The Mark Cameron Band is: John Benedict: Gretsch Fusion II, Slingerland drums and vocals Scott Lundberg: Fender Precision Bass and vocals Mark Cameron: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Steel Resonator, Ovation Balladeer and vocals Built To Bust was recorded from August 2009 to May 2011 at the Brewhouse in Minneapolis Minnesota. Additional tracks were recorded at the Terrarium in Minneapolis and Closet studios in Owatonna Minnesota. All songs written and produced by Mark Cameron copyright camsongs music ltd 2011. “Sunshine” copyright Bill Withers. Used by permission. Engineering, mixdown and mastering by Rob Genadek. Additional production assistance provided by Jared Miller. Guitar amplifiers for the Mark Cameron band provided by Savage Audio. Thanks to Jeff and Russ for building the fabulous Glas 30, Macht 6 and Rohr 15 models used to record Built-To-Bust. Essential contributions from: Bobby Schnitzer, Tracey Cramer Kelly, Jeff Victor, Joseph Savage, Nick Salisbury, Bruce Kernow, Randy Evensen, Courtney Yasmineh Sheri Cameron, Jeff Carver, Jason Weismann, and Peter Johnson. All of this material was performed by the band in countless roadhouses and saloons prior to the first sessions for this project. I would like to personally thank all of the venues and festivals that have supported us and we hope to continue our assault on your patrons for years to come. Backstorys: Loser: One day I was driving down the highway and somebody cut me off or something. I remember looking at him and saying “what a loser”. Then I looked around at the car I was driving and began to think that I was also a loser for being stuck in the car on such a nice day. It then was not much of a stretch to realize that we are all losers. “You struggle for all of your life, and then in the end you die”. I began to think about the different catagories of losers: the parents who push their kids too hard in sports, the nervous performer who cracks under pressure and the lovers who want another when the one they should be with is right in front of them. Actually I think that this realization is a liberating experience and once we embrace our roll as losers we can enjoy everything that much more. We usually end our shows with this song. Hobby Cop: Years ago we had a guy in the neighborhood who always seemed to show up two minutes after the police on the rare occasions they were called near our house. He had a police scanner and spoke of others who followed the police around as “hobby cops”. It struck me that he did not seem to realize he was one himself. Years later we had another neighbor who had the army boots, the surplus cruiser and the house full of antennas. His curtains were always closed. I wrote the lyrics to hobby cop long ago but had no music to go with them. Later I thought about all the cop shows of the 1960’s and seventies and after that the music came together pretty quickly. Last week someone got arrested in Minneapolis for impersonating a police officer, they are out there…. The Country song: One morning my alarm went off and the radio was broadcasting a story about someone who had good intentions, but wound up getting arrested. I quickly thought of the key phrase “when bad things happen to good people”. It just seemed like it had to be a country song. Time for you to go: This song goes way back to one of my first bands. At that time the end portion of the song was pretty much the way it appears here, but I was never happy with the front portion. One day I was working on my barn and after pounding nails for several hours I began to see the similarity between nails and people: both are treated as very expendable. The original chorus to this song was “Shiny headed nail, they’re going to pound you till you fail”. I finally boiled it down to the key idea that when people are no longer wanted, they are asked to leave: from jobs, from relationships, from life. The end portion of the song represents an attempt to escape from this reality into pure fantasy. Slippin away: This song started with music first. It was written during rehearsals and the central lyric was something I ad-libbed during this process. The four verses were then built around the four key statements: You Give, She Did, You Live and You Know. Built to Bust: The original music for this song came out of rehearsal sessions. Much later I remembered someone who complained about something they had bought and claimed it had been “Built to Bust”. I thought about relationships that are doomed almost from the start. When Jeff Victor crafted the string accompaniment for this track it was so moving that I felt it created a unique version of the song. I have included them both. Red Hats: Some songs are pure fantasy, Red Hats is pure fact. I was having a nice dinner and the Red Hat club came into the place and simply took over. Their ring leader was about four foot five and she was more bad-a** than any gang banger ever was. I knew the experience had a song in it right away. I thought about all the silly fraternal organizations (all of them are gangs really)and then I wound the clock all the way back to the original “Jets vs Sharks” gang conflict of West-Side-Story. Thus the snapping fingers sequence. I wanted a bawdy and Burlesque sound to match the antics of the Red Hat girls. Young Man’s game: I don’t remember much about how this was written but the title phrase drove it along right from the start. It is a sports analogy that seems to apply well to love in general. Tough all over: One of the great things about Blues guys is they hang a nickname on everyone. The irony of this song is that the four main characters (K.C. Pat, Las Vegas Sam, Shreveport Susan and Chi-town Murray) are having a tough time with things other than jobs and money, the two things you think of when you hear the title phrase. Do Lovin right: This was originally written in rehearsals as a Texas-style boogie under the working title “Rochester”. (I have no idea why). It slowly morphed into a “take the A-train” kind of vibe. I had a completely different set of lyrics for this song originally that were really stupid so I started over. Let me get back to you: This was a rehearsal jam that really sounds like my “Theory and Methods” era. It is about a flighty woman who needs love, but does not understand why it is not forthcoming. Cannary Row: The town I live in is dotted with canning factories. I imagined the steady rythum of the factory equipment when I was working on this song. I have a video for this song all worked out in my head. I hope I am able to make it.