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NEWS 01/05 THROUGH 12/07
FROM BANJOBOY RECORDS
& THE CHIAPETZ RECORDING STUDIO

Another time I saw an albino giant in the horizon blowing stardust into the sky at dusk.
- Ned Rouse Copyright 2008

DECEMBER 2007 The Chiapetz Studio’s pending move to a new location in Kentwood should take place in mid-January. Ned spent the time writing and practicing on his favorite acoustic guitar since everything is packed up and labeled. The once busy room had seen the production of all seven of Ned’s CD’s, along with work he had done for other musician's projects. Now, blank walls, floor and ceiling make a sad, lonely reverb when words are spoken. It had been decorated to create atmosphere. The mural that adorned the Northern wall has been painted over. The hundreds of ceiling patio lights are coiled in storage. Not a toy is to be found! A few boxes remain. There are many good things to look forward to. The new studio will allow more room for participating musicians and have a fresh feel. It is always an exciting thing to have new surroundings. Ned and Sara hope you had the most blessed Christmas and will enjoy a safe and Happy New Year!

NOVEMBER 2007 Preparations are still being made for the move to a new location. Sara's birthday was November 15th and Ned's is November 26th. This holiday season will be Sara and Ned's first, experiencing an empty-nest. Two new areas were added to banjowheat.com. One is, The Bitch Goddess From Hell, and the other is the Vote page. They are both silly and playful. You'll get to learn who to vote for and have your fortune told, all in 2 pages! The future is not for the faint of heart! In the November 23rd Grand Rapids Press, John Agar updated us all on the status of child murderer, Theodore Williams. As some of you might recall, Sara Rouse's good friend, Laura Jo Sutliffe was his first victim and her story was told on Ned's 2006 CD, From Now On, with the song, Laura Jo Sutliffe. The good news is, he gets to stay in his mental institution. Since he has little remorse, this is what the Rouse's had been hoping for. Soon the victims' parents will be featured in a follow up piece in the press., maybe within the week. John Agar, at the press, has told Ned that the other victims mother will be sending him a note soon! Her daughter, Sonya Santa Cruz, was Mr. Williams 2nd, and last, victim.

OCTOBER 2007 The Others CD was released! It was spotlighted by John Sinkevics in the Grand Rapids Press and on their MLive website. Go there to read about it. WYCE, 88.1 FM, is playing several cuts from it. The CD is selling well and Ned has no live shows planned at this point. This is primarily due to the fact that Ned is moving and the Chiapetz Studio has to be tore down along with everything else. The studio will be back in business sometime in early 2008. When all is said and done the address will be in the general Grand Rapids area.

SEPTEMBER 2007 Banjowheat.com is now up and running on the Internet! Go there for song samples of all of Ned's CD's! In early September, Bob Hartig finished up his sax tracks for Ned's jazzy-rocking song, Gidget Goes To Hell. Ned added a final keyboard track and started mixing the song which times in at 9:32. This will be the last song produced for the Others CD. It is now done and will be out very soon!

AUGUST 2007 A decision was made to include a rare recording, from the 1950's, of my Mother and Grandmother performing Tura Lura Lural on the Others project. Dr. Rococoa #5 was completed and a new song, We're All One Of The Others, was added. We're All One Of The Others was written to put my daughter, Clara's words to music. All artwork for the CD, Others, was completed along with the new Banjowheat.com! It will be up and running soon!

APRIL, MAY, JUNE & JULY 2007 When I Wasn't Looking, The Man Without A Plan and Get To The Meaning Of Life were completed, and at present, work has resumed on the last track for the CD, Gidget Goes To Hell. In May Ned's mother, Beverly Rouse, passed away. Many things were put on hold for a while.

MARCH 2007 Ned started work on re-recording his 1979 song, Gidget Goes To Hell. Robert Shoooks laid the main vocal for the song, Passive Agressive Control Freak. Later in the month, Clara Rouse recorded the lead vocal for, Someone Must Hold. Ned wrote and recorded a brand new song for the CD entitled Bundyundle.

FEBRUARY 2007 Lisa Kacos from the band, The Outter Vibe, took time from spring break and laid a trumpet track to the new song, A Stare At The Dying American Man. Photos were taken in Mexico, on vacation at the Chichen Itza ruins for the artwork of the upcoming, Others, CD.

SEPTEMBER 2006 through JANUARY 2007 Work continued on creating the new/improved Banjowheat Website and the recording of more tracks for the upcoming CD, Others! In these past months many songs have been recorded by Ned. They are, Some Regret, Passive Agressive Control Freak, Someone Must Hold and A Stare At The Dying American Man! Watch this site change as the new one becomes, finally, ready!!!!!!

JULY 2006 The Banjowheat website is now updated, revamped, and complete with 1 minute samples of all of the songs on his CDs. This month Ned worked on mastering the group, Archives, new CD. He is also working on two new songs for the Others CD.
Ned and Sara have a new baby grand-daughter, Eliy Ava Lynne Simmer!

JUNE 2006   The song, Echo, was finished and a new song named, Passive Aggressive Control Freak, was prepared for recording with Robert Shooks on lead vocals. Sara, Clara, and Ned caught the band, The Outer Vibe’s performance, on the Calder stage at Festival 06. Ned likes this local band a lot and bought their CD, Games We Play. He will soon link you all to their website and they will link others to the Banjowheat site. Ned has been performing acoustic test sets on the first Friday of each month at the Essential Bean Coffee House in Caledonia. Ned is working hard to create the new
Banjowheat website which will include his CD’s music samples.

MAY 2006   Ned wrote and finished the Others CD title track during the week leading up to May 15th. The song, Others, is half ballad, half keyboard rocker, with a twist of classical influence on the side. Soon he’ll be working on a very old song he wrote, way back in 1969, entitled Echo. He has been in negotiations with a promoter. Ned is also writing music to be played on his acoustic slide guitar. Earlier in the month he produced a popular song for a local opera singer to use at an upcoming event.

APRIL 2006   A new song, The Day That Love Came To Me, was written by Ned, for Dorothy Cooley to sing, and with the help of Bob Hartig, on sax, it was completed early in the month. It is in the style of smooth jazz. He also put his, Regal, acoustic slide guitar back together and began using it again!

MARCH 2006   Look for the FROM NOW ON CD which is out in stores, and available through this website, now! Ned has done a couple of acoustic live shows this past couple of months. His schedule on other projects was delayed due to health issues. Look for the new links on the link page and updates to the From Now On page.

FEBRUARY 2006   While Ned is between projects he is working with guitarist/songwriter, Steve Ford, on a few songs. At the same time he will be recording with singer Steve Beamo, producing one of his original songs. Ned has also been working with Bob Hartig, of the Bob Hartig Trio, on one of his compositions. These three fine musicians are very good friends who have worked with him in the past. Ned's newest CD, From Now On, may be released in March!

JANUARY 2006   Happy New Year! The, From Now On CD was sent to the Library of Congress on 1-1-06. This, Ned's 6th CD, will be out in the spring. His next project, 7th CD, will be called Others. It will feature a lot of others. Clara Rouse, Bob Hartig, Lisa Kacos, and others! More later. Some of the songs to be included are, Others, Echo, The Day That Love Came To Me, Some Regret, Bundyundle, A Stare At The Dying American Man, Get to The Meaning Of Life, Someone Must Hold, Passive Aggressive Control Freak, The Man Without A Plan, Gidget Goes to Hell, When I Wasn't Looking, We’re All One Of The Others, Tura Lura Lural, and Part #7 of the Dr. Rococoa saga.

DECEMBER 2005   You Might Be a Nedwreck was finished up on December 24th, and the CD artwork for the, From Now On, CD was completed! The last three songs of this project were mastered, the CD was tested, and one final listen was done. The text and artwork were checked again. From Now On is ready to be sent for the copyright on January 1st. Ned's daughter, Joy, is expecting her first child, in the early summer, and the family is very excited!!!! She wants a girl.

NOVEMBER 2005   Halloween was a gas this year with the Haunted Garage of Ridgemoor Drive entertaining partygoers to the max. The Richard Millhouse Nixon Blues was recorded on the weekend of the 13th and Ned attended the Jeff Tweedy concert that week. Ned had been working hard on a new song entitled, I am So Glad I Knew You, for drums and keyboards. He finished it November 26th on his birthday. The last song, on the 12 song CD, will be called You Might Be a Nedwreck, and will start production in December. This month Sara and Ned will celebrate their birthdays and get more into the holiday spirit.

OCTOBER 2005   The song, Magic Crayolas, was finished. Ned created a new story, and photo, for the Reporter page. It is called, Nipples Pierre. Check it out! Then a grand, one day, song production called, Pygar, was recorded. It is a song about his love of seeing birds in flight. He wrote it years ago. And the tracks were recorded quickly, from memory, in a complex tapestry of sound. On October 13th work began on a new song entitled, A Curmudgeon in Geezerville, and it was finished on the 14th. It is a comedy song about aging. On 10-19-05 Ned helped judge the 2005 Guitar Center Drum-Off finals, and by 10-23-05 the Laura Jo Sutliffe, Grand Rapids Press, article was published!

SEPTEMBER 2005   At The End of My Rainbow, Dr. Rococoa Pt. 6, and Human Tradition were all recorded, then mastered, by Sept. 8th. Human Tradition is a song about the destruction of nature. There will soon be a new text area to the Banjoyboy Observe, Monitor, and Wonder Reports Page. It will be called Bottom Feeders. New songs to be worked on soon are, Richard Millhouse Nixon Blues, and Release. At the End Of My Rainbow is a song written about a friend of Ned's who is facing the possibility of death, with dignity, and class. Recording of the heavy-fantasy song, Magic Crayolas, began in the last week of the month. Ned also found time to judge the first round of the Guitar Center's 2005 Drum Off.

AUGUST 2005   A new web page called, The Banjoboy Observe, Monitor, and Reports Page, was just posted on the Banjowheat website. It rants about the state of fads and entertainers. Several photos, and updates were added on the other main pages. More time to create, and not record, was allowed while Ned hangs with musician friends. Recording and the mastering of new songs continued.

JULY 2005   Ned began work on two songs, At the End Of My Rainbow, and Silly Pictures In My Head. "Rainbow" is a thoughtful, self-awareness piece, and the other, "Silly Little Pictures" is and exploration into abstract ideas. Much of the month was set aside for rest and relaxation with a trip to Saugatuck.

JUNE 2005   Going into June the focus of the songwriting was to start to memorialize the 1966 disappearance, and murder, of fellow Sparta, Michigan resident, Laura Jo Sutliffe. Her loss had bothered Sara, Ned, and friends for years. As it turned out the Grand Rapids Press was interested too. More on that later. Her tribute song, Laura Jo Sutliffe, was finished later in the month. Sara and Ned attended the Jean Luc Ponty, Bela Fleck, and Stanley Clark concert at Meijer Gardens. Ned started, and finished another song he wrote for Sara, 1972's, So Many Miles, and he began taking photos for the CD artwork & cover. Be sure to check out the link that takes you to the, From Now On, CD preview page! Oh yeah. Ned also re-organized the toy room in the Chiapetz Studio. The Music To The Soundtrack Of My Life CD got a nice review in
The Grand Rapids Press recently.

MAY 2005 Music To The Soundtrack Of My Life is now released!!! Steve Ford's friends will be pleased to know that Steve will soon be recording with Ned at the Chiapetz Studio. The 6th Ned Rouse CD, From Now On, is in production. 2 songs are almost finished, and the composition, instrumental. Be sure to check out the Smallspace concert on May 14th. (See April news below). The new song, From Now On, was completed on 5-24- 05, It is a spiritual rocker. The other song for the new CD, Light The Sun, was finished earlier, and this one is a love ballad for Ned's wife, Sara. Ned and Katie Christmann completed her 7 song EP on 5-25-05. Ned's remake of his old pro-rock song, Gidget Goes To Hell, started production on 5-29-05. The Time To Kill CD was given a great review in the 5-29-05 Grand Rapids Press.

APRIL 2005   This month found Ned beginning work to finalize many of his CD's. He took a little time off to start to record Katie Christmann for her EP project. The whole Rouse family was working hard to train their new parrot, Houdini. Soon he was back to finalizing and learning the new equipment. Sara and Ned went and took in Bob Hartig's Alten Skies concert downtown, and then, later in the month, Sting's great show at the Van Andel Arena. It was very, very good! Bob Hartig and Ned began talking about their up-coming project. On May 7th Ned's 5th CD, Music To The Soundtrack Of My Life, will be released to the stores, and this website! Ned's friend, Mark Mulder, and the band he is in, Smallspace, will be doing a free concert at the Alpine Schuler Books store on may 14th at 7:00 PM. Check out the link to their website on the Links Page.

MARCH 2005   The 6th Ned Rouse CD, title song, From Now On, is being written. It is taking the form of a drifty, yet powerful piece about redirection. The songs that will be on the disc are, Pygar, At The End Of My Rainbow, Light The Sun, Magic Crayolas, You Might Be A Nedwreck, A Curmudgeon In Geezerville, The Richard Millhouse Nixon Blues, Laura Jo Sutliffe, From Now On, So Many Miles, I'm So Glad I Knew You, Human Tradition, and Dr. Racocoa Part 6. Ned has been upgrading his studio equipment with the recent purchase of a finalizer. As the bugs are being worked out, and the equipment is down, he is working with his classical guitar on keyboard ideas for his 3rd classical composition, The Purple Intruder. Ned will also continue to be busy with the new Rouse family addition, Houdini, their baby scarlet macaw.

FEBRUARY 2005   The next CD project will be entitled, From Now On, and Ned has already started on it by completing the song, Light My Sun. It is a song about a person who is wanting to connect with someone. It was written years ago. John Lutz, Robert Rouse, and Bob Hartig finished up some last minute MTTSOML CD work for Ned and then, Music To The Soundtrack Of My Life, went out to the Library of Congress . When the last CD was sent in for Copyrights, Ned was thrilled to have the staff from the Copyright office call to say they enjoyed his Time To Kill CD! Ned has also been working on saving old taped performances of Cleta, Beverly, and Richard Drilling to digital media. One performance of Tura Lura Lura stands to be a bit of a jewel for the family to soon enjoy.

JANUARY 2005   In The Name Of God, a brand new terrorist inspired piece, was finished by January 9th. By the 15th two other songs were mostly done. Midnight Lake is a very pretty acoustic number about Nunica Lake in the early 1970's. Momma's Slippers, is an older song too, that Ned wrote, and just finally recorded for his mother. New equipment was put to use in the Chiapetz Studio after some old stuff died a painless death. Ahhh! New toys! All involved with this CD are now posing for the CD's pictures. It is almost time to copyright the whole MTTSOML CD!!!!!