08 February 2004--Tracking for The Past is Not Complete goes well. We lost track 8 for a while, but a quick adjustment of the tape machine's take-up reel assembly brought it back. That's about the biggest drama we've encountered so far. We've moved the equipment out of Rusty's basement and into our practice space, where we're tracking guitars.

05 January 2004--Ah, the good old days.... Dankert played the Gear Daddies reunion and had great fun. The G Dads played one night at O'Gara's bar in St. Paul (12 Dec.) and five nights at the Fine Line in Minneapolis (26-30 Dec.). The band delivered pretty much the same show as yesteryear with perhaps a bit less slop and booze. No one's sure whether there'll be more shows.

07 November 2003--Dankert and the Austinaires begin basic tracking for their next CD, tentatively titled The Past is Not Complete. The band will be tracking on Dankert's old Tascam 38 eight-track in Rusty Kos's basement. Randy Pants rules the fucking world!!!

03 October 2003--Dankert has joined Shimmy, a Minneapolis-based band led by songwriter Meg Hegg. Randy Duerr plays bass and Tom Kase plays lead guitar. In September, Shimmy appeared at the now defunct Norshor theater in Duluth and the Turf Club in Saint Paul (we're sad to hear about the demise of the Norshor!). For more information and a schedule of shows, visit www.shimmymusic.com.

28 April 2003--For the last couple weeks, Bill Dankert has been practicing with an assembly of local musicians who will gather to pay tribute to Jay McHale at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Sat. May 17. Jay, who played guest saxophone on two of Dankert's releases, passed away in October 2002. The musicians participating in the tribute are all friends of Jay's and have played in one of Jay's many and diverse projects. Jay wrote beautiful pop songs and liturgical music, and was an accomplished saxophone and keyboard player. Jay was one of the founders of 2i, an improvisational combo that helped transform the Minneapolis music scene in the early 1980s.

24 April 2003--In Spite is now out in stores around the Twin Cities, and, as we've indicated elsewhere on this site, is now available on www.milesofmusic.com. Thanks very much to the good folks at MoM!

22-27 February 2003--Bill and the Real Austinaires will be releasing their newest CD, In Spite on Veto Records. The band will be playing two CD-release shows. A Minneapolis CD-release in-store will be held at Roadrunner Record Exchange (Feb 22). The St. Paul release party will happen at the illustrious Turf Club (Feb 27) (please click here for more details). The CD was recorded at Albatross Studios with Mike Wisti.

1 August 2002--Bill and the Real Austinaires have been invited to participate in a Styx tribute CD being released on Salt Lady Records. With a mixture of love and loathing, Bill and the boys recorded a very un-Styx-like version of "Lights" at Albatross Studios this past February. The album is tentatively scheduled for release in September 2002. For more information, contact Jonathan Rundman at saltlady@saltlady.com

7 August 2002--Bill and the boys are almost finished with their next CD, tentatively titled "In Spite" (as in, "In spite of no audience, no tour support, and no real reason to do this, they insist on putting out another CD"). Though the world is not clamoring for it, it's been nearly a year in gestation, and the band hopes to lure their little creation out of its Petri dish sometime later this year. Recorded at the legendary Albatross Studios, of course.

7 August 2002--Bill is also back on the drums, pounding the skins for the Reverend Strychn Trio. They've been playing out infrequently for most of 2002 and have been working at a leisurely pace on a CD at Albatross. For more details, please point your browser to: www.doses.com.