued support. We really appreciate it.

Hanging on the hinge of a syrupy and sweat-soaked summer, we are proud to announce the release of the important safety parachute to Dual Hawks’ sprawling plume. “Eyas” is a seven song follow-up EP from those sessions, and includes offerings from both of our bands, Centro-matic and South San Gabriel.  We were proud of these songs from the start. We wanted them to see the world. This EP serves as an apt farewell to that phase of our bands, leading us down a new path toward a handful of new releases over the next little while. This all includes a live Centro-matic DVD and limited edition 7″ release for later this Fall, and a brand new Centro-matic full length next Spring.

We’ve cut out the middle man…. Eyas is available directly from Centro-matic as high quality 320k MP3s or full CD quality 1411k WAV files. The downloads included album cover and digital booklet with art by Julie Miller and photos by Matt Pence. Designed by Mark Ray.

01. Cracking Of The Seal : Centro-matic
02. No, They Aint Mine : Centro-matic
03. Liquidation Heart : Centro-matic
04. Christmas ’83 : Centro-matic
05. Inhabitants : South San Gabriel
06. Water 4 Legs and Lungs : South San Gabriel
07. All Night Long : South San Gabriel (Lionel Richie cover)

BUY NOW: 320k MP3 $6
BUY NOW: 1411k WAV $7

Official Centro-matic + South San Gabriel + Will Johnson Web Store.

Good summer to ya’ from the banks of the Colorado.  Happy to report on some things here in the camp that should make for a solid second half of the summer.

NEW EP:
There’s a new release coming up for September.  “Eyas” is comprised of seven additional songs (six previously unreleased) we recorded during the Dual Hawks sessions, including our take on Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”.  Matt Pence has floored us again with his documenting, mixing and mastering, and the release will feature our old friend Mark Ray’s artwork.  Songs included on this one are:

Christmas ’83
No, They Ain’t Mine
Cracking Of The Seal
Liquidation Heart
Water 4 Legs And Lungs
Inhabitants
All Night Long

WILL J./ELLIOTT McPHERSON ART SHOW IN BIRMINGHAM, AL:
Elliott McPherson and I will have an art opening on Sat. August 7th at The Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama.  Elliott plays guitar and sings for one of my long running favorite bands, The Dexateens.  He is also an upstanding gentleman and master cabinet craftsman.  During his free time he builds beautiful light boxes and shadow boxes.  I’m bringing a few new baseball paintings I made earlier this year.  One is of Dock Ellis tripping real hard on acid en route to throwing his no-hitter in 1970.  The reception is from 5-8pm, and the show will be up through August 31st. Music later that night includes The Glory Fires and Henry Dunkle.  Elliott’s art can be seen HERE.

Also, Barry Wittenstein’s piece on current doin’s in the baseball art world was released July 14 on mlb.com.  He kindly included a couple of my paintings in the gallery.  The article is HERE.

NEW WILL J. TEXAS SOLO SHOWS:
Wednesday August 11th – Dallas, TX/Renfield’s Corner.  This show begins at 10pm sharp w/ no opener.  This is a unique and new territory for one of our shows, and to make things better it is also a FREE show.  No admission will be charged this night.

Thursday August 12th – Austin, TX/The Ghost Room w/ Austin Collins (solo).

NEW CENTRO-MATIC SHOW:
Centro-matic will be reuniting with our old friends The Toadies at the annual Dia De Los Toadies Festival on Sat. August 28th.  We are elated about these circumstances for rock and roll communion.  This year it’s in New Braunfels, TX at Whitewater On The Horseshoe and also includes Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears, Heartless Bastards, Sleepercar and a bunch of other great bands.  Come out early for sufficient swimming, maximum farmer tan opportunities.  More info right HERE.

LIVING ROOM EXPERIMENT GOES WEST:
Anders Parker and I will be heading out on another acoustic living room tour in September.  The eastward springtime jaunt brought us so much unbridled joy that we had to see what the west might have in store.  Dates will be announced soon.

THANK YOU, ANIMIC:
Thanks to my Catalan friends, Animic for the musical treasure shared last month.  We all convened in the village of Collbato, rehearsed up a bunch of music for four shows, and it yielded some big and enjoyable sounds.  There is a full documentary in the works on this project.  I’m thankful for the friendships forged and the songs shared.  Check out their music and sonic offerings HERE.

Thanks for the time and hopefully we’ll see you out there soon.  Harvey Pekar, may you rest in peace.

-Will J