August 26, 1999 ...

Please, please, please, if you can get to the Northwest without too much trouble, come see Richard and me play Sept. 5 in Salem, OR! I know it’s short notice, but this is the first booked Hadrian’s Wall show (there have been small, unannounced shows before) since our dissolution in mid-1995. We’ll work on some new material, and the Wall will finally be back to full steam by the end of the year. Album plans, hence, are pushed back to winter, but things are still on track. Personally, I’m hella excited.

June 23, 1999 ...

Now it’s more or less official ... Richard is coming to Arizona! We might start work on the album before he comes, since I’m planning a reconnaisance trip to Oregon in August, but other than that work will get fully underway in September or early October. Thanks to everyone for your patience during this nebulous and often frustrating time! With the band finally coming fully back together (albeit with a new lineup ... we’ll work with a session drummer until we find a full-time one), we’re working on our glorious five-year plan for world domination. There are rumors, too, of outside interest in our careers ... more on that later if they pan out.

Go to http://www.mp3.com/hadrianswall for soundbites, and to purchase our CDs. You can still get Haiku Road through me for $10 + $2 shipping, which is more than MP3.com will charge you, but my artwork is nicer and you get a list of  credits and such. The newest thing available at the MP3.com site is the CD single of “The Edge of the World (Neon Mix).” If you don’t like electronic or dance music at all, please don’t disappoint yourself by buying it. If, howver, you do, or at least you’re feeling adventurous, then at least give it a thought. The single has two old demo tracks of mine that I dredged up, as well as 3 Haiku Rd. album tracks.

June 1, 1999 ...

Still writing new material and practicing. Nothing more definite as regards the new project, although the Neon Mix of ‘Edge of the World’ is now complete! Visit http://cronkite.pp.asu.edu/jrn494/cdevine/project/ and go to the music page to hear a Real Audio version. The website you’ll be visiting was a prototype website I built as a project for a multimedia journalism course I was taking.

Consider joining Ente-Rated, my new mailing list featuring reviews and highly opinionated commentary on the aural, visual and literary arts. It’s co-written with my equally opinionated and eclectic roommate, Mike Senft. We also welcome commentary, but keep in mind that we’re always right. At least I am.

The Borders gig went very well. My heartfelt thanks to anyone who was there; it was a success, and I’m looking forward to doing it again on a monthly basis. Watch for more info. later.

April 15, 1999 ...

It´s official ... (semi-official, anyway; you know how these things go.) Richard will be making an extended visit to Phoenix at the end of the summer. At that time, we´ll put the finishing touches on an album I´ll start recording during the summer, and I think it should see the light of day by the end of the year. It´s a long time to wait, I know, but it´s already been a couple of years; what´s a few months. Look for some demos soon and possibly a CD single earlier.

Still doing the open mikes, and I´ll also start playing regular gigs at the same coffeehouse (on the northeast corner of 59th Ave. & Peoria in Glendale) Sunday nights. This Sunday (April 18), I´ll play from about 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m, but in the future I´ll play from 7 p.m. till close. It´s free (except for coffee and tips), so those of you in Phoenix come see me! Lots of new material and lots of fun.

On the subject of the band name change, I´ve been thinking about it, and have decided that we probably should, especially in this time of flux for me and the band in general. Front runners for me are BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious), Far Too Canadian (for the irony) and Political (again, irony). If you have any suggestions, or votes either in favor of or against these, post a message on our message board. I´d like to see some discussion up there.

March 16, 1999 ...

I´ ve been playing recently every Wednesday at Java the Hut in Glendale. True, it´s only an open mike (*grrr*), but having been out of playing for so long, I haven´t had the time to developing the same sort of name recognition we had in Honolulu. On the bright side, though, I will be playing a two-hour set at the Arrowhead Borders bookstore on May 9 at 2 p.m. Expect this to be the beginning of some expanding live performance; I´m also cobbling together a backing band that may or may not become an official Hadrian´s Wall lineup. The Borders show is free. PLEASE come along if you´re in or near the Phoenix area. It´ll be a good show, I guarantee.

Plans are about to be set in motion for the second Hadrian´s Wall album, which may or may not be a solo project. At any rate, the time is ripe for a new recording and the band is too spread out to get together for recording sessions in the forseeable future. I  have enough new material ready, including some of our old live favorites, so that won´t be a problem.

The new sound should be much fuller. I´ve been working on my electric guitar technique, and also vastly expanding my electronic expertise ... with a kick-ass new keyboard and some fantastic software for computer music-making, the album should have some more experimental moments. There will also be a more distinctly Celtic flavor to the album; I´ve written an as-yet-untitled jig, and have in my head what may be the definitive rockish version of the Scottish pipe tune “MacPherson´s Lament.” I also plan to include Archie Fisher´s “Dark-Eyed Molly” and perhaps “Political” by Spirit of the West and “Homeland,” an obscure Wolfstone that´s one of my favorites of theirs.

As for the original material, those who´ve seen me or us play may remember the songs “Smile,” “The Dance” (one of my few positive songs), “This Mess Called Me,” “Suddenly Silent” and “Dreams of the Heart.” All of these will almost certainly be on the album. A new, and still untitled song, has just broken my long writer´s block (musical ... I have dozens of sets of lyrics), and I´m sure you´ll see it turn up as well.

An old friend, Gary Dobbin, recently revealed to me that he´s a fiddler (!), so I´ll almost definitely be using his services if I get to a studio before he moves away; I´d also like to get my friend Jon Wasserman in to add guitar and clarinet to “Tide Run,” one of the most intensely personal songs I´ve ever written.

More later as the story develops!

- Chris Devine, Glendale, Arizona