A long break was had while Slender traveled around paddling rivers, then a call came in to play a wedding.  An attenmpt to round up the fellas followed and succeeded.  This was the first time the boys had played with D Davis in over 10 years.  Z Erb was on bass.  The scene was outdoors in Rosalyn, on a hot august day with clear skies.

You's A Viper

I'm An Old Cowhand

All Of Me

How Dark My Shaddow's Grown

Don't Get Around Much Anymore

Candelabra Patina

The year was 1995.  Most of the Rootin' Tootin' crew had left for Seattle.  Slender was by now a full-blown snowboard junkie, but still had a guitar and was learning some old swing tunes.  He met a great fretless bass player/fiddler, Z Erb, who also loved the mountains and they started The Swing Nuts with a dobro player, Slippery Nick.  By now it was something Slender did for supplimental income to aid his shoestring life of mostly snowboarding at Mt Baker.  His little fake taxi was in full swing then too, carting the PA around for a band with a revolving door.  A lot of beer was consumed.  There were no rehearsals, ever!  Whoever showed up to play got a small flat fee, and Slender kept the rest.  D Davis was away and we just had one rule for whoever played drums.  They had to use a kick pedal on a cardboard box.  We miked that allowed 3 or 4 other pieces to their kit.  Many gigs were played, but few recorded.  The one tape found was damaged except for these few songs.

The Swamp - Beech House Pub

Random Canyon

Georgia On My Mind

Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Beech House Pub

Here is an archive of the early days of Slender Pickens and the various bands he helped start in the 1980's.  From the 1985 4-track cassette session where Slender and his brother Flat became the Brothers Hairballamazov to the following year when Slender moved out to the Pacific Northwest and started the Rootin' Tootin' High Falutin Sedro Wolley Jug Band with some like minded fellas at Western Washington University.  Then there was Buzz Cookie.  And eventually, the '90s brought The Swing Nuts.  Along with the brother's original 4-track studio session, here are some live tid bits, generally recorded on a boom box from across the room - lovingly tranfered from cassette to digital using a Walkman with a USB cord and a laptop.

Hairball Anthology