Mountain Meadows Massacre

[Feedbacker]

Not sure if this is common place around here but oh well.

I play in a band and if you fine folks wanted to look into it, that'd be...pretty cool.

www.myspace.com/mountainmeadowsmassacre

We're a 7 piece from Harrison, AR and we've been playing music together for almost 6 months now. Many of us have been friends for years upon years, and all of us have been playing music since before we were teenagers (Ages of members only range from 18 to 21....but still!).

Give us a listen and let me know what you think. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Cirtur]

I liked it. The vocals on Ferris Wheel aren't really to my taste but I'm not really into folk music. Which would you say was your best song?

[Feedbacker]

"Come Back Home" and "Conversation, 1992" are our most popular. But I'm partial to "We Were Spared (The Great Revival)"

We have some new stuff written that we will be debuting at a local music fest on the 16th. Hopefully we can get a recorded version of them up soon.

[Rainbow]

Oh, my goodness! I must say, I was not expecting good music at the end of that link, but you guys are truly fantastic! That's the best use of a banjo I have ever heard in music. Do you have an album, because if you do I will find a way to buy it? I really like We Were Spared and Come Back Home, but all those songs are just authentically good folkrock. Beautiful. Oooh, so nice!

[Feedbacker]

Oh, my goodness! I must say, I was not expecting good music at the end of that link, but you guys are truly fantastic! That's the best use of a banjo I have ever heard in music. Do you have an album, because if you do I will find a way to buy it? I really like We Were Spared and Come Back Home, but all those songs are just authentically good folkrock. Beautiful. Oooh, so nice!

Thank you very very much! What you're hearing banjo-wise is Heath, who is probably the single most talented musician I have ever met in my life. He still finds ways to astound me, even after all the years I've known him. Haha.

As of right now all that we have recorded are the four songs currently on our MySpace. If you wanted it badly enough I could mail you a copy of that demo. I wouldn't charge you. Just so long as you promise to show all of your friends and get us a cult following wherever you live. Hah.

We almost broke up in February but lately we've been getting back in the swing of things, so I hope we'll be kicking it into high gear again.

[Lethal Interjection]

I was actually quite surprised to. At how terrible it was. Hurtful, no?

It also isn't true. I didn't expect several things about it. I expected a very different style of music. Your pictures (avatar and elsewhere) gave the stereotypical idea of metal, which I don't dig. So, like Rainbow, I didn't necessarily expect to hear something good (quality-wise, random linkings to bands don't usually result in good music), and I didn't expect to hear something I'd like, musically.
Both were incorrect. Actually, I wouldn't have bothered, but Rainbow mentioning banjo intrigued me. I have a soft-spot for non-characteristic instruments.
You guys are definitely talented. I also love the banjo, but the other instruments are well played too. The writing, both lyrically and musically is really good. The first song is just really well imagined, with the clapping and chorus singing. A very complete song, and I really like it. Actually, on second listen the second song is quite complete as well. The fact that you guys are just at demo stage and you already have songs that complete is a real testament to your talent.
My only criticism would be that the vocals are a bit rough at points. Not rough enough, though,* for me not to give you guys multiple listens. In fact, if mp3s were available, I would avail myself of them. Throw them on my iPod when I make that purchase.

*That was a lot of -oughs, and done unintentionally.

[mountainmage]

Hmm. Interesting. I like it.

[LordRetard]

Actually reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as a local bluegrass group. I don't listen to much that's not metal but I make exceptions whenever anything's good, and I can see keeping tabs on what you're up to. Keep us posted.

[Feedbacker]

Yet again, thank you all for the kind words, and Lethal, I've never gone from happy to sad so many times while reading any one post.

Way to notice the NMH influence. They play a big role in a lot of the music that is written.

As of right now we only have one show and it's this next Saturday, as I already mentioned earlier, at a big local festival. We're getting paid $500 and could be playing to upwards of a thousand or so people.

As someone who also primarily listens to metal it is a bit odd playing in a folk-esque band, but I have a lot of fun. Everyone in the band has been friends for years, so we can act like complete goofballs around each other. This is what most of our practices look like;





I really hope that after this next show we can record some more stuff. I'd love to have a good quality full length album out. At the end of the summer though our drummer and one of our guitarists will be going to a college in a city about an hour away from Harrison, and our keyboardist might be moving to Texas. The four of us left have proved that we can function on our own, but it is nice having them around. We also might be adding a violinist to the line-up, so there's that to look forward to as well.

EDIT: And for anyone wondering, those pictures were taken during the recording of the demo, in which we locked ourselves in the banjo players cabin out in the woods for a couple of days. No lie.

[mountainmage]

Is there anything good in Arkansas besides you guys?

[Feedbacker]

Honestly...not really. :\

If it weren't for my small group of friends that I love deeply, I'd move far away.

Although in the spring and summertime it does tend to get awfully beautiful around here.

[mountainmage]

My mom's friend's daughter lives in AR, and she hates it because she's in the middle of nowhere and it's an hour to anywhere she needs/wants to go.

[Lethal Interjection]

Lethal, I've never gone from happy to sad so many times while reading any one post.

Happy to oblige? I really only intended to make you sad once.
I hope it at least left you on a happy note.
What I didn't end off with, though I considered it, was that I would seriously consider paying for your music. Which I think says enough itself. I mean, I did just listen to each of those songs 3 or more times (and, for the record, multiple listens have increased my opinion in the positive direction).
If it was priced reasonably*, and easy to get**, I'd plunk out some money for your music.

* I mean at par with standard CD costs or whathaveyou. I'm not even talking about uber-cheap, bargain-basement pricing.
**I have no PayPal, so going that route would require me being motivated enough to set it up. If you do ever plan a wider release of your music, try CDBaby. I've purchased with them before, and it seems like a great company that really supports independent artists.

[Feedbacker]

Don't suppose you happen to know in what part of the state she's in, eh? The northwest part (where Harrison is located) isn't too terrible. It's really pretty and I've met lots of good people here. We're nestled right in the middle of the Ozarks which is part of the Boston Mountains. Over in the northeast there's Jonesboro, but not much other than that (although ASU at Jonesboro has the number one ranked Journalism department in the nation), and Central Arkansas (around Conway and Little Rock) is interesting enough. Everywhere else though in this state suuuucks.

The worst part about living in Arkansas is the terrible generalizations that people make about me. I really thought that the whole "all people from Arkansas are illiterate, Republican, racist and practice incest and bestiality " wasn't as true as popular media made it out to be. But it is.

But it all plays a big part in what MMM has to offer. I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything, even though it means growing up in Arkansas. And I know that we'd all like to show people that there are good people all over and to hopefully dispel some nasty rumours about the South.

Lethal;

You left me on a very happy note. No worries.

Like I've said before we only have those rough demos up for right now and if you wanted them badly enough I'll send you a little burnt copy of it for no charge. Just so long as you burn lots of copies of it and whore it out to your friends and help get us a following.

And thank you yet again for the kind words. They really really do mean a lot.

[Lethal Interjection]

Would you or your band have any problem with me using Audigy to record the tracks from your myspace page? Because I may consider doing that in the future.