“They operated from a trailer and storage building on Tobias’s family farm, surviving off the land, and clearing zombies from the property between recording and editing.”
A black and white image of zombie pits scrolled across the screen as the guys in the booth ran the images to check timing. The man ignored it.
He continued, “They do deserve credit for recognizing the continued value of musical culture and history while everyone else was focused purely on survival. They had the vision to gather and record the unique musical evolution of the Dead Era which shaped all music that came after it.”
A grainy video of the men working in their studio rolled on the screen. The man stopped and watched as he waited.
The video froze and the voice said, “Skip to section four. The text is edited from the last time you read it. Read it over once and tell us when you are ready.”
The man obliged them by scanning it over. He said, “Ready.”
The voice said, “We’re rolling on section four.”
The man took another drink before he began, “The real unsung heroes of the rise of Dead World Records Incorporated are clearly the collectors that agreed to bring the recordings back to the studio. Many of them were musicians themselves and trekked hundreds of miles through zombie-infested territory to find musical gatherings of the various unique pockets of survivors.”
A picture of Tiny flashed on the screen with his name under it. He was wearing shorts, hiking boots, and holding a walking stick. A picture of another man wearing a helmet and carrying a bat replaced it. The name below it was Satchel Mouth Murderman.
The man continued, “Music from this period is clearly defined by both isolation and strange mixtures of people and cultures. The gatherings of these musical laboratories (many of which were destroyed and lost long before the zombies were) is the legacy of men like Tiny ‘Mud Music’ Jones.”
Stills of Tiny with arrows pointing him out passed over the screen.
The man read on, “Tiny traveled farther and gathered more than any other collector. His introverted style and musical talent won trust and entry into enclaves of people no one else could penetrate. Some historians believe much of what we know of Dead Era culture is built off the exploration of Tiny Jones.”
The man stopped.
The voice ordered, “Go with section six when ready.”
The man began as soon as he had the page, “Tiny was so named due to his four-foot-eleven-inch stature. Even Tobias Baker and Hollister Z didn’t know him by any other name besides Tiny. He carried a pack that looked heavier than him with more instruments and recording equipment than food and clothes. He usually played for his supper and, in turn, got others to play for him with tape rolling.”
After a short pause, the voice said, “Section seven needs to have a foreboding tone. It’s going to be over some heavy music. Articulate it well. Go when ready.”
The man read, “He is also the source of the Mud Music legend making three infamous trips into Dead Era Appalachia in search of it.”
The voice said, “Let’s do that again. Try a little more flow, but a darker tone.”
The man read it again. The voice acknowledged, “That was good. Go with section ten now when you’re ready.”
The man began, “Tiny discovered Donna Cash, whereabouts unknown. Donna Cash is the most quoted artist on the Tribute Wall on Survivor Book. Bootleg recordings of her work are still in the top one hundred downloads each year. Donna Cash was best known for mash-ups of Madonna and Johnny Cash on the drag queen circuit. She was touring when doing so was deadly even for individuals not in drag.
“Tiny is responsible for the only known original recordings of ‘True Folsom Blues,’ ‘Vogue the Line,’ ‘When the Ray of Light Comes Around,’ ‘Like a Ring of Fire,’ and many other songs that have been covered thousands of times by both straight and drag acts in the Recovery Era. Donna Cash has also been documented more times on the missing person Sighting Wall on Survivor Book than any other person. Mr. S. Parker, the current CEO of Survivor Book, has put a permanent block on Donna Cash sightings.
“Other popular artists on the Dead Era drag circuit that were first recorded by Tiny included Pink Orbosin, Ms. Britt Britt Rotten, and Jerri Leigh Lopper.”
The man stopped again and took a drink of water. The voice said, “Let’s go with section fourteen.”
The man scanned the first few lines before he started, “Tiny Jones recorded examples of New Swing from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. The music was originally used as a distraction for zombies while scavengers went out into the cities for supplies. Traditionally, it is played on rooftops. New Swing is a blend of Big Band, modern Jazz, fifties Rock, and R-and-B. It is defined by a reverb off of buildings. Most modern New Swing musicians create the sound electronically. Tiny recorded P. City Warriors, The Big Bloods led by the late Cap Kat Krunch, and the New Philly Phunk which still plays in Las Vegas with a new lineup.
“ ‘We let Tiny record after he fought his way to the building and knocked on the door holding two zombie heads in his hands. Would you say no to a cat that showed up like that?’—Miles Diddy, P. City Warriors original line-up.”
The man paused again.
The voice asked, “Do you need a break?”
“No, I’m fine,” the man answered.
The voice said, “Turn to section twenty-one and start from the third line on to the end of that section.”
The man recited, “Glam Grass was discovered outside of Nashville. A tour group of old eighties metal stars ended up in a militia compound with a religious cult. After the fire, Tiny’s recordings were the only record of the founders of this musical form. It was defined by electric guitars accompanied by traditional blue grass instruments. The Glam Grass artists usually sang about religious subject matter, often out of the book of Revelation. The style is described as typically heavy, but surprisingly upbeat.”
The voice said, “Now section twenty-seven.”
The man read, “Across the South, a style known as Death Gospel emerged from places where churches became the refuge of nonbelievers. It was a movement where metal influence came against traditional hymns. Unlike Glam Grass, Death Gospel was darker, slower, featuring minor chords, and was usually played acoustically. This style was documented by several collectors and is still a staple of churches in the Deep South.”
The voice directed, “Section twenty-nine.”
The man turned one page and found his place, “Tiny was involved in spreading the music and not just recording it. This is noticed most in the style known as Cherokee R-and-B or Red Blues. Tiny is credited with moving the music from North Carolina all the way to Oklahoma.
“ ‘The day he came to the fences, the zombies parted and allowed him through. He was the first white man admitted to the Cherokee Nation Compounds.’—Chief Blue Wolf Pine, rhythm guitar and vocals, The Silent Dead Players.
“With variations across the South and West, Red Blues included Native American chants combined with tradition blues instrumentation and riffs. Later, Red Blues diverged more from this original formula. The later style was sometimes referred to as Blue Sioux.”
After a longer pause, the voice came back and said, “Section thirty-five has been rewritten. Start that from the beginning.”
The man read it silently, then began, “Shock-a-Billy was one of Tiny Jones’s favorite collections. It featured shock rocker make-up, dark subjects, and Punk/Country combinations. It was mostly advanced by touring acts. Tiny expressed that he felt a kinship with the traveling musicians. Shock-a-Billy artists that stayed in one place were looked on as cowards within the community, posers. The tour busses were often dragsters pulled by animals.