tour is done. maybe now i'l have time to write

can't leave you all hanging, wondering about our exploits. lengthy updates to come, maybe in one sitting, maybe over the next few days. depends how well this iced coffee with two extra shots from Clementine Thunderbird East works.

without further ado:

Thursday, July 2
drove from Boston to Niantic, CT to grab Jesse. everyone looked well rested, save me of course, who according to Sue (jesse's mom) looked 'like i hadn't stopped partying in a week.' make it two, Ma. ok, make it 6.

from Niantic we headed to New Paltz, NY hitting all of the July 4 weekend get-the-fuck-out-of-NYC traffic. great. New Paltz looks like a group of Phishheads got lost following the band around and decided just to set up shop in the Catskill Mountains. and i do mean shop, i.e. Coffee Shop, i.e. THERE WAS FOUR COFFEE SHOPS RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER DOWNTOWN. get a job, smelly hippie.

the show itself was pretty fun. place was called Snug Harbor and they gave us free beer all night. mm mm, Rolling Rock. thanks dudes. i got dragged to an 80s dance party at another bar and found myself drunkenly singingalong to "Livin on a Prayer." fucking idiot. met back up with the guys and partied at some kids house out in the country. more stars in the sky than i've ever seen. Scooter has a childlike fascination with fireflies. kinda adorable.

Friday, July 3
drove back to Boston to play a basement party with my good friends This Car Up. Cadge Blue and I jumped out the van somewhere near the Charles and proceeded to walk all over downtown Boston. dope. city. could spend all day in Boston Commons just kicking it. ate some clam chowda. headed into Allston for the party.



Where the Land Meets the Sea opened the set. turns out we have a lot of mutual friends (international waters, frank smith). WTLMTS is an amazing band; i'll be bringing them down to Austin for SXSW so keep an eye out for their show. Jon's older sister was at the show. i think she enjoyed herself. This Car Up was amazing as always but sadly announced this was their second-to-last show. bummer. the great bands always break up.

went out to the van to change shirts - found someone had tagged "Horne!" on the van which i assume is intended to be read "horny." what mAssholes!

original plan was to drive to NYC on July 4 for some rooftop firework action. opted instead to stay in Boston. wise choice my friend.

Saturday, July 4
woke up late, headed to Keith from This Car Up's house in Brighton for a fourth of july bbq. food, whisky, weed, beer, and wiffleball homerun derby. god bless america. left the derby to go hang out with one of Jon and Blue's old high school buddies at a rooftop prty downtown. seriously, we were no more than 300 yards from where the fireworks were set. so amazing. couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the 4th. ended the night hanging out with some of the WTLMTS kids at their practice space listening to rap and drinking warm PBR.





Sunday, July 5
this entire day was spend in a van. got on the road around noon. stopped by home depot to spray paint over the fresh tag on our van. drove to Brooklyn to grab an amp head Blue has been waiting for over 2 years to reclaim. then drove BACK to New Paltz to recover a lost guitar (yes, that IS the second time this tour that happened, thanks). left New Paltz after eating a sad upstate new york try at Mexican food. sad. new york. sad.

i got to drive first. even though it was at night, there was a full moon ... hands down the best drive we had. mountains the whole way - western Pennsylvania is intense. (you may have noticed a running theme when i'm relating my driving stories, that is, I REALLY LIKE MOUNTAINS. they're cool.)

Monday, July 6
got to Cleveland around 8:00am and drove right down to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because, well, we didn't know where else to go. heard from the Krum Bums you could get into the hall of fame for free if you inform them you're in a touring band and give them a CD. done! rock and roll hall of fame is pretty intense, definitely makes you feel small time but inspired all the same. Bruce Springsteen exhibit = crucial.

show that night was at a spot called The Grog Shop. Johio (Red7) used to work there so we were more than taken care of. our show was a late show following the earlier scheduled mewithoutyou and Deer Hunter show. both those bands were pretty good. so many fucking kids there to see them. Blue pointed out the oddness of the venue we're playing at being sold out, but not for us. tried our best to get some of the kids to stick around to watch us and some of them did, i think. Two Hand Fools (remember, we met them in Gainesville. see below if not) were on the bills as well. always fun hanging out with those kids. spent the night at Molly's house. Jon has a pretty hilarious story from this night. he tells it better than me.

Tuesday, July 7
day off. drove to Chicago to hang out with our buddy Dale Beach. good fucking times - haven't seen Dale in forever, looking forward to hitting the road with him in October. kept it chill. left early as hell the next morning to drive to Minnesota.

more to come.



we roll deep

LONG OVERDUE

the clamoring for a new blog post has grown incessant so here goes.

Friday June 26
performed at Rockstar in Brooklyn. real hole in the wall practically underneath the Williamsburg bridge. our good friends Fake Hooker played. rowdy fucking time. this was the start of over a week of hard partying that has led to the lack of blog posts. left Rockstar Bar briefly to go to East River Bar with Tito and his roommate who works for Temporary Residence Records (Explosions in the Sky). too much like Beauty Bar in Austin. i only enjoy hanging out / laughing at hipster douchebags when i know them - sardonic, much? back to Rockstar, then the Borrowers and Co. followed a friend whose name i have since forgotten back to her apartment to crash. got distracted by the bar below her apartment and the DJs who i subsequently pushed aside and somehow managed to hijack their DJ set. grew frustrated at the fact that they had horrible dance music selection and that they later got paid $100 for their "efforts." big up Austin DJs who try. stayed up with Cadger and his old NYC roommate Nick (an "actor training to be a waiter") till the sun came up. drank a bottle of Vermouth (apparently not good for you) and later threw it at a crowd of kids walking home at 8:00 am. man i'm a douche. passed out around 9 am and woke up 3 hours later with a splitting headache. drove to Connecticut.

Saturday June 27
Niantic, CT - Jesse's hometown. had to adjust to referring to Cadger as Jess or Jesse. loads of food waiting for us cooked by Jesse's amazing parents Sue and Dave. drank about a 6-pack and a half before even getting to the venue. drank more. played an amazing set in front of all of Jesse's best friends. positive i saw him cry during "Kalifornia" though he continues to deny it. probably the biggest crowd Oasis Pub will see all year.

Sunday June 28
drove to Boston for an early show at O'Briens. surprised to see so many people out so early on a Sunday. *gulp*gulp*gulp* i think you're getting the picture. Blue and Jon's parents were there. nice folks. so were my BFFs in Junius. another amazing set followed by... well actually I don't remember much of what happened next. i remember seeing Music Gym Rob and briefly thinking i was back in Austin but realized it was Allston an easy mistake to make given the laziness of speech i developed in the Northeast. house party in a (sort of) abandoned (but still gorgeous) house that Rob sometimes lives in when he is in Boston and not Austin. crashed at my new best friend Angelique's amazing apartment in Southie. parking in South Boston is a bitch, FYI.

Monday June 29
back to New York City. oh brother. Arlene's Grocery is a legendary spot (immortalized recently in the near-classic, cinematic triumph and highlight of Michael Cera's short career Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist). show wasn't as packed as the last NYC gig but I did finally get to meet former Bankrupt and the Borrower and Dell Computers spokesman Ben. let me refresh your memory:



AWESOME!! ended up at Off the Wagon, a totally lame NYU bar with $1 pints. split with my band members as they went home to their parents in MA and CT while i continued my partying in New York City. Tito and I went back to Nick's apartment and stumbled home sometime around sunrise.

Tuesday June 30
hanging out in New York City by myself. coffee in Williamsburg followed by a wandering trek to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where i saw an exhibit by the amazing Francis Bacon (google it). walked through Central Park in the pouring rain, got completely soaked but definitely had "a reflective moment" with myself. met Tito back in W'burg for a drink. went to the only bar in NYC (supposedly) that sells Lonestar. tasted like the sweet nectar of angels. i miss you Texas (sort of). next was Barcade, a bar with wall to wall arcade games and if the name alone wasn't enough to make that clear then you my friend are an idiot. next stop was Union Pool ... then the party really started. and by party i mean a nearly got fucking ARRESTED on the new york city subway. turned out i was merely getting ticketed for smoking on an OUTDOOR platform and not for skipping the turnstile when first entering the subway station. doh. guess i got off lucky.

Wednesday July 1
boarded a bus bound for Boston. 5 hour bus ride really numbed my ass but provided a (brief) opportunity to sober up. met up with my boys the Krum Bums on tour from Austin with the legendary Germs. hung out backstage with motherfucking Pat Smear and former ER cast member and now Darby Crash-replacement Shane West. watch:



highlights of the night: watching Shane West pound a kids face in who screamed at him "must suck having been on ER." singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" with a bunch of Austin kids in Boston bar and NOT getting our faces pounded in. good times.



Pat insisted a female be in the picture.



Krum Bums party hard.

that's all you get for now. more to come. promise.

Friday, June 26

don't feel like writing, just uploaded 50+ pictures. so enjoy them.

DC!


"we need to go that way." "which way!"






so deep on so many levels.












National Museum of Man






honestly got choked up at the Lincoln Memorial






Barak wouldn't see us. Jerk!


true.


Korean War Memorial




TX


art

PHILLY!


NOT Ben Franklin






blue


horses ass.


the real rocky


"it's the, eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight..."


Bankrupt Rocky




people at the Philly Art Museum must constantly think "why doesn't anyone ever come INSIDE the museum. they just run up the goddamn steps all day."

JERSEY!


classic jersey dudes. dude on the right is our boy Carmen's pops






Carmen's Godfather was the tallest wide-receiver in NFL history.


Dikembe Mutombo's shoe


cocks.


don't fall asleep.


YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, June 23

this blog is gonna be heavy on the pictures low on the chatter. late night in Alexandria, VA and don't feel like writing. just got home from staring out over the Potomac at Maryland/DC. this townhome we're staying in is gorgeous but hot as hell. must say: reading Our Band Could Be Your Life while on tour is certainly odd as our escapades are NOTHING like our forebearers. haven't slept on one "catpiss-soaked floor" yet.



Charleston, SC: the Tin Roof is a lot like a bar we'd play in Austin. very much a Hole in the Wall vibe. loved it. the band we were supposed to play with Thursday night canceled so we played two sets and kept all the door money. AND the bar staff covered our tab. dope. they drink something in Charleston that i've never seen anywhere before: American Honey. a honey flavored bourbon that is sweet as hell. not bad but not something i could drink on a regular basis like these kids do. that, coupled with the bottle of Northern Lights we were sipping in the van led to, well, let's just say an interesting night. emo meltdown, anyone?

went to Folly Beach Saturday. listened to Best of Def Jam Records: 1985-2001 the whole drive down there. gangsta. shocked at the fact the Blue knows all the lyrics to "Pop Goes the Weasel." watching Cadge wrap the opening verse to "Regulators" equally as amusing. walked out into the water in my jean shorts, got about shoulder deep, put my hand in my pocket and realized there was something in my pocket: my cell phone. UGHHHHHHHHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. (picked up a new cell phone in Alexandria).



Folly Beach is probably one of the most amazing beaches in America. beautiful water, gorgeous women. got a little sunburned (giving new meaning to the "want some aloe for that burn" line i am oh so found of).

Tin Roof loved us so much the invited us back to play Friday and seeing as how we didn't have a show that night we returned for round two. once again the staff treated us like royalty. so unbelievable the kindness of some people. made a concerted effort not to get as drunk as the night before but to no avail. seriously, coolest bunch of kids ever at The Tin Roof. should you find yourself in Charleston, hit them up.



left the venue, experienced the wonder of Waffle House (experienced it again this morning too ... gwoss). met ChicagoJim and busted his balls about baseball. strange people at Affle House. strange people indeed. went home and laughed for hours at this:



Chapel Hill, NC:once again the band Red Collar proved their overwhelming awesomeness by getting us a show in Chapel Hill on Saturday when we previously had none. played at a dope coffee shop called Jack Sprat. did a little touring of Franklin St. before load-in and checked out some other great venues in the area like The Cave and Local 506.

Chapel Hill is easily one of the coolest towns we've been too. for the second time all tour a wedding party wandered into our performance. these kids were lit and they danced their asses off to all our songs. Chapel Hill: 1, Austin: 0. crashed at Mimi from the Pneurotics place.

Raleigh, NC: slept in, drove to Raleigh. stopped at one of Jesse's old buddies spot out in the country, ate burgers about kids they grew up with with names like Rickey Love and Sully. played at Slim's Downtown in Raleigh. really the first shitty night we've had all tour. played well, actually, but just didn't get the same vibe off the bar/staff/crowd that'd we've been getting elsewhere. fuck it. got in the van with a quickness and drove all night to Alexandria, VA (just outside of DC) to stay with another of Jesse's boys from back in the day.

DC! supposed to go to DC to sight-see but decided to wait until tomorrow. tons of pictures to post from that i'm sure. till then here are some images from the past couple days (thanks to Wilson in Charleston and Matty Pettis in Atlanta for taking some photos and sending them our way).

Gene. Gene Griffin. Nice to meet you.



Cadger the Writer



head on collision nearly ended the tour



kids in Charleston love them some Buck Hunter



Cadger won, I think...



Jon is incapable of a serious photo











Hotlanta...

Thursday, June 18

week one is done, 5 more to go. still in the south but getting closer to moving north. so excited to see New York, Boston, etc. on with the show...



Atlana, GA: i have a new found love for ATL, GA. wow - this town is fucking amazing. we started the day with an in-store at Criminal Records. the shop is located in the uberhip 5 Points area of Atlanta. this part of town was NUTS. hopped out the van while the guys went to park and immediately set to exploring. immediately this little kid comes running up to me. 8, maybe 10 years old tops. looking fly as fuck with his cap to the side and a backpack on. "say man, let me holla at you for a minute." kid starts spitting me a rap. shit was HILLARIOUS. Lil K: "you gonna buy my CD?" me: LOL, "yeah man i'll buy your shit. you gonna buy my CD." Lil K: "you rap?" me: "naw man I play the blues." moments later he got Gene with the same hustle. there were artists all over the block trying to hustle their art. real dope.

grabbed a couple of beers at Porter Beer Bar. they had the most INSANE draught beer selection. Coney Island Lager - get down on it. good shit. after getting a couple beers in us there was only one thing to do. BUSKING. ah, the fine art of street performance. grabbed our acoustic guitars (me, my tamborine and shaker) and proceed to serenade the passers by with acoustic renditions of "Unemployed," "Holden," "Dumpster" and more. made a whole dollar. fuck it. grabbed some pizza at Little 5 Pizza. Gene spit water through a straw at Blue (not sure why, other than to be an asshole). Blue poured a cup of water on Gene. Gene pushed Blue out of his chair. big fucking scene. royally hilarious. pizza was intense. so good. crust you WANT to eat.

Criminal in-store was alright. the boys got to play on sick Orange stacks. not many people there. staff seemed like they didn't even want us there. they've had in-stores from Mastodon, MIA, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Bankrupt and the Borrowers was pretty lowdown on their radar, to say the least.

had to hustle to get to Smithe's Olde Bar for our next show. again, bar was in a great little neighborhood and had a total neighborhood-bar feel to it similar to our beloved Hole in the Wall. small crowd, sold some merch, played a good set (thx to an amazing soundman). Civil Twilight headlined. really good 3 piece from Nashville by way of South Africa. totally epic brit-Pop a la Coldplay, Elbow, Travis, etc.

didn't get paid.



Johnson City, TN: Blue got in touch with a friend of a friend who lived just outside of Johnson City, TN (Greenville, TN) and we decided to drive all night to her spot after she agreed to cook us breakfast when we got there. chick had never even met us before. talk about southern hospitality. fuck man.

Eunice didn't disappoint on the breakfast promise. eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and french toast. and... goodnight. woke up later that afternoon and went to eat at the restaurant Eunice manages. fell in love with the hostess, stuffed our faces with spinach and artichoke dip, eggplant parmesan and $1 high lifes, drove to Acoustic Cafe near the Eastern Tennessee State campus and got some work done. bought a sweet sweater at a thrift store next door.

can't help but feel like we've found a hidden gem in the middle of the mountains with regards to Johnson City. turns out EVERY band metal/hardcore band i love has played at Hideway Cafe (Irepress, Trash Talk, Skeletonwich, Kylesa, Wolves in the Throne Room... the fucking list goes on). sick place with a great staff. Eunice invited a bunch of friends from her restaurant so there was a decent crowd and some people wandered in off the streets. sold some merch, drank $1 PBRs.



side note: fuck Pabst Blue Ribbon. in what goddamn county was this shit awarded the "blue ribbon." i can't fucking WAIT to drink a Lonestar and go to a bar that doesn't charge $5.75 for some goddamn Jameson. needless to say, i don't think i can i drink another Pabst. but i will.

Charleston, SC: we were told that the drive down I-26 from Johnson City into South Carolina is "one of the most beautiful drives in America." wouldn't know, as we once again drove through the night. actually, i think we got the gist of the beauty - even in the shadows of moonlight, mountains look cool, and wearing a sweater in July is kinda awesome. not to rub it in! hit some rain on the way, so it's humid as fuck now.

currently @ one of the most gorgeous houses i've ever seen in Charleston, SC (kid "Pettis" and "Chris" grew up with in Mass, his parents house). we have two days off coming up. seriously seriously bummed we don't have a show but tomorrow we're going to the beach and Saturday we're hitting up Gene's brother's lakehouse in Columbia, SC before we head to Raleigh for a show on Sunday. sorry for the lack of humorous storytelling - as the tour goes on our exploits seem to become more debaucherous and less suited for public viewing. HA. not really. that or i'm just forgetting things.

pictures (not much... never have my camera out and Scooter takes the worst pictures, so don't expect many live shots):

it gets cold in the back of the van





doesn't do it justice, but rain + mountains + Gary Clark, Jr. = AWESOME!!



Cadger the Navigator



hat rack

Wednesday, June 17

apparently at some point between Tallahassee and Gainesville i lied down to sleep next to gene, began coughing (no doubt from my near two pack a day developed in just one short week on the road) and let loose a loogie onto Scooter's arm. oh well. to his credit he didn't even wake me up to complain. ah, friends.



Gainesville, FL:play at The Kickstand. super sweet spot - a volunteer-run bicycle repair shop. a lot like Yellow Bike Project in austin but with a stage. there were 5 bands on the bill ... and not a single one from Gainesville. honestly, other than the adorable girl working the door and the 2 guys trying to take her home, it was all out-of-towners hanging out. major bum out. silver lining where are you ... ... ... well, for starters, we got to play with two of the most inspiring bands i've seen in a long time. Red Collar are in the against me, fake problems vein and make you believe that you're doing the right thing by playing in a band. dudes (and one gal) are from Durham, NC and i can see us being friends for a long time. Two Hand Fools are a group of 18-22 year olds who weren't even on the show, they just showed up and asked to play. these kids were INCREDIBLE. like a more punk rock This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. so good to see young kids on the road busting there ass. AND to top it all off, Two Hand Fools are from Cleveland, where we have a show but with NO LOCALS. not only did they enthusiastically agree to play the show, but they're going to find more bands to play and promote the show. holy shit. what could go wrong.

shit. spoke too soon. turns out we left a guitar in Tallahassee. BUM. OUT! finished playing the Kickstand. hugs and handshakes all around. climbed back in the van and drove through the night to Tallahassee. me helping keep Cadge awake talking about Howard Zinn, class struggle, artistic struggle, blah blah blah. slept in the van (first time all tour, that's good). went back to The Engine Room. luckily there is a guy who lives in the fucking club who let us in annnnnnnnnnd we found our guitar. fuckin-a man even when shit is going bad we're having fun.

i was lucky enough to have driving detail from Tallahasse to Baggage's brother's house in rural Georgia. no interstate, just backroads and small towns. nothing but farms and forests. real forests. I felt like I was seeing trees for the first time. Big trees, tall as fuck and full of leaves. and everytime a truck drove by me going the opposite direction carrying a bed full of cut down tree trunks i cried a little. cue PSA:



Matty lives out in the country about 50 miles outside of Hotlanta and with no show that night, we crashed at his house, drank a bottle of Evan Williams and a couple cases of Natty Light. Gene-o grilled up some hot dogs. played video games and Asshole. laughed hysterically. nights like these are what make a 6 week long tour tolerable.

currently sitting in a Dunkin Donuts in Marietta, GA. cadger is mildly obsessed with the Double D Coffee so we've stopped at just about every dunkin we've come across. and now some photos.

live at The Kickstand



notice the v-neck t-shirt i'm wearing. makes it embarrisingly obvious how little chest hair i have :(



Red Collar. totes BFF now.



stole this bike. not really. wanted to



our van is an organized mess



Matt from Look Mexico's cat and dog square off. Samson lost. moments after this picture is taken he smears blood all over that painting. poor guy.

Sunday, June 14

wow.

at this point it's starting to feel like "where do I start." srsly.

Baton Rouge: interview at KLSU radio went great. Gracie Lou was awesome and offered us a place to stay that night/shower. found a CD laying around the studio from this hidden gem of a band: Steel Panther. sample lyric: "eminem can suck it, so can dr.dre, they can suck each other, just because they're gay." can you say, POETIC GENIUS?!?!?!



seriously listen to all their songs. incredible. later, we played at Roux House. neat little spot that we were way too loud for. baton rouge downtown is a ghost town in the summer but lovely bar staff @Roux showed us a great time.

popped some vicodin, drank till we passed out. climbed in the van and drove to NOLA.

New Orleans: saw the best and worst of this city for sure. always thought of Austin as a laid back city but for realz, "big easy" ain't no joke. NOLA is laid back as fuck. played an in-store at Peaches Records. that went well, people walking in off the street checking out the tunes. can't complain. met a random dude who wanted us to go play a show in Slidell, LA at some bar called The Dock. seemed fishy (literally) but he offered us $200 and crawfish. gave it a shot, said we'd see him there tomorrow.

later, we played with what may well be the best band we come across all tour: Silent Cinema. to me this band is exactly what I would expect an indie rock band from New Orleans to sound like; basically, indie rock kids who grew up around second line, jazz, etc. the club we played at was called Circle Bar and it was literally a 120 year old house that had been completely developed around yet remained essentially unchanged. as the neighborhood around it grew, this place just stayed a hole in the wall bar. instantly reminded of home. inspired, we played our best show yet. so good that Cadger blew out his voice. this could be a problem. will update his health later.

the boys have a good friend in New Orleans named Tessi who convinced her friend Kristin to let us stay with her. 4:30 AM roof top pool party @ downtown condo of Kristin's boyfriend away at Bonnaroo. yes plz.

oh but before we get to that... the worst of new orleans. let's just say the woman working at TigerMart wasn't stoked with our boy Blue and allegedly called the cops on him. resulting in an APB for "dat tall white boi." apparently it's cool to walk around the streets of NOLA with a beer in hand, but try and buy a case of Miller High Life and pack of smokes at 3:00 am and the cops WILL be called. odd.

Slidell, LA: beachside retirement community. hot as balls. 2 hour practice session = $200. that's an equation i can get down with. boiled shrimp = van of hot stinky dudes who now smell like sealife. can't get down with that. got the fuck outta dodge with a quickness.

Tallahassee, FL: note to self - time zones makes trips longer. shit! oh well, what can you do. Engine Room is a sweet little spot and the band Only Thieves was a lot of fun. also on the bill was a sick instrumental metal band whose name was uberlong and thus i have forgotten it. my buddy Matt from Look Mexico booked the show and I was super stoked to learn that he and his band are planning on relocating to Austin in January, when they get back from touring Japan. fuck yes! can't wait to show 'em around town. currently at Matt's house listening to the varying pitches of Scooter and Deadweights snores.

bought this shirt:


final summation: the south is hot. real hot. can't wait to head north. Gainesville tomorrow then Georgia then eastern Tennessee. more to come. and now some pictures...

Cadger works on the van a lot... ...



and hides the rest of the time... that little black dot is him...



(((later... Deadweight and Cadger decide to climb to the top of Lee Tower. why? because Cadge remembered reading in a book that you could do this. supposedly this is some legendary NOLA shit and Cadge and Blue were instantly accepted by the locals for this tall-tale worthy feet.)))

Baggage sleeps a lot... pretty much anywhere...



see...



Scooter makes friends... this dude was awesome ... Gene's pretty lit...