Album Notes

"sometimes falling down is the most uplifting thing you can do..."

The Pharmacy Prophets are a rock and roll band. Guitars, voices, bass, drums... the influences are on the sleeve but none is a singular wardrobe. Stories to tell are told and the highs and lows are brought to bear.

This album, "Songs of Death and Happiness", was the first and last for most of the original Prophets. It was made in a spirit that had its time and then took up and left like a good woman to a bad man and of this good time together naught remains but the trails of smoke and this here joint as a record of where the band got started and a hint of where it might get to.

Where it went is a a different record, "Pan Into the Grayscale", for the moment and in the future will come what we call, "the Fantome'." Stay tuned for that, it's going to be something.

But that's for that and this is for Songs of Death and Happiness. The album was just about all the band was ever supposed to be to tell the truth.

Steve was a bass player by trade, Wes had other shit to do, Jeff was Jeff and Eric was on his way to a Master's in serious musicality. All the intent of it from front to back was to play a couple shows, make a record, drink some, smoke some, laugh and die just a little bit together and then get back to the business of our own business. But shit got going and one show led to another and damn if we didn't get a couple years down the road before first Eric, then Jeff and finally Wes finally went back on their way.

Despite the inevitable ending it was good, very good and this record is testament to that time, that freedom to create with no fear of what should come next or when the next one would be. This encapsulates all of it for what it was - the life and death of the original Pharmacy Prophets.

Soft and Loud, Open hand, closed fist, scream, whisper, life, joy and sadness. Songs of Death and Happiness.

The Pharmacy Prophets
“Opposites compete on "Songs of Death and Happiness," the debut CD by the Pharmacy Prophets, as acoustic guitar textures are pitted against stomp box-triggered squalls and full-throated guitar solos. A classic modern rock strategy, the juxtaposition still packs plenty of punch and tension when a band exploits it as effectively as this local quartet. Still, the Prophets have more to offer than just a series of cleverly modulated soundscapes. Lead vocalist Steve Bowes has lung power to spare, and the songs he's composed with fellow guitarist T. Wesley are refreshingly smart and durable. Unanswered questions -- or in some cases, unanswerable questions -- inspire several tunes, including the opening tracks "Amen" and "Rob's Song," plus the romantic interlude "For Me for You." Bowes has no problem shifting moods, some of which are graced by strings, but the best moments often come when he and his bandmates sound like they're eager to settle a score on "Earlgray" and other tunes.”
--Mike Joyce – The Washington Post

The Pharmacy Prophets have been a staple in the live music scene up and down and all around the land 2002, and will continue to be so until we fall down and fucking die.

The Pharmacy Prophets today are -

Steve Bowes: vocals and guitar
Trey Ponish: guitar
Ben Mellott: drums
Phil Rossi: bass and vocals

The Pharmacy Prophets during Songs of Death and Happiness were -

Steve Bowes: vocals and guitar
T.Wesley: guitar and vocals
Eric Scorce: drums and vocals
Jeff Jones: bass and vocals