Johnny Hickman: Vocals, guitars of various shapes, and pleasant demeanor.
Chris LeRoy: Vocals, guitars, keyboards and bass upside down... (the bass, not Chris)
As you will see the site is an extended family of songwriters, musicians, and especially keen listeners who support our creative work and push us to new places. We like to to include the music, words, and thoughts of everyone in our family.... WELCOME!!!!
LOOK!!! Our weekly book review section exclusive to The Songbook from Rebecca Hickman at 40 Forever...
"This
is my twelfth novel. Only once before in The World According to Garp
which was my fourth novel have I been able to insert the title of the
novel into the last sentence. I don't always try to do that; I don't
force it. But its usually an idea in the back of my mind, and if it
works, I don't hesitate to do it . . . " - John Irving
I broke my word. No John Irving review this week. Last night in Twisted River
is such a great book that I can't bear to finish it yet. Since there
are only about 70 pages left to go, I'm savoring it and only reading a
few pages a night. In the meanwhile, visit the author's official site to learn more about his writing process.
CALLING ALL CRACKER FANS: POST-A-COMMENT REVIEWS: Click your favorite Cracker album on the slideshow below and tell us all about it in 130 characters including your name...
Influences
If YOU LOVE JOHNNY HICKMAN SINGING and GUITARING, and CHRIS LEROYS Melodic invention
AND FROM GAROD... Dedication - The Dangers
Again, I'm too biased to accurately assess this album, but the duo of Johnny Hickman and Chris LeRoy bring together influences from all over the map. You get a little rock-a-billy, country punk, and roots rock all rolled into one. Fans of music of all genres will probably enjoy this the most. Front Door and Sunday Morning are going in high rotation on the Ipod. Those are two good ones to try out...
BUY THE NEW DANGERS CD
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Sounds Like
The Songbook Highway is a community site for music, and ideas. Started by music collaborators Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman as a myspace page in 2006, the site and community has expanded from fans of Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, and The Dangers to an eclectic group of listeners and thinkers
So each week The Songbook Highway features a new jukebox of music by LeRoy, Hickman, and of course David Lowery. But that's not all!!!
Look around the site for great interviews, lyrics, podcast, book and video posts and reviews from Morst "The Archive King," bigDave "The King Crumb of Video", Rebecca "Forever 40" Hickman, Robert "Grown Diaries" Daeley, and Paul "Listening Theme" Adams. We all urge you to post your ideas. Talk to us. This is your music and idea community.
Johnny Hickman and Chris LeRoy have written and performed together since 1979. At The SongBook we celebrate their creative relationship, and extensive musical community. Each week brings new songs, archive recordings, reviews and podcasts, even gems from their first band, The Dangers. ---Johnny and Chris
From the department of “Lost in the Shuffle” we bring you this week’s pick. I
try to lean heavily on bands with a Cracker / CVB connection, and any
band on the archive that plays the Pioneertown campout gets a spot. A
week or so before the 2008 campout, I featured a track from a band
called Quasi, that was going to be playing that year’s campout. They
were on tour at the time with Built To Spill for a little while and
both bands stopped in to play on CVB Saturday. In the year since, I
somehow neglected to pick a track from their Pioneertown set! Time to
remedy that situation by selecting a song from that very performance. Never
Coming Back was the opening number out there in the desert, A song
which has not yet been released on a studio album, it's a nice solid
opener to a set which went off the deep end. A year ago I wrote "Quasi
lays it down and packs it up in a short blast of ear candy which leaves
me wanting more. And luckily, though they don't tour often, I think I
know where to find it! PITOWN!!!" From the start to the finish, I
got what I came for with Quasi. Sam Coomes destroyed his keyboard in a
most musical fashion and I liked it. http://www.archive.org/details/Quasi2008-09-12.mat rix
This week we bring you the Mother Hips, The Mother Hips have been seen
on several concert bills with Cracker back in the day (90's) and are a
big fan favorite of the crumb nation. Their new record "Pacific Dust"
is california soul at it's finest!!! Here is a little something from
their website --> "The Mother Hips have flown under the radar as
true indie music pioneers for almost two decades. California's unsung
psych-pop heroes tell their story. Hailed by critics for their "rootsy
mix of 70s rock and power pop" and for their unflinching ability to
"sing it sweet and play it dirty" The Hips' signature sound rings more
genuine and relevant than ever before"..... So,
here are the Mother Hips playing Turtlebones at the Belly Up Tavern in
Solana Beach, CA on 4-14-07. This was the last and best song of the
night. Check out Greg attacking his strings with needle-nose pliers
around the 6-min mark!!! Thank for stoppin by the songweek,and we'll
see you next week, bigDAVE™ "Turtlebones"
The Hickman/LeRoy Songbook's Friend Space (Top 39)
Thanx for the friendship! I've admired your work for some time and have heard you several times here in Pioneertown @ Pappy's. Pioneertown is my home, I live here on Mane Street in the old log cabin across from the Sound Stage. There's a Dummy playing piano on the porch and another dummy inside playing Guitar, Banjo, Fiddle, & Mandolin, that dummy is me. Stop by, say high, pull out a guitar, reach for a star!
Hey Chris, Loving the new Dangers CD, it ROCKS! Fi-stock was awesome too, thanks for putting on such a great show. It was great to see Mark Nemetz, Bob & Lisa and Gigglejuice as well as the awesome Dangers. Had to miss Grasshoppers to get to LA but I'm sure they rocked too!
Hey darlin's! Hope your day was filled with beauty and your night is even better! Dragonfly's magic is the power of light and all that has ever been associated with it. In Japan, dragonflies represent new light and joy. Dragonflies remind us that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. Life is never quite the way it appears, but is always filled with light and color. Spread your light! xoxo loveya!!
Hi Chris, Heard you all had a great time at the Campout. Will be looking forward to hearing you on Fi-Stock when it's on the Archive. One question - I'm trying to find the newest Dangers CD to order but all links lead me to Dedication which I already have. Do you have the new one up and ready? I would like to have the follow up in my mits. Cheers mate.
Chris! Damn this myspace bullshit. I can't seem to sne you message and see my writing. Do me a favor and send me something so I can respond and send you what I wanted to....
Online Now!
