i can't count the scars...

seriously! i have about five scars on my face and i really don't remember where there all came from... there's the two on my cheeks from the time i got mauled by a german shepherd when i was seven, which includes the one above my right eye (or is it my left eye) smack-dab in my eyebrow. there's one above my right eye from the time i jumped out of the moving car when i was four when my mother refused to go back to my aunt Belindas house to retrieve my firetruck i had left behind. and there's another one, i believe that one came from the time i got whacked in the eye with a fastball before a game when i was twelve. the thing is, i really don't remember if the scars actually came from the incedents i spoke of. i mean, they all happened. i'm just not sure which scar goes with which accident. well, except for the two scars on my cheeck from the fifty-two stitches i received after the dog bite. the other ones are just a guess. is that so wrong? but i do remember where my wifes scar came from on her nose just to the right of her left eye. she got jumped by some loser boys and put up one hell of a fight! if i know where her scars are from, why i can't i remember where mine came from? ahhh... who cares.

Our Little Secret!

OK... my wife and I have finally figured out something that we can do together that could make for a great future endeavor. I don't want to say anything just yet, 'cause i don't want to jinx it... but let me just say that i am excited that we have found a business we can both work on together to possibly better our lives. more on that soon...

if you need to go then go...

i am fine with anyone that feels like california is the place they need to be... really. but go if you need to go. there is nothing in california that i need, want or desire. sure the weather is nice and there are a ton of things to do but it's just not where i want to be.
i don't want to live in or around LA with the kind of money i make. if i had a ton of money then i would live right on the beach and that would be swell. but living in an apartment in a bad part of town sounds like crap. especially since my father and brother and sister and aunts and cousins all pretty much live within driving distance or right down the road from where i live right now. in california i wouldn't have the connections i have here in austin for ANY of the things i want to do in the future. i would end up working to live and living to work and that would suck! at least in austin i have the opportunity to go into business with my wife and/or friends or start a band with people i know or whatever.
i have been to just about every major city in every state at least once (with my bands pop unknown and the cutaway) and some places multiple times. i know where the good places are and where i want to be. LA (and it's surrounding communities) just isn't one of them. chicago is cool... but too cold in the winter. nyc is cool... but i wouldn't know what to do with myself there. plus i would miss the trees, lakes and rivers that are abundant here in austin. san diego is cool... but even there i would be a lost soul.
speaking of loss... when i lost my mother in '98 i lost my "home". my dad moved into a new place down the road with his new girlfriend (then wife... then ex-wife) and his home was never my home. when i got married i believed that wherever i was, was "home". i believed that wherever my wife and i moved, that was our home and that was where we belonged. i never looked over my shoulder or longed to go anywhere else. i have been working on making our situation better and even loved looking for new homes in austin all the time to make our "home" a great place for our future kids. i still love the thought of buying a house and making it our home... here in austin.
for those of you who can't seem to find austin a worthy place to live or start a family or play music or whatever it is you want to do then perhaps you need to go where it is that will make you happy.
i'm ok with that... really.

but if you need to go... then go.

if you plan to stay, then make it a pleasant place for yourself. this will in turn make it better for those around you. and perhaps you will realize that home is where you are loved.

xo - tim

and so it goes...

this is what i posted on my bands website:

i am writing to let you know that we have called it quits. sundays show was our last. who would have thought that after all this time we would end on such short notice. i found out thursday that ed was going to be filling in for a band called the start and he told me they were leaving tuesday (which is today). we had a number of shows lined up all around texas but i have had to cancel them as i believe he will be joining the start and will be moving to LA. i also learned that our bass player shane had had enough as well and was gearing up to move to LA in a month or two. so, we're calling it quits.
the fact is, we've been discussing change and have been in disagreement with quite a few things lately regarding the cutaway. i thought we were on our way to working things out but it seems as though peoples minds were on to other things. so for me, it comes as a bit of shock that this happened. as for the others, perhaps they had other plans for some time... i dunno. the point is, we are over as we know it. i don't know what the future holds for me. this has all come a little too quick for me to actually digest and formulate a new plan of attack. i know i will be working on music. we all will. i'm sure nik will be doing music with several bands as he is always the go to guy here in austin for bands that need someone to help fill in on a moments notice. he's also one of the most amazing musicians i've ever known. who knows, he may start a new band that kicks major ass! i'm not worried about nik, he'll do fine. shane will probably become a famous actor on a soap opera or something making millions living out his dream of... well... whatever his dream is. or join a band that kicks your ass LA style! i'm not worried about shane, he'll do fine. ed is definitely going to be doing something amazing. i will one day see him and say, "i was in a great band with that guy, look at him now... he's on top of the world!" i'm not worried about ed, he'll do fine. as for me, i'll be fine too. it's over with the cutaway but i'm not done. i've got more to give. i've got more to say. without music as an outlet, i would more than likely go insane.
i would like to thank all the boys of the cutaway for everything they have given to make this band such an important thing in my life and to countless others.

the following have shared the stage as a member of the cutaway at some point or another and to one degree or another and i thank you:

thank you joe.
thank you carlos.
thank you kemble.
thank you urny.
thank you mike.
thank you nik.
thank you ed.
thank you shane.

thank you to all the people that helped us out behind the scenes. managers, lawyers, booking agents, promoters, producers, engineers, photographers, street teamers, guitar techs, family, friends, anyone who has helped us in ANY way and to anyone that is and was a fan of our music. and most importantly thank you for reading this far and for all of your support. we will never forget it.

until we meet again...

xo - tim

The Austin Chronicle Takes on the Rock!

99 Bands
A million voices rising up from Red River

99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon.
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city.
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here.

– Nena, "99 Luftballoons"

=====

On May 7, Austin went to the polls, and 52% of voters registered in favor of a citywide smoking ban. Many local club owners and music lovers, especially those for whom the lifeblood of the Austin music scene stems from the DIY aesthetic of Red River, shuddered when the results came in. Was this an outright attack on the live music venues of our city? Was this the end of a fertile breeding ground where musicians young and old tune their creativity? Most businesses that still permit smoking are either bars or live music venues, Red River rock havens like Room 710, Red Eyed Fly, Beerland, etc., businesses with nonexistent profit margins easily affected by any change.
Two months away from the ban's institution, on this same strip where club owners are still considering their nonsmoking options, the local music scene has never been so rich. Oversaturated with bands of every genre – rock & roll, punk, post-rock, experimental, country, jazz, metal, you name it – Red River is alive. For six weeks (as opposed to "31 Nights"), mid-May to the end of June, we took the scene's pulse. Ninety-nine bands from Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio. Not all of them masterpieces, not all of them inspiring awe, not a one of them anything less than rock & roll.

The Microcosm
The breeze that blows down Red River comes not from the sky but from the power of decibels – as many as the city of Austin will allow. Red River would be nothing without the rock. It's religion around these parts.
Sunday brings a free night of rock to Emo's. Before meeting the door, the sidewalk rattles with the beat of The Cutaway's bass. Unfortunately, the melodies are calling it quits: half of the band is moving to L.A. for a better shot at the music industry brass ring. Tim Lasater has the perfect rock & roll voice: too low for emo, too high for goth. It's passionate rock that melts like sugar in water.

Silly first post to get things started.

I did it like this.
I did it like that.
I did it with a wiffleball bat sooooooo.