BLOG
May 20, 2013
‹Prev
Play/Pause
Next›
Born
0:00
*The cover art uses a vintage slide from the early 20th century. Chinese characters = daughter. Instruments and found objects played and recorded by Matt Ammerman. Song mixed by Chris Ploeg.
Apr 14, 2013
DOWNLOAD - All I Have To Do Is Dream
All I Have To Do Is Dream (by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant - 1958)
Dream, dream, dream, dream
Dream, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream, dream, dream, dream
When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away
I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away
I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream, dream, dream, dream
Dream, dream, dream, dream
* This cover of the Everly Brothers song, All I Have to Do is Dream, was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1958 and is performed by some members of the Glory Singers (Darren Spitzer, Matt Ammerman, Rocco Labriola and Jeremy Lindsay).
Mar 29, 2013
-
‹Prev
Play/Pause
Next›
Love You
0:00
If I could love you
Put nothing above you
If I could love you
Bring the stars down to hug you
Truth is I'm trying
There's no point denying
If I could love you, I would
*The cover art uses an illustration from A Popular Treatise On Comets (1861) by James C. Watson. This song was mixed by Chris Ploeg.
Mar 1, 2013
-
‹Prev
Play/Pause
Next›
Epiphany
0:00
DOWNLOAD - Epiphany
The cover art uses a drawing done by Thomas Merton which appears in the book Dialogues with Silence. If you'd like to learn more about Thomas Merton you might like his book, The Seven Story Mountain.
DOWNLOAD - Sriracha Surfing
Feb 25, 2013
DOWNLOAD - Going To See Jesus
Going to see Jesus
I can’t land anywhere but on my feet
Got fifteen hours to make both ends meet
Got fifteen hours to get my debt paid
Got fifteen hours before my luck runs away
Thought I’d move to Vegas, there I’d change my name
A city built on dollars, the author of my shame
Barely paid my ticket, could only afford one
Gave it to the driver but my boy had a gun
I’m going to see Jesus but not just how I planned
Didn’t get there in my rocker but by someone else's hand
Don’t borrow from the rich man he’ll make you think he cares
You’re gonna meet your maker, the rich man sends you there
I don’t have no comfort cause they know where I am
I may be a fool but I won’t die by my own hand
They caught me praying by the window sill
Reached into my pocket, pulled out a dollar bill
I’m going to see Jesus but not just how I planned
Didn’t get there in my rocker but by someone else's hand
Don’t borrow from the rich man he’ll make you think he cares
You’re gonna meet your maker, the rich man sends you there
* This is a Glory Singers Recording and also features: Darren Spitzer (vocals/guitar), Jeremey Lindsay (vocals/guitar), Josh Kalmus (vocals/guitar) and Rocco Labriola (pedal steel).
Feb 19, 2013
DOWNLOAD - Make The World Go Away
Make The World Go Away (by Hank Cochran - 1963)
Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away
Do you remember when you loved me
Before the world took you away
Well if you do, then forgive me
And make the world, make it go away
Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away
Now I'm sorry if I hurt you
Let me make it up to you day by day
And if you will please forgive me
And make the world, make it go away
Make the world go away
Get it off my shoulder
Say the things we used to say
And make the world, make it go away
* Recording also features: Darren Spitzer (vocals), Rocco Labriola (dobro) and Jason Miller (lead guitar)
Feb 12, 2013
DOWNLOAD - Circle Of Light
Circle of Light
Oh light up in the sky
Would you take me high?
Up over the hill
To a place that has no pills
I walked into the woods
Where no man ever stood
Took off all my cloths
Speaking words nobody knows
Light up in the sky
Take me high
In the stratosphere
Away from here
All the people of the earth
Oh everybody hurts
Our bodies and our minds
Please give us a sign
Take these bones and dirt
We've stumbled on since birth
Put them in your ship
Come on get on with it
Light up in the sky
Take me high
In the stratosphere
Away from here
Circle of Light
In the middle of the night
Erase my wounds
With your sonic boom
And when I come
In one thousand years
I'll be no more alone
With nobody here
Feb 11, 2013
DOWNLOAD - Only Lonely (Acoustic)
Only Lonely
When the dial tone is just a robot’s moan
that makes you feel alone, I feel it too
When there’s no spark on your radar heart
and everything’s gone dark for you
If you’ve been drinking more than thinking
I’m only lonely for you
Feb 8, 2013
-
‹Prev
Play/Pause
Next›
Sideways
0:00
DOWNLOAD - Sideways
Sideways
Wish you'd find me sitting in a tree and say
you come down here right next to me
and we would talk like two friends who always know
where you're going to and when your coming home
But I know you only in my prayers
Jesus tells me that its only fair
To lift you up though I don't know your name
I'm a firecracker waiting for your flame
Now you see me sideways
Guess it started with funny little things
I'd pull the fire alarm just to hear it ring
And watch you running out of your room
your pretty legs the color of the moon
And when I'd draw a symbol on your door
you'd take it off so I'd draw 100 more
and break the window of the car next door
to get your attention with the beeping of the horn
Now you see me sideways
Now when you see me walking down the hall
You know its me from the midnight calls
I'll be standing out in front of you work
you're going home with some other jerk
The above image is a portion of the painting "Sunset" by Nicholas Roerich
DOWNLOAD - Far Away Places
Far away places (by Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer - 1948)
Far away places with strange sounding names
Far away over the sea
Those far away places with the strange sounding names are
Calling, Calling me
Goin' to China or maybe Siam
I wanna see for myself
Those far away places I've been reading about in a
Book that I took from a shelf
I start getting' restless whenever I hear the whistle of a train
I pray for the day I can get underway
And look for those castles in Spain
They call me a dreamer
Well maybe I am
But I know that I'm burning to see those
Far away places with the strange sounding names
Calling, calling me
Recording also features: Darren Spitzer (vocals) and Rocco Labriola (dobro)
Aug 31, 2012
* photo by Matt Ammerman
Seven Years
You wonder what is going on
Well my cheeks are thin and my beard is long
I’d give my soul to see you once again
I gave you up for some crevasse
and undulating mountaintops
Tonight I guess I’ll see you in my dreams
Lift me up and back again
I hang by another’s hands
Seven Years and nothing more
I fostered this evil guilt
and hid it in some temple built
in a place, I’ve never been before
To this disappearing mountaintop
I shimmied up but couldn’t stop
and now I find I’m at the end of my line
I lift my head to see it rise
but nothing comes into my eyes
love tell me, am I almost out of time?
Saw the Dali Lama’s eyes
made a flag of bright sun rise
but I feel a man is nothing, if he’s not home
City blocks and tiny homes
how could I ever feel alone
embrace me my friend
and bow to the one’s that you know
Falling objects, I’ve fallen once again
but this time deeper then I’ve ever gone
your god stands erect, but mine can’t barely stand
for I’ve scarified him for this rock I’m on
Apr 14, 2012
* Hello Hammerheads vs Music as Math
DOWNLOAD - Someone's Following Me
A portion of Someone's Following Me was used by Heather Arment in an Amazon Kindle video.
Someone's Following Me
I gotta feeling someone's following me
I can't see them but I got to believe
They've got more friends than sisters and brothers
They've got more guts than fathers and mothers
When I get home, I'm not alone
When I drink my coffee I'm not on my own
I got see-thru hands spoonin' sugar for me
I know it sounds crazy but you've got to believe me
You've really got to believe me
Got my radio tuned to Coast To Coast
They say there’s no harm in a lonely ghost
Well that is true, no one’s bothering me
I’m easy going and my schedule is free
See I wrote this song cause its getting dark
the phone’s not ringing i don’t know where you are
God I hope there’s something I can’t see
I hope there’s someone looking out for you and me
I've gotta feeling someone's followin' me...
* photo by Teddy Wachholz
City Gal
I want you if its the last thing I do
Ooooo City Gal, City Gal
I want you if its the last thing I do
Ooooo City Gal, City Gal
I grabbed a train now I'm elevated
up on the tracks of love
hold my frustrations back at the station
I will be riding high above
I want you if its the last thing I do
Ooooo City Gal, City Gal
I want you if its the last thing I do
Ooooo City Gal, City Gal
Up on the train I'm guessing her name
she's down in a bar below
I get off the stop and walk down the block
Gonna make friends with everybody she knows
Ooooooooo City Gal, City Gal
* photo by Teddy Wachholz
Pole Star Blues
Last night I saw an Indian's ghost in the shadow of my front door
He said, "boy you're livin' on my bones and I'm gonna have to settle the score."
Either way tomorrow honey won't be round here no more
Which way does the wind blow?
Which way does the wind blow?
Which way does the wind blow?
...and that's the way I'm going
Lately my dream catcher's only catchin' all of my good dreams
Dragging my ass throughout the day and at night I lay awake in my sleep
If I don't find my pole star baby won't be nothin left of me
Which way does the wind blow?
Which way does the wind blow?
Which way does the wind blow?
...and that's the way I'm going
I know that its a bummer that you don't have my number
But I can not risk talking to you
Its not me baby it is you
* Hello Hammerheads vs Music as Math
Dead Pets
Sitting in a parking lot
with promises that you forgot
God this is a lonely place
and by the look on your face
its safe to assume that
I’ve been replaced
Oh haven’t you heard
I’m just bones and fur
Put to sleep for a trick that i couldn’t learn
Am I nothing but a dead pet?
Is heaven filled with all your friends?
And do you count me one of them?
Or do you plan to bury me behind your house
Away from where the kids come out
in a tiny little grave
a creature that no one could save
I meant it... all these years of crying out
for you to make life meaningful
and me, more than an animal
If I didn’t make it
I’m nothing but a dead pet
Oh if I didn’t make it
Don’t want to be a dead pet
No!
Dec 8, 2011
Glory Singers
Sometimes I play with this band called the Glory Singers. Want to hear some Glory Singers music? Click here.
The Glory Singers are a musical group consisting of rotating members from various Chicago musicians. The mind-child of Darren Spitzer (The Changes) and Rocco Labriola (Cracklin Moth, Van Ghost) the Glory Singers usually play original songs (written by its members) or dreamy old-time covers by such artist as The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams Senior, The Soul Stirrers and Eddie Arnold.
Other members of the Glory Singers typically seen at shows include: Josh Kalmus, Josh Seib (Satelite 66), Jeremey Lindsey (JT & The Clouds, JT Nero), Matt Ammerman (Hello Hammerheads, Cracklin Moth), John Kimler, and Chad Cheatham The Glory Singers have normally performed in Chicago at venues like Schubas and the Burlington.
Want to visit Glory Singers on Facebook? Click here.
Aug 8, 2011
A Little About Hello Hammerheads: Greatest Hits!
THE ALBUM
During one of our survival weekends camping in the woods in Michigan, Chris Ploeg and I started to talk about what to do after Cracklin Moth. Chris, a drummer, producer, recording engineer and occasional song-writer, had dedicated literally years of his time to recording two EPs with me and my former band, Cracklin Moth. Having played at least 50 shows in and around Chicago with the band, as well as recording 2 EPs with which I couldn’t have been happier with some really generous, talented musicians, I was interested in devoting more time to my real passion: recording.
I knew I wanted to do a full album that meshed my melodic song-writing style with my favorite subject matters: love, God, nature, bears, and prehistoric animals. Chris had recently introduced me to some great electronic music and instruments, and we figured we could throw those things in too. The result: We made music that sounded electronic. We made music that sounded like Big Foot. We dubbed this new direction "Hairy-Atari Music".
Channeling synth bands (Depeche Mode, Postal Service, Dave Bazan's Headphones, The Notwist, Active Child, Washed Out, Twin Shadows, LCD Soundsystem etc.), we spent the past few years messing with new gear and programs and writing and recording songs.
Lyrically, I can say every word on this album has a personal connection. Many songs have blended meanings and histories. ‘Fangs’ deals with a person who has burned his last bridge and run out of friends. ‘Only Lonely’ speaks of yearning to hear from a silent God and to be with a distant mate. ‘Wars’ looks at the thin line between physical war and a disastrous relationships. ‘Shallow’ expresses fear of not knowing what you're doing with your life and a hope that perhaps it isn't too late to change. ‘Hands’ explores faith and the irony of following without being able to see what's up ahead. ‘Clouds’ tries to explain depression to a committed lover. ‘Bear Hugs’ conveys a commitment to a relationship and the struggle to stay together even when it seems that couples around keep splitting up. ‘Dead Pets’ is a sincere lament by someone who wants to be accepted and wants to believe that they really have a soul after all.
This is the best summary I can come up with for what we've done here. We're glad to be done with it, and hope you can both connect with and be entertained by it at the same time.
- Matt Ammerman
THE COVER ART
The artwork for Hello Hammerheads: Greatest Hits! was created by the photographer Barry Underwood. I flipped through hundreds of images online and in magazines and was instantly engaged by Barry's work. His subjects have been described as “typically modified natural landscapes”.
I felt like Barry's work complemented the blending of the organic subject matter and electronic presentation found on Hello Hammerheads: Greatest Hits! Barry’s work has been featured in Real Simple Magazine and the London Times Spectrum. If you want to see more of his wonderful artwork check out the following sites.
