Getting The Journey and a Bit More!

Nearly a month ago, I posted my idea on how to get Clem Snide’s EP of Journey covers. Last week, I finally got it. And then some.

The back story is this: Clem Snide did a Kickstarter campaign, raising money to produce a limited edition, colored vinyl EP of Journey covers. For some reason, this sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, I missed the initial campaign. Thankfully, a few copies were left over. I ordered one and waited. And waited.

Months went by. More months went by. But I didn’t get impatient. I figured it would come soon enough. I imagined that Eff (lead singer/guitarist/only guy left) was completely overwhelmed by having to personally mail out 500 or so records.

I emailed him a couple of times and he always replied, assuring me that things were crazy on his end and it would soon come. Last month, I emailed again, and he told me that he was out of record boxes. I then got the idea to sent him a record box full of a bunch of stuff – just like we used to do in the old punk rock days before the internet.

It worked! Sure, I could have whined and complained about it and gotten the record, but the record was made secondary. Now it was about mailing stuff. I mailed him a Carter Family record, one of my poetry books, and a mix. He came through big time.

I got two Clem Snide The Journey records (one in purple vinyl, the other in pinkish), a strange mugshot photo, and, most surprisingly of all, an early Clem Snide 7″ with a hand-drawn cover. Limited edition of 200. That’s insane. I nearly wet myself.

So what does the Journey covers EP sound like? Well, you could easily say that it sounds like Clem Snide covering Journey. I mean, it’s right, but an explanation is needed. This isn’t some tongue-in-cheek fit of irony, halfway making fun of Journey. This shows a real respect for the songs. I have no idea if Eff is a huge Journey fan. I know that I’m not. But now I too have a respect for Steve Perry’s song writing. And who ever thought that could happen?

Take a listen to these:

I’m so ecstatic that this finally came. And I’m even more ecstatic that my patience and idea completely paid off. I hope that Eff dug the stuff I sent him, because I am certainly digging the records.

It was one amazing mail day, made even better by another record gift (from Smartz) that arrived at the same time. More on that later.