Secret Nashville mission recap. Where to begin…playing music with Nashville's hottest players (google Chris Scruggs pedal steel and Ryan Cavanaugh banjo), getting legit covered chest to hair in barbecue sauce or the delicate dance of being a rock band at a hotel simultaneously used for a Tennessee State Trooper convention?
Well first of all I didn't know 3 days could seem like 3 months but as of now Einstein's theory of relativity has resonated with us once again. While we can't reveal just what we were up to, we are keen to relay the fact that this group tends to get ourselves into scenarios that fledgling screen writers wish they dreamt up.
As I mentioned in the previous blog detailing the departure day, this trip began with us partying at the ripe hour of 8 am at a airport bar. By the time we reached our hotel in Nashville we were in surprisingly good shape and eager to continue our whiskey laden quest for ribs and cornbread. As we pulled into the lot we noticed something was off. There were no less than 60 perfectly aligned state trooper motorcycles parked on one side, flanked by about a dozen trooper cars with fairly prominent marijuana leaf stickers with the universal sign for NO (red circle with line through it) covering the leaf. Annnnd here comes 2 more state trooper units towing an additional dozen or so trooper motorcycles. There is no less than 400 State officers here.
Don't get me wrong, we love our law enforcement and are related to some of this country's finest, but there is something that doesn't mesh with long haired rock bands and southern state troopers. We found that out the hard way when Joe almost out of habit screamed "Nickel Back Sucks" at the Karaoke bar attached to the hotel. We were constantly getting the 10-mile stare and reading lips that seemed to annunciate "I'd lock that son of a bitch right up".
Thankfully we were spending the majority of our time with a dog named Lady Killer who after warming up to us was quite the protector. We had the chance to play music with the cream of the crop of Nashville; Chris Scruggs on steel, Ryan Cavanaugh on banjo. These dudes meshed unbelievably with the band and we were feeling the Nashville scene more than ever.
By the end of our last night however, I, Chris was feeling a little too much of the Nashville scene. All over my fucking face, hair, clothes hands, legs. Shit was everywhere. Turns out a peppercorn got lodged in the spout of the barbecue sauce bottle and if you squeeze too hard the top pops off. It was like southern remake of 'Carrie'. Holding back laughter our documentarian Sanborn tried to offer consolation "It could be worse", to which I responded "No dude. It couldn't be worse" which sent the entire table into uncontrollable laughter just out of the sheer truth of the retort.
While wearing a half gallon of Nashville's finest condiments I spent at least 45 minutes in the Nashville rain before I was able to flag a taxi to get back to the hotel to shower off this vinegar jump suit. Then it was only 4 hours later we we're back on a plane heading home. Now we're back and trying to undo some of the rib and cornbread damage to our arteries.
We look forward to sharing with you the fruits of our labor.
On the way to Nashville with the basic crew minus stage master Jason (which we are all sad about…next time Jasani…) Our ragtag group of muffin heads consists of the full band plus our life long friends and cohorts Pat Cowden (AKA Chizzle, Physics, Physical, P sanchez, P FAQ, Chizzy-Physique) and Sanborn (AKA Sandy, Sandoggle, San-porn)
Chizzle is master of all things logistics. Sanborn is our documentarian.
Tomorrow we begin our 12 hour days of working but today is a travel day. So what does that mean? Booze, Briskets and blowing bread. Today we will attempt to eat our weight in ribs, purchase a few guitars from legendary guitar store Gruhn's in Nashville and generally vibe out with a reckless abandon that only comes with the excuse of 'we woke up early and are not in charge of transporting ourselves with heavy machinery'.
The day started at 5:45 am with bolt cutting the lock off our trailer hitch (we lost the key) and hitching a ride via Bill 'the wild man' Plante in the Vanbus.
Departing out of Manchester NH was cool because the airport bar was open at legit 7 am. Live free or die is right. So we ordered a couple rounds of double whiskeys and boarded our first flight. Pit stop in NYC was fine. Took a couple pics of bewildered bag handlers as the band left the tarmac and ascended the stairs to the tiniest jet any of us claim to have ridden.
We often catch glances from perfect strangers with the look on their face of "What could these 20-somethings possibly be doing all together? Looks like business but they're having too much fun…what is in that bullet-proof case? Where'd the money come from? Who is paying for this debauchery?"
Understandable, really. One of my guesses is maybe they think we're a circus troop; in which case I, Chris, would be the bearded lady.
Plane is beginning descent from the sky and I swear I can feel the Tennessee heat crank through the plastic porthole of this flying metal tube. Not trying to sound self-important but this trip; we are trying to make history. Wish us luck.
Thanks everyone who voted and the board at New England Music Awards for naming us Best Band in Massachusetts!
The Brew has been nominated for best band in the great state of Massachusetts! Click here to vote if you agree!
Thanks to everyone who came to our live album recording at The Firehouse Theater. That show was very special to us and are thrilled to announe we will be releasing a live album of the performance.
ALL ACCESS giving The Brew a shout for stopping by 90.5 WBJB in New Jersey. Good times were had.
We regretfully announce that we have to postpone our appearance in NYC tonight due to Chris fracturing his 5th rib on the left side, making singing / breathing / laughing a rather painful experience. We apologize to anyone who had plans to see The Brew tonight. Chris promises not to play indoor soccer again, but he probably still will.
It's the end of Thanksgiving break and we need something to look forward to. CHRISTMAS…NO! THE END OF THE WORLD SHOW ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21st! The Brew performs their last show before the apocalypse coinciding with the end of the Mayan cale
Come experience The Brew, The Apocalypse Percussion Team and The Brew's legendary horn section throw down some serious production value at this once a year (eon) event!
OHH MY GAHL! The Brew has charted for the first time ever! Our single "Into the Remembering Sun" is #89 in the United States for AAA radio charts! Thank you to all the stations for supporting an INDEPENDENT band.
We are pleased to announce we will be performing live at The River Music Hall at 92.5 The River tomorrow afternoon for a 2 PM taping. If you live in the Boston area and wish to come be a part of the audience email Dana@riverwoodrecords.com
First come first serve!
We can't wait to get on this Booze Cruise and rock fully. Lets just hope no giant Blue Lobsters are trolling the Atlantic waters.
Tickets are$16
Isle of Shoals Cruise Company
Portsmouth, NH. 10/6/12
Epic spread in the Boston Globe about tonights show in Lowell. Thanks to Joel Brown for writing and Ryan Sanborn for photo!
After three weeks, 14 states and 7000 miles we’re back from the Rocky Mountains and totally energized as we get ready for the biggest show of the year, August 31st at the Lowell Summer Music Series. True this: The Brew is firing on a whole
P.s.buy your tickets in advance, save dough and be eligible to win these cool prizes. Click this link to order tickets.
This has been one of the more scenic tours we've ever embarked on! Here is a shot on our way to Sedona, Arizona. Show tonight at the Flagstaff Brewery then tomorrow in Sedona for Soundbites! Show with Keller Williams the next day in Idaho. 14 hour drive. YIKESSSSSS...
We here in The Brew really think cancer sucks and would be thrilled if no one we knew or loved ever had to deal with it. So we made a goal for ourselves to try and raise $3000 in the next 4 weeks to help fund cancer research! We joined The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life in their efforts to raise money to help further the science of cancer prevention. Please please please donate anything you can to help us reach our goal of $3000 to help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. All donated money goes directly to The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life. Click link to donate now! The Brew thanks you!!!
YOU KNOW WHATS RAD? We are performing at the FMQB Triple A Radio Conference with bands like Alabama Shakes, Fun!, Dispatch, and Bonnie Raitt! The performance is August 9th in Boulder Colorado and is unfortunately closed to the public (music industry event) but we are amped to be among this years AAA radio artists.
We are super amped to be heading out to the Rockies to rage a bunch of these dates!
7/27/2012 The Silver Tounge Green Mountain Falls, CO
7/28/2012 KTAOS Solar Center Taos, NM
8/01/2012 Marble Brewery Albuquerque, NM
8/03/2012 Flagstaff Brewing Co. Flagstaff, AZ
8/04/2012 Sound Bites Grill Sedona, AZ
8/05/2012 Kelly Canyon Music Fest Ririe, ID
8/07/2012 PAC 3 Carbondale, CO
8/08/2012 Three20South Breckenridge, CO
8/11/2012 Walnut Room Denver, CO
WE'RE OUTTA OUR MINDS EXCITED to release our first OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO TOMORROW. It's all happening with the exclusive premiere hosted by 92.5 The River. Keep an eye out tomorrow for the LINK AND LAUNCH! Not lincoln logs. Link and launch.
Well. Another blog comin' atcha. Trying to remember where the last one left off…Twisters? Ya. So that means we hadn't made it to Denver yet…Ok.
The drive from titty twisterville (Indiana) to Denver is long and really fucking boring. There is a slight grade going up hill the entire way through Nebraska to get to the mile high city, and as we pulled in we were def all feeling the altitude. For me personally it made me feel tired and really dumb. Just like a big lump of dumbass meat. We pulled into our buddies house where we would be staying for the next 3 days and unpacked the van, drank a beer, lazily played hack and headed to the show in Denver at The Walnut Room. This venue was totes sick. Great sound system and we instantly became best buds with the engineer Eric. Chattin it up about microphones (he is a big fan of our endorsee Telefunken).
Sound check went great, the stage sounded phenom. Eric was dialing it in. For a friday it was an abnormally early show. 8 pm start time. We went out to the van to get a little shwazy before the gig started and when we returned the room was super packed full of Brew fans and soon to be's. As an emerging independent band, you really feel like a boss when you are 2000 miles from home and you pack a room and get to play a rock show, so our energy and ampedness, or pumptitude, or pyschedity was at an all time high. Speaking of high, as we started rocking we realized we hadn't quite adjusted to the altitude so we were kind of feeling the side effects. Dizzyness, short of breath etc. Didn't stop the rock though, in fact in some ways, being slightly lack of brain cells maybe increased creativity cause we def killed that show.
The next night was in Colorado Springs. We left early to go to this place called "Garden of the Gods". We rolled up to these giant red rock protrusions with a bunch of 'ya bros' climbing up the face. Pretty impressive. Took some sweet pics, vibed out with the canyon squirrels and headed into town for the gig. From the name of the town Colorado Springs, and our previous experience with nature at the Garden of the Gods, we expected to be playing for a bunch of nature loving yippies (yuppy hippy cross breeds). So it was much to our surprise when someone told us that Colorado Springs is some skin head, neo nazi, snowboarder haven. Yep, snowboarding Nazi's. But when we loaded into the venue that was not the case. Everyone was so nice, and while some may have had shaved heads and gages in their ears, these peeps were very rad. Sound system here….not so hot. Stage sounded like shit, I didn't have a monitor (which allows one to hear what they are playing and singing) so to be honest we had no idea how the show went until we stepped off stage and started receiving unexpected high praise such as:
- "No one ever plays this good in Colorado Springs"
- "It's so great to hear a band that knows what the fuck they are doing"
- "You guys inspired me to finally go through with my sex change"
Wow. Sweet. Success.
Drive back to Denver pass out on the floor for a few hours. We had very ambitious plans to head to a wonderous place called 'Estes Park', intent on getting all up in mother nature's face and being like "WHAT". Our half-cocked plan for this was to wake up at 7:30 am and rent a bunch of fly fishing gear and snatch up some rainbow trout before the gig in Fort Collins that night. Drunkenly setting our alarms for a van call that was mere hours away. Needless to say, alarms didn't go off, we woke up at 11 and all sighed in a collective man fail. Blerhhh.
Whatever. So we head to Fort Collins for the final gig in Colorado. Sweet venue with world famous tempe that most of us didn't try because we were munching down the sandwiches I lovingly made for our self-sabotaged fishing trip. Everyone agreed that I fucking nailed these Turkey sandwiches, I was pretty buzzed when I made them so I think I had extra patience or something. Anyways, another early gig and another packed room. So happy with all that. It was a quiet, listening room so we were able to bust out a more 'singer songwritery' set which our repeat patrons dug.
I can't explain how well we are treated by our fans and friends. Aside from the almost hard-to-accept hospitality from our Denver cohorts, at the end of gig a guy named Charlie in his 50's came up to us and handed out a wad of cash, saying "I know its not much but I figured you guys could use this". I've gotten better at accepting wads of cash. I'm sure you (ya you) are just like most people, when it comes to accepting money that you haven't exactly earned, there is a certain uneasy feeling associated with it, like "wow. This person is so generous, I feel wrong taking this. I don't deserve it etc." but the fact is that this person wants to give you this dough. It would be worse to refuse it and make them feel unappreciated and maybe even like they offended you in a way. So accepting their generosity with genuine appreciation and humility is the only way to go. Not to mention we really could use it. Being on the road and trying to do what we are doing at this stage is constantly putting us in the red, and if it wasn't for the supreme support we receive from our friends, fans and family (hi Donna / John) there is no chance we would survive and be able to pursue what we really believe is something worth sacrificing for.
The gig in Fort Collins killed and we just feel like we are getting HOT as a band. All the signals and transitions are hitting so hard. It's fuckin great. On load out Joe stepped off a curb the wrong way and rolled his ankle, spraining it pretty fierce. Thing looked like a fuckin grapefruit was growing out his metatarsals. We helped him ice and elevate it so it seems to be doing better now, even though 4 days later he is still walking around like some sort of arthritic pirate.
We stay one more night with our boy in Denver before having to actually wake up this time at 7:30 AM to head to Sante Fe NM for a radio performance on 98.1 KBAC. This is where shit starts getting real good.
That drive was brutal. I was so fucking tired, fighting to keep my led eyelids (eyeleds?) from bringing me into a dream world of riding a pegasus through cotton fields on big rock candy mountain, while in reality I'd be riding a big white van with 5 of my closest friends to certain death. So I smack the grim reaper in his snarky fuckin face and crank a red bull. Feeling good now. Everyone is passed out all around me and I put on my headphones and jam out to Bruce Hornsby for the ride and watch the topography gradually change from mountainous 'rado to mountainous new meeheeecooo. The differences were subtle at first but as the drive continued we started to get into more tall pines and even more drastic cliffs and hills. Before officially entering New Mexico we stopped at the last rest stop in Colorado and begrudgingly threw away the last of our Colorado medical marijuana cause NM weed laws are way harsh and we don't want to end up in the same cell as some meth-cooking leper. We did however save ONE joint which Aaron swore to eat if we got pulled over.
Everyone kinda started waking up about 2 hours from Sante Fe and we're blurting out involuntary "Holy shits" and "WTF?" looking at this wild scenery. I have never given much cred to New Mexico, mainly cause the state never really crossed my mind, but this place quickly became one of our favorites we had ever been to. Beautiful colors between the almost red soil, the jungle green (my favorite crayon color) bushes and pine trees blanketing vast mountain sides and the unimaginably blue sky. This is what Im talking about. Fuck the overcast, dead ass corn fields of Nebraska, these are the drives I was looking forward to.
We roll into KBAC and everyone there is just so sweet and kind. Tess at the front desk was incredibly helpful while Ira the Program Director helped us get set up and acclimated. The interview portion was super fun and Ira had great questions. We performed an acoustic version of "When Darkness Comes", which felt a little slow tempo wise (my fault), a new song called "Thunder Rain" slated for the next record, and "A Garden in the snow". Aside from the slightly syrupy feel of WDC, the other tunes KILLED. As we finished each song, everyone in this beautiful station was applauding. The owner of the station Scott, and many of his employee's were watching us play and talk through the glass windows of the studio. It felt a bit like we were in a glorious fish tank. So fun. We asked the intern who was video taping where the best tacos are cause we were legit famished. My stomach was feeling like I punished it with enough chemmy red bull to develop a roll of film, so I was truly looking forward to mashing ground beef into my face. We got it done and ya this was some authentic mexican, but with a Native American twist. SO FUCKIN GOOD.
Our next mission was to hit up a station in the Legendary town of Taos, New Mexico. As I was writing the last sentence it just dawned on me how incredible it is that these stations are playing our single "When Darkness Comes" unbeknownst to us, all the time. So cool. The Brew, little band from Amesbury MA is blasting out the airwaves across this great country constantly. Literally somewhere right now, most likely we are being played on the radio. It's a dream and life goal realized, and it's just the beginning.
Anyways TAOS! This place is apparently the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the country. Over 1000 years going way back to the Native Americans, and as we drove along the Rio Grande, winding up this majestic mountain side, we understood. This might be the most beautiful place we'd have ever seen. I felt like we were in a different country or planet for that matter. Patagonia or Pandora or some shit. We also didn't understand why Denver gets all this hype for being a mile high, cause Taos is chilling at a cool 7200 feet and is all like "ya whatever". But even when you get to 7200 feet, there are fucking mountains on top of this fucking mountain, elevations reaching 13,000+ . Denver is buying Hummers being like "Rawrr look how big I am" while Taos is doing Yoga and all "ya denver you are perfect just the way you are, don't stress it bro."
We got a hotel and ripped a couple shots (minus the driver. don't worry mom) and went out in search for epic burgers or something. We rolled up to the first place, 1 hour wait. The chef came outside and saw us checking out the menu and asked what we were looking for so we say "Epic burgers or something", he points us to a place called 5 Star Burgers. We roll in and order up some bison burgers and beers and start chatting it up with the family of 12 sitting next to us. Literally everywhere we go, everyone we see is like "you guys in a band or something?". I don't know why are surprised when we constantly are being sniped out by anyone and everyone. Why else would a bunch of long hair twenty-somethings be hopping out of a bus singing Foreigner "I want to know what love is"? There is no other explanation.
So Larry is all "You guys in a band or something?" and we start vibing out with Larry and the fam. Super nice people from Dallas up in Taos on vacation skiing. As everyone else is talking, I ran out to the van to retrieve some free CD's to give to our new buddy. They wrap up their meals and head out with friendly goodbye's and goodluck's. About 5 minutes later the really pretty wife walks back in and says "the fam is all out in the car listening to the CD, both Larry and the kids love it! Its a miracle!" We start laughing and thank her for coming in to tell us that. Little did we know, she was also stealthily paying our $120 tab, while asking the waitress specifically to not tell us until they are gone. Wow. Such sweet people. Again we just look at each other and ask what we did to deserve this. While none of us come up with a logical answer, we are super grateful and heartened. Head back to the hotel and shoot more segments for a video blog that we cant wait to release.
8:30 wake up call to get to KTAOS 101.9 for our in studio performance and interview with DJ and program director Paddy Mac. It was really surreal to wake up in Taos. This heavenly mountains with the warm sun and slightly cool mountain air. Still feeling like we were about hunt 8 legged space dogs with the Navi. When we got to the station we were in the waiting area of this rustic, native american / mexican feeling stucco complex completely powered by the sun. Loving life. There are speakers in the wood beam, rusty tile room we were waiting in and we could hear Paddy Mac playing our records talking over the music saying in a fine and relaxed radio voice "In just a minute we'll have The Brew, a band from massachusetts who you know cause we have been playing their single "When Darkness Comes" non stop! Hopefully they'll play it for us, or maybe they'll just play whatever they want and tell me to shove it, they are rock stars used to destroying hotel rooms. Who knows." We are all laughing. This dude is funny.
We set up during a commercial break and get check levels. Everyone here again is so nice and professional. Really great operation they have going up there. The interview and performance just goes swimmingly and we walk out best of buds with the entire station staff. As we are walking gear out we are all receiving texts from back home exclaiming "your'e on The River 92.5!. Again feeling so boss. Here we are in the stratosphere of New Mexico, just killed a radio gig and back home and all through Boston we are getting blasted. So grateful.
We reluctantly jump in the van and start heading out of the magical wonderland that is Taos. Really actually sad to leave, promising each other we will be back as soon as we can. Which is actually feasible because KTAOS wants to plan a gig in the venue attached to their station. Rad.
The drive down the mountain was in a different direction then that from which we came, and some how even more beautiful. After 80 miles of magic, pulling off every now and then for photo ops, we were back in the fuckin desert. Blerrrhhh.
Driving east from New Mexico towards texas is much like you'd imagine. Roads so long you cant imagine how you'll ever reach the end. Desert. Oil trucks doing 80 down a 2 way highway as if they were looking to expend their payload in a fiery and explosive death wish. About 5 hours later we reach the border of New Mexico and Texas and we stop in an unassuming town that we were only slightly sketched out by. The hunger pangs we're just too intense to further ignore. We see a Subway sign, and despite the imaginary nitrate plume seeping out the front door we say 'fuck it'. But wait, right next door is a sign for a burger joint that called 'Baby J's'
We walk in and there are 3 sweet looking elderly people sitting there seemly enjoying their burgers and the whole place is covered in Red Sox memorabilia. Done. I order the jalepeno burger special and as I was waiting I noticed Joe talking to the older gentleman who apparently said to Joe
"You guys in a band or something?" Joe, "Ya man"
Older gentleman "Ever heard of Buddy Holly"
"Ya man of course"
"How bout Roy Orbison"
"Uhh ya obviously!"
Older gentleman "Nifty, I used to sing with them"
Joe turns to Dave and says "THIS GUY!"
I walk over and it turns out the older gentleman is a man named David Bingham. Founder of the singing group 'The Roses' who was recruited by Buddy Holly to be his only backing vocal group to ever tour with him. Ya. You know the song "Its so easy to fall in Love" David Bingham and The Roses. Peggy Sue? David Bingham. "Everyday (it's a getting closer)" all David Bingham. So we are talking to him totally fascinated by his stories of being in the studio and on the road with Buddy and Roy. His wife and the lady with them are super nice and we start chatting with them as they casually mention that they live in the studio where Buddy and Roy recorded all those hits. Um. What?
David's wife continues in her super endearing southern accent "Ya you guys should come check it out! All the microphones and tape machines and amps are still setup just the way they were in 1958!" UM. WHAT?! WHHHATTT!?!?!
We start spazzing. Fuckin spazzing. (This is yesterday by the way 3.14.12)
So we say fuck it, even though we are going to lose 2 hours off our drive to Austin, when do you get to tour Buddy Holly's studio with a personal tour form his band member? Answer FUCKIN NEVER.
So we drive 3/4ths of a mile to the studio and proceed to get our minds blown. This is the birth place of rock n roll. Where The Beatles and Stones got their influence and ambition to say "I can do that!" Unreal. The Celeste that played on "Everyday" is just sitting there and Dave plays the lick. Instant chills that last uncomfortably long. He asks Aaron to play the drum kit that Buddy's drummer played on all those hits to "keep it warm". We see the beds where the band used to sleep in between sessions. The Control room with the original tape machines and speakers hung by legendary producer Norman Petty. Then David starts playing Buddy Holly hits off the original tape, through the original console, and speakers they recorded with. We were hearing the music exactly how it was meant to be heard. We felt like the most blessed set of vagrants to ever hit the road. David is singing along with his background parts and we are just shitting. Just saying over and over "This is amazing", "Thank you so much", "This is amazing", "Thank you so much", as if no other words existed in Websters little dictionary. After spending a few hours with David and his wife we have him sign pictures for us and we part ways after he gave his cell number and email. Dude is a boss. Legend. And now I have him on speed dial. FUCK YA! FUNNEST TOUR EVER!!!
Wonder whats gonna happen in Austin…?
PS check out this video of us touring Buddy's studio!
About to jump in the shower today I was grabbing a non-scratchy towel from our super hospitable, well to-do friends in Madison whom we stayed with for the last two days. Random burst of group laughter permeated the house and I was just thinking how lucky we are to have friends around the country that we get to chill with on these tours. I could definitely write this blog about how much fun we just had, or how this drunk kid pulled out his testicle, strapped it above his belt buckle, and lifted up his shirt until people noticed, because he thought it would be funny, (it wasn't, it was disturbing and awkward) but right now we must discuss how we narrowly escaped being sucked into the devils crack pipe (a fuckin tornado).
So we are driving from Columbus Ohio to Madison Wisconsin which is about an 9 hour drive on a good day. This was not a good day. We are approaching Indianapolis and looking to perform our ritualistic starbucks stop. We find a decent location, pull off and get our coffees, breakfast sandwiches and assorted pastries to chug. We know we don't have a show that night so we are kind of taking our time. Chizzle went to the auto zone and got a power inverter for the bus so we can plug in our macbook pros and start editing the "When Darkness Comes" video. We get back together at the van about twenty minutes after we initially stopped and look up at the sky and notice the weather has completely changed. Its overcast with suspiciously dark clouds arbitrarily strewn across the sky. This is not like anything we've ever really seen. Ryan Sanborn our genius cinematographer friend and documentarian for the tour looks up on his iPhone the radar for the weather. He studies this image for a minute before involuntarily blurting out "What is this purple shit?".
Purple shit on a radar is not good. We turn on the radio to discover spastic DJ's dishing out warnings like some aliens are about to start spraying us with lazer beams. Which actually wasn't far from what was about to happen. Ryan continues his description of what he is checking out on his weather channel app; "Chris, just so you know we are about to hit a wall of some serious shit."
We don't really deliberate about what to do, I guess we naively feel invincible and protected by destiny for some strange reason. Ryan notices another notification on his weather app "Conditions are particularly dangerous", instantly the whole van explodes in laughter and I say "Well, here we go!" and start driving towards this black dog shit death trap.
So we get not only 10 minutes into the drive when shit starts hitting the fan. It should be noted our van is not a normal band van. Its a 10 foot tall, 24 foot long mercedes diesel behemoth. And while having the luxury doing jumping jacks at 65 mph or getting to playing wiffle ball in the back of this monstrosity, the tall roof also mean that this van in the wind is like a fuckin sail.
Gusts bursting out of super random directions, downpour to the point I cant see more than 20 feet in front of me, and supernaturally menacing funnel clouds developing all the fuck around us. I have my eyes peeled on the road while the rest of the band and crew are looking outward in circle watching these little black fuckers start to spin. We are now 40 minutes into the drive and it seems like there is really no end in sight and the radio is clearly stating that this is a very rare weather cell that is uniquely dangerous and twisters are already happening.
The wind picks up even further and now the most clearly defined funnel cloud is about 2 miles ahead slightly to the right of our trajectory. Our new wind tunnel friend wants to reach down and say hello. I mean this thing was reaching for the ground. So I gun it. Doing 70 in this shit knowing we have to get past this thing before it's dreams of molesting planet earth come to fruition. We are now almost directly under it and its just crazy windy and strange. Everyones hearts are just tweaking. No one is even taking out their iPhones to get video or pictures cause we were that scared shitless.
Finally we get passed it and like someone hit the light switch there is bright sky still grey but definitely bright. I ask Ryan where we are on that radar and he says "I think were almost out of it!"
All of the sudden we are in complete and total blue sky 60 degrees sun beaming down on us. We really were now just outside of the deadly mess that destroyed 4 towns completely and killed at least 8 people.
We continue driving through this gorgeous new landscape for a solid two hours but we are still 5 hours from Madison and my buddy who we are about to stay with says its snowing there. Great. So as the temperature drops about 1 degree every 10 miles we drive we finally hit the blizzard that was happening in Wisconsin this same day. Our GPS misleadingly states we are 2 hours from our destination. Not in this icy bullshit. 65 North is so fucking flat that the wind just cranks all in one direction so its just blasting the starboard side of the USS Van Bus. It was like Forrest Gump in nam, "It even rained sideways" well it was snowing sideways and when we drove away a few days later we noticed one side of every tree was plastered in snow while the other side had none. Driving through this was just fuckin annoying. Fighting the wind and ice for four hours, but we finally made it to our buddy's suburban palace and slugged beers and artichoke dip.
We are now about 10 minutes from Chicago and I really think and hope that we are beyond the disparagingly dangerous portion of the tour.
The shows themselves have been just fantastic, our boy AZ on drums is just killing and we are getting silly locked. Onward.
Hey y'all! Doing 70 through Ohio. Dave just ordered me to write a blog about the last 3 weeks being a complete and total whirlwind. Whirlpool. Topsy. Turby. Anyone one of those terms old people say and I don't understand. As many of you know by now, Kane our drummer for the last 10 years, has left the band and we had the mission of trying to replace his position in the band. This is all 2 weeks before a national tour, and a major music video shoot for our single "When Darkness Comes".
So it's about Feb 7th, and after reaching out to any and every trusted musician we know, we scheduled a long few days of auditions to find our next great drummer.
But before we could do that, we had to line up every tiny detail of the massive undertaking known as the official WDC music video. So we are having meetings every night, hacking at the budget, reading manuals for $160,000 cameras, lining up locations and props, lights, storyboarding the video, creating a shot list, refining storyboard etc. Just the preproduction took no less than six, 4 hour meetings.
Now it's Feb 12th and it's time to go on our unfortunately timed vacations. Dave heads to Florida for time share Disney World© adventures, I headed up north for epic mansion snowboarding Sunday River rage time, while Joe rented a donkey and did the last 5th of the Appalachian Trail. After our 5 days of rest, and rage we all convened and agreed that it was pretty tough to relax while all these looming missions yet to come to pass.
So we were excited to get to work on the music video. It is now February 17th and Joe and our amazing life long friend and cinematographer Ryan Sanborn go down to Boston and pick up the $700,000 worth of camera gear we rented for 4 days, while Chizzle (aka Pat Cowden aka Physics aka P FAQ etc) goes and picks up a whole shit ton of moving lights, par cans and haze and snow machines.
We were lucky enough to stay at a beautiful lake house on Squam Lake in NH on location for the shoot. I can't get into the details of the shoot without giving away a bunch about the video itself which is another blog entirely. But I can say that we spent four grueling and fantastic days filming what we believe is going to be our vision completely realized beyond our highest hopes.
We wake up on day 5 after completing the shoot, Joe and Sanborn head out at 6 am to return the gear to Boston, while Dave and I chug mimosas at the lake mansion. But day 5, is also tuesday February 21st, the first day of drum auditions. DUN DUN DUN.
I have to admit I was kind of dreading this day. I still can't pinpoint why…the sadness of Kane leaving…the fear of not finding someone that could live up to our expectations etc. But 7 mimosas later we get back to the jam space and the day begins. Pleasantly, every drummer we saw that day was really great and studied hard to be there, which we are extremely grateful for. But even the most talented drummer would have taken months to learn the amount of material we want to play on this national tour. So at the end of day one auditions we were hopeful but still overwhelmed with how much work its going to take to get the band back up to speed.
But wait. Another kid shows up. Relatively unexpected. He wants to be the last audition of the day. So we get back in the jam space and start up "Going To California", which was one of the most difficult tunes we asked our prospective drummers to learn. This kid is killing it. Joe, Dave and I are all looking around smiling at each other. We finish the tune and realize that every tiny little nuance that we always want to hear is there. So we start asking this kid about himself. He says "I've been seeing you guys live for a long time, and The Brew is part of the reason I decided to play drums and go to school for music." and then continues "remember the Masonic Temple six years ago when Kane got arrested?"
Inside my head: "HOLY SHIT. YOU"RE THAT KID!"
Rewind 6 years…
We are playing a show at the Masonic Temple in Newburyport. First set is raging. 300 kids going ballistic and we are right there with them. We take a break, we are amped and can't wait to play second set. This is back in the day when we really didn't have green rooms, or riders, or private bathrooms. So Kane goes to the bathroom but there is a line out the door and we are about to start playing again. So he heads outside to take a leak and gets busted mid-stream. Cops literally arrested him on the spot. I did everything I could to bail him out before second set but the cops were not having it. So we reluctantly return to the stage with a very strange announcement: "Um…our drummer got arrested and is in jail. Does anyone know how to play drums in the house?"
Instantly a bunch of young girls are screaming and pointing to this kid yelling "He knows how to play and he knows all your songs!"
We bring up this 14 year old kid and he finished the rest of the show with us. Fast forward to tuesday February 21st and look who is KILLING the audition. That 14 year old kid is now 20 and his name is Aaron Zaroulis. He explained "ever since that show, playing in front of all those people, it made me realize its really what I want to do, so I played along to your CD's and studied drums ever since."
So we ask "what other songs do you know?" he replied super humbly "I know like, all of them". "What do you mean?" he reconfirms "Ya, I know them all, every album."
* And the angels sing
* Clouds part and sun emerges from behind the mountains
* baby jesus smiles approvingly
* slot machines spontaneously spit out quarters somewhere in Atlantic City
* The spring flowers bloom
* Dead celebrities trapped in purgatory ascend to heaven
etc.
What a miraculous turn of events. So now barely a week later and we are in Ohio only 20 minutes from the venue and I burned a solid hour cranking this out among the chatty van bus. We are about to start filming video blogs so you won't have to strain your eye balls reading this tediously tiny text. Thank you all for your support through a very difficult and exciting time that ended with angel baby Aaron Zaroulis joining the band. See you on ze road!
Love,
The Brew
Get to The Grog Monday, feb 27th to be the first to witness our new mystery drummer.
Dont be silly.
It is with heavy hearts that The Brew must make this announcement: Kelly Kane, our beloved drummer of 10 years, is leaving the band.
Due to some national radio success with Triptych, we'll be taking to the road full-time to drop into radio stations, play concerts, and get our music out there. Unfortunately, touring nationally while still an emerging band makes for very lean financial times, and Kelly, as a homeowner with a mortgage to uphold, had to make a most difficult decision.
Kelly has been a tremendous asset to the band for the past decade, contributing greatly to the trajectory that put us where we are today. He will surely be missed. As always, The Brew will press on, and are currently holding auditions to find The Brew's next great drummer.
Kelly wants to thank all of the friends, family and fans who have given him their love and support over the years. He's sure you'll see him around (no pun intended) at shows and whatnot. Kelly will always be a huge part of The Brew's past, and he hopes to be part of its future, in one way or another. He cannot stress enough how difficult this decision has been, and he's very thankful for all the fond and joyful memories we share. The Brew wants to thank everyone for their ongoing support while we work to fill Kelly's shoes (although he drums barefoot), and as we continue down the road at this promising and exciting time.
We regret to announce that our show at the Acoustic Café in Bridgeport, CT tonight has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
SiriusXM subscribers...listen for The Brew on Channel 29 Jam On! The new songs from "Light From Below" - 'Birds On The Window' & 'Going To California' - in regular rotation!
This don't suck none.
Thanks to all who came out to that freak show we call our Annual Christmas Ball. It was something we'll never forget! Thanks for letting us blast you with snow machines too!
Love,
The Brew
Hey Brew Fam,
As you probably know we have been hard at work slaving over these albums to make them as great as we possibly can!
Because of a conflict with our touring schedule and the studio availability the release of the 3rd record "Hard Enough to Break" will be pushed back to mid January. We can't wait for the recording to be done and the art to be in your hands, we are doing everything we possibly can to make that happen ASAP!
The show December 17th is still on like donkey kong and there will be 2 albums there available for purchase. In another fun announcement, we will be having a horn section play the show with us! First time ever with horn section! Wha wha?! Ya wha!
Thanks for your continued support and we very much look forward to seeing you at the Annual Christmas Ball December 17th at the Blue Ocean Music Hall!
Love,
The Brew
It is with great pleasure that we announce the release of "Triptych", The Brew's triple album experience on their newly formed label, Riverwood Records. On November 4th, 2011 the first of these records will be available at the Triptych Release Celebration at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston. "A Garden in the Snow", the first album of the project, is almost entirely comprised of unheard songs recorded recently in Virginia. The albums that complete the Triptych experience are "Light From Below" and "Hard Enough to Break".
Behold, Triptych:
1) When Darkness Comes (LISTEN NOW)
2) All the Same
3) Go Ahead
4) See you Around
5) Kimberly Boggs
6) Cayla
7) Reactor
8) The Maze
9) A Garden in the Snow
1) Birds on the window
2) Whose the boss
3) What I Want (extended cut)
4) No Rest
5) Slippin through the city
6) Goin to California
7) Lost (extended cut)
8) Machine
9) Light From Below
1) Broke me Down
2) Make Me Stay
3) Can't Pretend
4) What I Want
5) Lost
6) Sad but true
7) Ghost
8) Poison Stone
9) Let Go
10) Hard Enough to Break
A free download of the single "When Darkness Comes" is available for a limited time at The Brew's Facebook band page!
"A Garden in the Snow" is available now at a discounted rate of $9.99 and will include a signed poster when purchased before November 4th. Get your copy now at the STORE SECTION
The Triptych Release Celebration Shows:
November 4th, The Brighton Music Hall in Boston "A Garden in the Snow"
December 9th, The Port City Music Hall in Portland "Light From Below"
December 17th, The Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury "Hard Enough to Break"
A message from the band:
"We are truly grateful for the opportunity to release so much music after such a long time. See you at the celebration!"
- The Brew
On our secret mission we were caught in a 6.0 quake 5 miles from the epicenter! Joe got clocked with falling debris as we ran out the building. Wild ride this rock and roll biz is! All are well and the mission continues!
Big thanks to the outer banks North Carolina crowd! Big ups to Scars on 45 and 99.1 The Sound for having us. Until next time!
Thanks to all who attended another very special sold out show at The Firehouse! Hope to see you wonderful humans again soon!
Love
The Brew
Check out this interview:
http://newburyportarts.
Check out this interview:
http://newburyportarts.
Hey yo der! We are down in Charlottesville VA hitting the stage with UK Rockers Scars on 45 at The Southern!! At 2. p.m. we our interview and live performance will be on 106.1 The Corner and streaming at www.1061thecorner.com/
Get der!
Make sure to tune into 100.3 WHEB The seacoast rock station to hear some live interviews and a few tunes from us tonight! Around 530 pm!
Topics = flying through the Superbowl, and dudes farting on planes. Real important stuff.
We regret to announce that the show in Syracuse tonight and Erie PA, tomorrow night have been canceled to weather conditions that made our travel schedule impossible. All tickets purchased in advance will be refunded and we will come up with a new date soon. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused! We hope to see our Upstate NY and PA fans asap!!!
We know pride is a deadly sin, but shit, this record is coming out sick. Here is a photo of our producer Bobby Keyes doin some weird stuff that makes everything sound good.
We are gearing up for our mini-tour with our friends and accomplished artists Will Dailey and Audrey Ryan! We will also be shooting a documentary over the 4 shows about the 'revue' style show and its steady decline after World War I. Join us in bringing back this lost live format!
1/26 - Portland ME
1/27 - Londonderry NH
1/28 - Boston MA
1/29 - NYC
Check show page for details!!!
The Brew is excited to announce that we are part of the initial lineup at Snoe. Down 2011! Other artists so far include Moe., Keller Williams, Ryan Montbleau Band, The London Souls (who I just checked out and kick ass) and Lotus.
The festival takes place in Killington Vermont and Killington Resort from March 25-28th! Go here for tickets!
Three of Boston's best acts are combining forces to bring a one-time-only acoustic tour.
Resurrecting the old "revue" style show (think Johnny Cash - June Carter) The Brew, and Boston Music Award winners Will Dailey and Audrey Ryan with be trading sets through out the night. Each act will play interwoven sets with each other creating a one-tour-only traveling revue.
January 26 - Londonderry NH
January 27 - Portland ME
January 28 - Boston MA
January 29 - NYC
Check out the shows page for venue and details!
More on Will Dailey
More on Audrey Ryan
The Brew is very excited to announce their annual Christmas Ball will be held this year at the beautiful Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury MA!
On Saturday December 18th The Brew will be spreading their abundance of Holiday Cheer, along with epic Christmas Medleys and holiday give aways!
Meet us under the mistletoe for an serious make-out sesh.
The New Highway Hymnal opens the show!
The Brew
Saturday, December 18th, 2010
The Blue Ocean Music Hall
98 Elm St. Salisbury MA
$15
ALL AGES
The DVD Release party is October 15th at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston! Get the DVD first for only $5 with the purchase of your ticket! Special guest, Kinetix and Roster McCabe!
Created by web guru Frank D'elia, our new site features a new forum, special incentives for registering a FREE account, more free downloads, and everything is comment-able. There are still tweaks being made but check it out and let us know what you think!
The Brew is excited to announce our Fall US tour with fellow super-bands Kinetix and Roster McCabe! The "sorry for partying" tour starts October 1st at the Bluebird Theater in Denver Colorado! Check the tour page for details!
Nice seeing all you sexy humans this past saturday. Can you find yourself in this shot Chris took from stage?
The Brew will be headlining Port City Music Hall in Portland, ME on August 27th. Barefoot Truth will open. This show is 21+. Tickets are $13adv, $15dos, and $25 VIP. They are available now at http://www.portcitymusichall.com/events/brew and at all Bull Moose Music locations. We are giving away 25 pairs of tickets through Facebook, including 2 pairs of VIP tickets. Go to the Facebook event page for details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121412604570889&ref=ts
Electric Opera Trailer short from The Brew on Vimeo.
The Brew is excited to announce we will playing at this years Moe. Down festival in beautiful Mohawk, NY at the Gelston Castle Estate. Also in the first round of announced bands are Built to Spill, Ryan Montbleau Band, The Black Keys and Tortoise, with many more to come...
Agent:
Dana Marshall - dana@riverwoodrecords.com
Management:
Dana Marshall - dana@riverwoodrecords.com