achachay on tour
Hosting funk jam at Hodi’s
We had the distinct honor of hosting Hodi’s Halfnote’s funk jam for our first night in Ft. Collins. We got to know the Nu Classics, the usual hosts, the last time we rolled through town and became fast friends. Some of you may remember – we even had them play at our house party during SXSW.
This jam is a really good time. We kicked it off with about 45 minutes of original music to set the tone, and then invited different players to come up and switch out. I recognized a few of the great guitarists from the last time we jammed there – Josh, Nick – and some of the horn players that stood out. The talent that shows up at these jams is quite impressive, and a lot of non-musicians come to just dance and groove.
People dug our music, and we made friends just like last time. We even got another show offer. We also got to get back up and improv with some of the guys later on in the night. We exchanged numbers with a few of the guys and hopefully we’ll get them to play some horn parts with us next time we come through town.
All in all it was a highly enjoyable night. If you’re in Ft. Collins on a Monday I suggest you check it out. We’ve been talking about how cool it would be to do something similar in Austin. I’m not sure we’re around consistently enough to build up the scene, but who knows it might be something we do in the future. We got to build the skills this time- we hosted in every sense of the word, with the different people who wanted to jam talking to us to find out the order of when they want to play.
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This picture is one I took with a new friend Sean who took me and some of his buddies out to rock climb in Poudre Canyon on our day off. It was really fun, and really beautiful. I’m extremely grateful to get the opportunity to take advantage of the natural beauty surrounding us on tour. We move so quickly from town to town that when we do get a chance to do something like this I tend to appreciate it even more. It’s also great to make new friends, and then be able to hang out with them again when we come back a few months later. I’m looking forward to climbing with Sean and company again one day!
Ryan and Hooch took good advantage of Ft. Collins as well, going on a brewery tour of New Belgium, Odell’s, and maybe even one other. They might tell you about it in the next post.
Crested Butte: friendly people, promo, good times
Yesterday we arrived in Crested Butte around 5P and were greeted cheerily by the staff of Lobar, where we played. The owner Ben quickly came down and made us feel totally at home. He regaled us with stories and bought us appetizers and beers as we sampled the #1 sushi in North American ski towns. It really is incredibly tasty sushi, and a rare treat for a band on the road.
Ben told us that in the small town (population 2500) of Crested Butte, word of mouth advertising is king. So we hit the streets. We went to every bar in Crested Butte, plus a couple of dinner spots, and talked up our show. We handed out fliers, and gave some people special free passes. We made friends. Tessa, Josh, and Jordan from Kochevar’s (where Ryan and I owned two groups of people at foosball), Joel at Talk of the Town. David, a friend we met on Couchsurfing, guided us and became our official CB promoter. It worked. By the time we hit up the last couple of establishments, most of the people had already heard about the funk band from Austin playing at Lobar.
Right at 10 Hooch and I headed back towards Lobar and saw a large group of people waiting to get in. It was awesome. Our hours of face-to-face promotion paid off with a crowd. Ben had helped too – All day he bribed people with drinks to text their friends and come down to our show.
We kicked it off right and everyone started dancing. They didn’t stop until the end. The night was a solid success. We’ll definitely be back to Crested Butte, and the Lobar, cause we love ‘em.
