Andrew Peterson
Jill Phillips
Ben Shive
Jeremy Casella
Eric Peters
Lori Chaffer
Randall Goodgame
Andrew Osenga
Don Chaffer
Andy Gullahorn

Obviously, there are two new names on that list: the Chaffers are in Nashville now! And there are two names off of that list: Derek Webb and Chris Mason.

I don’t really think that it’s a big deal when the membership of the Pegs changes. This is no different than going from 13 to 9 back in 2007. It’s important to remember that the SPA is a very loose alliance of friends who make music together; it’s not a record label, it’s not a “damn the man” thing. It’s not that there was some insurrection to boot Derek out or something. Last we checked with Chris, he just wasn’t doing that much music stuff anymore. [I know, we're sad, too.] Seasons come and go with people, and so it is with the SPA.

It is what it is. We won’t enjoy Derek or Chris’s music any less. We will getting some more SPA visibility with the Chaffers. Life’s like that, and we embrace the changes as they come.

[And now for me to get back to my groove in posting here more often. Sorry about that.]

In general, I wanted it to be an informative look into the world of the Square Peg Alliance. With that in mind, each episode will have Square Peg news and will feature and interview with at least one of the SPA folks. Our first episode features an interview with Derek Webb. If you have questions and/or comments, feel free to shoot an email.

I hope it’s not too terrible

Michael Terry

• Andrew Osenga – 2007-05-06: Exit/In, Nashville, TN, USA (FLAC – AUD)
• Derek Webb – 2006-10-17: Exit 148, ClearBranch UMC, Trussville, AL, USA (FLAC – SBD)
• Derek Webb – 2007-04-22: The Church at Tuscaloosa, Northport, AL, USA (FLAC – SBD)
• Derek Webb – 2007-05-06: Exit/In, Nashville, TN, USA (FLAC – AUD)
• Eric Peters – 2007-05-05: Trinity Baptist Church, Madison, AL, USA (FLAC – AUD)
• Randall Goodgame – 2007-05-05: Trinity Baptist Church, Madison, AL, USA (FLAC – AUD)
• Sandra McCracken – 2007-05-06: Exit/In, Nashville, TN, USA (FLAC – AUD)

Here’s a sample from the show of Randall’s I just put out tonight, with his wife Amy accompanying him on “Susan Coats’s Pants”: Download audio file (20070505-rgoodgame-susan-coats-pants.mp3)

As always, these shows are available on IndieRiver.net for the low-low price of … FREE. We simply ask that you stay online after you’ve downloaded to help us seed the bootlegs [which lets other folks get things faster] and to support the artists by buying their CDs. We know that some of you live in places where the Pegs don’t often play, so this is your opportunity to hear them in concert without spending hundreds of dollars on airfare. [If you wanted to toss some of that money you're not spending our way towards us to help defray the costs of running the site, we will not complain.] Sign up for an IndieRiver account today, and remember to check out the HOWTO to help you get started.

There have been some questions raised regarding the mysterious disappearance of four Square Pegs. Until now there has been no public explanation. Here’s the official word from the SPA:

There was no schism, no fighting, no bickering, no row, no squabbling that prompted the quiet departure of Sandra, Billy, Katy and Matthew from the SPA. This was purely a professional, career-path decision on their parts. Here’s the gist of it—the growing attention given to SPA is predominately among a Christian-based listening audience and media; naturally so, since the majority of the group have established themselves there. The four who opted to step out of the public presence of SPA did so due to their desire to continue to develop their careers in the general market without confusing people regarding their “genre”. Granted, this can be an unfortunate reality when it comes to the world of music.

So, during a SPA family meeting on the Gullahorns’ back porch, the decision was made, among all the original members, to adjust the public representation of the SPA. The meeting was full of thoughtful discussion and good humor. We love one another and highly respect one another’s music. We, the nine remaining Pegs, wish Katy, Matthew, Sandra & Billy all the best in their endeavours, wherever their paths may lead. I have no doubt you, as indie-music fans, will continue to support them as well as you have supported us from Day One.”

So there you have it. We’re not going to scrap anything we have on the site for Billy, Katy, Matthew, and Sandra—no point in doing that. We’ll re-organize things a bit—something that I’ve been thinking of doing anyway, and something that I bet Chris has been looking at from time to time, too—but what we have will remain available. We hope that you’ll understand that we’ll necessarily focus on the nine Pegs here, because that’s our raison d’être. [If you wanted to launch a fan site around Billy, Katy, Matthew, or Sandra, we'd give you a hand. We love 'em that much.]

Please leave any questions or comments that you might have below.

• Chris Hubbs has launched [andrewosenga.net], designed to be your unofficial resource for all things Osenga. Check it out. [And if you've got a Peg that you'd love to build a similar resource for, let me know and we'll work out the details.]
• You might have noticed that site performance stunk on ice for the last couple of weeks. Even after some performance tuning on the server, it became clear that we just needed more horsepower. We doubled the RAM in the server [to 4GB], and things now run much more smoothly. As a result of the tuning, however, IndieRiver.net had some changes. Nowadays, you must connect with a TCP port in the range of 56000-56999; everything else will be rejected by the server. If you’ve been trying to grab a show and failing, that’s why.
• Eric Peters and I have been working on a HOWTO on how to book a Square Peg. Please let us know what questions you might have in the comments below; we think we’ve got everything, but you might come up with something that we don’t know.

As always, thanks for your patronage of the Square Pegs and of squarepegalliance.net.

Download audio file (20060505-08-dwebb-my-enemies-are-men-like-me.mp3)

If you liked this recording, it comes from the 5 May 2006 Derek Webb concert bootleg from Columbia, SC. If you didn’t download Mockingbird off of FreeDerekWebb.com when you could, well … go buy it, or email me for a copy.

I think the emotional center of the album, for me anyway, starts with “Refuge”, moving through “One Thing More” and “Hard Times”. So, I bring you “Refuge”, which you can also hear on Jones’s MySpace as the track that loads up with the page:

Download audio file (20060620-09-mpjones-refuge.mp3)

If you’re interested in more of Jones from this show, it was the 20 Jun 2006 release show for Osenga’s The Morning where Jones opened. Also, please remember to buy Throwing Punches in the Dark if this appealed to you: support good art.

Download audio file (20060919-1-16-kbowser-hand-me-downs.mp3)

If you like this track, you can get the whole 19 Sep 2006 Square Peg show. Also, please be sure to buy Katy’s All of My Friends and support great art.

Billy gave us a great treat back in August with a couple sneak peeks at the sound of his new album. They both blew me away, but what really got me was “Mosey”.

Billy Cerveny – “Mosey”

If you like what you heard there, give Billy’s AM Radio a try.