Brooklyn

Last night we played a midnight set at Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick, a section of Brooklyn. Getting down there about 11, we quickly felt that it may not be the safest neighborhood to be walking around in. There was a desolate, empty feel. I don't know what the New York equivalent of tumbleweed would be, but we heard the lonesome cowboy whistle echo off the grey buildings of industry.

GOOD BYE BLUE MONDAY (THE GUTS)

After walking a few chilly blocks we found the tattered venue emblazoned with signs and posters(but not seeing the venue name itself). We walked in and were home. Every wall painted differently, mostly by hand. A wall of radios and records and books. A bar to the left. Red Stripe and Black Tea.

THRUOUTIN: PUMPIN' MAD BEATS

We only caught the act that came on before us, thruoutin , who threw down some sick glitchy beats and distorted bass lines via the ole' laptop computer whilst singing over top.

We decided to forgo microphones for our performance, as we are quickly realizing that the roots of our project is street performance and being stuck to microphones stifles our ability to move around with unamplified guitars.

GIVE IT TO ME RUSTY // I~TOWN BROTHERS UNITE

We also had the great privilege of having the I Town Brothers sit in with us. A tap dance and piano duo hailing from Brooklyn (originally Indianola, Wash), they practiced with us for about 15 minutes earlier in the day and proceeded to tear it up and inject our set with their energy. Jack Ramsey ripped into the sweetly out-of-tune piano while Sam Weinstock kept us in time and delivered some phenomenal tap solos.

GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY, HELLO GIVE IT TO ME RUSTY

ZIG FOGGERTY TAKES A SOLO

It was one of our coolest shows yet because of the new musical cocktail and the decadent venue.

KELLY, ERIC, & NOAH

Thanks to Eric Beug for snappin our pics and Kelly for bringing the dance inspirations for the night.

ASHVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: the paris of the south

SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF HERE

we rolled into ashville late wednesday night after a solid 10 hour drive from new orleans. after accidentally pulling into what we later learned was known as the "rebel compound" (complete with confederate flag, four trailers, and a converted 50 gallon industrial container marked 'cans' to accommodate the waste for the copious amount of beer guzzled on the site) we pulled into the hippy ranch, a single wide trailer just across the street from the compound.

AMY GIRL WHIPS OUT A PEACE SIGN

"well, are you going to get your bags?" this from amy, the ranch owner. 70 decor, tasteful and fully commited: faux wood paneling, light fixtures complete with gold chains, formica table and matching booth. we sipped tea and talked with amy. she, an artist, originally from ny, moved to ashville to make art collaboratively with a friend. the hippy ranch now hosts monthly art parties. amy later told us that she was also involved with the hosting organization SERVAS, a little like COUCHSURFING, but, as amy described it, with more of an emphasis on showing folks around and really taking them under wing.

a little busking downtown and playing for sweet amy were the only instances of music making in ashville. think zig and i needed a little break after the many back-to-back sleepless nights in new orleans. i think we're still recovering.

RASCAL BLINDS SLAYS A SOLO

RASCAL BLINDS BETWEEN RIFFS

BABY FATS VISITS AN OLD FRIEND

KICK IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT: LIVE & RAW @ THE HIPPY RANCH

New Orleans

Well NOLA, its vibrancy and people, sucked us in for an extra day. As Noah said, "it was like being an addict, with the city as your vice." We decided to stay longer and bomb out to Asheville in one 12 hour day, running on 3 hrs sleep. We packed every moment with street strumming, burlesque shows, beignets, and hanging with Aaron's cousin Julie, her husband Damion and their friend Shae. Some fantastic folks that showed us how to do New Orleans right.........staying up til 6.....meeting a ton of people. ....dancing three nights in a row.....seeing some fanstastic dixie/rag/swing jazz by the Jazz Vipers, with special guest Uncle Lionel by simply stumbling into the right club at the right time. As it was said by someone from New Orleans, "Let's live it up, cause in New Orleans we all know we're gonna die."

Circle Bar Show and Bathroom Art

Absinthe and Aviators in The French Quarter

New O. Peeps! Cousin Julie, Damion, and Shae + the Jazz Vipers

EVA AND AXEL'S PORCH - G.I.T.M.R. CRASH/jam PAD & BEDTIME

AUSTIN - 11/08/08 ~ HOUSE SHOW

erik fossmo ~ the austin viking, a transplant from minnesota of some years. we met at FLIPNOTICS,  a sweet little cave of a coffee bar out on barton spring road, pressed up against the hill. we got to talking, mentioned that we were looking for a place to play that saturday night, and erik said he'd make some calls. 

only hours later, erik had miraculously found a venue (a friend's house) and a four band line-up. 

things just snap together so easily in this town. we have found austonites to be some of the warmest, kindest, most giving folks on the face of the planet. (just earlier that day, CAROLINE, a juice bar barrista, gave us, famished and tired from walking the city, a ride to a local burger place, this after her friend offered us sips of her smoothie. 

we don't even know these folks. 

feels kind of like a community, even though it's a big city. people still look you in the eye and say 'what's up'. 

***

the show:: took the taxi to the venue ~ (people here, bless their lone-star hearts, don't know how to drive. no turn signals, u-turns into oncoming traffic & bicyclists, signature texas wavering merges). 

we played in someone's living room, people chilling on the couch, on the floor. pushed the mics aside and started playing. different from the last gig, folks here were paying attention. on the last song, we directed the crowd outside, played "lost train" in the streets. 

comparing this house show to one she had thrown in seattle eva nothed that the house show in austin "was about the music, not something else". 

definitely feels like a music town.   

OTHER BANDS ON THE HOUSE-SHOW TICKET:::

CHANGE AND THE MOVEMENT

BEARKAT

LOBLOLLY BOY

BUSKING

BUSKING

oh busking, the act of getting out on the streets with your instrument and singing for your meal.
thursday night, first thursday here in austin, a little like the arts walk in seattle (just less art, more craft). out to south congress street.

31.77, a pixy stick, some smiling faces, and a citation. not bad for a couple hours of music.

AUSTIN ~ 11/5/08

been a whirlwind last 48+ hours: big news all around -- a new president and partying in the streets with luminous beings, horns honking, people laughing and shouting and suddenly open after what zig called "the end to a reign of terror".

the driscoll, rented out by the dems for the election, was spilling with people: packed onto the balconies two, three stories up, looking down at the organism below, a crowded crowded blocked off street of celebrators. "yes we can" and "obama" and obamanos" shouted into thick austin air. a young black man squeezes through the crowd wearing intense face, his fist tightly balled above his head. a ring of folks bouncing in unison ~ "obama! obama!".



whooping, shouting, high fives from strangers. "the canadians are going to start wearing the american flag on their packs!" says dear friend joey beeson in portland or. "people standing on cars, popping champagne" from joanie in seattle, the capital hill crowd pushin' the cops, says she.

zig and i learned of obamas victory from the bus driver. "they announced it ten minutes ago", he says, and, gesturing to his headphones "only one of the speakers works". GIVE IT TO ME RUSTY had performed our first show only moments before at the CLEMENTINE, a sweet lil' coffee bar located on the east end, the chill end of austin.

we played to a handful of folks rocking away on their computers - not a rapt audience (though we got some applause after a couple of songs, GRANNY by RED ROCK {{dedicated to Obama's passing nana}} but it was definitely a good first show, perfect and quiet, a chance for zig and i to slowly familiarize ourselves with our vocal chords after 5 hours of plane time. plus, free mate and beers for the band. (the band that followed us also played to a near empty house in spite of the monkish hooded robes they wore during their performance).

now, we're staying with some friends, crashing on the back porch of EVA and AXEL's place here in NW. eva and i met through islandwood (she an intern looking to glean some editing/production experience). she moved down to austin to, among other things, follow her sweetie to grad school. both work in sustainability and environmental consciousness. terrifically cool folks (beer mixers ~ eva a v8 and axel sprite with their LONE STAR BREWS - the local lite beer delicacy here in austin).