I just finished this poster for a show happening next month. It should be fun. Once upon a time, in the 90s, there was a band called Marcus Hook. The name comes from a little burg in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania. It is known for its oil refineries and bleak horizon. Marcus Hook's bandmembers dispersed to the far reaches of Maryland, Delaware, San Francisco and somewhere in PA (not Marcus Hook). They produced many CDs and records (on Neck Records) and played many fine shows. Although Marcus Hook is long gone, its members play in The Barons, Tube Dutch, Caterpillar, etc. Most of the members will play during this show here in Wilmington on July 6, hence the flyer. The brothers Duvall are an interesting act. I'm hoping Al plays his banjo and Andy hits a skull and fire alarm with his drum sticks while he taunts the crowd. But I expect the unexpected. A band called Smashing Orange once featured Rick from Tube Dutch, but that was long after he and The Baron's Kurt played in Your Worst Nightmare and The Stiffs back when Stiffs singer Rich could thrash a party and threaten everyone within arms length wearing a lunatic grimace and a Madonna T-shirt.

This drawing is the back of the new ALLEGED BRICKS/THE BARONS CD I drew for them from a variety of sources. Notice the Wilmington skyline on one side (that's where The Barons are from) and the DC skyline on the other (ALLEGED BRICKS' hometown). The skinheads and clothes are sort of a throwback to earlier eras, but I like the feeling of the punk rock community on their street. And the humble fellow observing the scene is kind of wondering which way to go: Should he return back with his skinhead homies or chat with the ladies who seem to be more interested in the punk rockers? I guess we can all write our own scenario. Life looks like fun in Punkrockville! Although the Delaware Memorial Bridge does not take you directly to Washington, D.C., there is a pretty big link between our nation's capital and the Wilmington music scene. Minor Threat's DIY ethic lives on in many bands and local lables like Neck Records. The Bad Brains still interest me to no end. These connections between these cities and people carry the lifeblood of music and culture that makes my tiny spot in the vast Eastern sprawl an interesting place to be these days.

Here is my cover from the new CD by The Barons and Alleged Bricks. They are a couple of local bands that have teamed up to spread Oi! to the world. I painted it in gouache, which is a type of paint I'm just beginning to enjoy. I like that The Barons sing about people getting along. Mostly they sing about drinking beer, but they always have an underlying theme of racial harmony and justice for the working man. Somehow they've wrestled the old-school punk rock sound back from the Nazis, who took it over for a few years there, and are making it fun again for people like me who just want to hear some straight-ahead rock and roll. The Barons have a sound somewhere between Foghat and the Rev. Horton Heat, and that's just what I need on a Saturday night at midnight to go along with my pint.