Album Notes

San Francisco based Australian born Ian Stephen and Sharon De Milo came south for New Year. DEEP South that is -to visit fellow Aussie Keith Glass and his USA born partner Betty Breslin. A week later enough songs were written and recorded to unite the quartet in a new group dubbed SUICIDE DOORS after a 1950’s photo of a couple of greasers and their girlfriends found at a Mobile (Alabama)estate sale.
Fast forward a few months Keith and Ian bunkered down in the hamlet of Brisbane, just south of San Francisco to put the finishing touches on the most meaningful dual couple musical collaboration since the golden years of Abba and Fleetwood Mac.
The result is a Southern Gothic saga summoning up slices of Erskine Caldwell, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Henry Lawson and Barry Humphries with the group’s own wacky bent well to the fore on such songs as the cock-eyed ode to activist Cindy Sheehan (American Woman) everything Southern (Southern Belle) and epic factional tale William And Amelia.
Drawing on myriad influences from punk rock to gospel Blue Ribbon Hell was created as a whole from scratch via a bedrock of the collective careers and talents of full time musical dilettantes Stephen and Glass (for more extensive bios check out their respective solo albums also featured on cdBaby.) Their spouses, despite musical backgrounds (De Milo sings of her 80’s group Let’s Go Naked on One In Japan) have thankfully found more gainful employment in the real world.
In fact, De Milo was chief lyricist for a lot of the work and Breslin supplies an aching keystone vocal performance (William & Amelia) leaving the blokes where they belong - in the engine room toiling over guitars, keyboards, percussion, production and such.
Live performances are slated but will be sporadic and special. The album could become a future classic even if on release it only sells as well as Van Gogh did during his lifetime. Invest in the future now.

Keith Glass kglassal@aol.com
Ian Stephen shempworld@gmail.com