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Avery International Recording is the name of both my record company, which publishes and manufactures The Mouthbreathers and Fingerpistol's recordings as well as some others, and the studio behind my house which used to be a detached garage a few years ago. Why "Avery?" It's complicated, but rather simple: Avery is the name of a ghost town which sits atop a low, rolling hill a few miles southeast of Cushing, Oklahoma. Originally called Mound City, Avery is situated (and I might add strategically) on the edge of the old Sauk and Fox Indian Reservation. Around the turn of the century, my great grandfather G.A. Robertson built a dry goods store there. (an interesting side note: G.A's brother, James Brooks Ayers Robertson, became Governor of Oklahoma). At the time, Mound City was a thriving small community with several businesses. My grandmother Jeannette was born there in 1903. Avery got its name from a fellow named Avery Turner, who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad and made the decision to run the railroad right through the middle of town. It is speculated that Avery might have been bribed to do so, but the end result is pretty much the same either way. As a boy my father lived in Avery and attended school there as well. He also witnessed Avery's decline as an economic center.

By the time I appeared on the scene, Avery was nothing more than a crossroads with some old dilapidated stone buildings interspersed with grungy trailer homes and mangy barking dogs. On the frequent occasions when my family would get together at my grandmother Jeannette's farm just west of Avery, my uncle Neil would tease us by telling us that the circus had come to Avery. This, he would tell us, was our chance to make it big in show business. All we had to do was run away to join the circus up in Avery.

I guess by now you might have leapt ahead to the symbolism. I have yet to make it big in show business and I doubt if the circus has shown up in Avery lately. However, I consider it my solemn crusade to put Avery, Oklahoma on the map. You can help me by spending as much of your money as you can on Avery International Recording products and telling all of your friends, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances to do so as well.

Sincerely,
Daniel P. Hardick, Esquire
President, Avery International Recording
 

Avery International Recording Titles:
All Recordings Available on CD Only

Avery International Films

Midnight Bus to Memphis (2000)                                                                                (unavailable for purchase)
        Documentary of the Austin Chronicle's overnight bus trip to the
        Association of Alternative News weeklies annual conference in Memphis, Tennessee
 

To purchase any of these tapes or to inquire about the documentary, please send a check or money order in the amounts listed above to:

        Avery International Recording
        3915 Willbert Road
        Austin, TX 78751

        e-mail: dan@fingerpistol.com

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