SLO Times

First let me say that the tour is going splendidly! We haven’t had too much time on the internet, though, and we apologize for not being better about our blog-posting. If you’d like to file a complaint, please contact your local funk-rock-band-complaint center. Thank you.

After we left the San Diego area we played a show in San Luis Obispo, or SLO. SLO is an awesome town in my opinion: it’s picturesque, the people there have been very nice and very cool to us, and it’s home to what some say is the best tri-tip in the Central Coast. A little aside here: WTF is up with Californians and tri-tip? They can’t get enough of it, and it seems like if it’s not on the menu, then the restaurant is shit! As a Texan and meat-connoisseur, I found my tri-tip experience to be very enjoyable, but nothing too special (sorry guys).

Any who, we once again played the Frog and Peach in SLO, but this time it was pint night. Pint night is where patrons can bring in their own Frog and Peach pint glasses and get beer for super-cheap. We had a great crowd for most

Playing at the Peach

of the night, and over all the show was really fun. We also stayed with Myles and his friends again and it was great to finally get to play for them.

I look forward to my next time in SLO!

Good times

Flagstaff Round 3

Ryan before the show

We have played the Flagstaff Brewery now 3 times and we have a had a great show each time! This was our second show on the this tour and we were ready to rock Flagstaff again. It was a cool, and starry night and we had an energetic crowd for a good part of the show. We also got our friend Daniel aka Danimal to come up and play a few songs with us. He is a badass harmonica player and his band 2BUKU is great!

Highlights from the show: 1. We made some new fans 2. Jordan got his jacket stolen by a drunk/cold fan 3. We recorded some amazing off-the-cuff jams with Daniel on harmonica.

All in all it was a great night, and I can’t wait to come back to Flagstaff! Oh and don’t worry about Jordan’s jacket situation: he ended up scoring a really sweet fleece coat from Daniel later that night!

OKC and the Wonderous Belle Isle Brewery

The Friday after Norman we played a really awesome show in Oklahoma City. The show took place at a brew-pub called the Belle Isle Brewery, which had a kick-ass stage and great sound, as well as some really amazing beer. We shared the night with a local band called the Aguilar Brothers and they were also great.

It was our first time in OKC and we couldn’t of asked for a better show. The place was packed, and we had a good crowd of friends show up too. I thought we killed the show, and I can’t wait to go back.

The night finished in true style. After partying some with a few members of the bar staff, we headed back to our friend’s place just outside the city. We were staying with our friend Autumn and her family, and it was her son’s girlfriend’s birthday the next day, so we stealthily drove to her house and decorated her yard with paper hearts and the like to surprise her. From what I hear, it was a hit! The gesture definitely took me back a few years. OKC was fun…off to Wichita!

Ye Old College Bar: A Love Story

On Monday we played the College Bar on the legendary strip in Stillwater.

Us switching it up for "Fight for Your Right"

Friends at the College Bar

I can’t stress enough how awesome it is to have a good gig on a Monday, and this one was great.

Though we left the venue a little after 2 am, the night continued for six more hours (at least for a few of us). We all went to hang out with some friends at a small gathering which was fun. Hooch and Jordan got rocked in beer-pong, but in their defense, the cups were huge Joe’s cups (of Eskimo Joe’s etc) and had I not been the DD, I think I would have wrecked. The night ended back at Jared and Megan’s with us sitting on the front porch, waxing on the topics of the day. I decided to head to bed with day break, but Hooch and Jared chatted until around 8:30!

That’s Oklahoma for yah! Next stop, Enid. Round II

Two Days in Telluride

The view driving up main street

We had the privilege of spending two nights in Telluride this time around. Unfortunately our gig in Gunnison was canceled due to what I will refer to as “bar drama” and so we drove straight to Telluride from Park City. Telluride is a magical little mountain town on the Western Slope in Colorado. It has all the fine scenery of the Alps and close to no pretension (which can be found in some places around CO…).

My friends Kate and Wily live in Telluride and were awesome hosts once again. We took it easy the first night, stopping by the Bubble Lounge (our venue for the next night) and it just happened to be ‘open mic’ night. So we got on stage and ripped through some jams to build some excitement for the show the next night.

The next day was great: we hung out around town and basked in the sunlight and clean, crisp mountain air. The show was good, too. We once again played the Bubble Lounge, a local oxygen bar and watering-hole, and they took good care of us. We played for a small, but energetic crowd and ended up having a fun time hanging out after hours. Telluride is one of those places I hope we can continue to come back and play for a long time to come.

Apple Jam

A picture I don't really remember taking...

OHHHH MAN, Apple Jam was awesome! For those who don’t know, Apple Jam is a 3 day music festival outside of Ashland, Oregon and put on by our friends in the band Karrgo Bossajova. We had the pleasure and honor of opening up this year’s festivities with a killer 2 hour set. After getting everyone amped for the weekend, we proceeded to get wild and crazy dancing around the festival bonfire and mingling with the other musicians and festival-goers.

We left the fest to play a show (see later post) and came back to enjoy another night of partying. On Sunday there was a scheduled “free jam” but the sound engineer for the festival had to go, so we came to the rescue and set up our PA to project the sounds for the day. Unfortunately rain ended the jamming early, but by then I was pretty much cashed anyways after seeing the sun rise only a few hours before. The weekend overall was super fun, and I can’t wait to come back next year!

PS We have recordings from this show…if you want to get a copy write a comment or email us at booking@achachay.com and tell us a good (creative) reason why we should send you a copy for free!

Friday Night in Santa Monica

On Friday we played TRiP in Santa Monica. This was our 3rd time to play TRiP, and they always treat us really well. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure who was going to show up to the show, but we ended up getting a really good crowd, and a bunch of my friends in town came out.

In the past, we usually were in a ‘throw-and-go’ situation at TRiP. A ‘throw-and-go’ is where you show up a the venue, and immediately have to rush all of your equipment on stage and start playing so as to not waste any time. This time around we had the last slot and did not need to rush. We were also able to play a longer set and we even threw in one cover that we have been doing lately: “Some Chords” by DEADMOU5.

Over all the show was great, and our stay in LA was awesome as well. I can’t express all the gratitude I have for our friends who take care of us on the road with places to stay and food and showers etc. Our friends the Durlester’s, who have been great supporters since our inception, were amazing hosts while we were in LA for a few days. I also want to shout out to my friends from Tulane who came out to the show, Deyan, Pete, Evan, Emily and Westbrook, and my friend Zach from Houston who came out as well. It was great to play for all them.

Sunset on the Santa Monica Pier...pre-show

Sweet Springs Saloon!

Sweet Springs Saloon!

Our second show with the Nada Rasta guys was at the Sweet Springs Saloon in Los Osos which in español means “the Osos”. This show was really fun because it was the Nada guys’ drummer Chris Boyd’s birthday. They were getting him all kinds of drinks and shots while he was playing (and he actually played very well!).

We closed the night with a 2-hour set of mostly originals and a few fun surprise covers. We also played the Beatle’s “She’s So Heavy” for Rubin, the singer of Nada Rasta, as that is his favorite cov

Ryan and Jordan playing cowbell with Nada Rasta!

er we play.

Overall it’s just been a real pleasure hanging out and playing with Nada Rasta again. They make our Central Coast stints infinitely better. South bound for the week!

Tempe !

Our friends Darkness Dear Boy rockin'

Tempe

I am a big fan of Phoenix and Tempe. This time of year the dry heat isn’t yet stifling, and with a nice breeze and the mountains in the foreground the vibe is just about perfect. Phoenix is also great for us because we have a great place to stay with my family friends Gary and Angie who are just awesomle and have an amazing house.

The show itself was in Tempe at a place called Long Wong’s. It’s a cool venue and we got the show through our friends Darkness Dear Boy who also played a helluva set before us. There was also another cool local band that played with us called What’s Left who had a cool sound with a guitar and violin dynamic. Our set was killer and we definitely won over some new fans. Our bartender was f’n awesome too. His name was Tony and he’s actually the manager for a pretty kick-ass band named Stuff Laura Says. Tony took really good care of us.

Overall I enjoyed playing Tempe a ton and I can’t wait to come back and rock it next time!

Blatt

Steamboat Springssssssssss

We played our first show ever in Steamboat Springs recently, and it was awesome! We played a really cool venue called the Ghost Ranch Saloon. The room itself has a sort of ‘ski-lodge’ feel with game animals mounted on the walls, but it also has one of the best stages and sound-systems we have ever used. The coolest part about the Ghost Ranch, though, is the apartment they provide for the bands to stay the night. It was really nice, and clean, and well furnished…even the bathroom was super-nice. I guess my expectations were just really low, since I feel most venues are trying their damnedest to squeeze every penny out of everything, and I figured this apartment would be anything but nice, but it turned out to be amazing!

The show was great and we won over a lot of new fans. Right now in the mountain towns it’s “mud-season” so the only people around were locals, but I feel like winning them over is even more important because they will definitely be around next time to help spread the word for the show. I can’t wait to come back to the Ghost Ranch Saloon!

Blatt