This being a pseudo drinking holiday, you’d expect at least a few shows going on tonight. Nada. I guess Omaha started lent a little early this year. The rest of the week is dominated with shows: Voxtrot and Kite Pilot tomorrow; Nada Surf on Thursday (the weekend, on the other hand, is looking a might bit thin).

Those who might be wondering, I did go to the Past Punchy and the Present show Saturday night at The 49’r. My quick exit will be discussed ad nauseum in this week’s column, which will be online either tomorrow or Thursday, depending on the amount of news worth passing on (No feature article this week, drat it). Suffice to say, what little I saw of Past Punchy was revelatory. I missed almost their entire set. Unsure of when the band was supposed to go on, I took a shot in the dark and missed, only catching the last two songs. Thornton Will was seated behind the trap set wearing a New York Yankees stocking cap (apparently it was stocking cap night, as Kyle Harvey and Alex McManus also wore them) while Thornton Bob was right out front in a suit. An apparently exhausted Reagan Roeder played seated on one of the steps. These guys make a big messy noise that is undeniably catchy. In a certain way, the ensemble had the same loose garage-band vibe of Crazy Horse but with punk overtones. I managed to catch the entire final song, an odyssey of dynamics that saw the band rise and fall from verse to verse — loud than quiet than loud — with the audience fooled at least twice into thinking the song was over when it wasn’t. Dynamics and momentum are the lifeblood of this band. Listening to them is like watching them run madly across the surface of a frozen lake only to stop all at once and lean back in their shoes, sliding forward almost to halt before taking off again in an all-out sprint. Something tells me that Bob is the type of guy that likes to gun it then hit the brakes in his car just to see his passengers lurch forward and back in their seats. There was a lot of that going on in the Niner last Saturday night. Here’s hoping they play again in the near future so I can hear their entire set.

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That’s it. I’m not going to post CD reviews the day before a band’s CD release show anymore. Makes me look like an idjit.

Yesterday I said Life After Laserdisque’s new disc reminded me of Blood Sweat and Tears, which it does at times. Then I go see them live and they sound nothing like BS&T. In fact, they sounded nothing like their CD. Good thing nobody reads this blog. LAL just sorta tossed out most of the retro posing and amped up the modern edges at last night’s O’Leaver’s gig. The arrangements were more uptempo than on the record, with brash guitar and keyboard lines glowing at new angles to a sound that bordered on post-punk prog rock. Still, there was plenty of jam-band stuff going on, including probably the first drum solo I’ve seen since my concert-going days at the Civic Auditorium. There was even a blitzed guy in the audience that looked like Trey Anastasio doing a pseudo hurdy-gurdy dance — it doesn’t get more hippie than that. Frontman John Klemmensen looked relaxed belting out his yodel-like vocals all evening, pulling the capacity audience into a fun-loving party stance — yeah, this is one of them “good-time bands.” Xtra-special features included a video reel that played on the plasma TV — a conglomeration of stuff that included a hilarious safety video (Safety Only Takes a Second), an NBA slam-dunk contest, martial arts demonstrations and a long sequence from a cheesy horror flick that just seemed to go on and on and on.

Opener Landing on the Moon played a relaxed set in preparation of a mini-tour that takes them to Denver tonight and Lincoln tomorrow. The evening was also the unveiling of O’Leaver’s upgraded PA. Sure enough, mounted from the ceiling were two big, beefy JBL speakers. The overall sound was indeed better, fuller, etc., but the vocals still sounded somewhat awful. The mikes were an ongoing topic of discussion throughout the evening. Was it the microphones themselves? Some said yes, but almost everyone pointed to how the microphones were wired into the PA. Theories varied. Look, I don’t know anything about the science of sound engineering, all’s I know was that the vocals sounded like they were coming out of a megaphone. Not good, but once they get that figured out, O’Leaver’s sound will have entered the big leagues where it belongs.

Tonight, Past Punchy and the Present at The 49’r with Midwest Dilemma and The Ointments. $5, 9:30 p.m. Expect an over-capacity crowd. Look for me. I’ll be the guy standing in your way.

The agenda is in the headline. Please update your calendars appropriately. The details:

Tonight, O’Leaver’s will be hosting Life After Laserdisque’s CD release show for Laser of Justice. Niz wrote a nice little story on the band in the OWH yesterday (it’s here, but you’ll have to register to read it). The five-piece features Scott Klemmensen on guitar and vocals (brother of Landing on the Moon frontman John Klemmensen), guitarist Shawn Cox (Landing on the Moon) and irascible bassist Brendan Greene-Walsh, who you might recognize as the sound guy at O’Leaver’s (He’s the dude with the ponytail and trademark suspenders — yes, that guy). LAL is rounded out by drummer Jason Koba and keyboardist Ian Simons. I’ve been listening to Laser of Justice for the past few days on my iPod. The six-song EP, recorded by Mike Saklar, has a distinctively retro R&B vibe that comes by way of funk guitar lines and Klemmensen’s soaring howl. The band prides itself on its varied style from song to song. The opener is a funk deal, while the next two tunes sound like Blood Sweat and Tears (“Working in the Garden” even has a guitar lick that reminds me of “Ride Captain Ride”). “Stay Awhile” is a meandering stroller with no central melody (at least none that I could hum for you if asked), while the last two put a modern face on traditional back-beat album rock. I think there’s something hippie-esque about LAL that I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it’s because I’m not an aficionado of today’s jam bands. That said. LAL isn’t a jam band, though with a slight push and the right weed, I think it could become one.

Also playing tonight with LAL is Landing on the Moon (Shawn Cox will sleep well after pulling double duty) and Someday Stories. $5, 9:30 p.m. Also of note, Brendan from LAL left a post on my webboard saying he spent most of yesterday evening replacing O’Leaver’s main speakers with “some very nice, vary large JBL’s.” If there’s one thing that’s been missing from O’Leaver’s since it became a bonafide rock club (other than enough space) it’s been a decent PA. I’ll check it out tonight and let you know tomorrow how it sounded.

Tomorrow night’s marquee show is at The 49’r with Past Punchy and the Present (read yesterday’s blog for details) along with Midwest Dilemma and The Ointments. Bob Thornton e-mailed me yesterday letting me in on a surprise tune that they’ll be playing during their set. Here’s a hint: I mentioned it yesterday. It’s either $3 or $5 and starts at 9:30.

Column 65: Band of Brothers
Past Punchy keeps it in the family

The Brothers Thornton are at it again.

What they’re up to is the same thing they’ve been up to on and off since the mid-’90s — playing music the way they want to. And to be honest with you, I don’t think they really give a damn if you’re listening or not.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Bob Thornton contacted me about writing this column weeks ago. He wanted the press in hopes of drawing a crowd to this Saturday’s Past Punchy and the Present gig at The 49’r. He wants it noisy. He wants it riotous. He wants his drummer to be distracted from the matter at hand.

“Usually I don’t do this sort of thing,” Bob said over Americanas at The Blue Line last week. “But I really want our first show to be big and packed, because when you get even 60 people at the Niner it’s a madhouse and you don’t care anymore. This is the first show Bill will be playing drums, and if no one’s paying attention, that would be a good thing for him.”

Fat chance of that happening.

Methinks the majority of people will be at the Niner Saturday night just to see and hear Bill Thornton on stage again, even if he’s playing drums instead of bass or guitar. There are those of us who fondly remember seeing him sling guitar licks next to Gary Dean Davis and Joe Kobjerowski as part of the legendary Omaha tractor-punk band Frontier Trust. But if we’re gonna go back, let’s go back all the way.

Bob and Bill (or Will, depending on who you are) first played together in a little band called Bamboozle way back in ’91. Bob had been playing in bands since he got a guitar after graduating from Millard North. No, he’s not a product of suburban West Omaha. He spent most of his childhood in Saudi Arabia, where his father was a member of the Corp of Engineers. By the time his family moved back to the U.S.A., big brother Bill was already living in Nashville. Bill didn’t make it to Omaha until he was 26 and Bob was 20.

Beyond Bamboozle, Bob kept busy playing in punk band Say No More (which later became Clayface) and in noise band Culture Fire. He also performed solo as Past Punchy, a name that came to him after a co-worker commented on his grouchy demeanor working late nights. “She said I was punchy,” Bob said. “I said I was past punchy.” Purveyors of rare Omaha recordings will find Past Punchy listed along with such acts as Vic Chestnutt, The Mountain Goats, The Bruces and Conor Oberst on the 1994 You and What Army? compilation tape released by Sing! Eunuchs.

But it was in Bamboozle that the two brothers first played together, debuting at the old Lift Ticket Lounge in Benson. That band didn’t last long. And despite touring and critical acclaim, neither did Frontier Trust, which dissolved in the mid-’90s when Bill took off to Manhattan. Bob spent the next few years drifting from band to band. “And then at one point, I sold everything I owned, all my musical equipment,” Bob said. “It was around ’96 or ’97. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I lost this drive I used to have. I thought other people should be using my gear. Now I’m sorry I did it.”

It wasn’t until three years ago that he picked up an acoustic guitar again and started writing pop songs. He quickly realized how much he missed playing and joined the short-lived old-school punk band Carmine with Marc Phillips. Shortly afterward, Bill, who had moved back to Omaha after living in Portland, told Bob that he wanted to learn to play drums. “I was already putting together another band and had a drum kit set up downstairs,” Bob said.

So with friends Kyle Harvey, Reagan Roeder and Alex McManus, Past Punchy and The Present was born. Fans of the brothers’ past adventures will recognize the classic Thornton style — messy and honest, loud and brash, with plenty of rural flair.

You can check out some of their home recordings on Myspace, but don’t go looking for any Past Punchy CDs. Bob isn’t interested in making the band anything more than a fun project. “I might have sabotaged bands before because they were getting big,” he said. “It not unlike finding a favorite hangout that becomes extremely popular; it’s almost like it’s not yours anymore. So then you have to find another place and then another, and then you get sick of it and stay home all the time, and that’s the point where you get rid of your gear.”

That won’t be happening with Past Punchy. “We have no plans to record for real,” Bob said. “We just want to play shows and write more songs. It’s really fun just to be able to hang out with my brother, Kyle, Reagan and Alex and maybe play every once in a while.”

And there ain’t nothing wrong with that, as long as we can be there to listen.

There’s a nice little feature on Nada Surf that just went online (read it here). Drummer Ira Elliot compares and contrasts life on a major (Elektra) vs. life on an indie (Barsuk). They prefer the latter (and who wouldn’t?). He also talks a little bit about Ric Ocasek, who must be one intimidating mofo when it comes to recording. I like Nada Surf and I like their new record. It took awhile. Actually, it took awhile just getting past their name. You hear Nada Surf, you immediately think jam band or hippie music. These guys couldn’t be further from both. Bad name, Nada Surf. Oh well. They’re succeeding in spite of it.

Stuff that didn’t make it into the story: When it came time to release the follow-up single to the hugely popular “Popular,” Nada Surf got the first glimpse at what they were in for at Elektra. The label wanted to push the somewhat milquetoast “Treehouse.” “We knew it wouldn’t work and it didn’t,” Elliot said. “We didn’t even like playing it. We were into a song called ‘Sleep,’ with a killer riff in the middle. It blew up when we played it on stage and we knew it would sound smashing on the radio.” Of course, the label will always win that argument.

What was it like working with Ocasek, who produced their debut, vs. Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, who produced their latest release? “Ocasek was a huge presence,” Elliot said. “He was older, we were all awed by him when we met him. You can’t help but be. Chris is a peer. He’s younger than we are and at the same time was like another guy in the band. Chris was more of a peer and had a different energy. Ric’s energy was quiet and reserved. Chris was manic. He has a childlike quality. He’s always firing on all cylinders.”

Nada Surf has a song included on Music from The OC: Mix 2 called “If You Leave.” Some might consider that a subject of ridicule, unless they glanced at who else is on the album: Eels, Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, Dios Malos, The Walkman, to name a few. They’re also on the recently released collection from the WB show One Tree Hill (that one is a little more embarrassing). Have they seen an impact being on the kid-show soundtracks? “People are not calling that song out (“If You Leave”),” Elliot said. “I do suspect it brought us a number of fans. I’m getting a sense of that looking at the audience. You can tell who’s down front. At Chapel Hill, it was a college audience, but there were real young kids up front that would be into The OC and One Tree Hill. It has a lot of impact on kids getting into music and looking at new bands. We haven’t gotten too many shoutouts for “If You Leave,” and we wouldn’t play it, anyway. I don’t think there was any credibility downside. It’s just a new outlet for bands to reach an audience.”

Finally, does the band still play “Popular”? “Sometimes toward end of a set or when we do an encore, or on a hot not and we’re doing a second encore, we’ll pull out the heavy guns,” Elliot said. “The other night, we overheard a conversation between guys from the other bands. One said, ‘I heard they do,’ and the other was absolutely certain we didn’t. We do play it, but we don’t play it as a matter of course every night. That night we did just to prove everyone wrong. We play it every three or four shows. One day we should open the show with it.” Read more here…

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A friend of mine (the good Dr. Sheehan, to be exact) pointed out to me that the short film, “Omaha Rocks,” is now online at Current TV (click here to view). The 7-minute video, produced by Rob Walter (who, along with Jason Kulbel, produced the recently released (on DVD) documentary “Spend an Evening with Saddle Creek”), takes a stab at what’s driving the Omaha music scene, specifically the Saddle Creek scene. It includes brief interviews with the boys from Beep Beep, Dapose and Joel Petersen from The Faint, a special segment on The Cog Factory with shots from both outside and inside the bunker (good stuff). There’s also shots taken inside what appears to be The Faint’s rehearsal space (as well as some live Faint footage from a Sokol Auditorium show), shots of Tilly and the Wall rehearsing, and a microbrief comment from Ladyfinger. The given discription on the Current TV site: “Is Omaha the new Seattle? VCC Producer Rob Walters examines the explosion of independent rock music in, of all places, Omaha, Nebraska.” The underlying theme: Omaha is a cheap and easy place to start a band, with both the necessary friend- and fanbase to keep it going even in the rough times. Omaha is a curiosity in the eyes of the national press. Omaha bands have a good work ethic. Consider it extra footage from the original Creek documentary, complete with the same pan-shots of the city skyline used from that film. Nicely done.

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A busy Monday, putting stuff together for the rest of the week including a feature on Nada Surf (online Wednesday) and a column with Past Punchy (online Thursday). Good thing I have the day off in honor of past and present presidents. Check out the live review that went online over the weekend (below). There’s a rare Monday show tonight at Sokol Underground featuring Tooth & Nail band MAE with Lovedrug and The Audition. MAE plays keyboard-driven nerd rock, sort of an emo version of Ben Folds. Lovedrug is more of the same but without keyboards. Chicago’s The Audition is on Victory and sounds like the kind of band that would be on Victory. It’ll be all emo, all the time. Bring the kids. $12, 9 p.m.

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Despite my better judgment, I went to The 49’r last night even though it was brutally cold out and I knew I’d be parking three blocks away (if I found a parking spot at all) and that the walk alone would be treacherous because no one along 49th street apparently has time to shovel their sidewalks, which had turned to sheets of ice. I knew that the place would be packed to the gills, that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to get a beer and that after I got the beer, that I would walk around puzzled as to where I was going to stand to watch the band. I knew all of this, but I went anyway because I haven’t seen No Blood Orphan before and I wanted to hear how their CD sounded performed live.

And, of course, all my arguments against going were fully realized. The place was packed, it took forever to get a beer (thanks again, Oliver), and there was nowhere to sit or stand to watch the band. I suppose if you’re 5’7″ you’re okay to stand in front of other people, but if you’re 6’2″, you’re going to feel more than a little bit “in the way” and worried that you’re being a rude a-hole. But what else are you supposed to do? The 49’r is simply not designed for live shows. There is no stage so the band plays at the same level as the crowd, which means someone is always going to be in the way. There are too many tables so there’s nowhere to stand. The only places you can stand are along the bar (in the way of people seated in stools or those trying to get a beer), in the back (in the way of people trying to get to the bathrooms), along the opposite wall (actually, there’s no standing room over there) or right in front of the band — where you’ll effectively block everyone’s view. Guess where I ended up.

I can, however, see why bands like playing at the Niner — there literally is no line of demarcation between the band and the crowd, as if the band is playing within the crowd itself. The guy standing next to me, for example, put out his cigarettes in the ashtray that sat atop of the keyboard while the keyboardist was playing it. The keyboardist didn’t mind at all — why would he? At that point, he was literally playing inside the crowd. I assume this gives the band a feeling of not performing at all, but of actually being just another patron. That relaxed vibe results in some very comfortable performances, and last night’s was no exception. Mike Saklar and company were in a groove from beginning to end. Just seeing Saklar’s set-up, by the way, is worth the price of admission — he has a panel on the floor with what appeared to have more than a dozen different pedals attached to it. To Saklar’s left was a gizmo mounted three feet off the ground on a metal stand that looked like a piece of World War II-era medical equipment. Behind the keyboard player spun a large cylinder that looked like an ice-cream maker. I have no idea what any of these gizmos were for.

I can tell you that the set sounded good and somewhat different than the recording thanks to the extensive use of delays on the vocals and the warm keyboards that shifted beneath every song — keyboards that I never noticed before on the recording. Saklar uses so much delay that it gives his voice an almost Peter Murphy-esque quality (You can tell he loves Bauhaus). The visible differences from song to song on the new album were somewhat glossed over live. All of it — even the twangy stuff — had an almost gothic sheen to it reminiscent of ’80s bands like Teardrop Explodes, Joy Division, The Cure and Mission UK (Again, I have to point to the vocal effects). The highlights included a throbbing version of “Insect” from the new album, and the set-closer that featured solos by keyboardist Chris Esterbrooks and lead guitarist Steve Bartolomei. Saklar himself provided a number of flowing guitar solos throughout the set.

The sound quality, incidentally, was never better. I have no idea why that is. Perhaps The Niner has added a few things, or the band added their own stuff (the ice cream maker?) or the sound guy just did a good job (though I could have used more Bartolomei in the mix). After the set, Jake Bellows was supposed to perform. I’m told he had also played a set last night in Lincoln as Cocoon (without Todd Fink, who was in the Niner audience last night) and was headed back to Omaha right afterward for the solo set. I have no idea if he made it. With my beer long gone, I took a look at the crowd I’d have to work through to get another and thought better of it. As uncomfortable as last night’s set was, I know I’ll be back there again next weekend for Past Punchy and the Presents. But you’ll be reading more about them here later next week.

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From a pure concert standpoint, this is one of the best weekends of the year… if you live in Lincoln. Tonight it’s Nine Inch Nails and Moving Units at Pershing; tomorrow night it’s the sold-out Jeff Tweedy show at The Rococo while The Elected and Cocoon (The Todd Fink side project) are at Duffy’s.

The pickin’s aren’t so bad for the rest of us stuck in this iceball called Omaha, except for tonight maybe. The only show worth mentioning is former M.I.J. frontman Jeff Hanson at Sokol Underground with Southerly and Tim Perkins. Hanson’s solo debut, released on Kill Rockstars, was produced by the Mogis Brothers at Presto! And yes, for those of you who remember M.I.J., Hanson’s that guy that sounds like a girl. In fact, his new album sounds like a girl singing Elliott Smith songs. Southerly also keeps with the acoustic, earnest, emo theme. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is the bonanza night. At The 49’r you have the No Blood Orphan CD release show, which also features Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova), Microphone Jones, Lee Meyerpeter (Bad Luck Charm) and a number of “surprise special guests.” I suspect this will be a madhouse, as all 49’r shows are. The problem with The 49’r, as I’ve written a million times before, is that there is no place to stand in the venue without being in someone’s way, which makes for one pain-in-the-ass evening. Someone needs to rethink the venue’s set-up for live shows. $3 (or $5, I’m not complete sure), 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, Outlaw Con Bandana is hosting its album-release show at Don Carmelo’s on 35th and Farnam. How they’ll pull this off in the pizza joint is anyone’s guess, though frontman Brendan Hagberg said it’ll be something to see. Opening the show is none other than Omaha icon Bill Hoover. And you can’t beat the price — it’s free.

Look for a live review or two right here this weekend.

Column 64: Scars for All the Hear
Outlaw Con Bandana has nothing to hide.

Funny thing about the liner notes tucked inside the new Outlaw Con Bandana 12-inch, Life Without Outlaw. The Xerox paper containing the lyrics has been haphazardly trimmed — either accidentally or intentionally — so that some of the words are missing, forcing you to either listen more closely or fill in the blanks yourself.

This column has the same sort of requirements. There are a lot of missing pieces in this story of Outlaw singer-songwriter Brendan Hagberg that are left out mostly on purpose by the request of Hagberg himself, who gave me the details on a background-basis only. Unfortunately, those missing pieces make up the central theme that inspired his new album. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

A chain-smoking Hagberg, along with girlfriend and Outlaw member Pearl Lovejoy Boyd, met me at an almost-empty 49’r Tavern last Sunday afternoon to tell not only the story behind the record, but the story behind this sad-faced, curly-haired son of Woody Guthrie.

It starts at Hagberg’s youth. Growing up in Minneapolis and Omaha, Hagberg joined a class of musicians that includes Conor Oberst, Simon Joyner and Bill Hoover who got their start at the now legendary Kilgore’s on 32nd and California St. (now the Shelterbelt Theater). Hagberg’s debut came at the tender age of 15 as the result of some prodding by Antiquarium records store owner and Omaha music scene patriarch Dave Sink. Hanging with that group of musicians gave Hagberg the big idea that he, too, could be a troubadour.

Music wasn’t his first love. Baseball was. Hagberg had dreams of playing baseball in college, but growing up in a broken home killed the idea. “My dad’s career failed, his marriage failed, and me and my sisters were left without a stable home,” Halberg said. “I wasn’t going to sink, so I headed out on my own, infatuated with beat poets.”

He dropped out of school at age 15 and hit the road on a series of trips that took him to New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle and points in between, learning about Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson by busking on the streets in front of St. Peter’s Cathedral. “That’s the music you play if you’re a singer down there,” he said of New Orleans. “I’ve lived there three times over the years. I generally go for about four months before I burn out. It’s a real tough place to stick around.”

He moved back to Omaha in ’98 after having a child with a girlfriend and took on the job of running a baseball club — the Omaha Haymakers. Though only a summer league for college students and washed up big leaguers, it was a chance to stay involved in baseball when he wasn’t out wandering. Finally, after returning from a stint in Europe, Hagberg formed Outlaw Con Bandana with upright bass player Matt Rooney. “Through all that time, I never stopped songwriting,” Hagberg said.

Which brings us to the part of the story that I can’t talk about. The part that inspired Life Without Outlaw. I will say that it’s a story of desperation and futility, harrowing and grim. “I wrote almost all of this record in February of last year,” Hagberg said. “I was writing songs trying to work though (the situation). It’s better than having a rage directed at the people that hurt me.”

So desperate was Hagberg’s circumstances that he said he considered suicide. It’s only very recently that the matter finally came to a conclusion. “I didn’t think I would fall in love or make a record again,” he said. “These things are really surprising. There are some people looking out for me.”

Among them, Ted Stevens of Mayday and Cursive fame, who heard the demos for Life Without Outlaw and signed on to produce the album after Joseph Tingley of Grotto Records agreed to release it. The album, which also features Chris Fischer on drums and a slew of guest performers including Stevens, Dan McCarthy, Pat Oakes and Pete Weimerauner, is one of the best traditional folk recordings to come out of Omaha, driven by gritty lyrics that cut to the heart and bone.

Do you still want to know what happened to Hagberg? Just check out the record, available at the Antiquarium. Or better yet, hear the band perform it at the record release show Feb. 18, 9:30, at Don Carmelo’s on 35th and Farnam. It’s free.

Or just ask Hagberg yourself. He’ll tell you.

“Sometimes you get a scar from a really troubling time,” he said. “This one just happens to be right across my face. It’s not on my belly or somewhere covered up. It’s important to interpret that experience. Letting other people in on it will cast some light on some of the unmentioned tragedies. There’s not a lot on the front page of the paper about recovering deadbeat alcoholics and the falsely accused. I just want a chance to explain what happened. Hopefully people will give me a listen, as opposed to deciding on hearsay.”