burn that word's history
lesson.
the uncorrected copy.
Fall, 1988.
Spring, 1989.
Fall and Spring, 1990.
fans grow resentful because the
band refuses to play only covers. original songs sound unfamiliar
and take time to listen to, etc.
rob asher's band, rigorous
mortis, takes an opposite approach and books many paying gigs.
even lobster-fest. damn them.
Fall, 1990
burn that word goes on temporary hiatus as josh attends a semester abroad. he forgets to pack his guitar and spends all of his money on cds and food. various attempts are made at writing while in england, but the casio vl-tone he brought just doesn't do justice to his ideas.
steve spends this time as a dorm residence advisor. he saves josh a room next to his upon his return to campus. this makes practice even easier, as they don't have to go to the barn when it's cold. (it's upstate new york; it gets very cold a lot...)
Spring, 1991
the band begin work on a new cassette, 'misdirected angst.' david stinnett runs the band fan club. as of this point, he is the only member. (this may be true 15 years later...)
records show that this might be the time when steve became addicted to 'the simpsons.'
steve and josh contribute music to koshare, the hws's modern dance ensemble. they perform the music live. dancers dance. the audience claps. there was a video made of the show. it is somewhere.
'misdirected angst' is recorded almost entirely in medbery hall, where steve and josh reside. headphones are used. the recording is longer than usual and contains a number of instrumentals.
the band performs outside the barn. some people stop by. they decide it's perhaps a good time to retire from live performances.
burn that word records a new song, 'the hollow autumn,' and includes it on a 'best of' that few people know exist.
steve and josh graduate from hobart college.
1992-1996
steve and josh go their separate ways, with hopes that they will record again soon.
steve becomes a school psychologist; josh becomes a high school english teacher.
both work on their respective graduate degrees; neither attempts to run for president.
josh gets married in 1996. steve attends as part of the wedding party. the bar opens before the wedding ceremony begins.
'soon' becomes two years, which becomes four years, which becomes, well... just keep reading.
1997
with new technology now available, josh and brian sales remix and edit a number of songs and create the first btw compact disc, 're-designing the popular: 1988-1991.' copies are apparently still available.
1998
josh begins to write new songs for a new burn that word cd.
steve continues to work on his own material.
1999
the band reconvenes in pittsburgh, pa to record 'refrain.'
the cd consists of one new song, a newish version of a song steve recorded on his own, and re-recordings of songs from the past.
a new plan is hatched to get together every other year to record a new cd. legal documents are never drawn up. another manifesto is written on a napkin and is lost.
2000
the band reconvenes in arlington, virginia to being recording a new cd. there are few witnesses.
2001
overdubs continue and 'ambient' is finally released unto an unknowing world. songs appear less danceable, more ethereal. not that anyone danced to the music beforehand, anyway. they cover a jazz butcher song and a carsickness song. the latter includes a sample of themselves playing the song 11 or so years earlier.
2002
keeping to the unofficial every other year release schedule, recording begins on a new cd. actually, some tracks date from the previous year, but as that would mess up the whole 'every other year' thing, we won't mention it... too late? eh, just keep reading.
2003
steve joins the maryland/n. virginia-based covers band stop thief, as their drummer. somehow, he has learned to play drums. he also drums for alt-country indie rockers, roscoe. who knew he could drum?
'careful' is released. unsurprisingly, it contains a tim buckley cover.
josh becomes a father. life gets interesting.
2004
another new cd is written and recorded. actually, two of the songs date from 1999 when josh was working with jason titus on some material. jason's guitar and bass parts--now almost five years old--end up on the cd. we believe that he's been informed of this fact.
2005
the band release 'strange lullabies.' it contains a piece written and played entirely by josh's daughter, emily, who is 19 months old at the time of recording. josh also writes a lullaby for his daughter, which she refuses to listen to and instead makes him sing a laurie berkner song every night before bed. seriously, the same song... every night. for three years now...
2006
in what can only be described as a bold move, the band opts to participate in a new order tribute cd contest, sponsored by neworderonline.com. josh ends up splicing various keyboard parts that steve played on previous songs and putting them back together to form chord progressions for 'as it is when it was' and 'this time of night.' the latter also contains some spoken word contributions from emily.
they produce three new order covers, two of which are eventually rejected by voters, and one that doesn't even get submitted for the competition. that one, 'cries and whispers,' features steve on drums (a first for a btw song), albeit sampled loops from other recordings.
feeling rather unsure of what to do next, they release 'intellectual songs of love: the new order covers' onto an unknowing and uncaring world. catharsis, indeed.
steve continues his not-so secret life as a drummer in roscoe and stop thief. during this time, he has refused to get an internet connection at his home. such the luddite!
josh spends his free time remixing songs from 'blue skies above' by matt and shannon heaton. (they didn't actually ask; he just did it...) you really should give their music a listen. the 'blue sky'd: the remixes' cd is available if you want to hear the results.
2007 & beyond (?)