Bonus content and commentary to my Podcast episode with Troy Yeager.

If you stream the song, you’ll see the art work features a young man in a leather jacket whispering into the ear of a young woman. The story behind the cover: the name of the EP was “Dive Bar Girl,” also the name of our single. The photographer, Jeremy Bustos helped us hire a model to be the “girl.” She was a college freshman from Lafayette, Indiana. I think her name was Gwen. As were going around to locations, Barry, making small talk with her, found out that he knew her older sister when he was in grad school at Purdue several years previously. Indiana, though a state, is a small town.

One concept was for the model to interact with Troy (lead singer) – acting as a typical male archetype; would try to chat her up in a noisy dive bar. Troy had a bomber style jacket on to look the part. At the moment when he was supposed to enter the shot, he froze. He didn’t want Stephanie (his on and off girlfriend and future wife to see him paired with a gorgeous model.) He said “Tom should do it instead, he’s married,” implication: I didn’t have anything to lose, he said, I was the “cute one” anyway. I wasn’t sure how thrilled Elizabeth was going to be, but I was game, so the leather jacket was put on me and suggestions for poses were voiced and tried. “Whisper in her ear,” someone shouted out. I put my hand to her ear and in character asked if she’d like to go to my appartment, I had a really cool tank of tropical fish she could see… She broke character and laughed pretty hard at that. I wish I could see an outake of her busting a laugh.

I mention in the episode that my ’91 Ford Probe died the day Johnny Cash died. About a year later, I was gifted another Ford Probe. Craig Hill, a church friend, who was handy with a wrench, had rescued a black, ’05 Probe back from the dead; would I want it? I did. The engine was loud and slowly burned oil. My kids called it “The Race Car.” It was manual transmission. At Abi’s 5 year old birthday party, I let my mom drive it around the block in DeMotte.

More about the Farmhouse – It was at the Farmhouse where I officially became a Wilco fan. One night that fall, Troy invited me over to watch the “I am Trying to Break Your Heart” documentary about Wilco. I fell in love the music, and the idea that as hipsters age, they might just make their best music.

It was also at the Farhouse where I first met Jason Monroe. He had purchased some 6 tickets to see Radiohead at Alpine Valley in Troy, (for real) Wisconsin. Troy extended the invite to me, and I, having been a fan since high school, jumped at the chance. Jason was making coffee in the kitchen and wearing stylish slacks and vintage looking leather loafers. (We make a crack in the episode about his “sexy boots.,” but Monroe has always had impeccible taste in footwear.) Troy had worked at Spring Hill summer camps in central Michigan most summers and became friends with Jason who was the resident videographer there before he joined Bottle Rocket fully. A college friend of Monroe’s drove us up and we listened to Johnny Cash’s last album on that Radiohead road trip. I recall being on the Dan Ryan, just west of the loop when the song “When the Man Comes Around” filled Jacob’s SUV. (There is A LOT more to the story of this weekend, but I’ll save it for a future pod and blog.)

When Troy lived at the Farmhouse it was part of working family farm. There were swine in a barn and sty and many out buildings. One night, near Holloween ’03, an outdoor, house show for a band called The Audible Campaign was hosted at the Farmhouse. The embyonic Bottle Rocket (Troy, Me, Monroe) played an opening set. Their lead guitar player, Tim Lohzny, played some guitar tracks in the mixes of our Dive Bar Gilrl sessions. Anyway, there was a campfire at the edge of the yard going. I went over after our set. I came across Missy, Peter’s wife (I played violin at Peter and Missy’s wedding a few years earlier. But I hadn’t really seen them much since IWU.) She was having a conversation with someone about ghosts and demons. At Christian Rock shows in the 90s and early 00s you could always guarantee some theological debate happening in some corner. The subject came up becaise of the pigs. The real pigs and the rumor that the Farmhouse was haunted. These topics got Missy and her conversation partner talking about the story about Jesus cleansing a demoniac and casting the spirit into a hard of swine – who promptly drown themselves in the sea of Galilee (offending the locals at the loss of livestock and spooking them to pieces.)

Troy would only live in the Farmhouse for 12 months. June to June ’03 to ’04. By the time we were tracking at the Valpo studio, he would move into an apprtment building in downtown Valpo. It was given the nick name “the dorm.” In it, lived bands and employees of Peter’s music business. In getting more attached to the band schedule, Monroe would move from Michigan down to Indiana that summer and live in the apprtment with Troy and Todd and often a revolving door of a 4th roommate. It was in walking distance to said recording studio, Peter’s office, and Jeremy’s office (Bustos, who did photography for Peter’s agency – including BRB’s photo shoots. Monroe would freelance wedding videos for the other side of Jeremy’s business.) The Dorm was just down the block from Franklin House “Valpo’s Oldest Tavern” (our own “dive bar”) – our go-to watering hole for many years, even after the band. The walks to and from Franklin (and the neighborhood) inspired some of the lyrics to my song “Scarecrow.” A local hit I had after the BRB days. (see episode from March 11, 2022 with John Drury)

The Farmhouse was demolished in 2009. Oddly enough, Bottle Rocket Blue wrapped up around the same time.