“The Aunt Bettys album has lived on as one of the most celebrated releases of Knott’s career. Lost in Ohio has had the pleasure of working with Mike Knott on prior reissues of his albums The Grape Prophet and Strip Cycle, and we’ve now decided to take on a deluxe reissue of this album as well, with the direct involvement of Knott’s family and band.
We will reissue the album on vinyl, in two stunning color variants. Each will be pressed on heavy 180 gram vinyl in a deluxe gatefold package, with liner notes and never-before-seen photos and memorabilia. We will reissue on glass-mastered CD, in a digipak with a full booklet, with the same attention to detail afforded the vinyl. For those still rollin’ the streets in their ’80s Camaro, we have a cassette option, with a large fold-out J Card (magnifying glass not included). All production will be handled by trusted partners that we have worked with multiple times for great, consistent results.
The iconic album artwork paintings are lost to time, as confirmed by artist Tim Okamura. We have chosen to work with another renowned painter Stephen Cefalo, who will be creating two brand-new 12×24 oil paintings for the release. The new artwork will be inspired by and an homage to the original art, designed specifically for the larger vinyl format. Like Okamura, Cefalo is a celebrated painter with a background in surreal life-like paintings. He has also done work in comics and as a staff artist for Nickelodeon, so he brings experience relevant to the unique demands of this project. And some fun facts for those in and around the Mike Knott scene:
- Stephen is fan of Knott’s work in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and is excited to be involved in the project.
- He went to high school with Blaster the Rocket Man, and painted the cover to their album The Monster Who Ate Jesus in his younger years.
- We have definitely heard him name Fluffy Luvs You as among his all-time favorite albums.
We will be working with Christopher Colbert to remaster the album, and hope to obtain the original master tapes for the highest quality results. (Warner Bros. maintains meticulous master archives and will begin the search and restoration process at the conclusion of the Kickstarter. Although we expect to have access to the master tapes, we will ultimately use the best available audio sources.)”