Here's yet another tune you can download as we're working on putting a live digital album together- this time it's Hot Mess- give it a listen, download and share- 

A friend of mine, photographer Jon Blacker has done this great photo book in black and white using an infrared camera.  It's been a labour of love for quite a few years, and it's about to be released to the public.

You can check out the details and some of the portraits here:  Musical Ink 

The book is available for pre-orders now here's the Amazon Canada link - 

And if you are not in Canada here's the links for you at Amazon and Borders. 

By way of example for what you're getting here is his shot of yours truly:

Here's how my mind works- some thoughts on a rock star's vampiric lifestyle filtered through the imagery of the movie Near Dark, let lyrics simmer for ten years until a guitar player comes up with the perfect riff:

A final preview from the Cut Loose and Live Album due out at the end of March

Here's a song about a girl who drinks too much...

Life Gets in the Way, another one from Cut Loose and Live (yeah, we changed the album title)

Two artists I love have been turning up in my news feeds this week.

The first - Iggy Pop, new album coming from Iggy and the Stooges. Which is pretty cool, even if the album was to suck, because he's determined to write and record because-

"a real fucking group... they also make fucking records. They don't just go and twiddle around on stage to make a bunch of fucking money" Iggy Pop

That my friends, is fucking awesome. But what I'm really hoping for is a tour date I can go to, because Iggy in full throttle, no holds barred, batshit performance mode is an amazing and beautiful thing.

Thinking about that led me to this cool live set Sadistic Summer Live 2011 - Iggy & The Stooges 

Yeah he's still got it.

The second- the passing of Stompin' Tom. The east coast crusty Canadian cowboy is gone. Our country pours out it's love. Canada seems a little sadder now. I got into Stompin' Tom in my early 20's, around the same time I was going crazy over Dwight Yoakam and Marty Stuart. 

Tom was uniquely ours, I don't think anyone ever wrote more songs about Canada, and certainly not about the rural regions and working class towns. He was the voice of our country. 

Realizing all my Stompin' Tom stuff is on greasy old cassette tapes, I grabbed this 70's set Stompin' Tom Connors (Live At the Horseshoe) - Stompin' Tom Connors Give it a listen- if you like old school country you should own this album.

Yeah, yeah, I know - Nick Cave and Tom Waits again.... nothing new from me exactly.

Spending lots of time with the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds record, research, you understand,  to prepare for when he hits T.O. Push the Sky Away -  is kind of on the quiet side for my taste - I was kinda hoping for way more loud. Check it out, see what ya think.  BUT - watching the live from L.A. show on youtube was awesome, once they put the new album to bed and started doing the classics I was losing my mind with anticipation for when I get to see the show. Check out the finale below...

As for Tom Waits - I finally bought the live album Glitter and Doom - Live (Bonus Track Version)  Fantastic performances and the 35 minutes of Tom Tales are hilarious and worth the price of the record. Definitely recommended! 

All right- something I can get behind. London Calling is iTunes classic album of the week. 

20 songs for $6.99- awesome. If for some silly reason you don't have this- go get it now! 

and the criticism starts- 

But anyway, here's another song from the the live album we're working on- 

Here's the first song from the upcoming album Live Trash!

Sleep My Life Away - Live Trash version.

Not sure how long it'll take to finish, but I'm working on it as fast as I can...

I sure know we did!

We brought back Jesse Dale of Buzz Deluxe back in on guitar giving us a raunchier rock and roll edge than we've had for awhile. Buzz Deluxe are hard  at work on a cool song a week release project for 2013- you should go check that out on their bandcamp site.

The Caddy show with the Howling Bullets was big bad fun, as usual- if you didn't pick up their e.p. at the show you can grab it on iTunes here- From The Public Domain - EP - The Howling Bullets

Last week we did our first show with The Hellbent Rockers which was also our first at the 3030.  Great stage they got in there. 

And we got that show on tape. I should be mixing that as I write this actually...  Once it's mixed and edited, we'll be putting that out as a live recording on our bandcamp site for sure. With maybe a few singles, or perhaps the whole thing on iTunes and stuff.

Gotta tell ya - I'm kinda loving the live stuff I can't wait to get that out there! 

Ah- one more thing, friends and lovers, sisters and brothers- just finished an interview yesterday with Life With More Cowbell go check it out if you're so inclined. 

Hope to see you back in the clubs soon.  Anyone need some Hangovers? Drop me a line, we wanna play.

~Christian 

'Hellbent & Hungover' Rockabilly Returns to the Junction w. The Hellbent Rockers & Christian D and the Hangovers - $5

2 sets from each band- a full night of rock and roll!

Elvis Presley's birthday is this week. The true king of Rock and Roll?  I say Hell Yes!

I've heard all the arguments, been in all the debates... he didn't write, well, a lot of singers didn't (and still don't) write their own songs. Carl Perkins was better- and maybe first. Yep- could be. He was just a way for Sam Phillips to repackage blues for a white audience. Yep, that could be too. 

But here's the thing- Elvis grabbed the popular imagination like no one else before him. The voice, the songs, the look. The newly minted hordes of bored post-war suburban teens. Everything came together and he was struck by lightning.

The first real rock star. I mean just look at this:

I was probably about 10 years old the first time I saw this clip and was blown away. Every kid I knew could do an Elvis impersonation- long, long after this hit in 1956.

The slow section still fucking kills me. I must have heard this song thousands of times by now. And I know I'll hear it thousands more. 

If you don't have any early Elvis- I'd start here:

And then here:

or if you're hooked on CDs still:

Go get it!

If you were lucky enough to get gift cards for Xmas here's were you can use 'em for Hangovers!

Amazon Store - Christian D and the Hangovers

iTunes-  

Christian D singles from Beat Up Guitars on iTunes-

The Cramps are absolutely one of my favourite goddamned bands of all time. My favourite album? I can't pick just one.

Honestly, I can't do it and here's why. Technology. When I was much younger, I used to get all my music on vinyl or cassette. Those were the 2 main options. Vinyl sounded better, and LOOKED a thousand times better (I really miss the 12 inch album cover)  but portability sucked. So cassettes would be in the walkman, in the greasy boomboox at work (I was a cook for a lotta years, see) and in the car. 

So I'd buy whichever format was cheaper, usually, but  the vinyl for stuff I loved. And I fuckin' loved the Cramps. Still do. If a psycho blend of punk rock and rockabilly sounds like your kinda thing then the Cramps are simply essential. Buy their stuff. All of it. IMMEDIATELY. 

Anyway- back to my favourite Cramps offering. There's two albums I'd call my favourite, only I basically think of them as one record. 

Date with Elvis from 1986 and the 1990 record Stay Sick! I had these copied on a 90 minute cassette, and would jam the tape in and just let it play on repeat basically forever. So after the cover of Charlie Feathers' It's Just That Song, I expect to hear Bop Pills. And when Muleskinner Blues ends, I want to hear How Far Can Too Far Go? 

That's just the way it is for me. Even now that I'm listening to stuff either on a computer, or my phone just as likely, I always play these albums back to back as one complete, fantastic, listening experience. 

Go give it a try- it makes perfect sense to me. 

We've gone through a fair number of guitar players over the past few years. People come, people go, move on, get busy with other bands, or sometimes life just gets in the way.

To start out 2013 we're lucky to be bringing back Jesse James Dale of Buzz Deluxe. ( who are, by the way, starting a really cool new song a week project over on their  bandcamp).

Jesse's got a long history with the Hangovers- he was  kinda our fifth Beatle at the start. He produced the first two Christian D and the Hangovers releases, and done quite a few shows as a Hangover a few years ago. 

Come on out in January, and watch Jesse tear it up on stage again with the Hangovers! 

In an effort to talk about something OTHER than my own music, or this band or my dog,  I thought I'd start writing about some of my favourite things. Music that I love, books that I think are cool, whatever. 

Here's the first thing. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds  album Your Funeral...My Trial This came out in 1986 and immediately on the first listen it became one of my favourite records of all time. 

It still is. I've been playing this thing for 26 years, and have yet to get bored. It's starts of sweetly, gently with Sad Waters, followed by Cave classic The Carny. Hard On For Love is as raunchy as you'd expect ending with some classic Cave guttural moaning. 

I think this is the best of the early Bad Seeds albums, although I love them all. This one strikes me as perfect. If there's an album I ever wanted to cover from start to finish, this might be it.

I've owned it on vinyl, blew out three cassetes, have the original on CD and bought the recently remastered version from iTunes. It's a classic, and if you like dark music and don't own this you are completely nuts.

Welcome to the annual Cadillac Lounge Rock'n Roll Kickoff! If the Mayans were right, we're playing this show anyways. You can't stop rock'n roll and we're gonna party rightly, impolitely, and if possible...all nightly! 
The high octane rock'n roll sounds of Christian D. & the Hangovers shall have you shakin' it and leavin' it all over the dance floor. Their murderous tunes, rockabilly stompers, and trashy tunes are all in store for your start to 2013! 

Special guests for the evening are the Vampire Lords of Rock'n Roll, the Howling Bullets! The supernatural psycho-sounds are not for the faint of heart and contain even more blood than before!

Here's something I wrote in the shower one day. It's a quickie bedroom demo- not sure if I'll show it to the band or not!

You got someone that loves their phone more than you? Tell 'em to get unconnected!

Saturday January 12  we'll be hitting the stage of The Cadillac Lounge!  

What killer band are we playing with? Who's gonna be rocking the guitar in the Hangovers? 

Stay tuned, and we'll let you know...

Over at now this sound is brave Toronto rocker Christian D talks about Bruce Sterling and Nick Cave and combines the two greatest beverages in the world: scotch and coffee.

We've reduced our prices over at bandcamp from now until Christmas. the full length Shake It or Leave It is just 5$ and the two 2012 ep releases are just $1 and $2. 

If you dig into the albums there's a few name your price (you can enter $0) songs as well. 

Go check it out- Christian D on bandcamp

We're gonna have our song Shimmy Shorts  on this great Canadian comp CD by Let's Riot Music! 

The Thanksgiving giveaway of Shake it or Leave it it over. For everyone who snagged it- hope you enjoy it! 

If your one of those old-fashioned types that like physical copies- you can get that over here:

And of course you can still get everything digitally over on our bandcamp site, itunes etc. Hope y'all had a great weekend!