WHO?

Those who knew RonnieHays in his salad days might find the current manifestation radically different. Where the former was fixated on incoherent, nihilistic fury in the late 1970s, the current version has transformed into a guitar-flogging rendition of Kurt Vonnegut’s alter ego, Kilgore Trout. Salty, unrefined, astute, resigned to a life in obscurity, yet utterly incapable of altering the karmic path (not that he’d even try). As revealed in the liner notes of his first self-produced EP, Rohlfie’s 1st: Cheap Shots:

I can’t afford to hire REAL musicians, singers, and engineers. Besides, i’m not doing this to impress industry people… or anyone else for that matter. I’m doing this because i HAVE to.

WHAT?

Over the years, PackMule Productions has brought five EPs of original music, one compilation of acoustic covers, and a collection of spoken word pieces known as Audiovision into existence. The first three music EPs emerged in rapid succession (2003, 2004, and 2005). Ignited by an eight-year hiatus from the music scene, his creative reserves overflowed, squeezed by the constraints of a corporate IT-support day job. He meticulously documented the simmering impatience of his muse and arranged two-week vacations, enough time for returning to the “high plains” where he sought refuge with friends and kin, including audio engineer extraordinaire, Terry “Dad” Pfeifer. Months of toil condensed into these brief respites, dedicating days to tracking and nights getting drank under the table by the locals. By the time EP #3, Rohlfie’s Dog, reached completion, the seemingly insatiable muse was finally satisfied… and there would be no further output until the Rohlf house succumbed to “empty nest” syndrome some fifteen odd years later.   

WHY?

Once an angsty, wrathful, wandering soul craving that elusive rock-n-roll fantasy, now a weathered beast of burden, RonnieHays takes life’s offerings and fate in stride. Freedom? Happiness? Mere states of the mind, and for RonnieHays, rediscovering the rhythm of his original drummer embodies both in spades. Once again, the dam of creativity swells, and he’s more than willing to heed the muse’s call. But why, you may ask? After all, the human body hosting this whirlwind could be classified as a revolutionary space-age rock-n-roll relic. Born just a couple of years after Sputnik’s orbit, during the year of the Cuban Revolution and the day the music died. 

So, should he now recline in a creaking rocking chair, taking it easy? Hell no! As Robert Zimmerman sagely crooned in one of the greatest songs of the 20th Century canon:

“He not busy being born is busy dying.”

Expect much, much more from the reborn RonnieHays. Tanned, rested, and ready to yawp till such time as he drops. Hopefully, not any time soon.

Go here for an extended Zoomervision interview… “Behind the Loopy Madness“

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