The StereoFidelics

Our blog has mooooooved

2011-01-09T15:48:00.002-05:00

Our blog is continued on Wordpress

stereof.wordpress.com

Come visit us there!

2010-07-20T11:24:00.002-04:00

This thing is still here?? I hate this thing! But so it goes...

Tour has been awesome and we'll only 11 days away from being home. It's hard to believe that 5 weeks ago we rolled up on a Dolly Parton nightmare in Nashville and showed those snakes how to wipe it right. Lots of miles (estimated 9,000 thus far) and lots of great shows. While I pine away my time on the computer Melissa is as we speak preparing our new album, You are Having a Wonderful Time, for our radio campaign across the nation (or, perhaps she is playing Wii w/ Cousin Charlie). Either way, those of you in far away places that would like to hear us on the radio more, we're seeing to it. Thanks so much to everyone who has come out and supported the band and made us feel like we are special; we love you. Also, big thanks to the VT contingent for the support at SolarFest and for coming to the rest of our shows throughout this week up in New England... you can always count on a Vermonter!!!

We miss you CO, CA, UT, MI, IL, NE, MN, NM, AZ, TX, MO, KS, OH, TN, and NC and will see you all again real soon!!!!

-tsf

2010-06-22T02:09:00.004-04:00

We have been on the road for just over a week now and it has been wonderful! Summer is always a great time to get out there and see the country, reconnect, and enjoy life. Thanks to all the friends and fans in NC, TN, MO, KS and TX for coming out and supporting the band so far (and future thanks to all of you to come). Also, this just in… new album, You are Having a Wonderful Time, is now available at all our shows and on our online store, www.stereof.com/store, by middle of next week. The album will become available on iTunes, Rhapsody, CD Baby. Amazon, etc. in about six weeks but make sure you are the first kid on your block to get a copy of the new disc!

Other news: we outfitted our van with a solar panel in an effort to be more environmentally conscious (for what it’s worth, we have wanted to do this for sometime now, not just because it is the hip things these days… although whatever the reason, it’s a good thing). We got the bad boy dropped in today and are stoked!!! Also, not too long ago Melissa received an artist sponsorship from NS Designs and is now rocking one of the sickest violins out there...

Check out www.thinkns.com for a look at all the instruments this fine company makes and some of the other artists on their roster (like Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Casey Driessen, and our friends from Montana Skies to name a few). Melissa will be getting a fancy little write up with all the trimmins soon so we’ll make sure to pass along a link to that once it is up.

That’s it for now, NM, AZ, CA, and CO on the agenda for the next few weeks. We’ll keep you posted with all things TSF and look forward to seeing you out there!!!!!

2010-04-30T11:49:00.004-04:00

Haven't been the best with keeping on this... but...

New videos from the Spring Tour @ www.youtube.com/thestereofidelics

New fancy pics and not so fancy pics at www.myspace.com/thestereofidelics or www.reverbnation.com/thestereofidelics.

Spring Tour was fabulous! Thanks so much to everyone who came out or came back to support; we're stoked to see you again this summer. Check out www.stereof.com for all the details, see ya soon!!!

-tsf

2010-03-24T02:08:00.002-04:00

We just played on KRFC Live at Lunch today and they were kind enough to pass along a disc of the show. We picked a few songs out of the show and have them available for your downloading pleasure right here! We've been mega-busy and have posted some video from recent shows out here in Colorado. (All that jazz is on YouTube and we'll be posting them individually later...)

It was quite nice out here in the Rockies the past few days and then today, it began snowing. It is still snowing. When we awake it will still be snowing. When we are loading in for our last Colorado show of this tour it will still be snowing. Then, as soon as we head out east (late tomorrow evening/very, very early Thursday morning) for Omaha, it will stop snowing and will be sunny and 50 degrees. Despite that, we've had a wonderful time out here in the Mountain West and tomorrow-barring any distracting, beautiful weather when we wake up-we'll post some show pictures to prove it!

2010-03-15T17:26:00.004-04:00

So, Nashville was a blast. We took a trip back in musical history to perform at The Springwater Supper Club and Cafe. Imagine post-war America in the early 50's, gathering all your friends from school to come down to your Dad's garage and listen to you play songs thru a shitty sound-system, there's greasers and jocks, there's prom queens and promiscuous queens, there's plenty of good cheer. Well, that's what it was like. I mean, look at the stage backdrop... it's like something out of a David Lynch film...
These photos are curtosy of our good friend, David Clark. We pressed onto Memphis and played at Neil's Music Room with our good friends, Grupo Jobu.
The following night began the Missouri slugfest (which we still have one round to go). Spirits are high, the days are getting longer, and the mountains of Colorado lie off in the distance.... with the right kind of nose you can almost smell that mountain air.

2010-03-12T12:52:00.004-05:00

OK, then..... It's been quite a while since we jotted a little something in here, and I think it's high-time we get back on the blog train. We have been pretty busy since our last post that I see... we had a whole other tour up to the Northeast which was one of the more exciting ones (surprising that we didn't post a single thing about it!), took the winter months off to record an album which we are super pumped about!!! There are three new songs that we have posted all over our sites and we will be releasing a three song "Sampler CD" from the album at all of our shows leading up to the final release. The album is called, "You Are Having a Wonderful Time," a-la our friend Cameron and his witty remark a few years back. We have embarked on our Spring Tour which will encompass both The West and The East with many stops along the way... We got started in Knoxville, TN the other night and were pleasantly surprised to see so many folks come out to support and listen to music, especially on Spring Break!We played an awesome punk/old school Rock n' Roll bar in Nashville, TN last night (pics coming soon) and it's on to Memphis this evening to play with our good friends, Grupo Jobu, at Neil's Music Room. BAM!!!

2009-10-20T15:30:00.006-04:00

Tour presses on!!!! We (regretfully) had to leave Colorado last Thursday night, but not before two awesome shows in Boulder!!! Thanks to the Mule (Sean Lamborne) we were able to capture some sweet pics from the show at Laughing Goat.....

Friday night in Omaha, NE we hooked up with our favorite Nebraska band, Madness Sale, for a show at PS Collective. Nick Sondag got some cool shots from the show and we'll have them up for you soon. Saturday it was Minneapolis for a triple dip at The Acadia in Downtown Mpls.... After some much needed rest (one day off) it's back on the trail to glory with some shows in the Midwest (Madtown, Chi-town, Mish-town, K-twon, and Grand Rapids-townburgville). We'll keep you posted, and how about keeping us posted... drop us a line, let us know you're reading this damn thing. Cheers!!!

tsf

2009-10-15T20:21:00.004-04:00

What a week!!! We arrived in Colorado and immediately rocked out with our good pals, Longest Day of the Year, at Avery Brewery. The following night, we returned to Jamestown, CO for a show at the Merc and some roasted pig... It was good, but we're from BBQ country and have high standards for our roasted animals. After much rocking, drinking, and merrymaking, we headed out to Conifer, CO to continue working on the new album at Sole Sound Studios. This new album will in many ways be a testament of how to rock face with just two people and those of you who are anticipating the "new one," hold on tight!

We then returned to Boulder for two shows downtown and will say goodbye to Colorado this evening... but we'll be back, oh yes, we'll be back...

2009-10-10T13:38:00.002-04:00

So far the tour has treated us well and provided many good tunes and times. Before our show in Memphis on Wednesday we went exploring on Beale St. and saw (and heard) some great blues and wicked cool motorcycles.

After a Thursday night at Kirby's in Wichita, (which was none other than a rockin' good time, as usual!) we made the drive into Colorado. Last night we played at Avery Brewery with Longest Day of the Year-tasty, tasty brews, friends, and . . . snow. Yes, it is (still) snowing at the beginning of October. We are totally not prepared for this! We write to you all in blog-land with many layers of clothes on, drinking hot chocolate. Ole!

2009-10-07T12:41:00.007-04:00

Well hey there!!! We just took off for the first half of our Fall Tour!!! We'll be getting some new video, mp3s, pics, etc., your way... for now, here's some shots from our homecoming show at The Grey Eagle back on 9/4/09....

Tiny, I know... but damn it was fun.... we'll have some audio from this show up shortly, along with some tracks from our last Summer Tour (Denver, CO; NEK Festival, VT; Boulder, CO....). Keep tuning in as the post will start coming your way more regularly.

2009-08-24T11:18:00.004-04:00

Wohoo! At long last, we have a chance to fill you all in on how our wonderful, busy summer tour has been going for the last (almost) three weeks in the northeast. First, we had a great time at the Northeast Kingdom Music Festival--here's a video of "That's Why" from our main stage set on Saturday.

It was great to get a chance to check out some other bands like Enter the Haggis, Luminescent Orchestrii, and our friends Hot Flannel. After much merriment and music, we headed down to Burlington, VT. At our show at the Red Square, we dragged Chris' cousin, Jeff, up onstage to shred some with us--it was great to share the evening with family and some new friends!

After we left Vermont (for a little while) we drove south to Binghamton, NY where we always have a good time at the Cyber Cafe West. We were greeted with lots of StereoFidelic tees and a very enthusiastic audience. On Saturday, we drove down to Bethlehem, PA to share an evening at the Wildflower with Michael and Tamara Fritz. We always enjoy playing a show with them and Chris got a chance to squeeze in some gear talk and guitar playing with Michael. On Sunday, we headed into the Big Apple to play our first show ever in Manhattan proper. We were lucky enough to get a parking spot right in front of the door to the venue, which made the rest of the evening quite a pleasant experience. It was wonderful to play for such an enthusiastic crowd in NYC; at this point in the tour we've just about ran out of stickers and sold out of all the discs that we brought with us--it's definitely been a success!

On Monday we decided to do some sightseeing, so we walked all around Greenwich Village and 5th Ave., wrapping up the day by posing with a $27,000 Batman made of Legos. Back up North on Friday, we played in Maine at Hempstock in Harmony, where the smell of patchouli and other aromas were strong in the air...we left after our set to start the drive down to Portland. With no rest areas in sight, we were directed to go to the 24 hour L.L.Bean Flagship store in Freeport. The next morning we went back to see the extra large boot in the daylight-quite a rewarding experience. That evening we played at Slainte in Portland to a packed room with Dead Man's Clothes, Gin Circus, and Take One Car. Yesterday we drove across New Hampshire into western Vermont for the Turn of the Tides music series. We had a great time here on our last Northeast tour and were excited to get back. This time the potluck dinner was amazing (just like last time!) and we now have a new appreciation for home-grown zucchini (zucchini muffins were fantastic, as well as grilled zucchini, zucchini au graten, etc. ) Lovely folks and a lovely way to wrap up the long New England portion of this tour.

We've been busy getting our October CO/midwest tour wrapped up and our November Northeast tour booked--keep an eye on our schedule page for new dates!

2009-08-06T15:56:00.003-04:00

After back-to-back Salt Lake City shows, we pulled an all-nighter so we could make the drive to Boulder in time for our show at Avery Brewery on Thursday. After much merriment, beverages, and rocking out with the Longest Day of the Year, we drove into the mountains for some late night studio time (we're keeping that all pretty hush-hush for now. . .). On Friday, we went on-air at the Naked Stage on KGNU to play a 30 minute radio show. Saturday was a music-filled celebration and we were thrilled to be a part of two of our friends' special day!
Our last day in the Rockies was Sunday and we spent it playing a wonderful Denver listening room, the Walnut Room, with the Radical Knitting Circle, Lisa Genee, and an old college friend's new project, Beast Haus. We promise to have some live tracks from that show posted soon. . .

This week is a quick trek across the midwest through Wichita (Kirby's was FUN as usual), Indianapolis (we were able to perform this time, unlike last time we were scheduled at the Melody Inn and half the band was hospitalized with severe pneumonia--we played extra hard for the crowd that missed us last time!) and tonight is Cleveland. See you in the North East!

2009-07-28T18:17:00.005-04:00

Well, we're at the point in the tour where we're following signs that say "East," but we still have a ton of shows left to play before we return home. We had a GREAT time at Mountain Sage last Saturday. We were excited to have the chance to share the stage with Blue Turtle Seduction from Tahoe and play for some rowdy Yosemite-ites. (We'll have some photos posted soon. . .) It was wonderful to see some return folks from last summer's excursion, have some delicious hearty food (thanks again!) and get pointers on where to spend our Sunday in Yosemite. One of the places was this beautiful mountain lake-Chris enjoyed a stroll along the beach at about 6000 ft. above sea level.
We started the drive towards Salt Lake yesterday and passed this seemingly Star Wars themed exit in Nevada. . .
We just got some pictures from our Hutington Beach show a few weeks ago--thanks to Erik for sending these along!

2009-07-22T17:18:00.009-04:00

We started heading up the California coast for Oregon last Saturday and got to make a quick stop at the ocean, which was freezing.

We heeded the warning and made sure to stay the hell away from the huge icy waves.
After our show and house party in Arcata (where it's just as chilly and foggy as San Francisco) we headed inland a bit to the Redwoods National Park. We stopped off at Corkscrew Tree
and got inside.
After spending some time feeling really tiny, we floored it up to Crater Lake National Park, which we definitely wanted to experience on one of our days off. Crater Lake is so high up that it's just now springtime and the snow is still melting. We took some time for a quick snowball fight. . .

Then there was this bear who has the weirdest fetish....
Alright, it has become a damn vaca slideshow. New pics and video from shows coming next time, promise!

2009-07-17T14:28:00.005-04:00

We crossed into California last Thursday after lots of driving, little sleep, and much heat. That night we played at the Blue Cafe in Huntington Beach, CA and were coincidentally paired with Brown Shoe, a band from Folsom, CA that we played with in Chicago on our last tour. . .crazy. . .Friday we played a show at the Good Hurt in LA (where all the wait staff dresses in short nurse-maid outfits) with our old friends and their new band, Pet the Dog. After much catching up, partying, and general mischief, we headed out of the city to Redlands on Saturday. Playing at the Vault was as much fun as we remember it being last time we were in Oso Rey country. The crowd was super-enthusiastic and danced all though our sets. We had a blast having Spiro (the one, the only Spiro) up for some tunes.
Monday we left for points North and headed up California Rt. 1, ocean-style. We passed through many beautiful and interesting towns, including the artichoke capitol of the world. Note the large artichoke feature of this building:
We hit Hayward, CA on the way into the city to play at the Bistro, the best beer selection in the most, um, "up and coming" area we've hit yet. Once we hit San Francisco on Wednesday, we made a point to drive through Chinatown on our way to the venue, Grant and Green, which, ironically, was located at the intersection of Grant and Green right outside Chinatown. We had a great show with some more old friends playing under the name Otto Mobile.
Yesterday we went on a hike around Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in the hills outside of Oakland. We stumbled upon this really interesting labyrinth in the bottom of an old quarry.
Once we got back from our hike, we crossed the Bay into San Francisco to play an in-store performance at the Apple Store. It was really humbling to play the same stage the the Counting Crowes have played on and it was great to reach a whole new group of people with our music. We found this picture online with a caption that read "Musica en directo en la Apple Store de San Francisco. The StereoFidelics, me estan gustando mucho y son muuuy buenos. Macs y musica en directo igual a EPIC WIN" (thanks so much for the kind words and for taking/posting this shot!!) We had great sound and really enjoyed meeting and chatting with everyone after we played.
On to points north!

2009-07-09T05:05:00.004-04:00

We spent our two days off relaxing in Mesa Verde National Park and looking at some really old buildings.
The view off the mesa was absolutely stunning as well.
Today we headed down to Durango a little early to walk around and see the downtown . When we were loading in, this guy was taking a break from things and relaxing on a bench. Chris found this very amusing.
We had a great show this evening at the Summit in Durango. We played with Aftergrass (actually, we played after Aftergrass) and in the middle of our first set, Will from Hendersonville, NC showed up out of the blue. It was a total suprise for everyone involved!
We took some time to catch up a bit after the show was over, and then packed up and hopped in the car to start the trek to Huntington Beach, CA tonight. . .

2009-07-06T14:57:00.003-04:00

We got to Colorado on Wednesday and hurried into Boulder for our show at Pearl Street Pub. After seven hours of driving, our three and a half hour show went by so quickly! We reconnected with an old friend I hadn't seen in about six years and got all caught up at set break (he's now playing banjo with members of String Cheese Incident). At the end of our show, we caught wind that Vince Herman from Leftover Salmon was in attendance that night--a pretty exciting way to start our string of Colorado shows!
On Thursday we made the trek into the mountains to Jamestown, where the London Broil Steak Dinner was fantastic. We enjoyed visiting with the Jamestown folks again and always love playing for such an enthusiastic, genuine audience.
We had a great time on Friday in Nederland, CO at the First Street Pub with our friends Longest Day of the Year. Keep an eye out for video from that show as soon as we get it uploaded. . .

We were busy on the 4th of July, first we joined Longest Day of the Year at their show at the Boulder Farmer's Market (which is actually more like a bi-weekly street festival), then we played some on Pearl Street, and in the evening we played our show at the Laughing Goat. We were thrilled that folks decided to spend their 4th of July evening with us!

Yesterday we headed down to Conifer, CO to record a little bit at Sole Sound Recording Studios; we'll be finishing that little project the beginning of August and then. . .hmmm keep an ear out this fall (that's all we're at liberty to say right now). . .

This morning we crossed the Continental Divide and stopped at a great overlook to cool the brakes down. We've got our first day off today and tomorrow, so we'll be relaxing and enjoying the area for a

2009-07-02T15:03:00.002-04:00

We finally got the video online. Please excuse the poor visual quality; we promise to learn how to use our camera better in the future. In the meantime, please enjoy our gas-station-surveillance-style record of part of our show at Kirby's.
Now that all that's done, we're headed out to enjoy the mountains this afternoon. . .

2009-07-01T17:29:00.006-04:00

So since you all in blog-land have waited so long for an update from us all at the StereoFidelics camp, we're going to not only post some fun road pictures and show pictures, but also a video. That's right--we have both still pictures and moving pictures!

On Saturday we were in the Lake of the Ozarks, MO braving the oppressive heat to play at Donna's. We love going back there every time we drive through and it's always a surprise to see what we're paired with. Saturday it was pork tenderloin, as you can see. . .delicious and fun. . .
On Sunday and Monday we played both Jerry's Bait Shops in the greater KC area. The pizza at the Lee's Summit location is AMAZING and playing both nights with the Lonely H and the Stolen Winnebagos was on par with the pizza. . .

Last night we returned to Kirby's Beer Store in Wichita and had a blast. Yesterday was exactly one year since the first time we played there. Weird. The crowd at Kirby's is always so enthusiastic and rowdy, even on a Tuesday night--we're excited to be getting back to Kirby's in almost a month on the Eastward bound leg of our summer tour.
Today we drove through Hays, KS on our way west. I was very suprised to see that the official name of the shopping mall in Hays was "The Mall." I guess there's only one shopping mall in Hays.
We always keep a lookout for interesting and strange signs, sights, and smells, and since we found the camera a few days ago, we were able to snap a shot of this thought-provoking truck cab. Hmmmm. . .

2009-06-27T01:14:00.002-04:00

Last night in Memphis was great. We played with our pal Jobu Babin at his CD release party at Neil's Music Hall, had great sound (which makes it easier for us to give y'all great sound. . .) and had an enthusiastic audience. Unfortunately, we just found our camera this afternoon, so we didn't get any pictures. Our friend Heath was up in Memphis on business--it's always great to hang out with a friend from home when you're on the road!
This evening we were in St. Louis at the Atomic Cowboy, home of some mighty tasty grub and two stages. Phew. We played for 4 hours, so we're pretty exhausted--gonna try and get some rest for tomorrow night at Donna's in the Lake of the Ozarks. It's been close to 100 degrees the past few days--some swimming tomorrow afternoon perhaps?

2009-06-25T13:28:00.002-04:00

Back out on the road! We headed out on Tuesday for Athens, GA and rocked out with Catawba and Romanenko at a pre-Athfest show at the Caledonia Lounge. The Athens music scene has been turned upside-down since the Georgia Theater burned down last Friday. Last night we were in Nashville at Cafe Coco. Gradually we're working our way west! As soon as we figure out where we packed the camera we'll start posting tons of pictures too. . .

2009-05-30T00:41:00.004-04:00

Well, we sure have had an interesting finish to this tour. . .last night we got Chris up on his feet long enough to play at Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI. It's a great venue and we had been looking forward to playing there for quite a while. It was also great to see that we'd be sharing the weekend with another Asheville-based band.
This morning Chris finally decided to go to the doctor about his fever he'd been running for almost a week. Turns out, he rocked out last night with pnemonia in one lung, so we're hanging out in the hospital for a few days until that clears up. We'll both be healthy and chipper when we head out for our summer tour in a few weeks-we're both looking forward to that!

2009-05-27T14:17:00.002-04:00

We've been having (mostly) a great time winding up the Northeast part of this tour. In Bethlehem, PA last Thursday we took over the airwaves on WDIY chatting with Little George and then rocked out the Wildflower Cafe with Michael and Tamara Fritz. The next day we drove a short little jaunt into Philly to play at Fergie's before taking Memorial Day Weekend off (just wondering: how can you have a "day weekend"?)
It's a good thing we had a little time off because Chris has unfortunately been under the weather the past few days and we're trying to get him in tip-top shape for the end of this tour. We unfortunately had to cancel tonight's show at the Melody Inn to try to get him to rest some, but we'll be back in Indy on August 5th--looking forward to seeing all you Hoosiers then!

2009-05-21T01:25:00.002-04:00

We had so much fun in Jamaica Plain tonight. Midway was a great dive-y little music venue--perfect for a Wednesday night. So good to see some folks we met at the beginning of this tour from Jo Henley Thanks to Harry for snapping this picture and posting it!

2009-05-20T18:14:00.007-04:00

We've been enjoying New England for the past few days; we're both totally in love with southern Vermont! After playing the Turn of the Tide music series on Sunday and enjoying some delicious potluck dinner that accompanied it, we left for Portland. On the way, we dropped by VT's infamous Long Trail Brewery on our day off and enjoyed the local fare. I enjoyed six [small] different types of local fare. Also on the way, we saw some amazing lawn ornaments.

Last night's show in Portland, ME was great-we'll be back in August. It's amazing how similar Portland is to Asheville; it felt remarkably like home.

Here's some more proof of our shenanigans in NYC and Brooklyn-thanks to Steve for the shot of us at Goodbye Blue Monday and to Danielle for posting the video. Scroll down to about a week ago for the whole story on why we were playing on the streets of Manhattan in front of our vehicle. . .

2009-05-17T15:28:00.006-04:00

We have been so busy having fun the last few days that I've got some catching up to do. . . We enjoyed playing and being in Brooklyn; the show was fantastic and we had a very enthusiastic audience. After spending the night in the city, we actually got to drive through and see the city during the daytime.

We drove across the Brooklyn Bridge on our way out of town
and drove right through Manhattan.
The bridge to the left is the Manhattan Bridge and the bridge to the right is the Brooklyn Bridge.
We got to see both Yankee Stadiums at the edge of town.
We made it to Providence a little early on Friday and were able to take a leisurely stroll around the downtown before we played at Tazza. We rocked out till the wee hours and then knocked out part of the drive to Montpelier. On Saturday morning we played on WGDR then took a little nap before heading to Langdon Street Cafe.
We love playing in Montpelier and were glad to get a chance to play for such a great audience--we'll see you all at the Northeast Kingdom Music Festival this August!

2009-05-14T12:44:00.003-04:00

We sure have had quite the excitement recently. . .after our radio show on WDVR on Monday night (which was fun as expected--thanks to all who tuned in to hang out in radio-land) we learned from three cruisers full of cops that you are not allowed to sleep in your vehicle in their jurisdiction because it "isn't sanitary." So, we had to leave, not because we were violating any law, but because the head honcho couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that it is possible to get a good night's sleep in a bed you've constructed in your vehicle. [Side note: we do realize that in some places it is against the law to sleep in any vehicle not registered as a motor home, but apparently this was not one of them, since the only thing they could figure that we were doing wrong was brushing our teeth in our vehicle, which was deemed not sanitary.] Ah, the things we deal with to travel around the country playing music.

So, after a refreshing night of sleep in a different undisclosed location, we played at John and Peter's in New Hope, PA. The turnout was fabulous and we were thrilled to be part of the festivities of New Hope's Gay Pride week. New Hope is, per capita, behind only San Francisco as having the largest gay and lesbian population and our show was the place to be after Gay Bingo on Tuesday night.

Yesterday was Day One in the greater NYC area (we were told that Brooklyn was not part of NYC, so we're trying to be sensitive to all of you Brooklyn-ers out there). We were scheduled to play at the 169 Bar in Manhattan, which is right on the edge of Chinatown, so we got there early, parked, and walked around for a bit. [note the dude's super-sweet mullet in the bottom left corner of the picture]

When we went into the venue we found out that three people had come out specifically to see us, which was a good surprise to us since we've never played Manhattan before and don't have a big budget for promotions. Apparently the owner was not as thrilled, because he wouldn't let us set up until ten people walked through the door specifically to see us. Usually venues that are strict about the band drawing people will at least let you set up and begin to play, then if you start scaring off customers already in the venue and don't bring in any new customers, they'll cut your set short. This is what we were betting on; typically we'll make up the difference because some people will come in off the street to see a guy shredding on a guitar while playing basslines with his feet and a girl playing a violin like an electric guitar. Not the case last night. We had to pack up and leave without even having a chance to take our instruments out of the cases. So we told the three wonderful folks that had been patiently waiting for us to start playing what was going on and took our show out to the street. This show lasted for about five minutes before the building superintendent came out and politely watched, let us finish the song we were on, clapped and then told us we couldn't play there. So much for Manhattan! We'll give it another shot in August when we tour back through; this time we'll find a venue that we can actually play in. . . tonight it's Brooklyn at Goodbye Blue Monday and we'll for SURE be putting on a wicked good full-length set!

2009-05-11T17:08:00.004-04:00

We're driving down the road on the way to play a live radio show tonight to promote our show tomorrow night in eastern PA/western NJ. Yesterday, on the way in to DC to play at the Red and the Black, we got behind a Bookmobile. Both Chris and I had't seen a Bookmobile since we were kids, so that sent us to Nostalgia-ville for a little while. We played with The Blue Line and Noon:30 last night at the Red and the Black. Noon:30 is an all-girl band, so I had a great time watching them and chatting it up about what it's like to be a female musician (this is Melissa writing, by the way. . .).

We caught wind of a review of our Spartanburg show last weekend at the Spring Fling and decided to pass it along. Here's what the Spark thought of our show--big thanks to Steve and Chris!

Went back to see The StereoFidelics. They were outstanding. They were easily the most original and interesting band I saw all weekend, combining a dizzying array of styles into a very enjoyable original sound.

They have two members, Chris Padgett who alternates between electric and acoustic guitar, runs loops, play a little synth, and plays synth bass with his feet, and Melissa McGinley who plays electric violin and drums. McGinley’s violin playing style is phenomenal, and the interplay of her violin and drum work and Padgett’s multi-instrumental stylings makes it seem impossible that two people are making that much music.

The only problem I saw was the crowd. The Spring Fling always draws a pretty diverse crowd and in a way, I felt like that may have worked against The StereoFidelics. There just seemed to be a lot of people who just plain didn’t get it. Not to put to fine a point on it, but a lot of the people watching were the same sort of people who were enthralled earlier when a local musican on the same stage played a cover of “Hotel California”.

Let me just say, if your idea of a great band is one that covers The Eagles, you probably won’t have that much to say about The StereoFidelics. Also had a couple of groups of metal kids who wandered away from the Broad St. Stage to roll their eyes at anything “not metal”. God I wish I was cool enough to roll my eyes at something that didn’t fit into my narrow idea of what genre’s are acceptable and which ones are to be mocked. Remember kiddies all the cool musicians wear black and grunt lyrics incoherently.

Curiously though, you can almost always tell the metal musicians, from most of the metal music fans. The metal musicians I saw hanging around, seemed to really dig the StereoFidelics. There were plenty of other people enjoying what they had to offer also, and after the show there was a nice little line at their merch table waiting to buy a cd. I bought one too (an act I reserve almost exclusively these days for independent or local acts)

I have to say also, big ups to Mr. Shanafelt for recommending them, and it was also nice to see some of Asheville’s finest playing down here. I hope to see the StereoFidelics playing somewhere here in Spartanburg again soon.

2009-05-09T11:10:00.008-04:00

It's time to start our road journal back up, but first we'll fill you in a bit on what we did while we were at home. Thanks to Bart Greene we got some pictures from our outdoor show at Spartanburg, SC's Spring Fling. It was a great way to wrap up our time at home before heading out on the road again. . .

Yesterday our friend David took us on a tour of the Bristol newspaper printing facility and we saw some huge printing, folding, cutting and sorting machines and lots of ink. I liked the cyan ink and rollers the best.

We played two nights in Johnson City, the first night with our friend Jobu Babin (and Jason) from Memphis. We sat in on a few of their tunes and then played our own set.

Thanks to David for taking pictures and for snagging this shot of a girl breathing fire outside the venue. . .

Today we start the trek to Washington, DC. . .

2009-04-29T02:50:00.002-04:00

Well, we've been home for about three weeks on and off and we're just itching to get back out for real. . . it doesn't take long to get cabin fever when you're used to being in a new place every day! We've gotten some much needed relaxing time as well as a chance to perfect and practice some new material that's been jangling around the brains for a while. The last few weekends we've taken off for Charlotte/Chapel Hill and Knoxville after enjoying the "home crowd" in Athens, GA and our very own Asheville. We've got some live tunes from our Asheville show that we'll be posting later this week. This weekend it's off to Newport, KY and Spartanburg, SC for one last "regional" (admittedly it's difficult to consider western KY regional to NC) run before really hitting the road next Thursday. Well it's off to practice some more and get some new merch ready (it's a suprise!) for this tour. . .

2009-04-05T13:11:00.005-04:00

Thursday night was a great time in Grand Rapids, MI at Founder's Brewery. The room is a huge beerhall style and, lucky for us, lots of festive beer-drinkers were there enjoying themselves.
We played with our pals the Total Blam Blams -- in fact, it was dubbed the StereoBlam battle, complete with a red dinosaur flyer. Amazing. And fun.Friday we drove south into Northern Indiana to play at the Beanery in Mishawaka. Since we were there last spring, they have literally raised the roof, making it a much better acoustical space and so we were able to rock out with all of our gear. Much fun! (Special bonus: they spelled our name right on their little window-scrolling marquee.)
We caught up with some college friends and spent the evening post-show visiting. The next afternoon we visited some more, driving up to Zeke's to visit over one of the area's finest bottle selections. . .Last night we drove back north a bit to Kalamazoo to play at Papa Pete's with Dooley Noted. They also (mostly) spelled our name correctly on their marquee, although the "stereo fid-three-lics" is probably even more difficult to remember. . . It is raining and chilly; we've come to the conclusion that the Midwest (particularly the northern part) hasn't gotten the memo that it is April and clearly spring rules have been in effect for a few weeks now. . . As we drive south we are, yet again, trying to outrun a snowstorm. But, we're heading south!

2009-04-02T03:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's show in Madison was a blast as always-the Alchemy is a fun venue to play, despite having a very small stage. Maybe we should release our hypothesis (that doesn't always hold true, but quite often) about the inverse fun to stage size ratio. . . science fair project anyone? But I digress. . .
Today we returned to the Jelly Belly factory north of Chicago to get some tasty fuel to finish out this tour. We were lucky enough to be able to park next to the official JB car. Boy did our car feel special.
Ah, the midwest--check out the marquee message on this corner store sign. . .
This evening we finally found our home venue in Chicago. We played at the Red Line Tap, a venue with great sound, wonderful employees, cheap drink specials, a safe neighborhood, and an enthusiastic crowd. What's not to love? We'll be back in the late summer for sure. . . but now we're searching for a Steak 'n Shake after just losing an hour crossing into EST--wish us luck!

2009-03-31T14:35:00.008-04:00

We finally got the camera working again, so now it's time to fill you in on our adventures since last Friday. . . We played in Lincoln, NE at the Box Awesome with Jodie Loves Hinkley and the Whipkey Three. It was good to finally play in Lincoln on a weekend. Our friend Doug who works at the Box came in on his day off to see us and visit, wrapping up a good two-day stint in Nebraska.
From there we headed north to Spencer, IA to visit our friends at Shaky Tree.We always have fun going to Spencer and this time was no exception. The NW Iowa arts and entertainment paper ran a huge picture of us on the front cover and a big article so we saw quite a few new faces in the Shaky Tree crowd. We kept everybody up late and I guess we wore out the younger members of the audience. . . On Sunday we headed to the Twin Cities for a show at the Acadia with Soap and Seconds Before. We met an awesome guitar player, Lonnie Knight, at the Acadia and got CDs from everybody, so we got a much-needed big infusion in our car-tunes from Twin Cities musicians.

Monday was our last day off of the tour and we spent it adventuring around Minneapolis up to the "Yellow Box" in the brand-new Guthrie Theatre where you can see spectacular views of the city as it would be seen through a really big pair of safety glasses. . .
The night before at the Acadia, we met a great professional photographer, Ingrid Werthmann, who agreed to do a photo shoot. We're super-excited to see the shots; she took a few of me doing haute-couture poses just for fun!
Yesterday we spent our night off playing and partying with our friend Bill Hammond, an excellent acoustic musician we visit every time we're in the cities. Today it's off to Madison, WI!

2009-03-27T15:11:00.002-04:00

Wednesday was our last day in Colorful Colorado and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! In the evening we played at Road 34 in Fort Collins, so we spent the day taking in the FoCo sights (and brews). The infamous New Belgium Brewery, makers of Fat Tire, has free tours and tastings, so we stopped there first. We got to see inside the huge vats where the grains are soaked, crushed and heated, try some small-batch unreleased micro-brews, and go down the New Belgium slide--unfortunately, the big metal indoor spiral slide ride came after a pretty intense round of tastings. . .

After we left New Belgium, we stopped for a sandwich and headed to the lesser known O'Dells Brewery. There we ran into Dennis the DJ from KRFC who interviewed us the last time we toured through. After some catching up and even more tasty beverages, we decided to take a quick nap before heading over to load in.

Road 34 is always a great stop on tour; we've made some friends that we're happy to see every time we play there. After an all-out double-set show we had to pack up and load out in record time to start the drive to eastern Nebraska and try to beat the storm that was about to dump 12" of snow on Colorado. . .we escaped just in the nick of time!

Yesterday we drove through the snow and fog to Omaha where we played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Hideout with Death to a Taxpayer, Madness Sale, and the Abyss. Today it's backwards a little bit to Lincoln to play at one of our favorites, the Box Awesome. . .

2009-03-24T16:06:00.007-04:00

We just got some pictures from our Saturday afternoon hike up past the Flatirons outside of Boulder. The weather was gorgeous and the view from our picnic spot was amazing but hiking at Colorado elevation is so much harder than North Carolina!

On Sunday we went to Avery Brewing Co. to sample the brews and play with our friend T. Mule at their open stage. On the way through Boulder, we saw some pretty interesting protesters. . .only in Boulder!We spent the afternoon at Avery and sampled quite a few different brews while having fun with our impromptu jam session.
Sunday was supposed to be our first day off, but we met Kort McCumber, the winner of the 2008 Flat Rock Music Festival Songwriter's contest (the festival is held just minutes from our home in NC) at the brewery and he invited us to play a set with his band that evening at Mountain Sun in Boulder. We got to play our own set and then sit in with his band for the duration of the evening.
Yesterday, we went up to Sole Sound Recording studio to lay down some tracks on a friend's acoustic project. The studio is outside of Conifer, CO with all-analog equipment and views to die for.
We adventured around the property and saw the old crane from an abandoned granite quarry. We're trying to enjoy all the sunshine and unseasonably warm weather that we can our last few days in the mountains!

2009-03-23T15:35:00.002-04:00

We spent our Saturday night in Boulder rocking out at the Laughing Goat on pedestrian-friendly Pearl Street. We were stoked that the place was packed and full of friendly, music-loving folks. Ralf Schuetz was having his art opening on Saturday night as well (you can see some of his rad work on the wall behind us) so it was almost like a multi-media adventure, fueled by coffee and beer. Wonderful.
After the show we headed over to the Outback, the amazing CU hangout, with Mr. and Mrs. Mule and enjoyed the wonderful karaoke stylings of, among others, mullet lady. Sorry we don't have a picture of her and her two-toned doo. . .we shouldn't have left the camera in the car. Maybe next time!

2009-03-21T14:34:00.005-04:00

Oh, snap! We had an AWESOME show in Jamestown, CO on Thursday evening... Jamestown is slightly Northwest of Boulder, CO, sits atop some beautiful mountains at 8,600 feet, and has one of the best communities we've ever had the privilege of experiencing. On Friday we were super busy... On top of enjoying the lovely weather and surroundings in CO, we had two shows to play. We were at The Pearl Street Pub in downtown Boulder in the afternoon, rockin and sockin for all those who enjoy strong drink at early hours of the day. After that show, we headed down to Denver for an incredible show at The Meadowlark Lounge. We played with Longest Day of the Year, Danny Shafer from The Unknown Americans, and an awesome group called The Radical Knitting Circle. Click that link!!! Thanks to the Mule, we got some sweet pics from the show... here's some highlights....

and this one here....

and this one, right here.

Still much more to do in the lovely state of CO... We have a few more shows that we're super stoked about and some recording to do in Conifer. Check back for updates!!! PEACE!!!

2009-03-19T15:57:00.002-04:00

Today we got our first good glimpse of the mountains, and what a good glimpse it is! The weather is gorgeous today and we're looking forward to driving up into the mountains for a show at Jamestown Merc.
Last night, after a last-minute venue change, we hopped on a bill with three other groups and had a blast at Dulcinea's, enjoying the Colfax Ave. flavor of Denver nightlife. . .

2009-03-18T20:17:00.002-04:00

So it happens this way... we arrived in Wichita early on St. Patty's Day to find gorgeous weather and dusty air in our wake. We had the extra time due to some "ill-communication" between an outside promoter and the venue we were supposed to be at in Lawrence on Monday (sorry again to you Lawrence fans that didn't get the word in time). But, putting all this behind us, we had a supper-rockin show in Wichita at famous Kirby's Beer Store on Tuesday night.

The joint was packed and we got to perform with local singer/songwriter, Virginia Williams... very nice. We will be back through our favorite KS destination TWICE this summer (god-willing) and cant' wait for the return. Well, it's on to Colorful Colorado for a week slammed with shows and good cheer. Stay tuned!!

2009-03-16T20:11:00.002-04:00

Well, last night in Kansas City, in a honky-tonk roadhouse, Chris finally got his first knuckle sandwich. But he's fine because it actually was a sandwich; a fried bologna sandwich to be exact. . . So, we not only survived Chris' Knuckle Sandwich, but sharing the stage with the Hot Club of Cowtown (Austin, TX) and rocking out at Knucklehead's was, of course, quite fun.

This evening we're headed to the geographical center of the US (or at least, pretty close to it) so we're thinking since we came this far, we might just head for the west coast instead of turning around in Colorado. . . or save that part of the country for this summer. . .

2009-03-15T17:51:00.002-04:00

Last night at Donna's Icehouse was a blast, exactly as we remembered it from our last Midwest tour. This time, we were paired up with Donna's world-famous Crabcakes (capitalized on purpose for special emphasis) as you can see from the sign.
It's always great to see some familiar faces and catch up with new friends on tour and last night was no exception. Today we leave the quaint friendliness of the Ozarks for Kansas City. . .

2009-03-14T13:00:00.002-04:00

We returned to Memphis last night and played at The Edge, a cool, eccentric venue in Midtown. We were lucky enough to share the stage with a certain DJ Poopy Pants (That was his actual self-given stage name. We are not making this up.) and hang with our pal Jobu Babin. After the show, we went and got a Huey Burger, the best burger in all of Memphis, according to everybody. Boy was it delicious. . .
Unfortunately, we had no Elvis sightings. . .maybe Linn Creek, MO tonight?

2009-03-13T12:17:00.002-04:00

Back on the road again! One week off was just enough time to get all the laundry done, eat some real food dinners and stretch a little bit before we got back on the road. We're so glad the weather is starting to inch its way to warmer, although that creates its own set of problems for packing. . . (you've got to bring coats and swimsuits, just in case!)
Last night in Nashville we were fortunate enough to be able to entertain a roomful of songwriters and musicians, including Lola and her duck song. We were stoked that everybody braved the rain and came out. Our car, however, wasn't as impervious to the rain. Somehow, when we got a replacement windshield (our special thanks goes out to that Kansas truck carrying small, bouncy, rocks) they forgot to seal around the top, so now we get to break out the Dunkin Donuts napkins every time it rains. . .

2009-03-03T01:14:00.003-05:00

Following a freakin' awesome time in Pittsburgh, PA, we arrived home to take a week long nap. We returned from the Northeast to find the southern region covered in snow. After taking some of the worst weather New England had to offer, the least we'd expect is some unseasonably warm weather. Well, shit happens. Our Northeast Tour was an adventure with overtones of hilarity and awkward social interactions... and, incidentally, great shows. We have come to halftime in this Winter/Spring tour and will be heading back out on Monday, March 9th to destinations west. We're stoked to get back to some of our favorite Midwest and Mountain West venues... St. Patty's Day at Kirby's Beer Store will be one to remember... then again, who will? We will be extremely busy over the next month playing and getting some new 'stuff' on to your computer screen and into you possibly-crappy computer speakers. That's enough work for now, we're on vacation, dammit. Thanks for reading and see you soon!!!!!!!!

2009-02-28T13:41:00.003-05:00

Fell of the blog-wagon there for a while. . . Much has happened in the last week. We had some great shows in Montpelier and Post Mills, VT. We'll be returning to Montpelier on May 16th and will be announcing dates for that Northeast tour in the next few weeks. After these shows, our mid-tour vacation commenced with some hard-core skiing at Jay Peak. While Chris tore up the Black Diamonds, I snowplowed my way down the mountain in Beginner Zone (just for the first day!)We did two days on the mountain and cheerfully endured some of the worst weather conditions (7 degrees before wind chill--and boy was it windy!) that 10 miles south of the Canadian border has to offer. With most of our limbs still attached, we headed back out on the road to Binghamton, NY returning to Cyber Cafe West. Our friend David, who we met at the beginning of this tour by happenstance, was at the show last night taking pictures, which we'll have posted shortly.
In two days we've gone from feet of snow to no snow and in one more day we'll be back in the sunny South with 50 degree days. Last stop: Pittsburgh, PA!

2009-02-20T01:32:00.002-05:00

This evening we were in Portland, ME at Geno's, a storied good-old rock club, playing with Shy Green and Giraffe Attack. Melissa got to chat violin with the Josh from Shy Green and Chris had fun his first time in the state of Maine. We wrapped up the show just as a Big Storm started dumping snow.
As I've been typing, at least a half inch of snow has fallen and all of the plows and salt trucks seem to be on the other side of the interstate. . .

2009-02-18T01:14:00.005-05:00

So we played an awesome show in Providence, RI this last Saturday at Tazza Cafe. Providence is home to some cool people and some great music; incidentally, it is also home to something very familiar to us. Hmmm... I wonder if it's the same? That guy was an enterprising S.O.B.

The Providence show wrapped up a whirlwind of shows spanning from Eastern TN to RI in nine straight days. We routed a little time off in Burlington, VT before we pick up again this Thursday. Got to spend some time with Chris's family and enjoy the wonderful town of Burlington, VT as mere civilians and go to a few shows strictly a spectators. Here's Chris's cousin Charlie, doing his thing on the viola. The kid can play a mean Iron Man by Sabbath like no one's business and we're working on some other tunes while in town.

And then there's this guy...Thanks for the advice. Chris's cousin Simi had an "Informance" as they call it and we got to be spectators at that as well. Unfortunately, Chris can't stay out of the spotlight and made his way to front to challenge the kids with some enforced improvisation with 1/4 and 1/8 notes. They did fine though. Also, notice the sweet bald spot in this pic... my apologies to you, random guy, whose bald spot we have unintentionally posted on the world wide web.
Nothing like a little R&R while on tour. We'll be back on the trail this Thursday in Portland, ME. Now, it's time to sleep in a real bed.

2009-02-14T15:19:00.004-05:00

Last night we returned to Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn, NY. After three times driving into and out of the Big Apple, we finally found a way to leave and not have to pay $8 to cross a bridge (we still had to pay the $8 on the way into the city though. . .) Even with the expensive bridge, we had a great night last night. We love playing at GBM and Steve is always awesome and so welcoming. Thanks to Marc Edwards of Marc Edwards and Slipstream Time Travel for taking this shot:
One thing that's so much fun about Goodbye Blue Monday is the stuff that's everywhere. It feels like a very comfortable, lived-in garage sale with a stage, so I guess it's not too surprising to see familiar objects. . . and this is all just behind the bar. . .
Today we left the country's largest city for the smallest state. . .big change. . .

2009-02-13T13:44:00.005-05:00

Last night we played in Bath, PA which is right near Nazareth, PA, home of the Martin guitar company. During the day we went and explored the place where Chris' acoustic guitar was born.
Chris got to go into the "high-end" guitar room and play all of the fancy guitars. Here he is playing the Elvis model prototype.
It was pretty cool to get inside the factory and see all of the guitar parts everywhere and the special individualized workstations where one person works on one small step of prodution on all of the guitars that are made.

Chris got all Ansel Adams with the point-and-shoot camera outside the venue last night; notice the juxtapositon of nature and industry. Hmmm. . .

On to Brooklyn!

2009-02-12T12:11:00.004-05:00

Last night was our last show in Philly (until the next tour) and we were thrilled to take the stage at the Tin Angel with local songwriter Andrew Lipke and our pal Shackamaxon. The Tin has had many great artists grace its stage; their press photos line the double flight of stairs up to the venue.
As you enter, you're greeted with a list of rules; we especially like the "kindly refrain from conversation which may annoy others" and the big shiny "please turn off your cell phone" sign above.
The show last night was so much fun. We played it acoustic, partially due to the double flight of stairs (not that we won't haul gear up a gazillion flights of stairs if we have to!) and partially because of the intimate nature of the Tin Angel. Shackamaxon was kind enough to get up close and personal with our camera.
In Eastern PA right now the winds are blowing and the colder air seems to be moving in, unfortunately right as we're moving north. . . Tonight we're in a suburb of Allentown then tomorrow we tackle another huge downtown--Brooklyn!

2009-02-11T15:07:00.003-05:00

We made it up to Philadelphia yesterday to play at the Khyber, a fun, grungy rock bar right in the middle of downtown. Our urban adventures were complete; parking was a fiasco, dressed-up people walking around everywhere, and two ladies specializing in late-night hospitality even attended our show. We enjoyed playing again with Philly friends Chris Schutz and the Tourists and A Leo Soundwave. In all, it made for a pretty fun Tuesday night!

Rest in Peace, Dolly Campbell, the best dog of some of our best friends. We love you!

2009-02-09T11:47:00.002-05:00

On our way to DC last night from Roanoke we drove up through one of the most historic areas of the country. It was great to see all of the historical markers, old buildings, and other remnants of days gone by. One of the perks of being on the road (and allotting plenty of time to drive from show to show) is being able to take in the sights. It kind of makes up for sleeping in the back of the car. . .
We arrived in northern VA with a few hours to spare, so we stopped at the Mananas Battlefield. It's very interesting to see the different way that the civil war is portrayed by folks in the south versus folks in the north. I got to try to fire a confederate cannon before we headed out to finish the drive to DC.
We had a blast last night returning to the Red and the Black in DC with Whiz Bang Three. The DCist featured our show in the weekly picks section; we played a few newer tunes and tried out a brand new one and in general had quite a bit of fun! We're looking forward to getting back to the DC area in a few months, so keep an eye out. . .

2009-02-08T12:00:00.003-05:00

Yesterday on our way to Roanoke, we went exploring on some backroads
and finally found the trailhead to McAfee's Knob, the most photographed spot on the Appalachian Trail. After four miles of uphill hiking, we got there.

We enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather and the outdoor solitude; today it's on to more urban points north.

2009-02-05T23:51:00.002-05:00

Today marks the newest chapter in our road journal. I know we haven't been on top of the road journal for the last while; we've been on a bit of a hiatus working on new songs and getting to know some new gadgetry. But now it's time to put all that work to good use and go back out on the road.
Tonight we played at the Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City, TN. We were glad to see some familiar faces and get some sketches done of ours:

Shanon Heart did these drawings while we were playing and was nice enough to let us photograph them so everyone could see them. We enjoyed playing with Brant and Lindy of Rockwoods. It's always fun to be paired up with other pairs. . .

Much love, we'll chat later.

2009-01-09T17:34:00.006-05:00

Wow, it feels like forever since we've posted a blog entry on our, um, daily-updated blog. . . We've been very busy since our CD release party celebrating the holidays, booking our next two tours, writing new stuff, practicing new stuff, and trying to keep all of you up-to-date on everything. First of all, here's a video of our CD release party at the Grey Eagle condensed down to 4.5 minutes.

Big thanks to Tony Campbell for videoing and to Heath Patrick for taking the following pictures:

We've got some new live tracks posted on our ReverbNation page (downloadable for you techies out there!) and our MySpace page. We'll be back out on the road Feb. 5th with more sights and sounds from across America!

2008-12-01T21:42:00.001-05:00

Well, we've been home for a week and a half and it feels like FOREVER! It's nice to be in one place with a shower, laundry, a kitchen, and other amenities, but we actually do miss the road already. Big surprise--we made it all the way through the North-Midwest out to Colorado and back without seeing snow and now that we're back in sunny North Carolina (I thought this was the South?!?) we have SNOW today!! I've included a picture in case you don't believe it. . .
We're gearing up for our big CD release party in Asheville at the Grey Eagle on Wed., Dec. 10th--let's just hope it doesn't snow then! We'll be recording that night, so keep an eye out for some new songs and sounds. . . until then, stay warm!

2008-11-22T17:13:00.003-05:00

We're home! We made it through three shows and a late night-sleepy drive yesterday to round out our fall tour. Our first show of the day was an acoustic radio/tv show on WUGA--"It's Friday!" with host Rob Holmes. We didn't know it was a tv show until the day of, so we weren't prepared with clean clothes, tv hair, or anything like that, but we had fun! After that, we played a house concert (there was great food too; we stuffed ourselves with brie cheese and crackers, fancy-looking spreads, nuts, and tiny things). Then we took our hors d'oeuvres -filled selves to Tasty World --no pun intended--for our rock show to fill out the evening.
Our Thursday in Nashville was both fun and quite surprising. . . After a fun set at Cafe Coco we ran into an old friend from my [this is Melissa] high school who just happened to live in Nashville and coincidentally was hanging out at the venue for the songwriter showcase later in the evening. We hadn't seen each other for eight years; it's such a small world! So after some beers, pizza, and catching up, we started out on the long trek to Athens, GA.

So, now that we're home, our posts will be a little more sparse, but we promise to keep up the journal (practicing at home just isn't as exciting as playing for people all across the country. . .). However, we've got some exciting new sounds and songs up our sleeves that we'll be debuting at our CD release party at the Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC on December 10th. We will, of course, give you all in computer-land a taste; we'll have video posted shortly after the 10th!

2008-11-20T17:39:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we got back out on the road on our way to Memphis. We didn't have a chance to see Elvis (at least not the real Elvis); by the time we pulled in to town we had to go straight to the P&H. We did, however, get a chance to meet some cool cats and catch up with fellow musician Jobu Babin, whom we met last time we were through Memphis.

We're getting ready for Nashville this evening, then tomorrow it's off to Athens, GA for our personal record of 3 shows in one day!

2008-11-16T23:03:00.003-05:00

Last night in Indianapolis was a blast. We played at a really classy venue, Radio Radio with a show put together by the Indie Band Collective.
It was great to be back in Indy again, so many childhood memories. . . Folks in Indy came out and represented and we had a great CD Release show. We've begun booking for our next tour, we'll be heading to the Northeast all of February and looking forward to the lovely weather. Check our schedule soon and help us spread the word! Time for some time off... we're on our way home and will be picking it back up this Wednesday, see you then!

2008-11-14T14:55:00.003-05:00

Last night we finished up a wet and soggy two day stint in MI -- it hasn't rained hardly at all this tour and now it has rained two days in a row. . .Kalamazoo last night was a lot of fun; Lulu from Hendersonville, NC was up in Michigan visiting friends and family so we got to feel a little bit of home on the road!

Michiganders sure do know how to rock; in Ypsilanti we played with the Ben Daniels Band and in Kalamazoo we shared the stage with the Total Blam Blams.

We got featured in the Kalamazoo Gazette-- click here to read the article by John Liberty. Today we're off to play in our old college town, Bloomington, IN. The nostalgia has yet to set in, but we'll see. . .

2008-11-12T17:00:00.003-05:00

After a few days off around Indianapolis to shower, do laundry, eat real food, and catch up on sleep, we're off to Ypsilanti, MI today. We've kept ourselves busy practicing and getting to know some new gear. . . more on that later. . .

It's the second week of November and we still haven't seen any snow yet! Not that I'm complaining; our travels have been relatively stress-free and safe and there's nothing wrong with that. But, we still have our contest open and as our travels wind down (we'll be home in 10 days) your chance of guessing correctly increases! Send us your guess for a chance to win a free, clean t-shirt. . .

2008-11-09T06:12:00.003-05:00

On our way through the Lake of the Ozarks area yesterday, we saw a strange juxtaposition. When we arrived at the venue, we were thrilled to see that we were playing on the same stage that $1 tacos! played just 3 days earlier; it's not every day that happens. . .

This awesome sign is behind the stage at Donna's Icehouse; it pretty much speaks for itself!

2008-11-07T19:31:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we were in Kansas City, home of the big Musician's Friend distribution center. Our pal Rocco took us on a tour of the whole facility. It's difficult to really see how huge the building is from the picture, but it is HUGE.
It was incredible to see all of the boxes on conveyor belts whizzing all over the warehouse to pick up pieces of people's orders. The amount of musical instruments and gear in one place was just amazing; Marshall heads in boxes stacked up to the ceiling, guitars upon guitars, acres of every pedal, cable, speaker, and instrument you can possibly imagine. It was downright enchanting--a musician's North Pole.

Last night we played at Crosstown Station with Gerram Matthews and the Brilliant Geographers. Not only did we have wonderful sound, but we had a great light technician. We wish we could take them and their stuff with us everywhere! As promised, Chris without a beard. . .

Tonight we leave the metropolis and fancy lights behind and head for Linn Creek, MO, home of Donna's Ice House, a ridiculously fun small town venue that we can't wait to get back to.

2008-11-05T20:55:00.005-05:00

Today we're in Nebraska. It's beautiful this time of year. So far today, we've seen a huge bicycle weathervane,

got free showers (we smell really nice now) and Chris shaved his beard! He said it "got out of control" and was "looking kind of creepy." We'll have pictures of the beard-less up tomorrow. . .

The weather has been downright balmy all through Colorado and even though it's windy here, it's still been pretty warm. So, in other words, we have not seen snow yet (although it has snowed in NC since we left). This means that we still have a FREE T-SHIRT!
So, when do you think that we will come across our first snow--either in the air or on the ground. Whoever guesses closest wins a t-shirt!!!

In case you're not the gambling type and you do want a t-shirt or perhaps a CD, our new and improved website has a fully functional online store. Come visit us!

2008-11-04T16:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we enjoyed the outdoors of Boulder, CO before heading into downtown Denver for our show last night. We played across the street from the Fillmore, where Tenacious D and the Beastie Boys were playing a last-minute Rock the Vote concert. When the concert let out, about 250 people streamed into our venue and we proceeded to melt their faces. . .however, everything has a price--the price for playing for 250 people on a Monday night apparently is driving to and from Boulder twice right before showtime to get all the stuff we needed for the PA that we didn't know we needed until we got there. . .

Now we're on our way through Nebraska, quite lovely this time of year. Happy voting!

2008-11-02T13:16:00.003-05:00

We've been enjoying ourselves so much in Colorado. We played a Halloween party on Friday night (we went thrift store shopping and dressed as evil doctors) and had so much fun. Last night we played at the Meadowlark Bar, a really awesome venue with a tiny stage in downtown Denver.

We played with Stereo Bones and the Longest Day of the Year featuring our pal t.Mule. The Halloween decorations were still up (it's only the day after) and Chris' guitar and my violin bow kept getting stuck in the fake cobwebs onstage, which really added to the entertainment value. . . We had a great time; Loy has really outdone himself creating such a great atmosphere for art and music. Thanks so much to Sean and Sarah for their incredible hospitality. We've really enjoyed our time out here in Colorado.

Tomorrow we'll be in Denver one last time before heading out to the Great Plains.

2008-10-30T17:42:00.003-04:00

We made it to Fort Collins! So, on one hour of sleep, we played an hour-long radio show, Live at Lunch, on KRFC. Here, for your listening pleasure, is the show in its entirety. Thanks so much to Jeff and Dennis for helping us have so much fun on so little sleep.

So, instead of finding someplace we could nap, we decided to visit the New Belgium Brewery, home of the infamous Fat Tire.

Fort Collins is such a bike friendly city, as is the New Belgium company. In fact, this was one of many very full bike racks next to a relatively empty parking lot.

We had a great time playing at Road 34 last night. Towards the end of our second set, a big group of costumed bikers showed up, so we ended the night with a chicken leading a dance to Spanish Radio. Fantastic fun! We're on our way to having more Colorado fun today. . .

2008-10-29T07:09:00.003-04:00

We're in the middle of our red-eye to Fort Collins, CO from Wichita; we've just crossed into Colorado, so we're over halfway! Yesterday (we'll call it that even though it doesn't feel like it since we haven't got to sleep yet. . .) we stopped at the guitar store in Wichita and saw this awesome car parked out front. The best part was the vintage Montana plates. Totally rad. Once we got to Kirby's after we'd done our laundry (right next door to the venue, conveniently) we met the newest addition to the Kirby's scene. We've learned to expect the unexpected there! This little guy took a liking to us, cuddled up, and then proceeded to walk all over the computer while Chris was trying to write emails. Once we started playing, she sat on the front of the stage, first watching and then curling up and going to sleep until we finished playing. Anyone who has a home for a sweet, music-loving cute cat in the Wichita area, contact Kirby's. . .

Right before we were about to go on, two bagpipers marched in playing. You never know what's going to happen next at Kirby's! We had a throughly enjoyable evening, both as listeners and performers. We'll be back through Wichita at Kirby's in no time. . .

2008-10-28T13:45:00.004-04:00

Last night we were in Lee's Summit, MO, outside of Kansas City at Jerry's Bait Shop. This huge fish is Jerry.

After we played last night, we met Rocco, an electric guitar tech who graciously worked on Chris' electric. Now she sounds sweet as can be! We're on our way to Wichita for a return visit to Kirby's Beer Store. After the show tonight, we'll be driving all the way to Fort Collins, CO; we'll be doing an radio performance tomorrow morning. We'll let you know how the red-eye goes. . .

2008-10-27T14:07:00.002-04:00

Last night we were in Lincoln, NE. We always have fun at the Box Awesome and last night was no exception. We got to the venue really early, in fact early enought to catch the second half of the early show, a metal band from Washington that came complete with fog machine. After the show, we headed over to the Hi-Way Diner (we found out about that place the last time we were in Lincoln--now it's a tradition) for some delicious hot food before socializing into the wee hours.

Thanks to Jake and Joey from the Jake Russell Band for snapping some shots of us onstage!

Today it's on to the outskirts of Kansas City then on to points west. . .

2008-10-25T12:29:00.002-04:00

Yesterday on our way to Spencer, IA we got behind this cow trailer in Minnesota Once we got to Spencer, we were greeted by some of the Shaky Tree folks (literally, they came outside waving as we drove up!) and successfully rendezvoused with our CDs. Since yesterday was our first show with CDs and therefore our unofficial CD release show, they all got us a "yay CD!" cake, balloons, and sang "Happy CD Release to You"

We had a great time playing for everyone (it was awesome looking out from stage and seeing so many StereoFidelics sweatshirts in the audience!) and hanging out eating cake afterwards. So much fun; we can't wait to come back!

2008-10-24T12:01:00.002-04:00

We had a great time in the Twin Cities, partly due to the fact that our NC pal Kendra's dad, and wonderful guitar player, Bill Hammond was kind enough to lend a shag carpet basement, futon matress, and loads of hospitality to the cause. We played some awesome shows in the cities and got to see some repeat listeners, which always makes us feel warm inside. . .

Also, another thing that makes us feel warm inside is this construction company's name. . .oh yeah. We found one of our scavenger hunt items, our huge plaster cow. Yippee!

Remember, if you'd like to add anything to our scavenger hunt list, please either comment to this blog or email tsf@thestereofidelics.com

Also, we haven't run into our first snow yet and there's a t-shirt waiting for an owner. . . take a stab at it and it could be yours!!!

Today it's on to points West of here; only a week and we'll be in colorful Colorado!

AWESOME CONTEST #1

2008-10-23T02:59:00.004-04:00

Well y'all (I've been extra careful to get in all my "y'all"s to make up for all the "you becha"s up here in the North Country) we're in Minnesota! We're withstanding the cool temps just fine and the folks in Minneapolis tonight were downright warm and welcoming. We had a great time at our return to the Acadia (marvelous food and beer!) and are looking forward to the second half of our Twin Cities double-header tomorrow night at Club Underground. We got word that our CDs have been delivered and we'll rendezvous with them on Friday in Iowa. Watches are synchronized and everything. We're ready!

Chris and I have been placing casual 25c bets on when exactly we will run into our first snowflake and first sticking snow and we've decided to open the friendly wager to y'all as well. So, to take part in the first awesome contest of our fall tour and risk winning a FREE T-SHIRT!!!!! in your very own size, all you have to do is. . .

1. Look at our tour schedule (http://www.myspace.com/thestereofidelics)
2. Get out your atlas (Rand McNally preferred)
3. Decide at what point on our journeys you think we will run into snow* either by snowflake fall or pre-fallen snow still on the ground
4. Answer either by commenting this blog (make sure to leave a way we can reach you for your PRIZE) or by emailing tsf@thestereofidelics.com .

*snow must be current; no snowballs-in-a-jar in anyones basement freezer will be accepted.

Good night, and good luck.

2008-10-21T15:01:00.002-04:00

On Sunday at the Alchemy in Madison, WI, we played our full setup on the smallest official stage yet. Somehow we managed to cram everything onstage and play without stepping on, tripping over, or otherwise make a mess, all the while having a blast! We got the news that our CDs have shipped today, so by the end of this week, we'll finally have CDs at our shows (it's only taken us over a year. . .) We're looking forward to our return to the Twin Cities tomorrow. Today will be dedicated to practicing and working up some new material; we can't wait to try it out on you all!

2008-10-19T18:19:00.003-04:00

Last night in Beer City, USA was a good time. We had a great Milwaukee crowd and played with a really fun local band (Union Pulse). Tonight we're just down the road in Madison, WI returning to the Achemy. We're excited to get back!

2008-10-18T19:47:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we got a healthy dose of the Midwest Great Lakes region on our way over to Milwaukee. Our interest was piqued when we saw an extraterrestrial cheese castle in southern Wisconsin which turned out to be a run-of-the-mill tourist trap. So much for false advertising.
On our way to check out the cheese castle, we passed a vintage car lot, complete with airplane fronts (on the left-hand side), fire engines, and a big metal gate so we couldn't actually see the cars.

Tonight is a big show in Milwaukee with Union Pulse as we return to Points East Pub, then tomorrow is a short jaunt over to Madison. . .

2008-10-17T02:44:00.000-04:00

Well, we're at it again; another tour, another licence plate game (on our last few tours, we've had a 100% success rate on seeing all 50 states plus DC, so we've got a pretty good record heading into this one). We started out last night in Grand Rapids, MI at Founder's Brewing Co. with some GREAT beer and wonderfully enthusiastic folks. We shared the evening with Michael Beauchamp and Brandon Foote; both wonderful musicians (thanks for taking pictures!)

(sweet beard shot; note how nicely it's filled in since we were in New England)

By the way, we're starting a scavenger hunt with this tour, any and all suggestions for items will be added to our list. So far we've got only two items we're keeping an eye out for: a pink semi-cab and an enormous plaster/concrete cow. To add things to our scavenger hunt list, comment your item(s) to the blog or email them to us at tsf @ thestereofidelics.com.

Thanks for listening--if you're in CO or east, we hope to see you soon!

2008-09-15T00:16:00.002-04:00

We're home! This weekend was fun, though not without the usual mishaps. . . We played in Johnson City, TN on Friday (right before heading home) and had a great time, as usual. While we were there, we heard a rumor that Johnson City was all out of gas. When we left, we saw that it was not only Johnson City. . .we ran out of gas by the time we got to Weaverville, NC (just north of Asheville, NC) and, inconveniently, so had all of the gas stations around. We gave up and decided to wait till morning for the tankers to come deliver, but not until we got out the phone book and called every 24 hour gas station within the our-gas-light-has-been-on-since-Tennessee-distance.

So, we wound up our Northeast tour by sleeping in a grocery store parking lot 30 minutes away from home. How appropriate. . .

Saturday was fun playing in Flat Rock, NC for a home-field crowd--it's great to be travelling, but it's good to be home too. We'll do our best to rest up for the busy week ahead; we'll be finishing up recording Only Sleeping!

2008-09-11T13:56:00.011-04:00

Well we finally got out the new memory card for the camera before we got into DC, so get ready for lots of pictures. Going into Washington, DC yesterday we drove through Chinatown; I guess every Chinatown needs a Kung Fu Gift Shop. . . We took advantage of our taxpayer dollars (thank you all!) and visited the Smithsonian.

We came face-to-face with some straight gansters

and some serious bling (the Hope diamond). . . If you think this geode is big this piece of quartz is HUGE! (Chris obviously thought so too)

At the Air and Space Museum, I got to find out that I wouldn't have been a stewardess back in the day. Did you know that they only selected white girls between 5'2" and 5'4"? (I'm just barely 5') Hmmm. . .high heels?

I did get to fly a Cessna though--I was even making airplane noises!

And then we were going to storm the capitol but then we realized we were illegally parked. . . We had a great time last night at the Red and the Black on the H Street corridor (that's what all the locals call it) Chris even got solicited. . . The show was FANTASTIC though; we played with Alexis George and Whiz Bang Three, two really fun acts from DC. We haven't seen our friend Vitka in over a year and she and some friends showed up last night!

The crowd last night was so awesome--we had a blast playing for you all! We'll be back to DC in February if not before. . .

2008-09-08T11:14:00.003-04:00

The last few days we were in rural Vermont, so our access to the internet was very limited--like almost none at all. So we have some catching up to do! On Saturday we played an acoustic concert in Post Mills, VT. The natural acoustics of the room were great, as was the audience and the refreshments (the flourless chocolate cake was amazing!) Here we are at the end of the concert with George and Pippa, our hosts. We had a great time and love the state of Vermont (great beer, ice cream, cheese, and chocolate--what's not to love?) so we decided to head over to Burlington to spend our two days off, then we'll start heading back down south. . .

2008-09-06T12:10:00.004-04:00

We enjoyed our day off in the Adirondacks, swimming at a mountain lake, trying to get some more shows booked for our CD release tour (hint, hint--it's coming up!) re-organizing the car, and building a huge fire--complete with marshmallows and chocolate chip cookie smores!

So I guess in Montpelier, they're selling babies?? We almost got one, thought it'd be cool, but then we decided it'd probably be a good idea to buy a dog first, see how we do with that, and go from there. . .

Thanks to Sam Ganly, we have Orange Peel pictures! I'll post a few before we run out of internet. . .

2008-09-04T11:46:00.002-04:00

We want to thank everyone who came out to the show last night a Cyber Cafe West and made last night such a special evening. You all rock!
Yesterday we spent some quality time at the library in Binghamton, NY before our show, got an oil change, and Chris got a haircut (it looks very nice). However, Chris has decided to grow a beard, so that kinda cancels out the nice haircut. . . we'll keep you updated on his progress. . .
We've got one day off before we're in Montpelier, VT on Friday and we've decided to spend it in the Adirondacks. Very relaxing and good for beard-growing. . .

2008-09-03T14:34:00.004-04:00

We managed to hit the city with some daylight left, so we got to see the sunset by the skyline while we were waiting in traffic. . .The traffic wasn't nearly as bad as it was the last time we played in Brooklyn; in fact, we got to the venue so early that we had time to walk around and get some famous NY pizza. Delicious!

We played at Goodbye Blue Monday, a wonderful room that's crammed full of books and cool, random things and has a tiny stage in one corner. The crowd was great and we really enjoyed our short stay in Brooklyn. . .

. . .but on the drive out of the city we got pulled over by an NYPD cop in a taxi. Who knew you couldn't turn right on red in NY? At least it was obvious that we're not New Yorkers. . .

2008-09-02T13:37:00.004-04:00

Yesterday on our way to New Jersey, we saw a sign for Sesame Place and just had to see what it was all about (turns out it's a kids amusement park)

We stopped at Bull's Island Recreation Area in Stockton, NJ to spend the day. Most of it was spent working, but we managed to climb out on the dam and enjoy the Delaware River for a little while before our radio show.

Last night we were Thom's musical guests on Common Threads on WDVR, an eastern PA/western NJ radio station. We played and chatted for about an hour and had big fun, Sergeantsville, NJ style.

We stood around and visited on the stoop outside for a while afterwards and tried to soak up the small-town evening because today it's off to Brooklyn!

2008-09-01T18:11:00.005-04:00

Happy Labor Day! We had a full day yesterday--and thanks to some pretty rad Boy Scouts at a rest area in WV, we had hot food for lunch! Mmmmm hot dogs. . .

Once we got to Philly, we went to the Art Museum (unfortunately, not with enough time to actually go in) and saw Rocky after we ran up the steps and did our best Rocky impressions.The amount of art that was outside of the museum was quite a bit to digest on its own--this one is a slightly more highbrow statue that was surrounded by a huge fountain.

When we finally arrived at the Fire, the acoustic early show was going on so we got to enjoy some fine specimens of Philly's acoustic scene before our show started. The Fire (conveniently connected to the fire station) is a really cool venue, as you can tell from the old piano insides on the wall in the back room. . . We met some really friendly folks (it IS the city of brotherly love after all) and had a very enjoyable Labor Day Sunday show!

2008-08-31T00:35:00.002-04:00

Whew does it feel good to be back out on the road again. This evening we played at the 202 Market in Roanoke, VA and are currently listening to Steely Dan's greatest hits while trying to knock out some of the 6 hour drive to Philly for tomorrow. . .The 202 was fun; we saw some friends and some familiar faces as well as some new ones. We'll be back in the Roanoke area in December/January. . .

2008-08-30T02:44:00.003-04:00

Hello... Hi, it's me again....

We played the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC tonight and it was rockin'; the Peel was rated Top 10 music venues in the country by Rolling Stone, fantastic. We were with incredible local and regional groups Oso Rey, Speedsquare, and Banana Da Terra.

We take off for Virginia tomorrow to start our Norhteast mini-tour... so I guess this means we'll be seeing more of each other for a spell. See you soon and much more to come, buh-bye.

2008-08-09T01:55:00.004-04:00

Home again!!! It's been a wonderful 50 days sharing photos and stories... The tour was great; we never imagined it could have turned out like this. We are in for a much needed rest although it is in short supply...

We capped things off with a show in Blacksburg, VA on Wednesday (which was awesome)...

Thursday was Johnson City (which we'll be performing The Acoustic Coffee House's Next Door venue on Sept 12th with Andrew Hoover) and finally Asheville, NC this evening. Big thanks to all who came to our shows, listened, helped us down the road, and made these past 7 weeks one of the more memorable times in our lives. This may be the last blog for a while... but keep checking the webpage; we have a small NE tour coming soon, some nice video of us on Mount Dungeon coming soon, and of course... the allusive album, coming soon...

Thanks again and we love you...

The StereoFidelics

2008-08-05T15:05:00.006-04:00

Wow. We love playing for you (it's our favorite, actually!) but boy has it been GREAT to have a few days off. . .We went to Kings Island in Cincinnati, OH yesterday and road all of the roller coasters--every single one. Wonderfully fun and relaxing (?) We're headed out to see the new Batman movie this evening, then tomorrow it's off to Virginia to play at the Lantern in Blacksburg.

We've been a little lax on the blog front recently due to our mini-vacation status. . . Last Saturday we played at the Launching Pad in Muncie, IN and had a mustache party in the parking lot with fellow musicians Empty Orchestra from Michigan. (This is what you get on a summer Saturday in Indiana. . .)

As you can see, a good time was had by all!

2008-08-02T13:49:00.002-04:00

Still tired from last night. . .We played to a packed house at the Melody Inn, a wonderful dive bar and live music mecca in Indianapolis with Amo Joy and Grampa Jookbox--the show lasted until after 2:30. It was great to see so many familiar faces from last time we were at the Mel!

Steak n Shakes dot every corner in Indiana and we definitely took advantage of their 24 hour status on the was to Indianapolis from Goshen on Thursday night after our show at Constant Spring. What a juxtaposition. . .from the delicious, organic, local-grown fare from the kitchen at Constant Spring to a double bacon and cheese steakburger and chocolate shake. . .maybe after the show in Muncie, IN tonight. . .

2008-07-30T23:34:00.005-04:00

So an eventful Monday and Tuesday have come to pass... we played in Chicago at Reggie's on Monday night (big thanks to Brendan from MP Shows for having us on such short notice). If you are in Chicago, this venue is worth checking out. During the afternoon we hung by Lake Michigan and enjoyed a suprisingly temperate day in the Windy City with an old friend...

We made it to Detroit on Tuesday night and had the pleasure of sharing the stage with one of the better bands we've paired with this tour, The Kickback from Vermillion, SD. These dudes freakin' rock so you should check them out. Now it's time for a day off, a much needed one. I just realized we've played everyday since July 21st. See you soon.

2008-07-28T10:53:00.004-04:00

Well yesterday sure was an exciting day! We drove all the way from St. Louis to northern Illinois on Saturday night after a fun show at Red Sea Underground (across the street from a really sweet vintage record store in "the loop"). Why you ask? We wanted to get to the factory with enough time to enjoy the sweet smell of sugar and our subsequent bellyaches (the tours stop at 4pm, which is still morning --albeit late morning--for us. . .) We had a chance to tour the factory--wearing FDA mandated hats of course--

got free samples--not only in bag format, but at the "sample counter" you can try anything--and left with a pound and a half of our favorite 35 jelly belly flavors. There's nothing like nutritious snacks for the road. . .

The day just kept getting better--we arrived at Points East Pub in Milwaukee and were greeted by Rasta, an adorable, energetic, fuzzy puppy who interpreted setting a guitar case down as a precursor to playing. We had teriffic sound (thanks, Dave!) and thouroughly enjoyed sharing a bill with Casey Stang and Bill Mallonee and Moriah. Turns out, Bill and Moriah--from Athens, GA--began their tour two days after ours and are completing theirs two days after ours! We stuck around and chatted until we were chased out. . .it's a good thing Chicago's not too far!

2008-07-26T12:48:00.003-04:00

The night before last we were at Donna's Ice House in Lake of the Ozarks country, where the people were great and the humidity was so high that we must have been inside a cloud--a very hot cloud (where we didn't have internet, hence the delayed blog entry). The focal point of Donna's stage area was a huge sign that stated that any requesting of or playing of Mustang Sally, Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, or any Jimmy Buffett song would result in "heavy fines." I only wish we'd been able to find the camera. . . and that was just one of the many interesting things we've seen on our trip through Missouri. . . We were in Columbia yesterday, a pretty college town. The Missouri train keeps right on rollin' to St. Louis for a show in the hip Delmar District.

2008-07-24T14:22:00.002-04:00

Last night we were in Kansas City at Knucklehead's. The roadhouse vibe with great people just can't be beat! Thanks to Pete not only for the great sound, but for standing in as photographer extraordinaire. . .
(Please ignore the fact that we're wearing the same clothes as we were the night before--Febreeze really is a great product. . .)

We'll be in the Ozarks tonight in Linn Creek, MO, population 280 strong!

2008-07-23T18:50:00.004-04:00

We spent the day in Lincoln, NE at the library, then went to the park to throw the frisbee around a bit (we've gotten to be pretty good frisbee-ers this tour). At the park we saw these guys enjoying their afternoon. . .thankfully, their swords were covered in foam--swimming pool floaty "noodles" we think. . .
The Box Awesome lived up to its name; it is indeed a really cool venue. There were supposed to be two shows, one upstairs and one downstairs, but due to the fact that it was indeed a Tuesday evening, we blended our shows and had one monster show! Thanks to Jon from Max and the Marginalized for snapping some pictures for us.

Off to Kansas City!

2008-07-22T17:26:00.003-04:00

Driving through Nebraska sure is a change from everything further west; where else can you see a billboard for the birthplace of Kool-Aid in someone's backyard?

We enjoyed playing for the folks in Omaha last night; it was quite eventful for a Monday! After our show, the fingerboard fell off my violin and I got two of my fingers super-glued while operating on the poor guy. . .luckily we have a short drive today to Lincoln, lots of time to get things sorted out!

2008-07-21T17:02:00.002-04:00

Greetings! We played Denver, CO on Saturday at one of the Quixote Family venues. We only got one picture from the evening, but it pretty much sums it up...

So we waved good-bye to the Rockies one last time and started back east. We forgot how much humidity is like a good kick in the balls... but it's nice to be heading back towards home. We'll have some good stuff from our Omaha and Lincoln shows up after they happen.

2008-07-19T14:44:00.003-04:00

Our latest video finally uploaded; here it is!

We capped off an week of craziness in California on Monday night and began the long trek east. Even after a few days, it still seems weird to be following the "East" highway signs. . . We had a few rare days off earlier this week and were driving through the southwest so we spent our time hiking around and enjoying Arches National Park in Moab, UT. We were lucky enough to be there during a thunderstorm.Refreshed, rejuvinated, and really hot, we headed into Colorado yesterday for a return show at Road 34 in Fort Collins. An awesome venue that quadruples as a bike shop/deli/music venue/watering hole. As it has happened a few times on the road, we had someone come out to the show that had seen us back east; always a treat.

Sorry for the delayed post but it's hard going to get service in the middle of nowhere. We'll be in Denver tonight and then say good-bye to the West for awhile .... tear....

2008-07-14T18:35:00.002-04:00

We've had tons of fun these last few days in the San Fran area. Playing at Mountain Sage in Groveland on Saturday was for sure a highlight; the venue had a teriffic outdoor stage and gardens and the folks couldn't have been nicer. We've got a video and some pictures ready for your enjoyment, but our internet seems to be taking a long weekend break. . .it'll all be up as soon as we run into some powerful wifi!