Band Updates 2018
So, apparently I suck at updating the news on this website. I’m not sure do people even go to websites anymore? LOL. I seem to make the most progress on INSTAGRAM with fliers and news tidbits and whatnot, so follow over there and also the Facebook. Since last September 2, we had a blast touring the west coast, including a couple gigs opening for Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and an appearance at Rifflandia. Then we went into hibernation including stints in Alaska and Arizona and then I moved into a spot in Portland in March and spent most of the year working on the new album, very slowly. Happy to announce we have some amazing guest vocalists on it including Charity Rose & Matthew Gervais (The Head & The Heart), Courtney Jaye, Shelby Earl, Kathleen Grace, Jamie Drake, Brock Lindow (36crazyfists) and saxophone by Andrew Vait and Eric DeWitt. We also had Gary Sloan grace us with some soulful blues harp and our longtime collaborater/sometimes bandmate Bryan Daste on pedal steel. Still putting a few finishing touches on it with our man Brad Laina up in Seattle and then it will be time to mix. We don’t think CDs are the way to go anymore, so the plan is to make a nice poster you might want to hang on your way to show your support and it will come with a download code for the entire record. Meanwhile we will roll out singles and whatnot over the course of 2019.
In addition to this album, I recently stopped in Brooklyn on my way back from an epic European vacation to record with my old bandmates and friends Erik Braund and Christian Woods. Erik owns a very nice studio and we collaborated for a few days on some old songs from the archives that were never recorded properly: Westchester Lagoon, Red Eyes, Boarding Pass and French Girls. We are all very happy with the results and hope to share those with you next year as well.
Our touring van was stolen off the streets of Portland last winter while I was in Alaska. It had a bunch of stuff in it and I had to “let it go” which was a good exercise in how to live a good life. BUT as luck (?) would have it the van was recovered by Portland PD about a month later and I had the extreme pleasure of getting to get it out of a tow yard, pay the fee and see that it was very messed up, including a giant pile of random stuff and my old stuff inside of it. Someone had been living in there, there was food remains, needles, etc. It was gross thing to clean up but I did it, and had it moved to my place of residence once I got back to Portland. My friend Andrew Stanfield gracisouly allowed the van to sit outside of his house in a giant heap until it warmed up. Still it took a long time for me to get it fixed up, and I just dropped $1500 getting the steering wheel column replaced, new tires, an alignment, fuel pump, etc. She’s running pretty well now and will be taking the band all over the place next year to promote the new album.
My Alaskan bandmates Winston Monticello and Derek Mangrobang are both making the move out of Alaska to join me on the road so this year should be incredibly adventurous for all. We begin by playing the IDAHO POTATO DROP festivities on Dec 31 and then heading down to the southwest to begin playing shows where it’s somewhat warm and then continuing all over the US as we release the album. I have so much work to do, gotta go, thank you for reading. Drop us a review on Facebook, say hello on Instagram. We’re always looking for friends who want to set up a show and/or host us as we come through your town so reach out if you can help.