Golden Arm Trio's new CD, The Tick-Tock Club is finally out, six years since the last release. Find it in real world stores like Waterloo or online at Amazon, CD Baby, or I-tunes soon. More about it to the left.

The Tick-Tock Club Film Project. A short film for each track on The Tick-Tock Club from members of Austin constantly growing film community. Look for the premier this fall at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. More info below left.

The Tick-Tock Club Stories Project. Novelists, playwrights, and songwriters create their visions of the world of The Tick Tock Club. Read the first results below.

Hi everyone:

It's been a very, very long time but Golden Arm Trio is finally releasing a third CD. It's called The Tick-Tock Club. Please come to help celebrate on June 2nd, and if you feel like it, it will be your first chance to pick up a copy. Besides, who wants to miss a chance to see my brother Keith perform.

KEITH:

My brother has been running a mobile piano bar of sorts in Houston. But if you have met my brother, you know it's not your run of the mill piano bar, my brother is something else entirely. Choose from 450 songs from Beyonce to Thelonious Monk to Keith originals. Here's how the Houston Press described it:

"Reynolds damages the keys and sings. Like his hands, the sound is dexterous and meaty, full-on 88 radiation. Dr. John would approve. Neil Sedaka would squeal and run from the room. Prince would titter. As for Reynolds himself, he would be the first sent home from American Idol. 'You sing great', Randy Jackson would say. 'But you look uh...uh...uh...not good, dog.' Reynolds would go on to win The Gong Show.

Folks in the room snap, clap and shout out titles from his 450-song repertoire, which includes Dionne Warwick, Britney Spears, KISS, Willie Nelson, Peaches, Duke Ellington, both Pat and Debby Boone, Sex Pistols, Bee Gees, Mahalia Jackson, Michael Jackson and Destiny's Child. A trip to the tip jar followed by a grinning grunt from Keith assures your selection's place in the queue.

And he does it wonderfully, as if he had been performing at lounges in the Greater Reno/Sparks area for decades. But Keith is all H-Town: an underground legend."

DJ LYMAN HARDY:

One of Austin's most well liked characters, and drummer from classic Austin bands Ed Hall and Pong, Lyman has several independent endeavors, including graphic design and deejaying. He'll be spinning to round out the party.

THE CD:

With 12 tracks, 24 musicians, and a whole lot of work the CD is finally in a place where I'm ready to part with it. Over the last several years, I've started this project several times only to be distracted by other things that paid more and, more importantly, had deadlines. I finally set a deadline of my own and so here we are.

THE TICK TOCK CLUB FILM PROJECT:

A handful of Austin filmmakers are working on short films for each of The Tick-Tock Club's tracks. The project will premier at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema later this year.

Directors:

• Luke Savisky
• Russ Smith
• Justin Hennard
• Peter Stopschinski

Produced by Graham. Co-Produced and Edited by Russ Smith at Chocolate Media.

CHRONTOURAGE EVENT:

The Austin Chronicle has chosen the Golden Arm Trio CD Release as a Chronicle event, part of their new "Chrontourage" series. Look for their table at the Mohawk.

TICK-TOCK CLUB STORIES PROJECT

Read the Stories / Write Your Own

These are the stories of The Tick-Tock Club as told by several acclaimed writers, playwrights and songwriters. These initial stories were invited contributors that I'd worked with on various projects before but anyone is welcome to add one. Ideally, write the story of the whole album using all the track names in sequence, but you can also just choose one or two tracks and go with that.

Here are the Track Names:

1 Dmitri Dmitryevich
2 The Tick-Tock Club
3 The End of Speedy Jinx
4 20 Million Ways to Die in Chicago
5 He Lies Like an Eyewitness
6 Disco
7 Eventide
8 The Duchess of Parma
9 Greyhound
10 Cosimo Matassa
11 Bulldoze: The Super-Power Dance
12 DSCH

Here are the stories so far:

Ray Colgan

The bottle of champagne lay next to him, his eyes starring up at the ceiling, the champagne made a soft sound as it emptied, his eyes didn’t blink his lungs still, his heart motionless, he was Dmitri Dmitryevich. The upstairs office of the Tick Tock Club with red carpet, white walls and gold fixtures mirrored the low rent high life attire of the dead stick-up man. [continue reading]

Chad Nichols

The docks at night are stark, cutting hard against the moonlight, their outline a shadowy badlands. The wind whips itself around like a bullfighter's cape, teasing the choppy water below. I drop the burlap to my side and a few of the stones slide out. Flat stones make good ballast. [continue reading]

Ruth Margraff

Mind like a steel trap says the big haired lady stuck in front of me. I try to blink awake all night in the smoke for xmas eve. We're all backed up say the drivers shirking the riot pile of us, luggage spewing from the holes in the sides. [continue reading]

Jessica Reisman

The Duchess floats at night, in a boat carved of sandalwood and myrrh, navigating the air above tower and town. The vault of the sky is gemmed with stars--the finest basilica, wrought of lucid indigo, the incense burning holy gives no smoke, sings instead of deep heaven, olives, the memory of sun. [continue reading]

Wayne Alan Brenner

The keyboard below the screen. Where have you seen this before? In the Twenties that roared with the thunder of your own minor chords too swiftly played in Petrograd's silent cinemas, images crowding the wall above your head, rushing past the persistence of vision, your wealthier neighbors carried into celluloid fantasy on wheels of percussion spun from the tips of your long cold fingers? [continue reading]

Kirk Lynn

DSCH

Bees make honey. Honey attracts bears. The bigger the bear the higher the caliber that can be justified. Some bullets when they miss go right through the tree trunks and bury themselves deep in the side of the mountain. [continue reading]

Rebecca Beegle

A week's hotel bill and nothing to pay out with makes a man feel like going on a big drunk. But I did not drink. I spent the day watching drunks go by like toy ducks at an amusement park. But I did not drink, no. My lips did not touch the rim of any glass. When I was thirsty I drank water from the fountain, no cups. Like I promised. [continue reading]

Submit your own:

Inspired? Send in your story here.

:: Twenty Million Ways To Die In Chicago: The Original Song

A few of the tracks on the CD were originally written for Rude Mechs plays. Playwright Rebecca Beegle wrote the text to the company developed/produced play "Have You Ever Been Assassinated" and it included this song. The recording on the CD is the original, minus the singing and adding an instrumental melody and strings. Here are the lyrics from the play version:

There are twenty million ways to die in Chicago
There are twenty million ways to die in Chicago
You whistle like a bird
You whistle like a bird
Because you can't get any birds to sing
You whistle like a bird
You whistle like a bird
Because you don't have any words to sing
There are twenty million ways to die in Chicago
There are twenty million ways to die in Chicago
The trains run side by side
The trains run side by side
But your head can't lie down on the pillow
The trains run side by side
The trains run side by side
But your head won't rest upon on the pillow
I haven't been there yet
But I've heard them say
There are twenty million ways to die
Twenty millions ways to die in Chicago. Yeah.