Tomorrow the Scars

b/w Over Again

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Side A: TOMORROW THE SCARS

Written by Joel Rockey © 2003 The Mustard Room

This tune began with the phrase, "is justice just a desperate word?" scratched in a journal back in 2000. The lyrics were written and rewritten over and over again and paired with a variety of musical suitors. Nothing seemed to fit until at long last a quirky beck-inspired chord progression wrapped itself quite aggressively around the existing phrases. This one was previously titled "hourglass nebula" for no apparent reason.

"Tomorrow the Scars" was recorded in The Mustard Room in the Spring of 2003 during an extended period of alone time while my wife was visiting a dear friend in Texas.

Side B: OVER AGAIN

Written by Joel Rockey © 2003 The Mustard Room

As I accompanied my wife on a shopping expedition, we found ourselves in a particular department store when ridiculous phrases began begging to be written down on paper. Scrambling for a scrap of paper among the contents of my wallet, I conceded and quickly began scrawling what appeared to be nonsense. Upon further examination, the words seemed to be a subconscious declaration of the finality of past relationships. However, that could be complete horse crap.

"Over Again" was recorded in The Mustard Room in the Spring of 2003 during an extended period of alone time while my wife was visiting a dear friend in Texas.
 

Through & Through

b/w Home

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In conjunction with A Rockey Home Companion, Flying J & The Pilots (featuring Joel Rockey and a rotating cast of shady characters) will be releasing into cyberspace a series of digital 45 rpm records. They are free and they have been written & recorded in no particular order over the past six years. The first release includes 'through & through' on side A and 'home' on side B.

Side A: Through & Through

Written by Joel Rockey © 2008 The Mustard Room

This particular tune draws its inspiration from the analogy of God as a rock – changing yet unchanging, immovable, stable, maintaining integrity, strong, faithful – essentially all that the author is not.

The lyrical content had been bouncing around from journal to journal under the moniker ‘faithful’ for a while before finally settling down in the simple bluesy melody which they now inhabit.

Soon after, in the winter of 2006, the two were quickly married. The song was recorded, uploaded to web pages and performed during just about every live appearance.

The original two track recording was submitted for inclusion on a demo disc compiled and mastered by Evan Harris in the spring of 2008.

Side B: Home

Written by Joel Rockey © 2008 The Mustard Room

Whilst preparing for a study in the gospel of John one Sunday evening circa 2004, I picked up the ole fiddle and strummed a simple tune. Pulling lines from the text of Jesus’ teachings into a whimsical mantra, the composition’s completion came quite quickly. After playing through the tune a couple of times for the folks in our high school youth group, we all joined together in a spirit of peace and harmony. Immediately, we bought the world a Coke and segued effortlessly into chapter 15 of John’s gospel.

It didn’t take long after that for me to begin the recording process in hopes of submitting the track to the Coca-Cola Company for use in a television ad or to the parties responsible for compiling multi-disc collections with titles such as ‘Today’s Ultimate Worship Party Platinum: The Very Best of Modern Worship.’

There were talks of hiring a gospel choir and horn section to punch listeners in the gut, but all that fell through and I got no further than roping in my buddy Ryan Helvie to add some nuanced guitar picking. I finally crossed all the tees and dotted all the eyes in November of 2008.