A Communication to Cactus Tractor’s Friends

Cactus Tractor at Low Spirits. Photo by Kate Burn Photography.
Cactus Tractor at Low Spirits. Photo by Kate Burn Photography.

Dear Friends of Cactus Tractor,

Happy New Year! The second month. We are writing to all of you to let you know how thankful we are for your having supported us during our Kickstarter campaign. Our album is going swimmingly! Despite Christy, David, and Matthew having been legitimately sick, and Brandon being merely hungover (see photo); and despite Stef and Samuel having been in North Dakota where it was a frightening 70º below and Paul being in a play-directing Vortex, we are making phenomenal progress on the album.

Brandon in drum
You can guess which one of us this is. Think nacho cheese.

We’ve laid down basic tracks for all 15 of the songs that will be on the album, and we have done most of the overdubs (our last two scheduled days of recording are this Wednesday and Thursday). We’ve also had some fantastic gigs recently (including two art openings for our very good friend Lance McGoldrick, one of which was at our favorite café, Zendo; a show with our favorite band, Le Chat Lunatique; and an unforgettable evening as the house band at the Tricklock Theater Company’s variety show, the Reptilian Lounge. Christy has been hard at work making original art for eight of our supporters (this was the most requested pledge prize—other than the album itself, of course!).

christy making CT art 3
Here she is, drawing away.

We’ve also been working with photographer Kate Burn to schedule our poster and album photo shoot. The photo that opens this letter is by her… amazing, right??? Here are a few more.

You don't want to come across these two in a dark alley.
You don’t want to come across these two in a dark alley.
This guy either.This guy either.
Now that's a face a mother could love.
Now that’s a face a mother could love.

One note about the delivery date of the album and the other goodies: while we don’t expect delivery of the album to be too much later than the expected date of Feb. 14, since we’ve had a few sicknesses and similar mishaps (e.g., Brandon’s hangover, which, in addition to nacho cheese, involved and an epically embarrassing text message—the transcript of which we’ll be offering as the grand prize in our next Kickstarter campaign!), we’re a tad bit behind schedule. Getting the CDs mastered and printed can also be a little unpredictable temporally. We will keep you up to date on all of this as the future plays out. The current forecast is that the CD may be more likely to be Pisces than Aquarius. No word yet on the rising sign.

We love you and thank you for all your help and support!

Yours forever and ever,

Cactus Tractor