THE 52 WEEK CLUB


Founders Hall

Tom VandenAvond - Wily Tea Taylor - Chris Doud

Patron Saints

hosted by heckabad music 

Since the 9th cycle in 2016 we have transitioned all club interaction over to Facebook for it's easy to use group functions.
Get on our facebook page for weekly theme updates: facebook/52. 
We have been doing this here club for 17 years now, new members joining all the time, and potentially thousands of unique songs.  It has reached every corner of the states and a few places abroad.


 

It was way back on July 4th, 2004, the wee hours (so maybe July 5th already). There was a washing machine barrel fire and a whiffle-ball field and a bottle of something or other... necessary ingredients for coming up with hair-brained schemes and making suspect decisions. The hair-brained scheme, in this case: write a song every week for one year. Our hero, Willy Tea, had been kicking this idea around for several years prior, but nobody had the wherewithall until summer 2004, when it all of a sudden seemed like the best idea ever, and who wouldn't want to embark on an adventure of such magnitude and guaranteed deliriousness. Fifty-two weeks, each week a new song based on the theme for that week, and everyone writes their interpretation of that theme. The themes would be simple words and phrases inspired by serendipitous moments, vagabond ramblings, chance occurances, late-night delusions, eurekas, ahas, sheer idiocy. And so, on that legendary July night, the Club came into existence with the simple word "mooner". In short, the Club is a songwriter's collective, a songwriting workshop, and a campfire sing-along, all at once. Activities consist of writing songs and then, as often as possible, performing them for each other.

Being a club there are of course very strict rules.

Rule number 1:  Write songs. The songs can be specifically about the theme, or they can merely mention the theme in passing, they can even work the theme word or phrase into the lyric in a way that the theme did not intend (in fact, that is applauded). The songs can simply be inspired by the theme and not mention the word(s) at all. The songs can be instrumental. It really doesn't matter as long as you write a song. One member even wrote poetry. Another painted pictures. Go nuts.

Rule number 2:  No fair using an old (already written) song that happens to be on the same theme as a particular week. The goal of our illustrous founders was to spark creativity, not just fill out the list with old material.

Miscellaneous club philosophy and other notes: The purpose of this club thing was to get our creative flows juicing, and we figured what better way than to set an oppressive deadline. But the club is not about deadlines. Everyone who contributes even just one song in the one-year period has made the club a success.

The 52 Week Club is open to anyone. Writing just one song based off the list grants you membership and access to all the fine trappings the club has to offer. The club within the Club, however, includes anyone that finishes the task of actually writing all the songs in one year and is only reserved for people that are unemployed, or can slack off at work for hours at a time, or are just plain nuts. If you want to stretch your cognitive limits, improve your song-writing prowess, just see if you can do it, and possibly go mad in the process, then this is the club for you.

The wealth of material that was produced during the first year spawned many projects. Multiple albums were recorded, a band was started, a collective was formed, music venues breathed life anew, and a movement was inspired.

For more information about anything at all please contact us



The Archives
 

Below are some quick links to our archive of the first 8 cycles when we actually had those things called email lists to alert members of new themes.
1st cycles's list,
2nd cycle's list
3rd cycle's list
4th cycle's list
5th cycle's list
6th cycle's list
7th cycle's list
8th cycle's list
"the fifty-tweeners"




On January 1st, 2015 the 8th 52-week club adventure began:

Here is the 8th cycle's list

week 1 (jan 1) music and my horse
week 2 (jan 8) you've lived your whole life
week 3 (jan 15) in the alley, in the rain
week 4 (jan 22) drought
week 5 (jan 29) little miracle
week 6 (feb 5) Johnny Potatoes
week 7 (feb 12) midnight and morning
week 8 (feb 19) if you're standing next to a wall
week 9 (feb 26) back in Soviet times
week 10 (mar 5) dust and echoes
week 11 (mar 12) eat off the trail
week 12 (mar 19) the pigeons are nesting
week 13 (mar 26) along these lines
week 14 (apr 2) fool's hangover
week 15 (apr 9) life itself
week 16 (apr 16) dead and loving it
week 17 (apr 23) whiskey a day
week 18 (apr 30) full of loud mouth soup
week 19 (may 7) broken basket
week 20 (may 14) rare earths
week 21 (may 21) scream away running
week 22 (may 28) league
week 23 (jun 4) knuckle down
week 24 (jun 11) big wig
week 25 (jun 18) the turncoats
week 26 (jun 25) can't hold a candle
week 27 (jul 2) the bear and the mountain
week 28 (jul 9) farther than that
week 29 (jul 16) same boat same water
week 30 (jul 23) take your lumps
week 31 (jul 30) i was yours to lose
week 32 (aug 6) the streets of San Cristóbal de las Casas
week 33 (aug 13) mumble pie
week 34 (aug 20) landlubber
week 35 (aug 27) you could just ask
week 36 (sep 3) precious things
week 37 (sep 10) pass on
week 38 (sep 17) henchmen
week 39 (sep 24) help on through
week 40 (oct 1) hermit on the hill
week 41 (oct 8) stare past
week 42 (oct 15) she told it best
week 43 (oct 22) I don't know what the hell "great" means
week 44 (oct 29) the donkey
week 45 (nov 5) smoking jacket
week 46 (nov 12) derring do
week 47 (nov 19) king of the kids
week 48 (nov 26) always look both ways
week 49 (dec 3) nomad in the land of fences
week 50 (dec 10) dark snow
week 51 (dec 17) whisper out loud
week 52 (dec 24) battle-lantern

On July 4th 2013, the 7th 52 Week Club adventure began:

Here is the 7th cycle's list

week 1 (jul 4) since the last time we were here
week 2 (jul 11) clay feet
week 3 (jul 18) to name a few
week 4 (jul 25) here's to the possum
week 5 (aug 1) soup kitchen
week 6 (aug 8) young water
week 7 (aug 15) speed of dark
week 8 (aug 22) no make-up and a messy pony
week 9 (aug 29) bat crazy
week 10 (sep 5) can't get all the verses in
week 11 (sep 12) early on
week 12 (sep 19) every waking hour
week 13 (sep 26) dead man’s Stetson
week 14 (oct 3) smokin’ mirrors
week 15 (oct 10) hussle up
week 16 (oct 17) them’s the rules
week 17 (oct 24) love and sleep
week 18 (oct 31) the past is a ghost
week 19 (nov 7) tip the lady for dancin'
week 20 (nov 14) it must be thunderbird
week 21 (nov 21) dirty dish abyss
week 22 (nov 28) any day
week 23 (dec 5) tempt a storm
week 24 (dec 12) bugs away
week 25 (dec 19) children come home
week 26 (dec 26) heaviest dutiest
week 27 (jan 2) I’m with van
week 28 (jan 9) that’s what I heard
week 29 (jan 16) guitar pick pocket
week 30 (jan 23) the bramble
week 31 (jan 30) a northerly way
week 32 (feb 6) straight lacquer
week 33 (feb 13) lil' sweetpea
week 34 (feb 20) barely sober
week 35 (feb 27) popsicle man
week 36 (mar 6) billing and cooing
week 37 (mar 13) horseradish
week 38 (mar 20) circle track
week 39 (mar 27) rag-tag and bob-tail
week 40 (apr 3) chicken slope
week 41 (apr 10) strawberry set
week 42 (apr 17) railroad shoreline
week 43 (apr 24) she talked pretty
week 44 (may 1) the little things
week 45 (may 8) Reno is more on my mind
week 46 (may 15) that ain't no kind o' morning
week 47 (may 22) candle doesn't flicker
week 48 (may 29) fish project
week 49 (jun 5) halves and half-knots
week 50 (jun 12) it fell through
week 51 (june 19) custom leather
week 52 (june 26) sweat up a hat




On January 1st, 2012, the 6th 52-Week Club adventure begins.


Here is the 6th cycle's list



week 1 (jan 1) you were first
week 2 (jan 8) lost claim 
week 3 (jan 15) little man
week 4 (jan 22) get those northerners goin'
week 5 (jan 29) st. paul
week 6 (feb 5) rainbows and rugburns
week 7 (feb 12) crush of mud and light
week 8 (feb 19) check one two
week 9 (feb 26) perfect game
week 10 (mar 4) men without women
week 11 (mar 11) lipstick covered roaches
week 12 (mar 18) the warrior
week 13 (mar 25) i wish Robin Hood were here
week 14 (apr 1) touch me (poems by Suzanne Somers)
week 15 (apr 8) desert angel
week 16 (apr 15) silos and smokestacks
week 17 (apr 22) design yourself
week 18 (apr 29) wierd al
week 19 (may 6) the wolf hour
week 20 (may 13) breaklight morse code
week 21 (may 20) nino de la tierra (child of the earth)
week 22 (may 27) CIO (California-Improved Okie)
week 23 (jun 3) after the change
week 24 (jun 10) it's laundry day
week 25 (jun 17) one of these days
week 26 (jun 24) half and half
week 27 (jul 1) damaged goods
week 28 (jul 8) now we're trying
week 29 (jul 15) ball and a buzz
week 30 (jul 22) party of tramps
week 31 (jul 29) starting at the end
week 32 (aug 5) top o' da fridge
week 33 (aug 12) didn't hit him as hard as I could've
week 34 (aug 19) bum rush
week 35 (aug 26) local chowder and marching society
week 36 (sep 2) ease
week 37 (sep 9) went yard
week 38 (sep 16) need to cocoon
week 39 (sep 23) dirt through it
week 40 (sep 30) leafing in
week 41 (oct 7) Owl's cigar shop
week 42 (oct 14) ballroom attire
week 43 (oct 21) procrastinate now
week 44 (oct 28) bailing wire
week 45 (nov 4) it had romance
week 46 (nov 11) drink s'more
week 47 (nov 18) newer
week 48 (nov 25) soaproot ridge
week 49 (dec 2) framed
week 50 (dec 9) wicks
week 51 (dec 16) frosted window pain
week 52 (dec 23) end times


On July 4th, 2010, the 5th 52-Week Club adventure began.


Here is the 5th cycle's list

week 1 (jul 4) the scout
week 2 (jul 11) sand paper
week 3 (jul 18) baked treats
week 4 (jul 25) them travellers
week 5 (aug 1) basking in the cold concrete
week 6 (aug 8) sea level
week 7 (aug 15) i can live
week 8 (aug 22) dance me around
week 9 (aug 29) any way but now
week 10 (sep 5) february
week 11 (sep 12) so about my parts
week 12 (sep 19) i gotta move
week 13 (sep 26) busted knuckle
week 14 (oct 3) harley maggard sent me
week 15 (oct 10) down from the sky
week 16 (oct 17) ooo that sunrise
week 17 (oct 24) robot in the rain
week 18 (oct 31) finding giants
week 19 (nov 7) true legends
week 20 (nov 14th) hook
week 21 (nov 21st) that's what you get for breakin' the heart of a songwriter
week 22 (nov 28th) gravy stain
week 23 (dec 5) what is that dulcet moon saying tonite (contributed by thee Greg Brown)
week 24 (dec 12) torn between
week 25 (dec 19) swollen river
week 26 (dec 26) piggybacks a lot
week 27 (jan 2) indian summer
week 28 (jan 9) more than a thimble full
week 29 (jan 16) about a grand
week 30 (jan 23) the tree's on fire
week 31 (jan 30) midnight treasures
week 32 (feb 6) coat of a wolf
week 33 (feb 13) hymnal
week 34 (feb 20) hobo love
week 35 (feb 27) home phone
week 36 (mar 6) gospel ending
week 37 (mar 13) bleeding cowboy
week 38 (mar 20) past time
week 39 (mar 27) new shoes
week 40 (apr 3) dying in the night
week 41 (apr 10) Sherman's march
week 42 (apr 17) graffiti night
week 43 (apr 24) when this week is over
week 44 (may 1) dark territory
week 45 (may 8) sun beat and bare feet
week 46 (may 15) tell my friend to shut up
week 47 (may 22) chippin' away again
week 48 (may 29) cut as a flower
week 49 (june 5) mariposa
week 50 (june 12) too late for a fire
week 51 (june 19) donating Jesus

WEEK 52 (june 26) this old mountain town

Sometimes stuff happens between cycles.

 

The Fifty-Tweener: Sometimes in the course of human events, inspiration strikes between cycles.  Great songs have been written by Club members outside of the club's directive.  These are known as "fifty-tweeners" by Club devotees (other Club devotees, though, just call these: "songs that weren't inspired by the club").  Anyway, between Cycle 4 and Cycle 5, Tom, Will and Chris did a three-person, 52 Week Club show in Modesto.  In an effort to showcase the 52 Week spirit, we decided, about a week prior to the show, to do a group "fifty-tweener" which was the first official in-between theme for anyone in the club who wanted a go at it.  We set it up so that we had to perform it that next week.  We all showed up for the game.  Long story short, from time to time, there will be a few more themes floating around, i.e. the following....

 "I'm still here" (between cycles 4 and 5)

 "do I have your attention" (between cycles 5 and 6)



 


On January 1st, 2009, the 4th 52-Week Club adventure began.


Here is the 4th cycle's list

Week 1 (jan 1) let it lie
Week 2 (jan 8) glass and bricks
Week 3 (jan 15) from a weak heart
Week 4 (jan 22) stampede
Week 5 (jan 29) the valley of lost unicorns
Week 6 (feb 5) the good one
Week 7 (feb 12) darkness
Week 8 (feb 19) sinful
Week 9 (feb 26) women's prison
Week 10 (mar 5) bells & pistols
Week 11 (mar 12) guitar case sticker
Week 12 (mar 19) life is beautiful
Week 13 (mar 26) never be the same
Week 14 (apr 2) tree burn
Week 15 (apr 9) the wild
Week 16 (apr 16) stuff to sleep on
Week 17 (apr 23) dating
Week 18 (apr 30) ill-bred
Week 19 (may 7) field
Week 20 (may 14) mingle
Week 21 (may 21) the likes of me (you must dedicate every performance of this week to Mr. James Hand)
Week 22 (may 28) curveball
Week 23 (jun 4) sinker
Week 24 (jun 11) spitter
Week 25 (jun 18) barnstorm
Week 26 (jun 25) samurai wedding
Week 27 (jul 2) Vegas
Week 28 (jul 9) elbow room
Week 29 (jul 16) carnie drama
Week 30 (jul 23) toss-up
Week 31 (jul 30) overflow
Week 32 (aug 6) feathery
Week 33 (aug 13) poorhouse
Week 34 (aug 20) human skull
Week 35 (aug 27) brawlers
Week 36 (sep 3) this side of dying
Week 37 (sep 10) hog
Week 38 (sep 17) vodka's sister
Week 39 (sep 24) sixty-four coals
Week 40 (oct 1) hard pillow
Week 41 (oct 8) good ole mercy
Week 42 (oct 15) what love looks like
Week 43 (oct 22) rustbelt
Week 44 (oct 29) haunted mandolin
Week 45 (nov 5) blood and whisky
Week 46 (nov 12) spit it out
Week 47 (nov 19) a fruitful year
Week 48 (nov 26) don't need you guys
Week 49 (dec 3) whiskey deer eyes
Week 50 (dec 10) Joey cool hat
Week 51 (dec 17) the hardest frosts
Week 52 (dec 24) yeah I am on




On July 4th, 2007, the third 52-Week Club adventure began.


Here is the 3rd cycle's list

Week  1 (jul 4)     bones (in honor of the late "Swampy" a.k.a "Bones" of Strawberry fame)
Week  2 (jul 11)    gristle
Week  3 (jul 18)    ransack
Week  4 (jul 25)    the mayor (in honor of Robert from the Cow Track)
Week  5 (aug 1)     knife collection
Week  6 (aug 8)     chilli pepper
Week  7 (aug 15)      Texas sun
Week  8 (aug 22)     what bar
Week  9 (aug 29)     butter
Week  10 (sept 5)     badger
Week  11 (sept 12)     rice paddy
Week  12 (sept 19)     blue shirt
Week  13 (sept 26)     mushroom
Week  14 (oct 3)     pillars of caterpillars
Week  15 (oct 10)     the roof leaks
Week  16 (oct 17)     banjo
Week  17 (oct 24)     we're ready
Week  18 (oct 31)     shoeless
Week  19 (nov 7)     the road to there
Week  20 (nov 14)     thumper
Week  21 (nov 21)     take the bottle
Week  22 (nov 28)     kippered snacks
Week  23 (dec 5)     blue baby
Week  24 (dec 12)    star upon the highest bough
Week  25 (dec 19)    barter box
Week  26 (dec 26)    puddles
Week  27 (jan 2)     can't hardly go wrong
Week  28 (jan 9)     almond blossom
Week  29 (jan 16)     hairy january
Week  30 (jan 23)     bus fare
Week  31 (jan 30)     thule fog
Week  32 (feb 6)     stymied
Week  33 (feb 13)    horse for the chase
Week  34 (feb 20)    go near
Week  35 (feb 27)    by what name
Week  36 (mar 5)    bred in the bone
Week  37 (mar 12)    moongum
Week  38 (mar 19)    spur on
Week  39 (mar 26)    windchime
Week  40 (apr 2)    woe-be-gone
Week  41 (apr 9)    barrels
Week  42 (apr 16)    had a run
Week  43 (apr 23)    bear it
Week  44 (apr 30)    hasty like tinder
Week  45 (may 7)    irishism
Week  46 (may 14)    loose, immoral and wild
Week  47 (may 21)    pair
Week  48 (may 28)    concealed in the palm
Week  49 (jun 4)    fritter
Week  50 (jun 11)    sea-wolf
Week  51 (jun 18)    do one's heart good
Week  52 (jun 25)    lay waste




On January 1st, 2006, the second 52-Week Club adventure began.


Here is the 2nd cycle's list

Week  1 (jan 1)     deuce
Week  2 (jan 8)     player piano
Week  3 (jan 15)   kung fu dream
Week  4 (jan 22)   pink secret
Week  5 (jan 29)   round of rum
Week  6 (feb 5)     i don't want to
Week  7 (feb 12)   roses
Week  8 (feb 19)   first snowfall
Week  9 (feb 26)   put you to bed
Week 10 (mar 5)    gotta know somebody
Week 11 (mar 12)  waterlogged
Week 12 (mar 19)  grapevines
Week 13 (mar 26)  we're all old men now
Week 14 (apr 2)     camera
Week 15 (apr 9)     go fly a kite
Week 16 (apr 16)   1987
Week 17 (apr 23)   kiss the ground
Week 18 (apr 30)   spirits
Week 19 (may 7)   cabin across the creek
Week 20 (may 14)  space bag
Week 21 (may 21)  palm
Week 22 (may 28)  throw the sails up
Week 23 (june 4)    forget
Week 24 (june 11)  calendar girls
Week 25 (june 18)  wastin' money
Week 26 (june 25)  big sir
Week 27 (jul 2)      sunblock and deoderant
Week 28 (jul 9)      if'n she knows what's good fer her
Week 29 (jul 16)    nothing ever dies
Week 30 (jul 23)    whisky and gold
Week 31 (jul 30)    murder of crows
Week 32 (aug 6)     mountain lion
Week 33 (aug 13)   I know where life is
Week 34 (aug 20)   paint
Week 35 (aug 27)   Wilfred Brimley
Week 36 (sept 3)    eat the moon
Week 37 (sept 10)  treading water
Week 38 (sept 17)  baby girl
Week 39 (sept 24)   wrong way to run
Week 40 (oct 1)    poorhouse
Week 41 (oct 8)    still
Week 42 (oct 15)   sap
Week 43 (oct 22)   by heart
Week 44 (oct 29)   sleeping giant
Week 45 (nov 5)    blind side
Week 46 (nov 12)   ashes to dust
Week 47 (nov 19)   there yet
Week 48 (nov 26)   see the man
Week 49 (dec 3)    lemon peal
Week 50 (dec 10)    pearly
Week 51 (dec 17)   sherry wine
Week 52 (dec 24)   the gift




On July 4th, 2004, the first 52-Week Club adventure began.


Here is the original list
week 1)   mooner
week 2)   young when i left home
week 3)   hat size
week 4)   skippin' stones
week 5)   let it breathe
week 6)   classy
week 7)   turtle
week 8)   chuck
week 9)   brick by brick
week 10) doubt it
week 11) throw 'em out
week 12) shout out
week 13) faded
week 14) midnight stew
week 15) barkin' dogs
week 16) lazy train
week 17) gypsy
week 18) no no no yeah
week 19) johnny law
week 20) shuffleboard
week 21) lullaby
week 22) chicken
week 23) buried treasure
week 24) reckless
week 25) onery
week 26) race car
week 27) broken strings
week 28) crayons
week 29) off the cuff
week 30) oranges
week 31) tow truck
week 32) shovel
week 33) suit
week 34) rue the day
week 35) the pines
week 36) hank
week 37) caught up
week 38) fishin' hole
week 39) pack o' lies
week 40) coyotes
week 41) banana seat
week 42) stay gold
week 43) southern girls
week 44) fiddle
week 45) naked dance
week 46) seeds of man
week 47) old photographs
week 48) the magic hour
week 49) lightnin'
week 50) holy fools die on
week 51) cow track
week 52) good luck fellas
Patron Saints










CONTACT INFO



email:  52weekclub@heckabad.com

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