Torn Page

by RJ Williams

Music has been in existence for more than 50,000 years. Every civilization since from the Middle Ages until now has created sounds. And though at first these sounds were crudely made, it’s evident that soon man discovered ways to organize these sounds by adding elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics and qualities of timbre and texture. Wall art depicting some of the instruments used in creating sounds have been preserved down to our day. Horns, drums and bag pipes are the oldest visual images unearthed by archeologist. Of course these instruments have since evolved to a high degree.

Music is not only our chosen medium when expressing joy, boredom, and even anger, but to the arts, music (though abstract in its form) plays a role so fundamental that it has become something beyond any philosophical puzzle we might entertain. It is now acclaimed as a major force, with a universal language that transcends any genre.

And, though as a society we’ve yet to agree on a unifying definition as to what music is, (and likely never will) we concede to music being a sound worth hearing, that it makes us feel good, and that it has the power to break-down political, social, and ethnic boundaries.

Music has undergone many changes. We can now access music through performance, on the airwaves, CD’s and MP3. This access gives us insight into the workings of the music industry, not to mention a sideline view into the lives of many talented musicians in the world as they create great music for our entertainment.

While independent artists still find the job of getting commercial airplay daunting, they can now enjoy the benefits of owning their own labels and the internet has proven to be a preferred medium for music distribution. Independent artist can now sell their music from their private websites, putting social network sites such as MySpace and Face Book to good use.

As a journal, we’ve proposed from our very first issue that our artistic choices will luxuriate in the certainty that all artist are deserving of a forum and that Indie is not just a label, but a movement—nonexclusive—to which all artists are invited.

Torn Page is one such band. Arley, Dan, and Joe come to us from the Southwestern part of the United States. “We’re in West Texas—midway between El Paso and Fort Worth in an area called The Permian Basin, once a prehistoric inland sea. "Joe lives in Midland and Arley, lead vocals, lives outside of Midland on the Shorty Mae Ranch. Dan lives twenty miles away in Odessa."

Clearly, putting out an album is a monumental task for any musician. Getting each song as tight as possible before the final recording is an important aspect of the process. It could take as little as weeks, months, to a full year, sometimes more. I asked Arley to take us through their process.

“It starts with me recording the rhythm, bass, keys, and lead vocals. Then we usually record Dan’s lead and have Joe lay the drum tracks last. Somewhere in between this process we get Joe and Dan to record the backup vocals on the songs that have them. Nether Vein was fun because we all three did the hand-claps and backups. You can actually hear us bump the microphone stand at one point. Other bands would have redone it, but I liked the raw quality of it as did the guys so we left it in there. The songs on the album span years, I have a large body of work and the next few albums will also be comprised mostly of stuff I wrote long ago. The actual mechanics took seven months because we could only get together on weekends and a lot of times weren’t able to even then.”

Much like John Lennon whose first band was called the 'Blackjacks,' (I believe that name lasted a week before they changed it to-The Quarry Men.) similarly, their band had a different name before Arley settled on Torn Page.

“Joe and I have been playing together since 1971. The group I had back then was called ‘The Brimstone Cult’. I needed a good drummer. My cousin who played lead for me was renting a small house in back of a larger one which happened to be occupied by Joe’s father-in-law. Joe and his wife were visiting one day and heard us playing in back. Joe introduced himself and it wasn’t long until he joined us.”

Dan, the band’s lead guitarist, met Arley at the Midland International Airport while flying to Kansas City. As he puts it, “Arley was sitting with a guitar case in his hand, and looked very nervous. I grew up flying since my Mother worked for Braniff Airlines, and I always could spot a nervous flier. I asked him what kind of guitar he had and he took it out.” Arley apparently needed to smoke a cigarette but due to security issues he couldn't leave. “When he handed me his guitar, I played a little on it and commented on how nice of an acoustic he had. Arley said I had good fingers, and asked if I would be interested in playing lead with him, since he was looking for a lead guitar player.”

If it didn’t work out, they both assumed that at the very least a friendship would be made and so they exchanged phone numbers. “I knew this was going to be more than an airport chat,” Dan continues. “I called him when I got back from Kansas City and have been playing with Arley and Joe since.”

 

 

 

 

 

Arley, Dan And Joe have a great chemistry. Though the music and the lyrics on their debut album were written by Arley, Joe and Dan are also songwriters. Their first CD, From Now On, has been described by Dylan J Morgan, a Dark Fiction author who acquired the album on Myspace, as having “Tight rhythms, melodic leads, and well-constructed vocals––Torn Page has everything you want in a modern-day rock band.”

The thing is . . . I wasn’t surprised, and since getting my hands on the CD, I could'nt agree more. But my opinion isn’t exclusive. From Now On has resonated with all who have sampled the album.

“Who are these guys?” Asked Jon Walton, an unsuspecting passenger in my car when he heard Jupiters Nightone, one of my favorite tracks on the album. “They kind of remind me of the Beatles,” he concluded, and I had to agree—the composition was playful and the lyrics had a fictional quality, much like The Beatles' Yellow Submarine.

“I wrote that back in the eighties. I was in an oddball mood, fooling around on my brother-in-law’s Casio keyboards, and it literally just popped out. I originally planned to change ‘Jupiter night’ for some other type of night because I didn’t want anyone to think it had some sort of reference to the mythical god, which of course it doesn’t. But every time I played it I just kept picturing this greenhorn sailor underneath the stars, excited about his maiden voyage and actually being able to see the planet, so I left it in. So glad you like it, by the way!”

More unsolicited reviews came from Maria Pelczar (a good friend and colleague). We’d just picked up some lunch and were on our way back to our office when Girl In White came on, just as we were parking. We had to stay and eat in the car because she requested that we stay and listen to the full album. Once the CD had stopped she said, “I could watch a whole movie with this sound track.” When I asked him how he manages all the things he does, not the least of which is working on the farm, he replied: “My wife, Cristi, and her partner Steve run Shorty Mae’s. They stole my recipes, make me keep the books, depend on me to keep things working, and when they need me for consulting purposes my nickname is Farnsworth. When they need something fixed they call me Rufus. Can’t recall how they came up with those nicknames. As for finding the time to do everything, I have to stringently prioritize, but since I’m a hopeless workaholic I usually manage to stay on top of things.”

I have known Arley for almost two years and can attest to his being foremost a great husband, a loyal friend, and a committed musician. Needless to say, with the vast collection of songs he has written through the years, another album is soon to follow. In the meantime, this talented musician moves forward, one sure-footed step at a time.

You can pick up their CD at CDBABY, iTunes, or on their Myspace

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