This past Friday, my old friend Ethan Tufts was in town. After having some good lunch at Local Burger in Northampton, we headed up to Sackamusic in Conway Rock City. Ethan added some great guitar parts to Fourth Floor and Pulverized.

Me, Ethan, and our friend Bill Belina started our first band back in 1989 when we were in middle school. All we had at the time were two keyboards and drums. I aspired to be the next ‘guy from Tears For Fears’ or maybe Phil Collins with a mullet. We played music in Bill’s dad’s basement, which was lined with polka records and wood paneling. We wrote tons of songs and learned how to be a band. Gradually Bill and Ethan learned other instruments and I learned how to play keys. A couple decades have gone by, and we’ve all played in various bands, grew up, etc.

Now Ethan lives in Los Angeles, has a record label, and makes awesome music asState Shirt. He manages to come home a few times a year to visit with family and friends, and we seem to get together and collaborate on music things all these years later. It’s nice to have him be a part of this record.

Over at MassLive.com, I am the Featured Download this week. Head on over to download your copy of You Were A Cynic and Other States. They were recorded back when Mr. State Shirt himself was in town. He even played the melodica on Other States.

Lyrics to You Were A Cynic:

You were a cynic when I knew you long ago, but since then things have changed somewhat. Some years have passed and now you find yourself alone. Your time at home is bittersweet. In time, the failures that you hid inside yourself and hopes you have will coexist. But every hourglass you smashed against the wall has somehow failed to prove your point. Has somehow failed to prove your point.

Lyrics to Other States:

Every single friend of yours has moved to other states. Now every lonely evening feels the same. Who will listen to you? ‘Cause you have burned some bridges and have stepped over loose change. And now you have no-one to call who will listen to you. No one who will listen to you.

When Ethan visited Western Mass. back in October, we spent a couple of days recording two short songs and one not as short song…

You Were A Cynic (1:56)

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Other States (1:12) with Ethan on melodica

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Fight Or Flight (3:14)

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The new State Shirt cd, This Is Old was released just last month. Ethan has been busy promoting that and also scheming up some shows for himself. He and I are trying to get some sort of Matthew Larsen / State Shirt / ??? tour happening in late Spring…

Ethan loops things.