Well Otterites, it’s a new day!

Picture of the group after one of our recording sessions, all wearing sunglasses to try and be as cool as Marcus. From left to right, Cajun, Francis, Martin, Marcus and Robert.

As we’ve been teasing for a while now, we have expanded our line up to offer you all, quite literally, the best there is for each and every episode. As an old friend of mine once said when we were discussing the Traveling Wilburys, “Man, look at all that talent!”

Yeah, being a supergroup is hard sometimes.

We’ve all known each other for ages, and while Martin, Robert and I have been jammin’ together for well over four years now, our two newest members both said to us “Hey, how ’bout us joining y’all’s sessions?” So we all pulled out our guitars and began cranking out some tunes together, rapidly coming to the conclusion that we are indeed a harmonious group ‘o playas . . . so once again, history got remade.

And now that we are five, I thought we should offer you a peek into the individual bandmembers and why we are all legends. (Or working on it anyway . . . )

First there’s Robert:

Lead vocalist that you hear on our intros and outros, Robert has the luxurious hair we all aspire to. He runs our soundboard and post production process these days, and is known as the ‘hammer’ for his amazing style as well as his ability to synthesize multiple philosophical postulations and forge them into a cohesive and cogent whole. His depth of knowledge is extraordinary and his commitment to infusing our discussions with a strong sense of moral code is perhaps his greatest strength.

Second there’s Martin:

Initial brains behind the PFJ . . . er, that is S&O . . . Martin is the guy who looks great in a hat. His facial hair always rocks the house (although he’s pictured clean shaven here) and we’re often tempted to call him ‘the dude’ . . . just because. He fancies himself a stubborn Scotsman and constant contrarian, but the rest of us can tell you he’s a big softie at heart. He likes to see himself as a gun totin’ libertarian force of nature, but we all know his real love is potent philosophy and killer guitar riffs . . .

Next we have Cajun:

The man with the most recognizable voice, Cajun is the grounding, the bass player, the expert on keeping us real. He’s seen and done more than the rest of us combined (except Marcus of course, but more on that in a moment.) His knowledge bank is astounding like the rest of us, but his experiences are broader and deeper, and he’s not afraid to spin the uncomfortable question to make us question our complacencies. Also a firearms expert, he exemplifies the Old West moral code of always taking up for the underdog. respecting ladies of all types and always shooting straight on the side of justice.

Then there’s Marcus:

Unquestionably the coolest of the lot, he often wears shades (as you can see) just to remind us of that fact. The lone Hoosier of the group, the Imperator is equally at home with his arms deep in an International Harvester engine as he is behind the microphone. He’s the one who brings us into new territory, isn’t afraid to go experimental and takes us all to school with his skill on the six string. His tenor voice and warbling style brings a powerful expansion to the band and, like Cajun, he too is the voice of wild, profound experience that Martin, Robert and I can only aspire to . . .

And finally there’s me, Francis:

The guy who’s written tons of stuff all over the place, I love to bring the electric light into the room. (Picture’s from my long ago bearded days.) Deep baritone with a techno-wannabe style, I look to the other guys for inspiration and energy, while never being afraid of giving shout outs to my heroes and philosophical roots. Always looking to move us forward, I seek to be the ‘Jean Luc Picard’ imagination of the group . . . to grow taller, fly higher and be better than any other band out there.

And together, Otterites, we’ll provide you with the best damn harmony in the podcasting universe!

So since it’s Francis Friday, I’ll leave you with some supergroup jammin’ that showcases the harmony and energy we aspire to (and notice how Robert absolutely rocks it with that amazing jacket.) From 1988 . . .