The Gourds
The Gourds are an American alternative country band that formed in Austin, Texas, United States, during the summer of 1994. After playing together for 19 consecutive years, the band went on hiatus in 2013.
Career
Primarily evolving from the Picket Line Coyotes and the Grackles, The Gourds first line-up consisted of Kevin Russell (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Jimmy Smith (vocals, bass, guitar), Claude Bernard (accordion, guitar, vocals), and Charlie Llewellin (drums, percussion). Llewellin was replaced by Keith Langford shortly after the second album was recorded, and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston officially joined the band after being invited to play on their third album. By the following album, Johnston had also become the band's third songwriter, though Russell and Smith continued to share the bulk of those responsibilities.
Despite a sizable amount of original material, The Gourds are probably best known for a song they did not write, and for which they initially did not receive credit. In fact, for most of the 16 years following their first live performance of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice", fans could regularly be heard calling out for the band's cover version of the song, sometimes before the show had even started. This led some to consider it an albatross, but the band continued to play the crowd pleaser, often adding a medley of impromptu cover songs to its midsection.
Contiguous United States
The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. (federal district), on the continent of North America. The term excludes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and all off-shore United States territories and possessions, which include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.
The greatest distance (on a great circle route) entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles (4,509 km, between Florida and the state of Washington); the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles (2,660 km).
Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. occupy a combined area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.3 km2), which is 1.58% of the total surface area of Earth. Of this area, 2,959,064.44 square miles (7,663,941.7 km2) is land, composing 83.65% of U.S. land area, pretty similar to the area of Australia. Officially, 160,820.25 square miles (416,522.5 km2) is water area, composing 62.66% of the nation's total water area.
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The Flat Baritone
by: The GourdsForm a ring and wind and twine
Round the ol' grape vine
Heavy on the wire from the house
Salt the cow and kill the calf
Meet yer lonesome with a once and a half
Gents on the east and ladies on the south
The solemn boy carries his silver damage
Sold but for, the number and the image
His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
When he sings he slurs
& uses the meat of his thigh
Thold the book he wrote when he was lame
So wrapped up in his flat baritone
No castrato could woo him in from the rain
For he never raised his voice when his britches
Was spillin over with that honey truck richness
His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
Well the stylus hit the patches
As he spit on the splashes
& sought out the scratches in the vinyl
'Neath a needle topped with nickels
To keep the tunes a-goin'
Cracklin', croonin' & crowin'
Multi-colored, hard-boiled & hidden
In the corners, with the dogs rusty remnants
His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure