Dirty Money:
   Kyle "KK Dirty Money" Kipp - guitars & vocals
   Jim "[$ic] boy" Plowman - drums & vocals (left Dirty Money in April 2003)
   Eric "Greasy *E*" Kipp - bass guitar

Studio:  Watchtower Recording - Owosso, Michigan   (989) 725-1806
Engineer:  Joel Butts
Recorded/engineered/mixed/mastered March - October 2002 by Joel Butts.
All tracks produced by Kyle "KK Dirty Money" Kipp & Dirty Money/Sin Embargo.
Sleeve layout by Kyle "KK Dirty Money" Kipp.
Band photos (shown below) by Chad Osburn, September 2002.

Dirty Money tracks: (DIRTY MONEY SONG LYRICS)
1.  Like A California Plastic (K. Kipp)
2.  Take 'er Greazy (K. Kipp)
3.  When I Used To Be Me (J. Plowman)
4.  Way Out Bluze (K. Kipp)
5.  Inconstant Baby (Lapeer County Rockers)
6.  [currently untitled] (K. Kipp)
7.  Sinister Surforama in A-minor (K. Kipp)
8.  "Trashed TV"
9.  Trash TV (J. Plowman)
10.  Mama Tried (Merle Haggard)
11.  Hit N' Run [Ypsi Rox] (K. Kipp)
12.  King of Fools* {[$ic] boy vocal}* (Social Distortion)
13.  Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash)
14.  King of Fools* {KK Dirty Money vocal}* (Social Distortion)

Sin Embargo tracks: (SIN EMBARGO SONG LYRICS)
15.  Some Day (K. Kipp)
16.  Entrepreneurial Theme (K. Kipp)
17.  Official Mandation (K. Kipp)
18.  Pipeline (the Ventures)
19.  Following Multiple Choice Ethics (K. Kipp)
20.  Rice Moth City (K. Kipp)
21.  My Generation (the Who)
22.  Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)
23.  Last Caress (the Misfits)

*one or both of these versions may be on your copy of the CD.

CHECK OUT THE PROGRESS OF RECORDING BLOWIN' MUD IN THE RECORDING JOURNAL!

NOTES ABOUT Blowin' Mud:
Interestingly, the roots of what would become Blowin' Mud run all the way back to 1996!  All the major studio work (recording/mixing) for Sin Embargo's previous CD, Super Fugue, was completed in the fall of '96, and Kyle (a.k.a. KK Dirty Money) had begun working on new post-Super Fugue tunes with Eric (a.k.a. Greasy *E*) and former (1993-97) SE drummer Jason Hofer. However, due to numerous post-production technical difficulties with Super Fugue (which delayed its ultimate release until June 1998) and 2 or 3 personnel changes in Sin Embargo (drummers... gotta love 'em) throughout 1997-99, songwriting for Sin Embargo moved at less than a snail's pace!  The fact that Kyle (as well as Ed Stark & Chad Calton) were attending Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant and Eric was 150 miles away attending Lawrence Tech in Southfield didn't help!  The song "Following Multiple Choice Ethics" was actually jammed on with Hofer a bit in November 1996 under the name "L-Dopa" (a couple demo versions of "L-Dopa" were also recorded on 4-track at this time).  However, this tune never saw the light of day at live shows until a prototype version of the song popped up a couple times in '98 and early '99 while drummer Chad Calton was in the band.  Throughout 1998, Kyle & Chad had kind of re-worked the original "L-Dopa" into "Following Multiple Choice Ethics", but it was not until after Chad left and Ed Stark returned to Sin Embargo in the spring of '99 that "Ethics" was re-shaped into more-or-less what is heard on Blowin' Mud.  "Rice Moth City" was a gnarly riff that Kyle had come up with sometime during 1998 and had begun working up a rough early version of that tune with Chad Calton late that year.  Unfortunately, the public only got one chance to hear this sprawling early version of "Rice Moth City" with Chad drumming in March 1999 at a gig at the old Club Metropolis in Flint.  (Luckily, Eric has this lone live version of the old "Rice Moth City" recorded on a cassette in his vast Sin Embargo tape library.)  A week later, Chad quit Sin Embargo and Ed Stark returned.  Along with "Ethics", Kyle & Ed tore down and re-built "Rice Moth City" during the summer of '99 into pretty much what is heard on Blowin' Mud.  Since new songwriting had been going so slowly throughout 1999, Kyle decided to revamp an old Sin Embargo chestnut - namely "Official Mandation".  The original version of "Official Mandation" was written by Kyle in 1993 and appeared on Sin Embargo's 1995 release Underneath.  The new "Official Mandation" is more concise than the original, but contains all the same elements.  Some long-time SE fans raised their eyebrows when this new version was unleashed at gigs in the summer of '99 after having not played the original version since 1995!  "Entrepreneurial Theme" arose from the brain of Kyle during the fall of '99.  This tune was the first song that Kyle actually built from the ground up with Ed in the band and it was recorded pretty much the same was as it was originally conceived back in '99 - complete with those signature Ed Stark time changes!  There was a long gap in writing songs during most of 2000 primarily because Kyle was completing his student teaching in Davison and then teaching full-time in Fenton, while Ed was still 100 miles away in Mt. Pleasant attending CMU, and Eric was living & working in metro Detroit.  Finally, the song "Some Day" materialized in early 2001 out of occasional jam-sessions that Kyle, Ed & Eric would have in Lapeer when time permitted in the winter and spring of 2000-2001.  Interestingly, during these early 2001 get-togethers, the roots of what would become the future Dirty Money tunes "Like A California Plastic" and "Way Out Bluze" were hatched.  Kyle had planned on using these riffs for future Sin Embargo material, but as 2001 wore on, it was apparent that the logistics of getting SE members together on a regular basis for songwriting was difficult at best.  Aside from a few live gigs, Sin Embargo was pretty much on a creative hiatus throughout 2001. This became more evident once Kyle decided to quit his teaching job at Lake Fenton HS and moved down to Ann Arbor in July 2001, while Ed was still up in Mt. Pleasant and Eric was busy in the metro Detroit area.

And that's pretty much how Dirty Money originated.  Kyle (now going by the stage name "Dirty Money") had hooked up with his intermittent pal and drummer Jim "[$ic] boy" Plowman in Ann Arbor in August of 2001 and started jamming together at open-mic nights in the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area that fall.  Sin Embargo was still in existence, but since Ed & Eric were not geographically close to Ann Arbor, Kyle & Jim decided join forces and create a whole different band with a whole different attitude.  The inaugural set of Dirty Money tunes ("Like A California Plastic", "Take 'Er Greazy", "Way Out Bluze", and "Hit N' Run (Ypsi Rox)") were assembled by Kyle from fragments and riffs that were originally intended to become new Sin Embargo songs.  [$ic] boy, fresh out of a lame cover band named "9 Sharp", had contributed his song "Trash TV", which he said was about being unemployed during the summer and just sitting around drinking beers and watching the likes of Jerry Springer, Rikki Lake & Sally Jesse Raphael.  Indeed, during the first few seconds of "Trash TV", that is [$ic] boy cracking open a cold one while recording his vocal tracks!!  Dirty Money made its first live appearances in December 2001 at a couple of places in Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor - initially with a bass player named "Soup" (who only played the very first show!), and then as a bass-less duo.  In January 2002, Eric was summoned to join Dirty Money as the full-time bassist.  Since Sin Embargo did not appear to be doing much for the rest of that winter, Eric assumed the stage name "Greasy *E* and made his first live appearance with Dirty Money on January 26, 2002 at the Ann Arbor Circuits Building in Ann Arbor.  The track "Trashed TV" is a humorous snippet from that night's show... Kyle (now going by "KK Dirty Money" to distinguish himself from the band name) and [$ic] boy switched instruments since it was [$ic] boy's song.  Eric/Greasy *E* stayed on bass (unfortunately, he did not know the song well enough, so he made all kinds of mistakes).  So, for about a minute or so, you have [$ic] boy on vocals & guitar, KK Dirty Money on drums (who could not hear anything back there!), and Greasy *E* on bass doing a hacked version of "Trash TV". Needless to say, this was the only time "Trash TV" was played live in this fashion!  Once Greasy *E* was established in Dirty Money, new songs - and several Social Distortion covers! - were put together with alarming regularity (compared to Sin Embargo, anyway).  KK Dirty Money conjured up the surf-instrumental "Sinister Surforama in A-minor" and [$ic] boy wrote "When I Used To Be Me" about his stint as a race car driver's pit crew in the late '90s.

Finally, by March 2002 there were 7 Dirty Money originals completed and the band was eager to get them recorded in some fashion to sell at shows.  Kyle & Eric figured Sin Embargo could get in on the act as well and combine the five post-Super Fugue Sin Embargo originals with the Dirty Money tracks and put out a combined DM/SE album.  So, in mid-March of 2002, Kyle, Eric, Jim & Ed convened at Watchtower Recording studio in Owosso and began basic tracking with studio owner/engineer Joel Butts.  Unlike Super Fugue, which was recorded 100% digital, Kyle & Eric wanted to capture a fatter and warmer sound for the drums, bass & guitars, so Joel dug out his crusty old 1" analog reel-to-reel tape machine.  Two reels of tape were used - one for DM, the other for SE. Still, even with all 12 Dirty Money & Sin Embargo original tracks combined, they only totaled about 35-40 minutes worth of music.  Kyle & Jim decided to fill the rest of the tapes with some cover tunes by both bands on their respective reels of tape.  Sin Embargo chose to do the old surf tune "Pipeline" (which the band had been playing live in some form or another since 1992), "My Generation" by the Who (yes, despite an early idea of having female backing vocalists, those are Kyle's falsetto backing vocals!), "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash (which SE had been playing live since mid-1998), and "Last Caress" by the Misfits.  Dirty Money decided to cover "Inconstant Baby" by the Lapeer County Rockers (a song by Kyle & Eric's old Lapeer chums that Sin Embargo had also covered since '95), "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard, "King of Fools" (the old country tune made popular by Social Distortion), and "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash (another song that Sin Embargo also played live!).  With the eight additional cover tunes, the album's length grew to about an hour.  Additional recording, then mixing & mastering took place throughout the rest of the spring and summer of 2002 (SEE RECORDING JOURNAL).  Also during the summer of 2002, Eric got married and [$ic] boy started drumming for the band Amygdela as well... Finally, after being involved with Sin Embargo on-and-off since early 1997, Ed Stark's drumming was finally on an official Sin Embargo studio recording!  (This was also Jim "[$ic] boy" Plowman's first appearance on an actual studio recording as well...)  The album's artwork & title were assembled in August & September of 2002.  After sinking a lot of cash up front for the production of Super Fugue in 1998, Kyle & Eric decided to go with a more DIY ethic on Blowin' Mud. The first pressing of the CD that came out on October 19, 2002 still had some minor initial-run production glitches (both versions of "King of Fools" were included instead of just one version, the CD sleeve had some typos, and the CD labels were not even completed!)  The CD still best represents Dirty Money's & Sin Embargo's mid-2002 sound, and these idiosyncracies were corrected for the following runs of the CD's.  Why the name Blowin' Mud, you ask?  Well, let's just say that it was a common occurrance running throughout most of the people involved in making the CD!!

The working relationship between Kyle/KK Dirty Money and [$ic] boy deteriorated shortly after the CD was released.  After playing two last Dirty Money gigs in December 2002, the band went into an extended hiatus as tension between Kyle and Jim escalated in early 2003.  Sin Embargo was also on hiatus throughout much of the fall and winter of 2002-2003 as well because Ed Stark was busy completing his teaching degree at CMU, Kyle/KK Dirty Money was also playing in a couple other bands, etc.  In April 2003, Jim "[$ic] boy" Plowman and the rest of Dirty Money parted ways.  Kyle/KK Dirty Money & Eric/Greasy *E* decided in May 2003 that the band "Dirty Money" was essentially a side-project that had run its course and chose to discontinue the group and went back to concentrating on Kyle's solo gig "KK Dirty Money & Las Drogas" and Sin Embargo.  Unfortunately, Ed Stark decided to leave Sin Embargo in August 2003 to focus on his new teaching career and other, more diverse, musical interests outside of rock 'n roll.  From January 2004 to August 2005, the Sin Embargo line-up included KK Dirty Money & Las Drogas drummer Nevada Parsons backing up Kyle & Eric. Some of the tunes (both Sin Embargo's & Dirty Money's) from Blowin' Mud show up in the set lists of KK Dirty Money solo gigs as well as Las Drogas appearances.  Ed Stark returned to Sin Embargo in 2008, and still makes occasional appearances around the metro Detroit and Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti areas from time to time.  The saga continues...

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Last Updated on January 24, 2016.

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