jordan myska allen

Babylon in Fresno

Unfortunately sometimes a show will get double-booked and one of the bands ,or even an entire group of bands, will be dropped from the show. A week before we left on tour this happened to us for a Saturday night gig we had in Sacramento. I thought to myself that we were pretty much SOL, but I wasn’t going to take it lying down. So I got on the ol’ interweb and emailed 20 or so places in the region just north of Paso Robles all the way to the Sacramento area. I was sure to lay it on a little thick with the “we got dropped from our show” bit to see if we couldn’t get a last-minute show, and sure enough we lucked out big time! Within days I heard back from the booker of a cool club in Fresno called the Babylon Club. They were happy to let us jump on the bill and they even offered me a guarantee. Needless to say I was ecstatic.

The show went really well too. We played last to a smaller, but very energetic crowd that hung around after the local bands played. Also all of the other bands who played were great, and actually brought out people (believe it or not this is rarely the case). So from having a show canceled we ended up making a new contact with a booker and promoter who, I feel, really appreciate good music and aren’t afraid to do some work to promote a show. Can’t wait to come back!

Lompoc ‘N’ Around, What? What?!

Lompoc, pronounced Lom-poke, is a midsized town of California’s central coast, and scattered throughout are dive bars and sports bar-n-grill sort of places. One such bar was our venue for the night; the name was The Wicked Shamrock.
As the name implies, the Shamrock is a hybrid between an Irish Pub and a club that caters mostly to the punk/goth/darker-side-of-rock genres. Needless to say, Achachay! funked ‘n’ rolled all night and made the place their own. Like they do.
There was dancing and drinking, as much on our part as on the part of the audience. I guess that’s not exactly true, the crowd was definitely boozing a bit more. A particularly drunk group of boys comes to mind. They were pretty on fire about the show- bought merch, chatted about the band- and really brought the house down. By which I mean, one of them fell victim to gravity, and toppled himself, a table, and three of the four chairs around said table onto the floor. On the other hand, other folks were more suave, like the New Yorker named Boston who broke into various swing routines with her friend.
All in all, the show was a blast and the bar was good to us- buying us a round of Patron when the clock struck twelve and Hooch began the festivities of yet another birthday.
The Lompoc post would not be complete without mention of our hospitable host Brian. He was generous with his his time, energy, and home. We went out for dinner before the show (delicious!), he hung out for most of the show, and then invited us to breakfast in his kitchen the next day. We found out that he was a fellow Texan and preparing to move back home. He shared stories about his experience in the air force, which had an almost uncanny semblance to passages from Catch-22, so conversation was never lacking.
Good show, good company, and we hope to see Brian back in Texas!

-Liza

Los Angeles / Tarzana

When i think about our time in Los Angeles a few Wednesdays ago I think mostly of the great people we spent time with.

• Our gracious host James Leffler was hilarious as usual (check these vids for examples of his humor)
•  Ben Carson threw a pre-party and is now the only person to make it to all of our LA appearances.
• Surprise Rice friends I did not realize live in the area including Lila and Will
• I saw Marty who I studied in Ghana with for the first time in a couple of years
• Joe – one of our Ashland buddies we met through Karrgo Bossa Jova -was an absolute hoot to hang out with. We had some lively and engaging discussions about the purpose and character of higher education, with many references to Harry Potter. Nothing more can be said that is fit for print.

We played an awesome show, as usual. Los Angeles really reminds me that when it comes to my life, it often comes down to this: I love people. I used to hate the city because of the traffic, the pollution, and the superficiality. But the fact that there are so many people I love there – cousins with babies in the belly, old camp friends, comedian advisors – I can’t help but enjoy myself.

The intensity of travel and the nonstop social interaction of our tours challenges the psyche. Yet, I get so much energy from the good people surrounding us, that even a week of sleeping on the floor can’t suppress my almost constant giddiness. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to stay connected to these people distributed across the world.

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

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!

Weed, CA It Was Dope (by Dayna)

Dayna

Shasta Lake from the window of the van

Bridge where Ryan encountered a train

Hooch at the Falls

Ryan Greenblatt on a rock

Dayna at the falls

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