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Claiborne Avenue

by Doctor Lo

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Claiborne Avenue - Compact Disc
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    For the guy or gal who still enjoys music on good old 44.1 kHz pristinely digital Compact Discs -- this is the "Claiborne Avenue" for you! Track List: 1. Grey Green Eyes 2. Guns and Sharp Swords 3. Claiborne Avenue 4. That Jesus Love 5. Kenosha Baby 6. You Know Me Best 7. Moon Tide 8. Ship 9. Down at the Fly 10. Just To Be Total Time: 48 minutes 25 secs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Claiborne Avenue via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • Claiborne Avenue - Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Whether you love the warm sound of vinyl or just enjoy a beautiful 12" piece of artwork, this is the primo incarnation of "Claiborne Avenue." My 1st vinyl LP ever, in 30+ years of making music. NOTE because vinyl sound degrades with more than 21 minutes per side, you get two fewer tracks with this version (but you also get digital download codes for the whole album). Track List: Side One 1. Grey Green Eyes 2. Guns and Sharp Swords 3. Claiborne Avenue 4. Kenosha Baby - Side Two 1. You Know Me Best 2. Moon Tide 3. Ship 4. Down at the Fly 10. Just To Be Total Time: 39 minutes 14 secs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Claiborne Avenue via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
GREY GREEN EYES She was pretty, with grey green eyes I saw them sparkle, I saw them shine I told myself a thousand lies Staring into those grey green eyes Staring into those grey green eyes I thought I knew what was real and true I thought I'd seen a thing or two But I got cut right down to size With just one look from those grey green eyes Only took one look from those grey green eyes When I love, I love so much It can get messy, it can be rough Lonesome lows and dizzy highs Spinning round and round in those grey green eyes Going round and round in those grey green eyes She was pretty, yeah she was fine And if I could read, she was a sign True love sparkles and true love shines It's just a trick of those grey green eyes Yeah it's just a trick of those grey green eyes It's just a trick of those grey green eyes © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
2.
GUNS AND SHARP SWORDS Once I had a view A clear picture of you And once we were one and not two And I gave up my soul for you And once I had a taste Of the feeling that you always chased And I gave you what you had misplaced The gift that I stole for you Heard through as glass A word from the past In cold misty mountains I hunger In a lonely dark town I lay down to drown And in fantasy’s fountains grow younger Your words will rush in and slice through my skin They make the loneliest chords Guns and sharp swords Maybe we went for a ride And maybe you locked me inside And maybe I broke down and cried And tore out my eyes for you And you can take home what you steal And you can love what is real But you can’t feel what I feel Cause I’m just a prize for you Come my ghost Come curl up close So many years I’ve been yearning The battle is done And I sleep in the sun You’ll bless me as I lie here burning You words will rush in and slice through my skin They make the loneliest chords Guns and sharp swords © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
3.
CLAIBORNE AVENUE Most summer evenings when the lights go down Camp chairs unfold on the neutral ground But not tonight we got it all shut down That’s how it has to be Nothing doing in Louis Armstrong’s town The Zulu king has got no Zulu crown Step outside and you won’t hear a sound And you surely won’t hear me Who knows what you might catch in the air Three hundred years of heartbreak linger there And the sign says “forgotten by care” But you know that ain’t true No drunks beneath the corner light Carjackers all stayed home tonight But you still keep your windows rolled up tight When you drive down Claiborne Avenue You can still wander round this place But all the tourists left without a trace You can’t drink with a mask on your face And they closed up all the bars Ain’t nothing doing down on Magazine Street Can’t get a beer can’t get a bite to eat No second line, no Pocky Way beat Just a few slow moving cars Who knows what you might catch in the air (etc) Last time I saw you, my eyes were crossed I’d twisted myself up and gotten lost I broke the rules and I paid the cost You know nothing comes free Now Mr. Bienville he has gone away No one remembers Mr. Claude Tremé And me I’m holding on for a better day Or a better way to be Who knows what you might catch in the air (etc) © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
4.
THAT JESUS LOVE If you’re staring up at the stars From a high cool mountain pass Jesus loves you If you’re sleeping in a cardboard box Beneath a highway overpass Jesus loves you If you’re shivering in the winter In a cave dark as a tomb Jesus loves you If you’re in a New Orleans summer garden Smelling sweet sweet olive bloom Jesus loves you Well the world is a crazy place And the crazy shows no signs of slowing, no no no But the one thing we all got going is that Jesus love Don’t matter where you gone wrong What you’ve done or where you been, no no no We can all take comfort in that Jesus love If your heart is filled with anger Or your soul twisted up with hate Jesus still loves you Or if you’re comfy in a rich man’s bed With the AC on sixty-eight Jesus still loves you You may be flush, you may be broke May be respected, may be a joke Jesus still loves you You may be a saint free of all blame Or eaten up inside from shame Jesus still loves you Well the world is a raging fire Many will strive and most will fail, yeah yeah yeah But at the very end of the tale is that Jesus love After all this suffering and desire After this pointless seeming game, yeah yeah yeah It shines on all the same, that Jesus love © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
5.
Kenosha Baby 06:05
KENOSHA BABY Kenosha baby You blew me apart How can I ever forget your name Kenosha baby You broke my heart And I don’t think that I, however I try Can ever be the same Well Kyle you were cute In your policeman suit And your sweet captain’s hat Kyle I give you so much credit for that But you walked in half assed And the shit got real fast Coulda stayed home in bed Now you shot three men dead Who put all those dumb ideas in your sweet head? And my sweet teenage friend Your 15 minutes will end But the lives that you took Kyle, there ain't no way to close up that book Burning and smashing, it's all in good fun But now my revolutionaries look what you've done You made little Kyle leave Illinois with his gun I’m so sorry my son I’m sorry for what you done Kenosha baby You blew me apart How can I ever put out these flames Kenosha baby You broke my heart And I don’t think that I, however I try Can ever be the same Oh Kyle child I bet You could be a star Can’t even buy a cigarette But Kyle somehow you can carry an AR Cause this is America where shit is insane Where some eyes see murder and think "how can I gain" And Julia Jackson please let me explain Your words were so beautiful but there’s an oncoming train Speeding down the track, 500 miles an hour And there’s no looking back, and its fury and power Are carrying us home Carry me home Kenosha baby You blew me apart How can I ever win this game Kenosha baby You broke my heart And I don’t think that I, however I try Can ever be the same And I don’t think that I, however I try Can ever be the same © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
6.
YOU KNOW ME BEST The wind blew cold across the Upper West Side The night was dark do you remember how we cried Our cuts were bleeding and our world was spinning round You never made a sound Just helped me get undressed You know me best Miles of our highway passed along into the night Between the headlights and the neon shining bright We never woke up, we could never see the sun You put me on the run You put me to the test You know me best And I can’t stand the pain And I can’t feel the rain And I, I don’t know why I’m here again You see more than you say You say more than the rest You know me best We shared a story and in time we shared a life You walked beside me, had our child, became my wife I treasured all your gifts and stacked them in the hall When finally came the fall You had already guessed You know me best I played the villain in the movie of our lives You threw your lines across the screen like circus knives And as I ran away still wondering what it meant I still thought you were heaven sent And we were heaven blessed You know me best And I can’t stand the pain And I can’t feel the rain And I, I don’t know why I’m here again So put me on the run And put me to the test You know me best © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
7.
Moon Tide 05:12
MOON TIDE I have done all you asked Left roses by the roadside For you to grab as you pass I have done all you asked Disrobed all your saviors, See the blood behind the glass Don’t ask me anymore, don’t reason why Moon tide is rolling Now I must be rolling too You took all I could give Found my hidden treasure But it’s no use to you, my friend You took all I could give Stole my cruel devices They could kill you in the end Don’t ask me anymore, don’t reason why Moon wind is lonely Now I am lonely too I have done all that you asked To no good fortune And winter starts today I have done all that you asked Your ship is loading And I must stow away Don’t ask me anymore, don’t reason why Moon tide is leaving And I am leaving too © Eberhard L. Faber & Tad Troilo 2020-21
8.
Ship 03:54
SHIP All I got I learned from wondering Wondered if I had a clue at all But I know for sure you're beautiful That's enough to get me through for now Let's build a boat, let's build a relation ship Let's throw our baggage overboard We'll check for leaks, make sure it doesn't sink I don't want to swim in shit no more Well thanks for listening while I ramble on and on I guess you might want time to think But from what I know of the rest of this world I'll bet your other options stink Let's build a boat, let's build a relation ship Let's throw our baggage overboard We'll check for leaks, make sure it doesn't sink I don't want to swim in shit no more Okay let's talk about my character flaws I guess I might have one or two But I think they can be overlooked You know I'd do the same for you Let's build a boat, let's build a relation ship Let's throw our baggage overboard We'll check for leaks, make sure it doesn't sink I don't want to swim in shit no more © Tom Pirozzi 2020-21
9.
DOWN AT THE FLY Meet me down at the Fly And we can sit and talk a while You know the same old bench by the softball field And we can think back one more time To when I first beheld your smile In thirty seconds then my fate was sealed Meet me down at the Fly We can watch the Mississippi flow And maybe not a word needs to be said Meet me for just half an hour Cause at this point I’d like to know If you’re even a thing outside my head At the Fly where half the broken hearts in Louis Armstrong’s town Sit staring toward the southern sunset glow We’re drinking wine or smoking weed or stretched out on the ground We’re lonesome but we’re free Watch the muddy river flow To the Gulf of Mexico Out into the sea Meet me down at the Fly Where the lost and stoned can play the fool And we’ll maybe figure out where this went wrong Meet me down at the Fly Where it is peaceful as a rule And if we can’t agree we’ll write a song Meet me in the afternoon December stress could make you faint And holding on so tight to all we’d planned Meet me down at the Fly By where you met the no name saint He gave you words of truth he wrote by hand At the Fly where half the broken hearts in Louis Armstrong’s town Sit staring toward the southern sunset glow We’re drinking wine or smoking weed or stretched out on the ground We’re lonesome but we’re free Watch the muddy river flow To the Gulf of Mexico Out into the sea © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21
10.
Just To Be 05:08
JUST TO BE Well I’m looking for sanity In my fifty-fourth year Better late than never Better courage than fear And I’m trying to find wisdom Just a drop at a time Trying to turn off the noise And shut off my mind If my soul could rest peaceful If my brain could be quiet It sounds so impossible But I’m still gonna try it Cause I’ve been running in circles For oh so long And in so many ways I have been so wrong So baby let us rest, together And baby we’ll be blessed, forever Such a gift we have received Just to breathe, just to be You know I had such promise Back when I was young All those words I wrote All those songs I sung What did it all amount to? Who was I trying to show? Now it’s time to move on Time to let it all go I had longing in my heart From so early on And I know that this longing May never be gone But it don’t have to rule me I can take a stand And I won’t let it fool me I can be my own man So baby let us rest, together And baby we’ll be blessed, forever Such a gift we have received Just to breathe, just to be © Eberhard L. Faber 2020-21

about

Doctor Lo Faber’s music exudes the warmth, grit, and enchantment of New Orleans — a city he’s called home for the past decade. A listen to “Claiborne Avenue,” the title track off his new album, reveals a number of specific NOLA settings: there’s the obvious, the street for which the song is named, as well as the iconic Magazine Street. There’s also a hat tip of sorts to The Neville Brothers, with a reference to the “Pocky Way beat;” and it name-checks Louis Armstrong, Mr. Bienville (Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the “Father of New Orleans”), and Mr. Claude Tremé (for whom the Tremé neighborhood of NOLA is named).

If it sounds a bit like a history lesson in song, well, it is. And this historical focus is fitting, given that Dr. Faber (or Doctor Lo, as he’s known in the music world) has his Ph. D. in American History, is a former history professor, and published a book about New Orleans in 2013 entitled Building the Land of Dreams. “Some of the songs are united by being my experience of living here in New Orleans for about nine years now,” Lo explains. And while he notes that his music “is not New Orleans-y,” one can’t help but almost instantly feel transported to the Crescent City while listening to it.

Seemingly a product of the pandemic – said track speaks of the “tourists [who] left without a trace” – Claiborne Avenue (the song and the album) is both observational and introspective at once. It sees Doctor Lo reflecting on the past through a nostalgic lens with a hint of regret (“I broke the rules and I paid the cost / You know nothing comes free”), and the refrain “Who knows what you might catch in the air” takes on more meanings the longer you listen.

Doctor Lo doesn’t limit his reflections to NOLA, however. He laments the state of our country in the beautiful, string-laden “Kenosha Baby,” singing “This is America where shit is insane / Where some eyes see murder and think ‘how can I gain’.” The stories of people and places are all set to an Americana-tinged instrumental backdrop, with plenty of acoustic guitar, mandolin, slide, and some awesome B3, Rhodes, and piano. It’s a delightful package that reveals more nuances and a richer, more detailed sense of setting with each listen.

Faber has a rich musical history; prior to adding the “Doctor” title to his moniker, he founded legendary jam band God Street Wine in 1988. GSW landed a record deal with Geffen in 1994, and later with Mercury (the latter which he describes as a “really wonderful sort of success-validating experience”). During that time they toured nearly constantly, pausing only to record. Ultimately, GSW hit a wall of burnout and played their farewell show in December 1999.

Faber went on to form the Lo Faber Band, and compose and record the double-CD concept rock operas Henry's House and Friday Night Freakshow in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Meanwhile, the age of social media led to GSW fans congregating in a Facebook group that successfully brought the band back for a series of annual reunion shows beginning in 2010.

When the pandemic hit the US in full force back in March 2020, Doctor Lo took to his YouTube channel to connect. “I’m gonna find another way to connect with people during this time,” he recalls, “I’m gonna make really strange videos with multiple versions of myself in front of a green screen.” While at first he was hesitant to embrace live streaming, by June 2020 he was all in and now continues to broadcast twice a week to his social media pages. “I’ve really enjoyed adapting to this reality,” he says.

Faber played most of the instruments himself for the initial recordings of Claiborne Avenue, and afterwards had some other musicians replace the parts he played “but better,” he humbly notes. The album features a long list of standout players with impressive pedigrees, such as Dave Eggar (The Who, Coldplay, Beyonce) on cello and string arrangements; Jason Crosby (Phil Lesh, Jackson Browne, Tedeschi & Trucks) on piano and fiddle; God Street Wine’s Jon Bevo and Aaron Lieberman on keys and lead guitar; well-traveled New Orleans musician/DJ Marc Stone on slide guitar; Bristol, TN virtuoso Blake Collins on mandolin; and Ted Marotta and Tom Pirozzi, who served as the rhythm section for Ominous Seapods in the 90s, holding down the grooves on drums and bass.

All together, the final product is just what Doctor Lo hoped it would be, something that reflects the “lived experience” of New Orleans from the perspective of a songwriter who still considers himself very much an outsider in the city’s vibrant yet notoriously insular music scene. There may be no tourists on Claiborne Avenue, but there’s a heck of a lot of heart and soul.

credits

released June 18, 2021

All Songs by Eberhard L. Faber ©2020-21 except "Moon Tide" by Eberhard L. Faber and Tad Troilo ©2020-21 and "Ship" by Tom Pirozzi ©2020-21. All Rights Reserved.

Produced by Lo Faber

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Ted Marotta - Drums
Tom Pirozzi - Bass
Josh Himmelsbach - Mandolin (Grey Green Eyes, You Know Me Best)
Blake Collins - Mandolin (Guns and Sharp Swords, Down At the Fly)
Dave Eggar - Cello and String Arrangements (Guns & Sharp Swords, Kenosha Baby, Down At the Fly)
Rurik Nunan - Violin (Grey Green Eyes, You Know Me Best, Ship)
Josiah Nelson - Violin (Kenosha Baby)
Marc Stone - Lead Guitar (Claiborne Avenue)
Aaron Lieberman - Slide Guitar (That Jesus Love)
Jon Bevo - B3 and Rhodes (Claiborne Avenue, Ship, Down At the Fly)
Jason Crosby - Piano (Ship, Down At the Fly), Violin (Moon Tide)
Lo Faber - Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Lap Steel, Bass, Keyboards, All Lead Vocals

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Photography: Angelo Imbraguglia

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Doctor Lo New Orleans, Louisiana

Dr. Lo Faber is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in New Orleans.

He has been writing, performing, and recording for over thirty years. He formed God Street Wine in New York in the late 1980s and led the band for 12 years of nonstop touring and recording.

After GSW broke up in 2000 Faber produced the rock operas Henry's House and Friday Night Freakshow.
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