"Only sick music makes money today."

I like to draw. Over the years, I have done a few odd pictures for some of our golden-hearted local bands. In the coming weeks I'll be going through my back catalog of record covers that I have done, and posting them along with the usual musical tidbits.

It all started here:

Side one of my first seven inch cover.

Side two.

This is it, the scourge of central Texas record store dollar bins everywhere, my first disastrous outing into the murky world of microscopic music labels and record store retail, the dreaded Tabitha seven inch.

Why the dread?

It was the only time I ever got paid cash for doing cover art, and quibbling about the money wrecked my friendship with the band. Hmmm, not the outcome I expected. Me no like.

Beyond that, I worked at several local record stores on and off for about seven years. Believe me when I say that during this time, the Tabitha single was always in stock, there were always many, many copies. I got to do inventory twice a year, for all those years. In that time, the price went from a brand new $2.99, to a slightly soiled $1.99, just before throwing itself down the bargain basement backstairs at $0.99 a go. It lingered on at that price for a few years, with each copy getting that much more shopworn and jacked. After that, it was all it could do to dry-heave itself to a floptacular $0.49.

When the bottom fell completely out, it was all marked with a large black "x" and put on the curb... for free. Between you and me, I have only sold two (2) copies of this record for actual green money that can be spent on stuff, ever. In seven years. Such a disappointment.

Couldn't have had anything to do with the cover, could it?

It's not a bad single. It has a nice prog/punkish feel to it. A definite Rush-y vibration is flowing throughout. It is much too jammin' and well produced for this city in the early 90s. This was a garage rock town back then, and these guys weren't about that.

The cover idea was not mine, but I was paid to execute it.

-{Tabitha}-

Nap
Powerballast
Red on White
New Hands

1994 Bunkhouse 03