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Steel Reserve

from Drink the Dregs by Val Bauer

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Purchasable with gift card

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes all four original tracks, with packaging hand-screen printed by Val.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Drink the Dregs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day

      $5 USD or more 

     

  • Drink the Dregs Limited Edition CD (with bonus tracks)
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    - Includes all 4 original songs, plus 2 bonus tracks:
    “How to Love” and “Winter of This Town,” neither of which are available anywhere else
    - Handmade: Cut and sewn personally by Val and his Opa Val Bauer
    - Hand silk screened by Val
    - Hand numbered
    - Limited edition of 35


    What’s the story behind this thing?

    I bought a second-hand leather jacket. It was originally supposed to be a black rock ‘n’ roller sort of jacket, but I found this maroon leather trench coat and I thought it was too sweet to pass up. I then cut (and tore, and sometimes yoinked) it apart into CD wallet-size rectangles. This is A LOT more work than you might think (and what I thought) it would be! (YOU try cutting up a shit ton of leather with ordinary household scissors!)
    I took my fabric over to my Opa’s house to use his industrial sewing machine – he’s a retired tailor. He decided to help me out in my project, so that afternoon his sewing room was busy with the two of us running off wallet after wallet simultaneously until they were all done.
    I designed the covert art, burned the image to a silk screen with photo emulsion, and printed each wallet myself. Screen printing on leather is not smooth sailing, I found out.
    I learned a lot from this project – mainly that working with leather can be a real bitch. It was a huge commitment of time and energy, but it was a labour of love, and I’m pleased to say that the final product is finally ready to share with you fine people. I hope you appreciate the work that went into this as much as I appreciate your support.

    Cheers and beers,
    Val

    Includes unlimited streaming of Drink the Dregs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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about

Gary Cheung played drums
Val sang and played bass, mandolin, and all guitars

lyrics

You got a steel yard for a front yard
And a sign in the window asking God to be on your side
And the rail man says, “They don’t run here no more.
But there’s tracks under those weeds, if you look, if you try.”

And you know you’re close to the courthouse
When you see neon signs flashing, “Bail bonds sold here”
And I saw you under the shade of a rundown apartment building
You were taking your clothes to the laundromat, singing,

“La da da, la da da da da”

And I don’t know where you come from
And babe I sure as hell don’t know where you been,
But we can’t go back to the place that brought us here
There’s no way out, no way out. We’re singing,

“La da da, la da da da da”

And you can’t for something that ain’t comin
When you know that it’s not on its way
But we still march on, though it’s been oh! so long
Since we last had the taste of love on our lips
Singing…

credits

from Drink the Dregs, released June 2, 2011

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all rights reserved

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about

Val Bauer Portland, Oregon

From Portland, Oregon, Val Bauer writes songs of earnest confessionalism, following in the songwriter tradition but built on a pop-punk foundation. Val's music is about the struggle, but also the optimism that it's possible to not have to accept what's given us; that we're all fighting the same fight, and that we're not alone. ... more

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