Here’s me bearing the gift at the Impressionist exhibit at the de Young Museum on her birthday (which was great!) and here it is the next day hanging at her desk at work.

“This month’s winner in the Conceptualization category was a no-brainer: Bradenton, Florida’s very own Have Gun, Will Travel. Their handsome sophomore effort, Postcards From The Friendly City (Suburban Home) is almost as notable for its ingenious design and packaging as its organic, infectious brand of Americana pop. We here at UTR are big fans of bands that claim their hometowns with pride and, like the finest local produce, HGWT’s music has a refreshing immediacy to it that can only come from an innate connection with one’s native environment. Like a Sunshine State-sanctioned answer to New York’s Fountains of Wayne, the band expertly canonizes the displacement of suburban existence on such gems as “Land Of The Living” (We belong to the land of the living/ but we don’t live there anymore) and conjures up a disturbingly cheery dystopia in “Maritime Rag” and the aching “Salad Days.” And, really, in these days of managed expectations and digital-only releases, not enough can be said about the great lyric insert in the album package, cleverly reproduced to look like a folded miniature copy of the Bradenton Chronicle from 1955. Excellent work, fellows.”

Source: www.americansongwriter.com

For Virna.

My mother is one of the most talented artists I’ve ever known. When I was 7 or 8, she set me up in the basement and gave me a lesson in watercolor painting. As an Emmet Kelly collector and admirer, the subject she chose for my first painting was a hobo clown. It is still proudly on display in an overstated frame in the house I grew up in.

So did you guys hear about the stunt Fat Mike from NOFX pulled at this year’s SXSW? He played an acoustic show as this character called Cokie the Clown. If you want to peep this super controversial set, there is a video below. It’s more than a half hour investment, but if you happen to be a fan, it’s worth it. Spoiler alert: The prize at the end is where he reveals to the audience that they had taken shots of Patron cut with his urine.

Since my NOFX obsession hasn’t really subsided since I was 14, I was inspired to do a hobo clown painting V.2 which I then went ahead and made into a poster for a fun design exercise.

Here’s the show that inspired this painting:

(Thanks Ricky / theinternettoday.net for providing this video!!)

VIMEO:

VICKS:

Quality photos unfortunately don’t exist in my life right now, but here are a couple crummy pics of the final CD artwork.

Tampa Bay 10 morning crew loves my packaging designs!
Matt Burke, next time you call me your “layout person” at least give my URL a plug. ;]

And there’s 2 other videos of Have Gun, Will Travel from Studio 10 here.

I cannot wait to hear this album in it’s entirety.
HGWT, I love all you guys and miss your shows. West Coast Tour 2010!

COVER CONCEPT:

FINAL:

Photos will be in my portfolio section as soon as I get a copy.  :]

A tasting:

Listen to more Have Gun’s music on MySpace