SGHB's Tonight Show Appearance Cancelled!

January 21, 2010

Band's U.S. network debut ruined by Jay Leno and the Suits.

In late September, the boys of the SGHB got a call they will never forget. There was both surprise and confusion when the phone rang at 3:30AM in their room at the Airport Howard Johnson's in Duluth. "Usually when the phone rings that late at night," said the band's guitarist Shakes, "it's Mean JD begging me to come bail him out again. I was pretty shocked when the voice on the other end said he was Conan O'Brien."

It turned out The Tonight Show host had been introduced to the SGHB's unique brand of music by one of his staffers, and quickly became one of the band's biggest fan. "He told me he really dug our music, and wanted us to appear on his show as soon as possible," said Shakes. With the band locked away in their mountain studio retreat for the last months of 2009 putting the final touches on a new album, the appearance was set for Monday, January 25th. "We were really excited," said a forlorn Mean JD, "it was going to be our U.S. Network debut and we were going to play a track that Conan himself picked out from the new album. What has happened the past couple of weeks has beens like getting hit in the stomach by a sledgehammer swung by Andre the Giant."

The NBC brass made the decision to move Leno back to 11:35PM, after his primetime show flopped so badly that affiliates were threatening to replace the show with local programming. Conan, only having been on the air for seven months and lacking any kind of rating support from Leno's terrible program, was told he would be moving to 12:05PM. Thankfully, Conan's response to Zucker and his backstabbing suits, and to Jay Leno the most treacherous man in the most vapid industry in the world, was simply, "No, to that I cannot abide."

"This was the classic screw-job" explained Mean JD. "Seven months? My God. We can easily spend seven months working on one verse of one song! How is that a fair chance for the man to establish himself? And Leno? Don't get me started. It is amazing to me that the selfish bastard has the gaul to show his ugly mug on TV again."

A few hours after Conan and NBC reached an exit agreement the band received a personal call from the host offering apologies that the appearance would be cancelled. "He was a real class-act," said Shakes. "In the middle of his own personal hell, he took the time to give us a call. That says a lot about the man. He couldn't make any promises but said if he is ever on TV again, he will make sure the SGHB are taken care of."

"We want to we to wish Conan all the best and let him know he can drink from our flask any time."

The Shaky Gallows Saloon - New Album Finished!

January 1, 2008

On January 4th, in commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the Ogoni Day Protests, the Shaky Gallows House Band will officially release their seventh album, HORNSWOGGLED IN THE PROMISED LAND.

Over two years in the making, and amid rumours of internal turmoil and chaos, the album is a journey into the dark underbelly of fate, circumstance and luck. The release of Hornswoggled in the Promised Land, was delayed for almost a year as the two principle songwriters engaged in a lengthy legal battle over royalties and writing credits. However, with the matter now settled, and all misunderstandings cleared up, the band is looking forward to the album's official release.

Mean JD: "Yeah, we fought like a couple of drunk possums during the recording of the album. One day, Shakes had all he could take and grabbed all the masters and drove' em down Mexico way, holed up in some dive of a place that was so close to the highway you could spit on it from his front door. Shit. I had to go down there myself and try to talk him down. Worst case of paranoia I've ever seen in the man. The best part was once he put the shotgun away, we actually sat down and wrote Dead End Trail in that deathtrap and later went back there to record it. If you listen to the track carefully, you can even hear a few semis rolling by. That's what the whole album was like, we'd be swinging broken beer bottles at each other one minute, and then writing and singing in the next. You can really feel that tension when listening to it, and I think that is what really makes it something special."

Click here to read the entire interview with the SGHB about the album.

For your listening pleasure, you can check out the entire album right here.

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New Album Nears Completion

June 25, 2007

Welcome Back!

We've cleaned out the cobwebs, cigarette burnt furniture, and old musty kegs. The saloon is once again open, serving that familiar brand of heartbreak, loss, and redemption.

Please tip the waitresses and enjoy your stay.

 

New Album Nears Completion

July 19, 2007

For the fans of the Shaky Gallows House Band it has been almost two years since they last heard the painful refrains of their heroes. The wait is almost over. Word from the boys is that they are putting the final touches on what they have promised will be their most groundbreaking and painful album yet.

Saloon Barkeep: How would you desribe the new album?

Mean JD: Well.....I think best way to describe it would be to say it's like puting a chimp in a burlap sack full of racoons. You know it's gonna get ugly in there and not everyone will be making it out alive.

So far the boys have remained vague as to what the title of the new album might be. Some believe it will be entitled "Texas Blood Money", in honour of the album they refused to release last spring after having legal troubles with the label. Others suggest that the band themself have not yet decided upon the title.

Blind Willy Doyle Meets Tragic Demise

June 18, 2007

The SGHB is sad to report the loss of beloved bluesman, and regular at the saloon, Blind Willy Doyle. Apparently, Willy fell asleep after enjoying a little too much Wild Turkey and dozed off while holding a stick of dynamite and smoking a cigar.

RIP, you son of a bitch, we'll miss ya.