The Little Black Books

The Little Black Books started when former Giljunko member Mark Lindquist ran into his friend Kevin G. who just built his own 8-track studio above a dirty bookstore in Downtown Duluth. Mark mentioned that he had a bunch of new songs he was working on (a lie) and Kevin suggested they record them together to test out the new recording gear. Shortly after agreeing to that, Mark talked to his friends from other bands, Mindy Johnson from the Keepaways, Bob Olson from the Black Eyed Snakes, and Chunk from the Black Labels, and convinced them to help him put his new songs to tape. So in the Fall of 2004, every Thursday night, they all got together and made a record. Most of the songs were written either the day of or day before the session and learned as a band the night they recorded them. That resulted in a CD called “Only One Name In My Little Black Book.”After some nice things were written about that disc in the local weeklies, they all decided to play some live shows to support the record. The Little Black Books went out and opened for some really cool bands including Ol’ Yeller, The Hold Steady, Trampled Turtles, The Black Eyed Snakes, Crew Jones, and The Oranges to name a few.About a year later, Kevin had to move his studio into the Norshor Theater and, once again, needed to test out his new set up. So Mark wrote some new songs and they got together every Thursday night and finished a record called Black Out. One song that they recorded on Thanksgiving night of 2005 titled “They’re Never Wrong” won a local award for Song of the Year.Shying away from the limelight, Kevin moved to California making part-time member Mindy Johnson a full-time member. During this time the Little Black Books were asked to record a song for a Duluth Does Dylan compilation of which they gladly accepted. They recorded a quick tune at Sacred Heart Music Center called “Walking Down the Line” that Dylan had on his Bootleg Series III CD.In the Fall of 2006, they released a 7” record of “They’re Never Wrong” (recorded by Jake Larsen at BrainWave Studio) and still have boxes full of unsold ones sitting under a work table at Mark’s apartment. That is quite normal for a band to make their own 7” records and not be able to sell all 200 of them, isn’t it?Then Chunk moved to Minneapolis to be closer to his brother. At this point in the story, Mark and Bob recorded an acoustic tune for a benefit compilation called Treasure Chest. That song (Camp Grenada) started the wheels in Mark’s head to turn….to turn to his old friend Rich Mattson to record an all acoustic record at Rich’s studio called Sparta Sound. A risky idea to be sure, since the Little Black Books were known as a loud rock band, not some folk-y chicken pickers. But after three months of driving a ’91 Crown Victoria with no heat up to Sparta Sound every two weeks, the album Sparta Circle Drive was completed and released in early 2007. Rich’s cousin and brother helped in the making of a few of the songs. Another nice thing was written by Fly High Duluth’s website saying that the forthcoming track Wet Gospel is an eerie hit song already. And "East Hillside Freezeout" got some nice airtime on the Twin Cities radio station called The Current. The album itself was listed in a couple "best of 2007" end of the year local magazines. Now (January of 2008) we're back up in Rich's studio recording what looks like an EP that will be out in April of this year. Baby Grant Johnson, our friend for almost 20 years, has jumped on board and has agreed to help record some tracks and play some gigs. MyGen Profile Generator