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Wednesday, April 5th 2006:
STILL ALIVE AND KICKING... AND SCREAMING... AND SCHEMING
Hey there all you NAFTA hataz! I know it's been a long time since the last update to this website
so here's a quick overview:
LAST ONE STANDING now has a MySpace page complete with mp3's for your perusal. That's right, Kevin, Basil and I are still in it to win
it and still looking for a singer! Click on the link in the band's name or click HERE to check in! Be sure to add us as your friends and meet all of our friends!
I have a page on MySpace also! Click HERE to get there! Also I must mention a name that all of you here 'should' be familiar with: JOE ELSWICK has a MySpace account also, which documents his latest recording work right here at AudioVertigo Studios! It includes mp3's new and old and pictures of the recording process. Action personified!!!!! If you haven't clicked Joe's
name to get to that site yet, never fear... you may click HERE!Last One Standing is flowing smoothly, other than the fact that we all have stepped up to the mic to take
vocal duties. No gigs yet or on the horizon but lots of music coming out. Former Under Authority drummer Max "Buff" Whiting
and Derek Fout came down and sat in with us a couple of weekends ago and we had a ball playing songs we all cut our teeth
on. Basil and I ran into the two of them at Gigantour last August during Symphony X's set. Max and Derek are on
MySpace too, take a link from one of the great pages mentioned above to reach them. You can also reach a lot of other fine
people on those pages like The Black Dahlia Murder, Dream Theater, Kings X, Derek Webb, Ty Tabor, Caedmon's Call, February,
dUg Pinnick, Bebo Norman, Jerry Gaskill, Gristle, Downcast and NWA-Mountain State!
Speaking of which, I have had every opportunity laid before me to pursue my other true passion, professional
wrestling, but I simply do not have the time to train, which bums me out. I have been working out (Tiff and I finally picked
up a Bowflex!) and eating *better* and I have followed up on my connections within the indy scene. I simply do not have the
time to devote to it because it would eat into my job and family life. Neither of those situations are expendable.
Okay, that's it for now. Pray for the success and THE COMPLETION of Joe's recording project (hint hint jab
jab poke poke) and I thanks for still caring what might be going on here in Beckley WV. Love and respect to you all. Hebrews
12:1. dB
Friday, July 15th 2005:
Celebration, Not Mouring
I called Tim McCoy on the morning of Thursday July 7th and we shot the bull
a bit. He mentioned that our former pastor Chuch Webb wasn't doing all that well. I told Tim that I needed to get off my keister
and visit him, that I hadn't seen Chuck in over two years and that nothing was preventing me from it but to do it. Tim spoke
of the last visit he had with Chuck and the conversation moved on. That afternoon Tim called me back, having just spoken to
Chuck's son Charlie Webb who was the other UA guitarist. Chuck had passed away that very morning. I was overwhelmed and more
than a bit guilty.
As the final arrangements were put in place, I joined the great crowd of people
gathered together to remember the man. The Reverend Charles "Chuck" Webb had a massive cross-section of Plateau and greater
Fayette County citizens paying their respects. Old friends from Bethel Baptist and other churches where Chuck had ministered,
local business leaders and other pastors intermingled and recounted tales of this wonderful man whose life was dedicated to
the work of Christ, environmental safety, Christmas lights, bombastic chili and more than a little mischief. Max "Buff" Whiting
and his wife Chrissy, who as drummer and drummer's wife for UA, had their son Zack there, so UA was talked about alot. Charlie
and I joked about how one of us or the other one always wore our hair long and not once in fourteen years did we grow our
hair out at the same time. Charlie mentioned that he had sang recently in church and played the old guitars. He's too talented
to let the gifts lay dormant. Charlie is a true friend and a joy to listen to. But listening doesn't come close to the power
of creating music with him. Take it from me, I know first hand.
Chuck's wife Wanda and Chuck's mother were both on hand and were pillars
of strength for us all. This gathering was a celebration of a dear friend's life, complete with a RealTree brand camoflage
casket with wood trim hardware and a beautiful picture of a buck over Chuck's head. Charlie told me that Chuck flipped his
lid when he saw that model.
True to form, my van broke down on my wife Tiffany that evening and I was unable
to make Chuck's funeral the next day. I've learned a bit from not visiting them in the past couple of years and believe me,
I won't be taking friends for granted. People, let the ones you hold dear know how much they mean to you. Even if they already
know, remind them. God Bless you Charlie and Tracy, Wanda, Mary Ann and Todd, and Granny and I'll be touching base with you
all. And God Bless you Chuck... I'll bet you're having an incredible time up there, even more than when you brought the crawdads
to the church picnic.
In other news, I've been jamming with the human riffomatic Will Cochran, with
Kevin Anderson on drums and Basil Ward on guitar and a little bass. We've been knocking out some original riffs and music
and yes, it's been recorded. More on that as it develops. Also, Matt Allen of Corrosive has booked time at Audiovertigo Studios this very weekend. That will be fun. I have mad respect for Matt both as a musician and a friend. Our two bands were about
as polar opposite as you could be but both attained a cult- like status so to speak. I've known Matt for years and can't wait
to lose my hearing this weekend.
Okay, later days everybody! Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday May 4th 2005:
CONGRATULATIONS IN ORDER!
Hey there everybody! I got a call from the main man,
Paul Logan Garrett, who most of you know from these pages as UA's old light man and often soundman. Logan is also responsible,
along with his wife Mandy, for those Tucker County Methodist Church camps each summer. Any way, Logan and I played phone tag
yesterday and when we finally hooked up he told me that the two of them are expecting their first child! They had just found
out and had a doctor's appointment scheduled for today. AWESOME! Fatherhood roolz. If you know this dynamic duo, give 'em
both a high five.
I've been in contact with several groups who are interested
in using AudioVertigo Studios in the very near future. There's a lot of word of mouth going on, especially
surrounding the E.SOSA session I did. I was shocked at how many hip hop artists there are in and around Beckley WV, and even
more shocked at how many places there are for them to gig in WV. I've also been approached by members of the nearly legendary
metal band CORROSIVE as well. I say, bring 'em all on! My goal is to be a Pro-Tools studio by the end of the year or at least
next spring and the only way to achieve this goal is by having business in now.
Okay, that's all for now. Everybody give Tall Paul
a shout and send out congratulations to both he and Mandy. Later! dB
Tuesday, April 26th 2005:
GIGS?
Hey there, just passing along a rumor... a series of UNDER AUTHORITY gigs in Charleston, Point
Pleasant and Beckley WV, and Wilmington NC. We'll see what happens. Each members' home town is represented in the deal.
My friend David Meyer, formerly of the band Through The Veil, recently auditioned for Rebecca
St. James' band. He did well but it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't meant to be for me, either: I contacted Bryan at The David
Smallbone Agency to throw my hat into the ring only to find that the guitar and bass positions had both been filled in the
past 48 hours.
Be sure and check out the LINKS! page for my friend Steve Forsythe's new site. Also, the MP3's are going to be rotated out soon so check back soon!
Along with the purchase of a house will come a permanent lair for AudioVertigo Studios. Progress, progress, progress.
Please keep all of these endeavors in mind and prayer. Late! dB
Tuesday, March 15th 2005:
From The News Pages
Hey there, just a blurb that I ran across courtesy of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail.
It has great news about my brother Tommy, and also former UA drummer Maxwell "Buff" Whiting. Congrats to both of them. The article can be found here, under 'Ambulance Authority', and please let me know if the link dies out. Later!
Saturday March 12th, 2005:
STUDIO JOURNAL AND ASS'T SUNDRIES
Howdy! Good to hear from ya again! You're lookin' good there kiddo!
The studio was busy this week. Between me puttering around, I had the pleasure
of working with E.Sosa, an incredibly talented rap artist from Atlanta. Here in Beckley for a short time, he was referred
to me by the human riffomatic Willis Cochran and he hit the studio on Thursday. He had his beats down all ready, making the
session a very smooth affair. His world isn't pretty, but E.Sosa takes you on a mad trip and proves that he will rise to the
top of it. A great four song demo from a talented, well connected hip hop artist.
Will and I recorded THE MOTHER of all riffs a few weeks back. Man, he is a beastly
thing, that guy is.
I've purchased a lot of cool new gear. I went to Guitars Plus and purchased my friend Randy's personal Mesa Rectifier Traditional 4x12 cab to match my Single Rec Solo 50 head and
a brand spankin' new Rocktron Intellifex Online. This is the rig... it's what I've waited for since 1994. There's the Samick
IC-4 that I bought recently, as well. On the studio end of things, I grabbed a Behringer Autocom MDX1400, 'cause you can never have enough channels of compression. I'll have a lot of updates for the GEAR CLOSET soon, like my Mesa rig, the new axe, my Strat, and some of the other stuff I own like that funky Japanese '70's Boss
DS-1 that Terry Gunther gave me for my birthday last year. Man, that thing is the dog's bollocks mate!
Okay, have fun here at the site. I've got last night's episode of this to watch. Later!
Thursday January 27th 2005:
NEW MP3s!!!
Hola! Welcome back to the site! I know, I know, I've been
a bad boy, not posting new news since the end of November, but there's been lots afoot here.
First off, we welcomed Connor Wesley to the clan on December 30th. He's
healthy, so is Tiffany, and the older brothers have become role models to their new sibling. Incredible. Praise God.
Third, Audiovertigo Studios continues to grow, with new compressors and effects units already added. We plan to expand continually over the year, including
a jump into Pro Tools by Christmas.
Dean and Will are trying to rope in a rhythm section. Stay tuned right
here for the latest news.
Dean has picked up a great new guitar, a Samick Greg Bennett Design
Interceptor IC4. Pics soon.
Okay, thanks for letting me bore you to death here. Much love to you
all, and Dean and Will will hopefully see you all on the road this year. Later!
Tuesday, November 23rd 2004:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Greetings once again, and thanks for tuning in here at DEANBIBB.COM. From my
family to yours, I hope the Thanksgiving/Christmas season brings you a lot of joy and happiness. I'm making it a point to
mention Thanksgiving prominently in this message because once again it looks like nobody else is going to mention it. Thanksgiving
is the only American/Christian holiday that we celebrate. Think about it's origins: the first Protestants came to this land
and after a hard beginning they offered thanks to God for His mercy and His blessings. These first European settlers formed
the basis for what would become the United States Of America and the Thanksgiving Holiday was instituted to celebrate the
Pilgrims' penitent mindset. As usual this year, Thanksgiving is being overlooked and pushed to the side by the liberal media
and the moneychangers because it seems to get in the way of the big 'Christoween' season. This comes as no surprise, since
'Family Values', 'Faith' and 'Religion' are talked about and tossed around like political tools from the White House on down but
when the rubber meets the road they seem to get under rug swept. So I'm sending out Thanksgiving cheer and a reminder of why
Thanksgiving is such an important day in America.
One thing I'm thankful for is my family, which is growing again. We're expecting
our third son near the end of December and everything is healthy and fine as far as we can tell, both with child and mother.
Another thing I'm thankful for is great tone, as cheesy as that might sound
after reading the first paragraph. My Mesa Single Rectifier Solo 50 head is slammin'!!! I'm currently purchasing a Samick
Interceptor IC4 electric guitar at this time, via layaway lol. Duncan pick ups in H/S/H configuration and a Floyd system (my
favorite... remember the Ibanez's I used?). I'm excited about using a Floyd Rose again, but I can tell you that the Parker
bridge is still better. Yep, still spoiled.
I've been busy in the studio working on a few instrumental ideas. Those ideas
have spawned other ideas and now it looks like a CD will be in the works! Now, Satriani I'm not, or Vai, Petrucci or Phil
Keaggy, but the friends and family who have heard the new tracks say that they are good and show a lot of potential. I'm not
a shredder, I don't have a lot of speed talent. I fancy myself as more of a Brian May or Ty Tabor guy, though I can't touch
their genious. That's why I had Will Cochran burn a solo into one new song, Felix Domesticatis. He launched a blistering
harmonic minor salvo over the song's major ninth structure and made the junk jel!!! Whatta man!!!! This song is also the first
to feature my new Mesa on all guitar tracks. I used both channels AND all five modes, generating the first live feedback I've
tracked since I used my old Ross four track and my Marshall Mini Stack Lead 12 almost 15 years ago! I wonder if Steve Forsythe
still owns that amp... Another song in the can is BooBoo Finger, which takes a sort of techno-organic approach with
industrial touches. I have other ideas rattling around like I said, so I'll keep you posted.
Tiff and I went up to the Court Street Grill in Pomeroy OH to catch Kings X
in a last minute stop over gig. Local WV legend Todd Burge opened, playing his Taylor and blowing his harps. I tell ya, it
should have been a mismatch but Todd did his thing and won a lot of us over (we bought his newest disc). The evening was originally
his gig so he was given the choice of rescheduling or opening for Kings X. Good choice Todd! I also met Jim Gustafsen of Poobah,
who have the distinction of being the most collectible psychadelic rock band in the world according to Goldmine magazine.
As usual, Kings X kiiiiiiilled. They ran the best setlist of any tours I've seen, including three new songs
from their fourth coming Michael Wagner produced disc and never before played tunes such as Freedom and Charlie
Sheen. We talked to the band afterward and gave drummer Jerry Gaskill a copy of Grafitti magazine which mentioned the
band in the same league as The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Queen and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Guitarist Ty Tabor was speaking to
Tiff and suddenly he glanced down at her belly and goes "Whoa! You're pregnant!" "That's the rumor," Tiff replied with a laugh...
Doug's vocals were in top form and they basically played too loud for the house PA. What a great bunch of guys.
Okay, enough rambling. I'll drop another line soon. Again, happy Thanksgiving!
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