Tag Archives: Bonnie Prince Billy

Thomas A Minor & The Picket Line

Posted on November 22nd, 2009
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My younger brother (he’s taller than me so I hesitate to call him my ‘little’ brother anymore), Oscar Lee Riley Parsons lives in Louisville and spends his days making leather, doing some construction, AND making music. All the shy genes went to me and my older brother, James, I reckon, cause Oscar has been a singer and performer for as long as I can remember.

And people listen. His current bluegrass-ish band has backed Bonnie Prince Billy at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, been mentioned in the New Yorker, and now they have released their own EP.

They did a small run of covers. The banjo picker Bradley did the artwork (except for the moonshine jug that I drew and added at the last minute) and I typeset it, and ran them through my press x 250 or so. I think they are really nice… and appropriate for a semi-old timey bluegrass-ish rock band.

As a side note, the band members are in charge of gluing the covers onto sleeves. The ones I received were quite straight because Oscar did them. but I heard reports of crooked gluing. Adds to the charm?

Anyways, it is wonderful to hear my little brother sing. I can’t figure out what song is my favorite, but the first track “Ain’t No Doubt About It” is a familiar story about Daddy and JC racing towards the county line to get some booze before the store closed. We hear that story every christmas from JC. I am not surprised it worked it’s way into true permanence.

I also LOVE “Magnolia” and “Back In Town”. Ok. I love all of them. I will stop listing them… go to their myspace to hear a couple of songs! and check out their facebook page!

I am proud of you Oscar!

If you want to attain a copy, try harassing the band on myspace? I think they only have local distribution out of my brother’s truck right now.

BUT if you want your copy of their release, send $10 Cash and an address to:

Oscar Parsons
713 S. Barbee Way
Louisville, Kentucky 40217

(they prefer cash but checks are ok. make it out to Bradley Reinstedler to the same address)

He will pop one in the mail to you for sure….

for info email: thepicketline at gmail dot com

It really is ALBUM OF THE YEAR. except that it’s only an EP. WE NEED MORE!!

I am goodbye, too…

Posted on March 10th, 2009
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I went to film school. That’s no secret about me. I LOVED working on films in college. I was the laborious production designer and/or editor on many films during my time at Northwestern…. There is a nice stash of VHS tapes next to my TV to proove it. Too bad the VHS may not even work anymore!

The first actual “film” I made was a collaboration with my friends John Randono and Abbey Rothstein. The assignment was to shoot on a Bolex an in camera edit which would be processed and then screened in front of class to a song of our choosing. The catch was that this screening would be the first time we would be seeing the film so there was some pressure. Long story short, our group decided on “I am a Cinematographer” by Palace to be the song and it was so perfectly in sync that I took it upon myself to contact Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy) to ask him if we could actually use his song in conjunction with the film with his official permission. Shortly I received a phone call and a yes (this was 11 years ago).

Next thing I know, by a strange pattern of coincidence, I have made two videos for Will’s “The Letting Go” record (Ebb Tide and Strange Form of Life) which were shot and edited very very very cheaply and consumerly… mostly because I believe it is the skills and the quality of the work that speaks strongest about a piece of art…. Quality doesn’t rest in the medium. does that make sense??

When Will asked me about doing a third video for his latest record “Beware”, I was excited to once again do a music video for just fun… It’s great to have a break from letterpress and print and to be able to use my eyeballs for a moving form of art… (though technically, stationery does move through the mail, right?). I pointed Will’s attention towards another college friend/filmmaker – Leif Johnson – who frequently positions his eyeballs behind lenses of film and video cameras.

I wasn’t present, but I hear that the wrap party was longer than the shoot since they only had a fraction of daylight left to get the singing and walking in…. Leif gave me the footage and about a week later, I had put this little ditty together on Final Cut Express. Just a little exercise of my college education!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5__UQbZVcMU&w=320&h=240]

That film school really is paying off…. yup… I got really good at syncing Mr. Bonny while he chomped on chewing gum singing along with himself in harmony…. I am putting THAT on my resume… Enjoy!

A shout out in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker… What???!!!

Posted on January 3rd, 2009
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This summer my little brother Oscar asked me to print tickets letterpress for a small concert he was putting together with his band, Thomas A. Minor and the Picket Line, in Kentucky. Because Bonnie Prince Billy, our good friend and patron, would be the headliner, they were sure to sell out like lightning and he reckoned that if they were printed letterpress then counterfeiting would be highly unlikely. So I obliged him.

Funtown Ticket

Funtown Ticket

It was really a bit secretive… when he gave me the wording, he didn’t even put a location on the ticket. I insisted that he needed to tell the audience what state they would be traveling to, at the very least… I mean, this wasn’t Charlie Sheen’s wedding (I did his invitations and there were all sorts of non-disclosures and I still don’t know where they got married! There wasn’t even a time on his invitations).

My other favorite part was “The Rules” on the back. I printed those on my laser so I didn’t need to dent the card twice. Since when did rules deserve such fine printing?? On the front of the ticket were the most essential restrictions. “No beer, alcohol or drugs” – only a hillbilly would not consider “beer” as a type of “alcohol”. (I can say that because I am a hillbilly.)

Anyways, those things were really not possible to fake. I put them on discontinued 100% recycled leftovers from a postcard I did for David Pajo years ago. And they had a deep clean impression with super thin type.

However, the point of this story is as follows: sometimes work one does is barely noticed at the time… maybe done for free… given with love and no expectations to family and friends. I printed the tickets and then I got to go to the show. I had to pay for my flight from Los Angeles, but I got my favorite Bonnie Prince Billy song dedicated to me and sang so lovely and then I got an amazing shout out about my work. How exciting!

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/05/090105fa_fact_sanneh?currentPage=all

Here’s what K. said…

“They asked Oscar’s sister Jennifer, who lives in Los Angeles, to print the tickets on a letterpress. She made three hundred, and they quickly disappeared from Louisville shops, at ten dollars apiece.”