ryan greenblatt

Achachay! UPDATE JULY 2012

A MESSAGE FROM RYAN GREENBLATT, DRUMMER ON BEHALF OF ACHACHAY!

Hello to all of my Achachillians! I hope each and every one of you is having an amazing summer and loving life!

Over the past few months Achachay! has unfortunately decided to disband. It is with a very heavy heart that I relay this information to you, and I can only say that I am extremely grateful for all of the support we received over the years from you guys. We are NOTHING without our fans and I felt like we had some of the best fans in the world.

We all appreciated the countless shout-outs, the attendance of concerts, feeding us on the road, giving us shelter and places to sleep on the road, the super-fun party times, the excellent and enlightening conversations, and all of the just general good-vibes that we got from you guys over the years. I humbly and earnestly submit this message in the hopes that you can feel my deep appreciation and gratitude.

A few short things to accompany this:

1. Look forward to getting similar posts from Hooch and Jordan, so they can share what they want to say to all of you.

2. Would anyone like free Achachay! swag? We have extra t-shirts, cds, koozies, sunglasses etc that I am happy to give away if anyone wants anything just contact me on FB or on twitter (@theBlattAbides) and we can arrange a way for you to get it no matter where you are in the world.

3. I am now currently playing in another band and I would appreciate you showing us the same love you showed Achachay!, or at least giving us a chance! We are called Southbound Drive and you can check out all of our tunes here for free: http://soundcloud.com/southbounddrive, at our facebook page www.facebook.com/southbounddrive, or you can go here to download a FREE copy of our EP Agnes: southbounddrive.com/Agnes.zip. I also want to make clear that I did NOT leave Achachay! for this band, and this had no bearing on the disbanding whatsoever.

So thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, and with all of my love, body and soul.

Sincerely,

Ryan Greenblatt

Pagosa Springs and the Hot Springs!

We make our way south from Telluride earlyish. I use the word ‘early’ loosely… When we are on the road we rarely get on the road before 2 pm so leaving around noon is early… We get to Pagosa about 5 and the sun is just starting to go behind the mountains. We have a few hours to kill and Pagosa Springs is known for its hot springs. Everytime we mention Pagosa people say, “Did you visit the hot springs?” and until now we always said “no”.. But I can now happily say we have been to the hot springs and it was just what a back that’s been sleeping on floors needed! When I heard springs I expected some sort of rock landing with water spewing out of the ground… But it was really nothing like that… It was a nice resort type place. They had tubs indoors as well as outdoors on the roof. The roof was pretty crowded but it’s still sweet to check out the sunset and stars over the mountains while soaking in the tubs filled with spring water. After a couple hours of soaking our tired bones we head to the venue. The Bear Creek always takes care of us. The staff there is super friendly and the locals are awesome too. We play a long 4 hour set and then we hit the road to head back to Austin. That does it for the Colorado tour. It’s been a blast as always and if we weren’t heading back to Austin it would be hard to leave! 23 hours and we are home! Hooch over and out!

I’m Going Going, Back Back to Teullride…

After our amazing impromptu show in Salida, we made our way back to Telluride. Telluride is a small ski town in the mountains that has an incredible view from main st and is home to some really cool people, including our friends and perennial hosts, Kate and Wily.

The show this time around was at Fly me to the Moon. Originally we had a show scheduled at the Bubble Lounge, but between December and February (we had just played the Bubble in December) something changed and the venue shut down (apparently without warning the staff or patrons). BUT luckily for us, the booker and our friend Roxy, didn’t make us cancel the show and worked out a deal with Fly Me to the Moon so that we could still play in town.

The first time we ever played in Telluride it was at FMTTM in March of 2010 and it was cool/funny to see our tags in the green room from back then. Our show went well, but we had to compete with a few other shows that night and the weird situation explained earlier causing the venue change.

Telluride is still one of my favorite places to go and to play, so I am looking forward to coming back. Hopefully next time it will be smoother!

Salida: A last minute show to remember!

Today we are traveling from Preblo, CO to Telluride, CO. We got a late start and didn’t get out of town until about 2 PM. We have a night off so we decided to stop in Salida to see a friend of ours Ty. We met Ty through couchsurfing a couple years ago and have been tight ever since. We also decided since we had the night off we should see if we could find a place to play. We hit up a couple of bars and they were all very receptive to live music but were booked. There was also a place with a patio that we could play on. But playing a show in 20 degree temperatures didn’t sound too appealing… The last place we popped in was the Tenderfoot. Ryan did the talking and the Bartender Mary was more than happy to let us play. We decided to go have dinner and make a decision about whether we were going to play a show or drive across an icy mountain pass after dark. Looking back now, it seems like the obvious decision was to play the show… The show was awesome. We had the bar packed all night. People were dancing and having a great time just like we were! It was another one of those times where we are on tour and randomly things come together for an awesome night of music. We will definitely be back in Salida. A big thanks to the Mary’s at Tenderfoot for having us play. It was such a blast!

Ska Brewery, Y’all!

Another reason I love Ska: the awesome branding!

After our very fun night in Grand Junction, we headed to Durango to play the Ska Brewery. If you haven’t heard of the Ska Brewery, it is an awesome micro-brewery that’s been open almost 20 years and produces a variety of awesome beers. Check them out at www.skabrewing.com.

So the show was an early 5 pm show and we played for a few hours. It was fun, and between our new CouchSurfing friend Mark and the other patrons at the brewery, we got down! Not to mention we also got free, delicious beer!

We ended the night hanging out with Mark and getting the van stuck in the snow outside his house. It made for a pretty hilarious/arduous process the next morning that entailed pushing the van, putting chains on the back tires and praying for traction. I always enjoy Durango, and this time was no exception!

Back in Boulder!

After our 16 hour drive from Austin to Boulder we had about two and a half hours before our show in Boulder. We took our time, set up, ate some dinner and drank some coffee. We were playing back at the Darkhorse, at least our 4th time. But this show would be different.

Us and the In Due Time Guys

I felt surprisingly well, even though I was running on only a few hours of sleep. I didn’t even get energy-drink’ed out. Boulder is always a fun show, but tonight we were bringing a surprise with us: a horn section. Two of our friends from the band In Due Time, Kyle and Tony, brought their Sax and Trombone and ripped through about 15 tunes with us. It was fucking AWESOME! I really can’t stress enough how well it went. Sometimes we manage to get all of our Boulder and Denver friends to bring out their friends and come party with us in Boulder, but this time only a handful of our friends were able to make it. The horns took care of the rest: we had people dancing, moving, grooving, and LOVING the music. It was fun, and re-energizing just when we needed it.

So if you haven’t checked out In Due Time yet, please go to their website here: https://www.facebook.com/induetimefunk and give them a listen…you will not be disappointed! Til next time Dark Horse!

Alma Rock City

My college-roommate rockin' out! Can you believe we shared a dorm room?!

The town of Alma is residence for about 200 people. It is located approximately 90 miles southwest of Denver, tucked in the mountains, and it is also the highest (at 10,578 feet) incorporated municipality in the US. Alma is one of those town you have to pass through to get to other destinations in CO, but last Friday we found out there is much more to Alma than that. Alma has 2 bars (and 2 dispensaries  awarding the town with the distinction of most dispensaries per capita in CO (and possibly the US?)) and we played Alma’s Only Bar (the OG of bars for Alma). Whoa that’s a lot of parentheses! Anyways, because of a booking snafu we opened up the night at AOB for the local group Spider Murphy and the Pushovers. It was early, too, like 9:00 pm start time and we had low expectations of a crowd, but sure enough the place had a good crowd about 5 minutes into our set. We played for just over an hour and totally won the place over, old and young, rocker and hippie alike. It was nice that even though this show was starting on a weird note because of the booking debacle, it turned out to be great.

The rest of the night was great as well. Spider Murphy and the Pushovers were great: think low-key, laid-back, groovy music with bass, guitar/banjo/4-string guitar, harmonica, and drums. They were great and we hung out with the locals and got to know the town for the rest of the night.

We also had a very gracious host that everyone called Hector. Hector has a great house in town where he hosts bands that come through to play, as well as travelers and others who need a place for a while. All in all, our night in Alma was great and I think we will have a great time next time we roll through to play the entire night.

Back in Telluride

Snow!!!!!

“It’s a college town..without a college. That’s all you need to know,” – Scottie, bouncer/doorman at the Bubble Lounge and local Telluridian (?). This was our 4th time playing in Telluride and our 3rd time at the Bubble Lounge. Some of our old friends, namely Gregg and a different Scott, were not around for our show this time, but we made some great new friends and fans. For a Monday, our show was pretty good: a decent crowd and a good time.

Telluride is just sort of a magical place in general with its absurd beauty and very chill vibes. It also snowed for the first time this tour almost the entire time we were in town. I enjoy the snow until we need to get out of town and we can’t because conditions are too bad. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case this time and we were able to just enjoy the 2-3 inches and still get out of town. I’m excited for our next show in Telluride because it seemed like everyone there is going to promote the show a ton now that they know we rock. I also want to give a shout out to our gracious hosts and friends Kate and Wiley! They’re the best!

Outy 5000
Blattttttttttttttttttttttttt

Durango a Go Go

the set list for the night

The first show on this mini-Colorado tour was in Durango at our favorite spot to play: the Summit. On Thursdays the Summit does $2 draughts and wells, so you can imagine the kind of crowd we got. Overall it was a very fun show with a lot of dancing and grooving. Colorado has a great vibe in general, and the Durango vibe is one of my favorites: people just want to have a good time and enjoy some great music in the company of friends.

After the show we headed to a small after party where we got to know some of the locals a little better. A funny side note: the girl who invited us to the party was so drunk that she had no clue who Jordan was when he started talking to her at the house. Hah!

We also couchsurfed with some new friends who were great as well. Andy and his roommates were great to hang out with the morning after and took us a great local restaurant for the largest $5 hamburger I’ve ever had. Another successful show in Durango. We will be back!

Q Spot Good Times Rock n’ Rooooooooollllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rockin' "Choice" at the Q Spot

In our last week on the past tour we played our favorite bar in Enid AMERICA, the Q Spot. We love the Q Spot because David, the owner, and his family take great care of us every time we play there. He also has a really nice, large stage for us to tear up, and we always have an excited and attentive crowd.

The show itself was great and well attended. We played a good long set and rocked out as usual. The night progressed to our new favorite hangout: the Lounge located in the Ramada Inn in Enid. The Lounge also has these sweet koozies (not sweeter than ours though!) that feature a “lounge lizard” in a martini glass….with a martini in hand. I really enjoy those koozies, and for those of you who know me, koozies in general. On this night, though, we found out that the bar only intends for you to use their koozies in the bar, and not actually take them with you when they give you a beer with one on. This is stupefying to me as they are the perfect way to promote a MOTHER-F’ING BAR, but as they say: to each his own.

We will be back and rockin’ the Q Spot again in the near future!