Author Archives: Cactus Tractor

Ginger and Sebastian are seen above playing with Dave, His Dog, and His Gun

Sebastian Hayseed (Claude, Lord Farnsworth). No bio on file.

Ginger [no last name] (neé Breadhouse) is the love child of Jennene Swift, who in 1975 married a rock. The song “Brick House” was originally written for her, under the title “Ginger Bread House.” She was proposed to by a famous Brazillian pop star when she was twelve years old, but chose instead to pursue her education (gum under the desk, passing notes, etc.), and therefore missed her big chance, as the pop star soon began courting another twelve year old and married her when she turned seventeen (boring!). Ginger remains unmarried but for obvious reasons has dropped her maiden name.

Ginger never understands anything Sebastian (Claude*) says, and vice versa (although Claude [Sebastian] thinks he’s better at it than Ginger is). For instance, she didn’t even know she was being called Ginger for some time. Pincher, binger, danger, finger, linger, stingy,  jingle,  jumper,  Winger—she really doesn’t understand a single thing I say (and vice versa). Hence “Cactus Tractor” was born. All I have to do is say something remotely garbled, and, platitudinous though it might be (e.g., trash compactor, pass the protractor, answer faster!), it comes out all sparkly and glowing, like Cactus Tractor!

So we decided to start a band.

*see Bios

So here’s the story in brief: We played a show with the Yeah Man’s the other night under the name of Bandana Verde. They misread our name and thought we were Banana Verde (like an unripe fruit), and so, to one-up us (before even meeting us!), they thought they might be able to co-opt/appropriate our name for their own sick uses and they all wore green bandanas. Of course our name was actually “green bandana” (in translation, for the dense), so they accidentally, instead of one-upping us, ended up paying us profound homage. (They spent the day making the bandanas themselves.) So we wanted to do the same for them – pay homage while one-upping, if at all possible. Hence the Yeah-Man tour (Yemen), which miraculously fits almost exactly into the route that we were planning anyway (lest it go to their heads). Shows already in Tulsa, Springfield, Chicago, Milwaukee, Omaha… More or less. Still working on Gary.

U.S. Tour (In the Shape of Yemen) 2012
July 21, 2012, 5-7 pm, Marble, Albuquerque, NM
July 22 2012,  Amarillo, TX, Palo Duro Canyon (“Primitive No Water”)
July 23 2012, Shawnee, OK
July 24 2012, St. Louis, MO
July 25 2012, Springfield, IL
July 29, 2012, 8 pm, Private concert: Stepanik/Gafney, Chicago, IL
July 30 2012, Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 3, 2012, Private concert: S. L. Bashwiner, Chicago, IL
Aug. 4, 2012, 8 pm, Opera Cabal Salon, Chicago, IL
Aug. 5, 2012, Birthday Concert: D&C Cook, Chicago, IL
Aug. 6 2012, McGillacuddy’s, Galesburg, IL
Aug. 8 2012, Post Pony Palace, Denver, CO