What happens when four friends working together in the software industry realize that some bands with marginal talent are getting free beers on a Tuesday night? They decide to do it themselves- They form a band, they name themselves The Midgetmen, they book a show, they acquire some drink tickets, they release an album, they get some more drink tickets, they release a second album, they give away free fried chicken, they accumulate more drink tickets, they get better at writing songs, they book a tour of the midwest, they keep on writing songs, they almost win some Austin Music Awards, they find some drink tickets laying on the dirty floor of any number of bars, they release a third album, they play in the Northeast, they write more songs and keep getting free beer.

If The Midgetmen operated their band like they do their day jobs, they might have given up long ago and just bought a few hundred six packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon at a convenience store. After all, those guitars and amps and pressing albums cost a lot more than all of those free beers together. Financially and emotionally, being in a band is not a great investment. But, if The Midgetmen had done that, would they have gotten to play with The Wrens, Titus Andronicus, Free Energy, Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, Franz Nicolay, Grant Hart and hundreds of other great bands? Would they have made countless friends and remained sane at their day job desks? Would they ever have gone to Abilene, Omaha, La Crosse, Morgantown, or College Station?

Doubtful at best.

The Midgetmen are an ever devolving work in progress, if progress is measured in inches and how far four friends can take an unhealthy hobby. Called Austin's slop-punk mavens by a local writer, The Midgetmen just keep getting louder, fuzzier, and more fun... which is all the band has wanted to do since forming in 2002. Well, that and get free beer.