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We Made Ourselves a Home When We Didn't Know

by The Rough & Tumble

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1.
Wildfire 03:29
“Wildfire” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 When we lived in Nashville, it was after election day-- Lights were too loud, music too soft, When the Smokies went ablaze. We headed to our mountain town-- Can’t find a signal for the haze. Can’t nobody hear us now. Wildfire. Wildfire. They said it was no accident, they caught a fellow from the town. He was dousing those tires, setting them on fire, And rolling them on down. They caught him on the hilltop, watching all that he had made. The rumor was his shoes were singed, Because he couldn’t walk away. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Does it make it less wild if you start it? That’s the thing about me and you, can’t tell a whistle from a flame, Til we set the sirens off and the story burns the page. You know my face is burning, too, Watching all that we have made-- Lights are too loud, the music too soft. Can you hear me now? Wildfire? Can you hear me now? Wildfire? Does it make it less wild?
2.
“Complications” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 If I had a little more patience, and you had a little more therapy, You could be my mother, I could be your daughter, We could bake a pie for our father and our brother. Get you some work, now, lady. Or get you the hell from here. Oh, I’ve been cooking so long, My stove don’t work, but my hands try on. Johnny Horton hootin’ out a holler song, Yoakum come and broke the radio-- Every tune we know was to heading down the road When your sister took your daddy’s truck to western parts unknown. Get you a ride, now, lady. Or get you the hell from here. Oh, I’ve been running so long, My feet don’t work, but my brain tries on. Get you a man, now, lady, Or get you the hell from here. When you gonna get yourself a baby? You can tell him what your mama knows. We got complications and we need someone to fix ‘em, And we think that we can fix ‘em with those little tiny toes. Get you some worth, now, lady. Or get you the hell from here. Oh, now I’ve been failing so long, My eyes don’t work but my heart tries on. I’ve been failing so long, My heart don’t work so my brain tries on. I’ve been failing so long, My brain don’t work so my hands try on. I got more trouble than song.
3.
Barney 03:46
“Barney” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 I am a lot of things, but the woman you got. We knew when I put on that dress. And the last call made the last call from over the hill-- That’s the last time you came stumbling again. Baby’s over in the clover, Half past one. Oh, sweet Savannah, City of Ghosts-- Won’t you scare up and old love tonight? We’ll grab a hotel, it’s a hard sell in late morning light, I still wander your full streets alone. Sorry to see you go, sorry we met. Sorry we’ll stay in this town. But for my last call, oh for God’s hope, stay over your hill. I can’t have you come ‘round here again. Baby’s over in the clover, Half past one. I lost your diamond, but you lost my heart-- Can we once call it even? And when you call out to our friends ‘bout the woman I am, Remember I’m not the woman you got. Baby’s over in the clover, Half past one.
4.
Viroqua, WI 03:47
“Viroqua, WI” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 Two and forty miles from Madison. I left all the light on my Cadillac. Now I’m four and twenty hours from a residence I call home. How’m’I gonna get to you, my love? I got sixteen bucks and an old Coke cup. Now I’m gonna rely on a stranger’s luck, Or give up. Six miles outta town, Seven to go back home. Six miles or seven, It’s all the same road. Chickadee day and swallow’s night, Whether feather or bird it’s all just flight. I could hobble along or catch a ride To get me home. I could make a nest of this parking lot, But they’re hosing down everything I’ve got. And I gotta get out of this Walmart Before it’s home. Six miles outta town, Seven to go back home. Six miles or seven, It’s all the same road. All my love is luck is love All my love is luck is love Whatcha gonna do with me, my love? I got a horse shoe’s hand and an Ace’s bust. There’s no pretty little nail that I can trust Like my luck. Six miles outta town, Seven to go back home. Six miles or seven, It’s all the same road.
5.
Baggage 02:38
“Baggage” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 I got a bone to pick with you from back when we were younger It was four in the morning we were getting home late from a weekend at your brother’s We’d been fighting ‘bout a little thing and your words couldn’t get out stronger You said “What’s the matter with keeping all the baggage in the middle of the bed tonight?” What’s the matter with keeping all the baggage in the middle of the bed tonight? Oh, babe---I’d rather throw it down with you Than throw you out and go without you now A few years later yeah we got a little doggy who would hog all of the covers She’s big and drooly and a little bit stinky but I guess it doesn’t really matter We’d been fighting ‘bout a little thing and she crawled up to her mother You said “What’s the matter with keeping little doggies in the middle of the bed tonight?” What’s the matter with keeping little doggies in the middle of the bed tonight? Oh, babe---I’d rather throw it down with you Than throw you out and go without you now Oh, babe--- Oh, babe--- Oh, babe--- Let’s throw it down so I don’t have to Throw you out and go without you I been thinking while we been drinking all night till it gets real early If not the headaches then I think it’s the memories that’ll finally get me We can take any little thing and turn into a fight But what’s the matter with keeping liquor bottles in the middle of the bed tonight? What’s the matter with keeping little doggies in the middle of the bed tonight? What’s the matter with keeping all the baggage in the middle of the bed tonight?
6.
“Take Me With You” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 We’re the ones who turned the clocks, we keep all our windows locked at night, When there’s one light on. We wrote all the great love songs on a square of kitchen wall, We write to sing and sing to soothe the soul. You know what it means to be forgotten, I know what it means to be alone. Next time you feel like leaving, take me with you. Next time you feel like leaving, take me with you. This was the year we ached for months and wish we hadn’t pulled a punch or two With our left arm falling. Climb splinters to that sliver moon, bring a jar of Elmer’s glue tonight-- I’ll fill it in for you. You know what it means to say you’re sorry.
7.
“Appalachia Greener” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 I’m in danger of going home, I got a goblin’s warning in each cloudy roll. There’s no shell-shock worn-off like Blue Hills And a northbound trail has got me still. And I’m in danger of going home. I’m in the trouble of a mother’s love. Appalachia greener couldn’t make enough. On a warlot, two-shot from the hill Too blunt to hurt but not to kill-- And a mother wringing her hands like love. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t know who won the fight. Feels like a bar brawl, and I don’t know who won tonight. I’m in peril of staying grown, On a new front porch while the old house groans. It’ll bury me thicker than a backhoe’s blade, Iron tracks running over too soon graves, And every black-eyed Susan gets overrun. I can’t remember the first time it felt like being scared was my birthright, But I remember how, ‘cause she’s been running wild tonight. And while I wandered, you’ve been hanging ‘round wondering where I’ve been. I can tell you now, but you’re gonna have to let me in. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t know who won the fight. Feels like a bar brawl... I’m in danger of leaving wrong With a bellyful of guilt and a tank full gone. I’ll be letting her burn while the old boys yell, Hollering love while giving them hell. And being in danger of going home.
8.
“Better For You” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 Everybody up here says you’re doing better. Everybody here says you’re doing better. Better than who? ‘Cause if it’s better than me, Than it’s better for you. Minneapolis got me thinking about you. But when I was with you it got me thinking about him, too. The city didn’t walk-- now what did I do, That was ever better for you? You got your first love, I got your time. You got your reasons, and I’m doing fine. If you were the best mistake of my life, You can do better-- we did all right. Maybe next time we’re in the same room, I won’t have to lie and say I didn’t see you. I still turned and walked away when I last saw you. Seems you didn’t much want to walk on my way, too. Make the devil to blame, but we share a name And it was never better for you. I got my first love after our time. I got my reasons, and you’re doing fine. If you were the best mistake of my life, You can do better-- If we were the only mistake of our lives, We can do better-- we did alright.
9.
“Steel in My Blood” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 Tell me about your cornfields in Indiana, Or all your oranges out in Californ-I-A. But there’s steel in my blood and fiber in my hands-- They can’t grow, grow, grow like those trees in Western PA. Even though they call me home. Even though they call me by name, I can’t go, I can’t go, go, go. Tell me about that wire you stretched across China, Or World War losses I have taken as my own-- How you never got that fishing trip you promised to Wyoming, Though you drove, drove, drove before he had to go. Even though they called him home. Even though they called him by name, You can’t go, you can’t go, go, go, go, go… Even though they call me home. Even though they call me by name, I can’t go, I can’t go, go, go. Tell me about your cornfield in Indiana, And all your oranges out in Californ-I-A. But there’s steel in my blood and fiber in my hands, You can’t grow, grow, grow like those trees in Western PA. I can’t go.
10.
Cohabitation Physics Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2017 Starry eyed and lonely as a satellite in orbit I’ve been writing songs about galaxies I took a look through a pair of old binoculars The view was cloudy and hardly telescopic and Barely in line with all the research I’ve been doing ‘bout The distance between objects, what’s beginning and what’s ending And at an atomic level, am I me or am I us What do you think baby? Go on and tell me All that I want to do Is find myself alone with you Does that sound strange because I want to be with you? Two independent people, enjoying their solitude While moving their objects independent of the other Me and my baby make our energy kinetically If I’m an object at rest I can’t sleep unless you’re next to me If I’m an object in motion I will go on moving nervously Endure all this friction, my socks upon the carpet Where are you now, baby Where are you darling? All that I want to do Is live alone somewhere with you All that I want to do Is get along somewhere with you I’ve concluded all the research After testing my hypothesis The results are startling You’re still not here next to me You said you’re at work at your super important job But it’s taking eons and it’s not like you’re an astronaut If I could speed up time I’d turn the daylight into night So I can watch for loose debris as it burns across the evening sky And pretend that I was one of them I’d intersect your orbit We can crater down together, just you and me darling
11.
Tiny Moses 03:31
“Tiny Moses” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 Who’s gonna carry you to your bed? Who’s gonna carry you to your bed? Who’s gonna sing the songs you always said You’d write for me, you don’t write to me, again. Warm in a blanket, water and an aspirin and your gone. Oh, a tiny Moses, floating away toward no one. Love of time, not of blood. Who’s gonna carry you to your bed? Who’s gonna carry you to your bed? Who’s gonna sing the songs you always said You’d write for me, you don’t write to me, again. Sing to the river, sing to the river that you’re on. Join a band of whippoorwills, show them what your promises are for-- On the rocks, for the shore. You don’t write to me. You don’t write to me. You don’t write to me. Who’s gonna carry you? Who’s gonna carry you? Who’s gonna carry you?
12.
“Bobby and Joanne” Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 When we go When we go... A few weary days and you were mine, We drove as the plains, they touched to the skies. Like two Sandhill Cranes on the Grand Island line, Save me from sinking and pardon my lies. When we go, wanna go like they did-- Thelma, Louise and Butch and the Kid. Don’t leave me behind, don’t know where I’d go-- Wanna go out like Bobby and Joanne. We were glad and happy when we met, Not the outlaw love we’d stumbled upon, yet. If we keep on driving west, the sun will never set-- God, don’t let her fly far away from me, yet. When we go, wanna go like they did-- Thelma, Louise and Butch and the Kid. Don’t leave me behind, don’t know where I’d go-- Wanna go out like Bobby and Joanne. We’ll fly away, when we’re good and ready. We’ll fly away, together like we said. We’ll fly away, and don’t you forget it-- Where there is a shadow, there’s still adventure left. X2 Some glad morning, you by my side, We’ll take us a drink or we’ll take us a drive. We’ll take us a both so long as neither survives. When this life is over you’ll still be mine. When we go, wanna go like they did-- Thelma, Louise and Butch and the Kid. Don’t leave me behind, don’t know where I’d go-- Wanna go out like Bobby and Joanne.
13.
Let's Get The Band Back Together Written by Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler Copyright Penny Jar Publishing 2016 Let’s get the band back together For another round of drinks At that new bar on the corner Where the old bar used to be Let’s have a couple rounds And a couple more Glad the house is coming along That’s what you’re working for Then the termites moved in with their cigarettes and floppy hats Their penchant for the housing market Before the landlords hiked the rent, Sold the lot beneath our feet And the barstools of the old bar Where the new bar is that we can meet Let’s get the band back together It’s too hot to sit on the porch Like we did that summer It’s just as hot as it was then But we don’t see each other Let’s get the band back together Let’s get the band back together And talk about When you loved to play rock’n’roll Let’s get the band back together And raise a house divided Between what’s yours and what’s mine and what’s compromising Let’s go a couple rounds On the kitchen floor Punch a hole in the drywall That’s what the spackle’s for And then the termites moved and now I pay for parking I’ve been eating in a lot, just to try and stop it And now the roof is caving in I feel I’m getting old I think about the time we spent in sepia and casiotone You loved to play rock’n’roll

about

"We Made Ourselves a Home When We Didn't Know" is a 13-song full length record in which The Rough & Tumble explore where they've been, where they are going, and which of it feels just like home.

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released February 9, 2018

Mallory Graham: vocals, accordion, banjulele, bells, whistles, mouth trumpet, percussion, bolts sliding down a washtub, wine bottle shakers, bowed glockenspiel, wine glasses, kazoo, wooden bowl on the floor, melodica.

Scott Tyler: vocals, guitar, percussion, saxophone, organ, banjo, harmonica.

Dave Coleman: baritone guitar, electric guitar, drums, percussion, pedal steel, vocals.

Chris Leonard: drums, percussion.

Mike Shannon: bass.

Marc Herring: special guest vocals, electric guitar on "Let's Get the Band Back Together."

Recorded and Mixed by Dave Coleman at Howard's Apartment Studio in East Nashville, TN
Produced by Dave Coleman and The Rough & Tumble
Mastered by Alex McCullough at True East Mastering

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The Rough & Tumble Haverhill, New Hampshire

The Rough & Tumble are a dumpster-folk/thriftstore Americana band consisting of Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler. Only This Far, their latest full length record is out May 12, 2023. "The bottom line is these are just quality songs, well written, well played, well sung and arranged, and a pleasure from start to end."- AmericanaUK ... more

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