Bob McCluskey was the main singer and songwriter for the Taoist
Cowboys.
After that band broke up, he concentrated on recording some songs that he had been working
on previously, and some that were inspired by personal experiences he was going through at
the time.
Recording only on four track, he played all the instruments and did all the
vocals, capturing the songs exactly the way he heard them. He even took the photograph and
did the cover art, using white out to write the letters. Entitled Emergency Lunchbox
after a childhood artifact he still had in his apartment, it was released to
hardly any
fanfare and only a few people actually got one. But those that did were hardcore about it
and a small cult of fans grew up around it. Emergency Lunchbox is a very personal
record of equal parts darkness and beauty. It is available for the first time on cd and
for the first time has been digitally mastered. Below is a review of the record from
Metropulse featured in their issue of
"The Greatest Knoxville Records of All
Time".
"Out of the ashes of the Taoist Cowboys and the Estradas
came this
1994 solo project from their lead writer. Perhaps the most intimate and honest release
ever recorded in Knoxville, it was all taped at home on a four track and captures Bob at
his best: relaxed, and his mind drenched in self examination and beer. It's songwriting
minus any bullshit or pretension
whatsoever. Like Nick Drake if Nick had a sense of humor
and adventure, and could formulate his ideas clearly. In other words, it ain't like Nick
Drake at all except it forces you into THAT mood. Almost flawless in its risk of exposing
the writer's flaws. Bob takes the everyday and makes it art and makes it
interesting." Metropulse July 9, 1999.
Emergency Lunchbox is free to download, the
songs and the artwork. Right click on the song or artwork link and use
the "save target as" selection to get the files. The album
artwork is saved in a PDF file, so you need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to get
them. You can get one free by clicking on this button
to email Bob, click here
