touring

Grand Junction

We’re back! Back in Grand Junction again! (Aerosmith melody here). After a beautiful drive from Tulluride we headed straight to the radio station KAFM in Grand Junction. There was a short interview and we played a couple songs on the air. Other than a little mishap with a cowbell it went very smoothly. After the radio interview we had some time to hang out around town. It was a beautiful day so I decided to relax in the park for a bit. Apparently I looked a bit too comfortable in the park because I was offered some food by a good samaritan. Musicians can often times look like homeless people and sometimes are homeless people. We fortunately are not homeless… although it does feel close when we are on the road. After the fun in the
park I headed to a coffee shop to meet up with the other guys and head to the venue. The show was awesome. Quincy’s is a sweet bar. The staff there really takes care of us and we had a great crowd. No complaints from me about Grand Junction. Even if I was mistaken for a homeless person at least the people were friendly! Gotta love Colorado…. Hooch out!

Ashland, Oregon at the Caldera Tap House

After spending the afternoon watching some great bands play at Apple Jam we head into Ashland to play at the Caldera Tap House. We have played the Caldera two other times and they always treat us right. With 18 of their own brews on tap it really makes it easy to have a great time! My personal favorite is the Oatmeal Stout. It totally hits the spot. We had an awesome crowd that was totally into the funk and really made for a bad ass night. After the show it was back to Apple Jam to have a little more fun! Those Karrgo Bossahova guys know how to throw a party! That pretty much does it for the night.  Hooch over and out!

Long Beach

Last night we played in Long Beach at a bar called DiPiazza’s. DiPiazza’s is a restaurant/bar/live music venue. The bar has a good vibe and a friendly staff. Before the show we had some time to kill so we made our way down the street to a coffee shop called ‘Daily Grind’. Good coffee with a good atmosphere and most importantly good prices. We’ve always had a good time in Long Beach. There’s a nice laid back vibe and people are friendly. The show was fun. We had a crowd that I would call small but fierce. Jordan had a few friends come out and they were our ‘fierce’ fans. It was a fun but overall uneventful night.

leapin’ at the frog and peach

monday we played in san luis obispo (forgive the failure of the shift key on this computer, there will be no capitals) at a place call the frog and peach. san luis obispo (heretofore known as slo) is a college town – cal poly –  and a perfect crowd for our style of music, so we were excited to get our foot in the door, impress some people, and get a better night for the next time we are in town. we did just that.  we had a lot of fun even with a small crowd, and we’ll definitely be back in late september – playing a weekend or possibly frog and peach’s 1 dollar pint night on tuesdays.

after the first set we took a break and most of the crowd left. i suppose college kids do have to study sometime… thats good i want the world full of educated interesting people. we like that kind of crowd. anyway we started the second set and quickly played “sad sad city” by ghostland observatory. a couple guys that are show promoters heard the sweet phase shifted notes from down the block and were instantly drawn to our show like starving men to a free buffet. they stayed and danced for the entire rest of the night, even running out into the street and convincing people to come and see a song.

comically, every fifteen minutes or a so a huge group of 20 people would come in for some girl’s (always a girl, i dont know why) 21st birthday, take a shot, and leave. we would pick a good danc-y tune and get them to groove for a song or two, but they had their list of bars to take the lady on her first legal day, so they went off on their journey. it kinda felt like we were back at the dizzy rooster, thirsty nickel or chuggin monkey in austin. fun times.

another good aspect of slo is that we got to be the first time couchsurfers for our buddy nelson111 (pretend those 1s are exclamation points). he is a great guy and a great host. in his initial message he said something really funny about us being the first at his house. it was something along these lines, ‘my roommates are all cool with it, except one who is worried that you’ll be really messy, but even if you are i dont mind.’ needless to say we were immaculate. nelson came to dinner with us and then stayed up a bit to chill after the show, so we got a chance to know each other a little better. couchsurfing is so wonderful. it always makes me happy about the state of the world we live in. i dont think something like it could have existed that long ago, because people just didnt have as much trust for strangers, or openness about their lives. even now most people think that the idea of couchsurfing is crazy, and they cant believe that it works, that there arent more horror stories. there is an evolution of culture over the course of history, and this couchsurfing is one positive manifestation of a more inclusive, egalitarian sense of self and other. pretty sweet.

Grover Beach

We are back in the California central coast area hanging out and playing with our good friends Nada Rasta. We have played with Nada Rasta as many times as any other band which is funny because we are based out of Austin not California. Nada Rasta is definitely a good group of guys to have as our friends. They are well connected in the central coast region and we just have a blast hanging out with them.  We played 50 minute set at Mongo’s in Grover Beach then the Nada Rasta guys finished the night. It was a great night of dancing, making new friends, and fans. The blurry pic below is Blatt beating the cowbell during one of Nada Rasta’s songs.  Pretty hilarious.  I can’t thank Reuben and the rest of the Nada Rasta crew enough for their help and hospitality in the central coast area. Reuben has helped us book shows and has given us a place to stay both times we’ve been in the area. If you want to check out some good reggae/rock music check out Nada Rasta on the interweb http://www.facebook.com/nadarastaband. We are in the central coast area for several days so there will be more stories about Nada Rasta and of course Achachay! in the central coast to come. Hooch over and out.

Boulder at the Darkhorse: Part III

The night before last we played in Pagosa Springs and tonight we are in Boulder, CO. The only downside is that these towns are 7 hours apart… So we drove all night last night and arrived in Boulder at about 9 am yesterday morning. I did all the driving so I was spent to say the least. After sleeping all day we headed to the Darkhorse to have some dinner and get ready for the show. Boulder is an awesome town. There is such a great energy and people are totally ready for great music. This makes our shows in Boulder crazy fun. It is finals week this week so people were in and out all night because of studies. That didn’t change the fact that the dance floor was still full and oh man was it a good time. We have tons of great friends in Boulder and they always show us a great time and this time I had my first run in with a breakfast treat called “Saddlebags”. “Saddlebags” are pancakes with sausage in them and two eggs on top. It’s basically the most delicious thing ever. So if you are ever in Boulder you should go to the Buff for some brunch. It was sooo good. That pretty much does it for Boulder. Now we are off to Utah to Arches National Park! Adios Colorado!

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.

Fugly’s

This is our last night in Oklahoma and we are doing it right at Fugly’s in Enid. Fugly’s is 3 bars in one. There is a live music room, a karaoke room, and a room with pool tables. It’s all soundproofed and really just done right. Fugley’s is a newer bar in Enid but they have made a name for themselves quickly. Because a close friend of mine owns the bar all of my close friends and their families were out to see the show. It’s always nice to catch up with old friends and let them see what I’m doing these days with music and travel. Overall the show was great. Good friends, good venue, and just a fun night.  It’s been a great week in Oklahoma but now we move on to Colorado.  Good-bye waving wheat hello Rockies!

Oh College Bar… How we love thee…

Our first day technically playing in Stillwater and man has it been a blasty blast! It’s always nice to walk down “the strip” in Stillwater again.  I’ve spent many a night playing solo and full band shows on the strip. It’s where I really started playing on stage and it just feels like home for me as a musician. The College Bar well… is just a great venue. Everyone in Stillwater who likes to see diverse live music comes to The College Bar. They have a great selection of beers on tap and it just attracts the kind of people that like our flavor of funky music. There were a few of my old friends in the crowd as well as a lot of new friends. By the end of the night we had a nice group of folks dancing and there was just a great overall vibe. Couldn’t have asked for a better first show in Stillwater. I’m totally looking forward to a whole week of playing music in Oklahoma!

Gearing up for the road

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we’re getting super excited to be on the road again. We just played a great show tonight at Quoffer’s in Elgin TX and tried out a couple new covers that went over swimmingly. We also got to play some at DonJon’s masquerade, a private party we played last Friday, and people seemed to love what we’re sharing. There is a lot of new original material as well, but we’re waiting to unveil that…

I guess I didn’t even get to share how badass our “Dia de la Throwdown” party was… I’ll put another post up about that soon. In the meantime, check out what’s been going on in the tour planning.

We added some new shows, including this coming Friday April 15th in Dallas at the Trophy Room, a show at Willie’s in Stillwater OK on Wednesday Apr 20, another day in Ft. Collins CO (we’ll guest host the funk jam on Monday April 25th at Hodi’s and play across the street at The Vault on Wednesday – thanks to our buddies the Nu Classics for the spot!), and Friday Apr 29th at the Bear Creek Saloon in Pagosa Springs CO. We’ve still got a few possible shows in the works for other cities in Oklahoma, Oregon, and California, so stay tuned if you’re in those areas. As a note to our friends (such as Rachel), we tried to get a gig in Colorado Springs and for some reason it just hasn’t panned out yet… although i still have hope for that Tuesday or Sunday.

Here’s the official schedule, thus far:
Apr 15: Dallas, TX The Trophy Room, 10P
Apr 16: Perkins, OK, Perkins VFW
Apr 18: Stillwater, America, The College Bar, 9P
Apr 19: Enid OK, The Q Spot
Apr 22: Enid, OK, Fugly’s
Apr 23: Denver CO, Lion’s Lair, 10P
Apr 25: Ft. Collins CO, Hodi’s Half Note
Apr 27: Ft. Collins CO, The Vault
Apr 28: Steamboat Springs CO, Ghost Ranch Saloon
Apr 29: Pagosa Springs CO, Bear Creek Saloon
Apr 30: Boulder CO, Dark Horse Tavern, 10P
May 4: Phoenix AZ, Long Wong’s at the Fire House
May 5: Flagstaff AZ, Flagstaff Brewing Company
May 6: Grover Beach w/ Nada Rasta @ Mongo’s Saloon
May 7: Los Osos w/ Nada Rasta @ Sweet Spring Saloon
May 9: San Luis Obispo CA, Frog And Peach
May 11: Long Beach CA, Dipiazza’s
May 13: Santa Monica CA, Trip
May 14: Sacramento CA, Marilyn’s On K
May 17: San Francisco, Grant and Green
May 20: Applejam, Ashland OR
May 24: Park City, UT, Lindzee O’ Michaels, 9P
* On Air performance KPCW, 6:15 P (91.9 in Park City, 88.1 in Oakley, kpcw.org streaming on the net)
May 25: Gunnison, CO, Gunnison Brewery, 9P
May 26: Bubble Lounge, Telluride, CO, 9P
May 27: Grand Junction, CO, Quincy Bar, 10P
May 28: Durango CO, The Summit, 9P
May 29: Pagosa Springs CO, Bear Creek Saloon

See you all soon! Austin and Houston people, we’ll be announcing shows soon…

Apple Jam, the festival we're playing on May 20th