Fan pics!!!!! - July 14, 2007
If you see me around town or at a show take a picture and send it to wearethefurnace@yahoo.com . Every now and then I'll pick the best and put them on the site.
The Prairie Scholars: News
King of the road? - July 14, 2007
Well, day 3 of the tour has come. I'm sitting in Longmont, Colorado (my favorite CO town) writing to tell you people all about the journey so far. I've been sleeping in my car for the last few days and have yet to change clothes of shower. I am being mistaken for some other guy in town who plays guitar. I allow it. I tell them where I'm playing next and how I hope to see them there. Is it wrong? Nah. If this guy has so many fans then he can share with me.
The people are pretty nice to me and I fit right in because non of them have showered this week either. I miss the wife. It's hard to fall asleep alone so far from home. I am forced to wake up early because of the sun. I need more sleep. I've started carrying my wallet and cell phone in the bags under my eyes. So there is an up side.
The people are pretty nice to me and I fit right in because non of them have showered this week either. I miss the wife. It's hard to fall asleep alone so far from home. I am forced to wake up early because of the sun. I need more sleep. I've started carrying my wallet and cell phone in the bags under my eyes. So there is an up side.
The Andy Eppler Story - July 9, 2007
I was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. I am the son of a preacher deep in the buckle of the Bible belt. I think there is something very special about that part of the country, It breeds artists. There is no natural beauty in the south plains. It's flat. That's it, just flat as far as the eye can see. This forces people to make their own beauty. There is no real outlet for art. The music venues are extremely picky because the market is so flooded.
So what ends up happening is all the artists end up having to compete with each other but no one gets a real following. It can be extremely frustrating. Lubbock crowds have some of the best bands in the world and the most creative writers in the world playing every night in every bar. People love the acts but almost ignore them most of the time.
So I started out playing in this environment, which is kind of good because it has made me better but it made me feel alienated from my home town. Great people but tough environment.
Look up other Lubbock artists.
So what ends up happening is all the artists end up having to compete with each other but no one gets a real following. It can be extremely frustrating. Lubbock crowds have some of the best bands in the world and the most creative writers in the world playing every night in every bar. People love the acts but almost ignore them most of the time.
So I started out playing in this environment, which is kind of good because it has made me better but it made me feel alienated from my home town. Great people but tough environment.
Look up other Lubbock artists.
The morning after - July 6, 2007
Well the cd release went really well. The news came out and took some pictures. I am so exausted now that it's all over.
Thank you to all who came out.
Now I have to pack up and go play another gig.
Thank you to all who came out.
Now I have to pack up and go play another gig.
RELEASE!!! - July 2, 2007
Thursday July the 5th @ La Diosa. Show starts @ 9.
Openers: Dr. Skoob, Junior Vasquez, Andy Wilkinson, Kenny Maines.
3 bucks for cover.
cd at a special low price of $10!!!
Openers: Dr. Skoob, Junior Vasquez, Andy Wilkinson, Kenny Maines.
3 bucks for cover.
cd at a special low price of $10!!!
South Plains College Newspaper - July 1, 2007
Eppler Misses Poetry in Music
Jennifer Conlee, co-news editor
Andy Eppler and his band, The Verbing Nouns, are plotting the demise of pop music.
At least, that's what the artistic young man said as he slid into his seat at a Lubbock coffee house recently.
"If folk and jazz had a one night stand," said Eppler, trying to explain his music, "I would be their bastard child."
Eppler, a South Plains College student who was born and raised in Lubbock, has been playing and writing his music for six years. As many people do, he started out by performing at church.
"I'm in music because I can't do anything else," said Eppler, claiming this as the creed of most musicians. "The music scene today is made up of people who are untalented in other areas, not those who are talented in music."
Eppler has been playing with his new band for about six months.
"I went around and found the best musicians," he said, "and I hired them. In a way, I hire them for each show."
The Blue Notes consists of Eppler's girlfriend, Jessica Carson, who provides backup vocals, Skylar Stevens on drums, and Micah Vasquez on bass. All of the band members attend South Plains College.
Eppler's music is his form of poetry.
"People don't appreciate language any more," he claimed. "They all listen to pop music, which is void of real content; it's repetitive and meaningless."
Eppler's goal is to bring poetry back into the world.
However, he's afraid that no one would read it.
"I believe that people are deeper than they seem," Eppler said. "I want to believe that people are not shallow."This is why he writes his unique music.
"The sad thing about the majority of the musicians in this town (Lubbock) is that they don't do anything original," said Eppler. "They are just cover bands, and play other people's music."
He adds, "You can't call yourself an artist if you're a cover band. You're just a jukebox. I try to encourage people to support live music in all it's forms but lets not call something art that isn't."
His advice to other musicians who are trying to make it big in music is to start writing, even if the stuff is bad.
"If musicians in Lubbock would put out their own stuff, this town would not be a nowhere town," he said.
Andy Eppler and the Blue Notes are currently trying a daring project that most musicians won't.
"We will be putting out a new CD on the third Saturday of every month," said Eppler.
For each release, the Blue Notes perform at Sugar Brown's, a popular coffee house in Lubbock, every third Saturday each month. The performances are free to the public.
For more information about Eppler and his performance dates and times, visit his Myspace music page at www.myspace.com/andyeppler.
Jennifer Conlee, co-news editor
Andy Eppler and his band, The Verbing Nouns, are plotting the demise of pop music.
At least, that's what the artistic young man said as he slid into his seat at a Lubbock coffee house recently.
"If folk and jazz had a one night stand," said Eppler, trying to explain his music, "I would be their bastard child."
Eppler, a South Plains College student who was born and raised in Lubbock, has been playing and writing his music for six years. As many people do, he started out by performing at church.
"I'm in music because I can't do anything else," said Eppler, claiming this as the creed of most musicians. "The music scene today is made up of people who are untalented in other areas, not those who are talented in music."
Eppler has been playing with his new band for about six months.
"I went around and found the best musicians," he said, "and I hired them. In a way, I hire them for each show."
The Blue Notes consists of Eppler's girlfriend, Jessica Carson, who provides backup vocals, Skylar Stevens on drums, and Micah Vasquez on bass. All of the band members attend South Plains College.
Eppler's music is his form of poetry.
"People don't appreciate language any more," he claimed. "They all listen to pop music, which is void of real content; it's repetitive and meaningless."
Eppler's goal is to bring poetry back into the world.
However, he's afraid that no one would read it.
"I believe that people are deeper than they seem," Eppler said. "I want to believe that people are not shallow."This is why he writes his unique music.
"The sad thing about the majority of the musicians in this town (Lubbock) is that they don't do anything original," said Eppler. "They are just cover bands, and play other people's music."
He adds, "You can't call yourself an artist if you're a cover band. You're just a jukebox. I try to encourage people to support live music in all it's forms but lets not call something art that isn't."
His advice to other musicians who are trying to make it big in music is to start writing, even if the stuff is bad.
"If musicians in Lubbock would put out their own stuff, this town would not be a nowhere town," he said.
Andy Eppler and the Blue Notes are currently trying a daring project that most musicians won't.
"We will be putting out a new CD on the third Saturday of every month," said Eppler.
For each release, the Blue Notes perform at Sugar Brown's, a popular coffee house in Lubbock, every third Saturday each month. The performances are free to the public.
For more information about Eppler and his performance dates and times, visit his Myspace music page at www.myspace.com/andyeppler.
Avalanche Journal News story - June 20, 2007
Stunt draws attention to songwriting
Becoming a prolific songwriter would mean nothing at all if the songs were bad.
Andy Eppler, 21 and the walking, talking portrait of confidence, is very aware of that and didn't let the warning bother him one iota.
In fact, he is taking a short break from songwriting this month precisely because he does not want to burn out.
Earlier this year, he called The A-J and announced that he was going to write and record one album of original songs every month for six consecutive months. He wound up recording for five, rather than six, months.
William Kerns
He and his girlfriend decided to get married, and a wedding demanded a lot more time-consuming planning than he had expected.
(The joy was short-lived after their honeymoon. They returned home and discovered their apartment had been burglarized.)
Eppler has a commercial music degree at South Plains College in Levelland.
More than anything, though, Eppler is a creative writer, a poet and a lyricist. And he writes a lot.
In fact, SPC songwriting professor Jay Lemon applauded his songs' quality.
"Andy is the most prolific writer ever to attend this school of songwriters, and everything he does is far above average," Lemon said.
I'm not sure how Eppler's dad, a local pastor, will take all this, but the songwriter cracked me up with recollections of early songwriting when performing at church.
He explained, "You just mix words like holy, blood, river and spirit, and you have a song." Adapting a song just involved "taking out 'baby,' and substituting 'Jesus.' "
He annoyed venue owners until they booked him. Then he'd let his original jazz-inspired folk work its magic.
The young musician said that he can perform four hours of original material.
One would assume that he has great memorization skills. Not so. Eppler keeps spiral song books close at hand for referral purposes. "My memorization is so bad that I had to cheat at school when we had quizzes about Bible verses."
If he could make a living with poems and stories, he would pursue that. He said, "Lyrics are the new poetry."
Eppler owns quite a bit of music equipment, records about eight tunes to a CD, burns about 50 of them, rubber stamps an image on the outside and sells them for $5 each at his gigs.
That's a bargain for friends used to downloading whatever they want to hear off the Internet for $1 a song.
The response has been great. His CDs sell.
As for recording 40 originals in five months, Eppler freely admits, "I did that as a promotional stunt."
The stunt worked.
But it's not like he's trying to land a recording contract. Rather, his dream is that his songs will be discovered and others will record them. "I'm just proving my chops, showing people what I can do."
- William Kerns
Becoming a prolific songwriter would mean nothing at all if the songs were bad.
Andy Eppler, 21 and the walking, talking portrait of confidence, is very aware of that and didn't let the warning bother him one iota.
In fact, he is taking a short break from songwriting this month precisely because he does not want to burn out.
Earlier this year, he called The A-J and announced that he was going to write and record one album of original songs every month for six consecutive months. He wound up recording for five, rather than six, months.
William Kerns
He and his girlfriend decided to get married, and a wedding demanded a lot more time-consuming planning than he had expected.
(The joy was short-lived after their honeymoon. They returned home and discovered their apartment had been burglarized.)
Eppler has a commercial music degree at South Plains College in Levelland.
More than anything, though, Eppler is a creative writer, a poet and a lyricist. And he writes a lot.
In fact, SPC songwriting professor Jay Lemon applauded his songs' quality.
"Andy is the most prolific writer ever to attend this school of songwriters, and everything he does is far above average," Lemon said.
I'm not sure how Eppler's dad, a local pastor, will take all this, but the songwriter cracked me up with recollections of early songwriting when performing at church.
He explained, "You just mix words like holy, blood, river and spirit, and you have a song." Adapting a song just involved "taking out 'baby,' and substituting 'Jesus.' "
He annoyed venue owners until they booked him. Then he'd let his original jazz-inspired folk work its magic.
The young musician said that he can perform four hours of original material.
One would assume that he has great memorization skills. Not so. Eppler keeps spiral song books close at hand for referral purposes. "My memorization is so bad that I had to cheat at school when we had quizzes about Bible verses."
If he could make a living with poems and stories, he would pursue that. He said, "Lyrics are the new poetry."
Eppler owns quite a bit of music equipment, records about eight tunes to a CD, burns about 50 of them, rubber stamps an image on the outside and sells them for $5 each at his gigs.
That's a bargain for friends used to downloading whatever they want to hear off the Internet for $1 a song.
The response has been great. His CDs sell.
As for recording 40 originals in five months, Eppler freely admits, "I did that as a promotional stunt."
The stunt worked.
But it's not like he's trying to land a recording contract. Rather, his dream is that his songs will be discovered and others will record them. "I'm just proving my chops, showing people what I can do."
- William Kerns
POEM: - April 2, 2007
The Smoke of Our Fathers
Andy Eppler 06
Coffee is warm and sweet
As one sits in the evening heat surrounded by the scent of brewing rain
While inside I must abstain out here I pack pipe full
Because the people joining me are for similar purpose banished from indoor
And so as many times before I toast the top of my bowl
As I peer through the window as a peep hole to the now
The savory steam filling my mouth as I am comforted and surrounded by the smoke of our fathers
Now like a wise man in his home-town
Some smoke though greeted with frown cannot be denied as remarkable and sweet
Much as the old ways trampled by many feet have been all but forgotten
They painted portraits that rotten the new and ridiculous patterns
And now turns contemporary wisdom to folly
Yet leaving few still recalling the old though banished from indoor
Trading scholars for newer thinking and artless mind
Leaving one to think have we in kind seen the death of the thinking man?
Is there nothing left to understand? For few are seen to ponder
No mind left to wonder
Has that too been so torn asunder?
By the storm and the thunder of the busy man
Who by his will and with his hand
Has banished that which does not bend to the outside
Lost now in the wind
As the smoke of our fathers?
Andy Eppler 06
Coffee is warm and sweet
As one sits in the evening heat surrounded by the scent of brewing rain
While inside I must abstain out here I pack pipe full
Because the people joining me are for similar purpose banished from indoor
And so as many times before I toast the top of my bowl
As I peer through the window as a peep hole to the now
The savory steam filling my mouth as I am comforted and surrounded by the smoke of our fathers
Now like a wise man in his home-town
Some smoke though greeted with frown cannot be denied as remarkable and sweet
Much as the old ways trampled by many feet have been all but forgotten
They painted portraits that rotten the new and ridiculous patterns
And now turns contemporary wisdom to folly
Yet leaving few still recalling the old though banished from indoor
Trading scholars for newer thinking and artless mind
Leaving one to think have we in kind seen the death of the thinking man?
Is there nothing left to understand? For few are seen to ponder
No mind left to wonder
Has that too been so torn asunder?
By the storm and the thunder of the busy man
Who by his will and with his hand
Has banished that which does not bend to the outside
Lost now in the wind
As the smoke of our fathers?