Is this thing on?

So many great things going on, so many good and great things. With that being said, I can’t fill you in on everything at the moment, ain’t got time for that, but let’s hit the most recent, and pertinent highlights. We’re back!!! Just got a mastered version of Sammies album 3, titled Boy Georgia. 8 songs, a little over 30 minutes long, made to listen to from beginning to end as one massive track, but broken down into the 8 songs for your skipping pleasure. We have more songs already done, and some already mastered, so Sammies 3 will actually slip into Sammies 4 too. No CD’s printed yet, but if you would like the tracks, just send us a message. We’ve been working with a great organization called JoeDance. I encourage you all to check them out, and also to come support us and them 8/27 at Craft in Charlotte. One dollar from every beer sold will go directly to the charity! We play from 8-10. God Save the Queen City is this weekend, and the Sammies will be coming to you live at 3PM from the NC Music Factory. So many great bands playing again this year, so go out and stumble on an up and coming band! Two years ago I stumbled on St. Paul and the Broken Bones there. They opened for The Stones this year! Ya’ll be good to one another until we talk at you next time!

Betty White

Before we get started, obviously Betty White was the best dressed at the Emmy's last night. Am I right, or am I right?

I hope everyone is having/had a great summer! Busy as could be here, seems like everyone has been though. The Sammies have been hanging, and actually have a couple shows coming up in the Charlotte area. Check us out at:

The Visulite
w/ Band of Heathens
Sept 19th
-We open this one I think, so come early.

Snug Harbor
w/ North Elementary
Oct 15th

The Money
w/ ?
Oct 16th
- Come on down to Rock Hill, I mean, it's in SC so...

Good jams:

Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
Wavves - King of the Beach (1st one, not so good, this one is)

Locally, pick up Jon Lindsey, Transmission Fields, Houstons.

Oh, and go drink an Olde Meck Beer somewhere dammit!



"The Sammies, best thing outta NC since tobacco!"

Spring Fever vs. Yellow Fever

Never had Yellow Fever but my vote is for Spring Fever. The flowers are gorgeous, and the sneezing is just a form of detox.

Listening to "Japanese Cowboy" by Ween right now, just saw them Friday night in Asheville. I saw them back in the day, on the Mollusk tour, at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte. Man, those were the days, in hot-ass Tremont, watching some of my favorite bands, you could get up close, or hang back and enjoy. Ween, Blur, Of Montreal with MGMT opening, all at Tremont, saw it with my own eyes...I'm rambling, but the point is GET OUT & SEE BANDS! You never know when the next MGMT may be opening for some band at your little, un-airconditioned, dingy rock club down the street. Or, if you prefer, wait until they get big, have a song you can sing, and then go see them at some fucking Live Nation venue that screws you from the parking down to the water. I never paid to park at Tremont.

Back to the blog at hand; I know I wrote a couple of posts since the last one you see. I probably deleted them, just as I have lots of Sammies demos I think suck. Who knows, not a big deal, just means I have some writing to make up for. No worries, I will break it up into segments.

Shows are few and far between now-a-days. Only one coming up, and that's June 18th @ Visulite Theater. Our home venue! As of right this minute, we may not even play any songs off of the two current albums. I don't know what we'll play, or who may show up to play it all. The members of the Sammies will be there, along with some buddies in The Moderate, but new things are happening, and I don't want to pigeon hole us, and I don't want to disappoint, so it will be awesome, but different.

Enough for now, go see local shows! Don Yale saw the Avett's play during a UNCC ticket camp-out, I saw them at Manifest Disc and Tapes with a handful of others, and then about 5 years later saw them on a sold out New Years at Blumenthal. Oh, and Dr. Dog played our Athens, GA CD release show with the Whigs years ago, at Tasty World, and it might have cost $5. I have the poster to prove it.

We're backkkkkkk

After a brief hiatus with the blog, we're back and better than ever! I hope you enjoy the nice, new font.

Been having a bright, Carolina summer. I personally spent the better part of July in the Wilmington area with a good friend, attended some nice weddings, went to Vegas, the Outer Banks, Cleveland, and lots of places in between. The other fellows have been enjoying the sun too. Most of the past several years have been spent on the road every chance we could get, so having time off felt weird, but still cool in it's own way. Flying free man.

We don't have many shows coming up; Elon this Friday, Columbia first of next year, Charlotte before too long, maybe a surprise show at "the other Mexican restaurant" in Wadesboro, flying free there too I guess. We did play at the old Durham Bulls park in Durham. Totally renovated, looking good, such a classic venue...not for music really, but we added that element.

So, not much else to discuss right now, but I can mention two things:

1). While we are chilling, please check out two bands we could not stand behind more, Shine River and the Spalding Grays. The first being old guitarist Mr. Upshaw's band, and the latter Mr. Thunderbird's new outfit. I know the Grays play the Shuffle party, early, on the 13th I think, not this weekend but the next, in Charlotte, check it out. Send em a message, and spit beer on them for encouragement at shows.

2). Other good music, random, no order:

- Julian Casablancas "11th Dimension," album preview seemed weak, that song is a hit

- The Soft Pack "Fences" (Phoenix cover), if you don't have the new Phoenix album get it, and if you do, check this cover, well done b/c they make it their own.

- New bands Girls, Javelin, Neon Indian, and Washed Out all have some good tunes, check those. Last three are electronicish, the first rock.

- The Avett Brothers new album is a big deal, especially around here, no review here, but do check out "Laundry Room." If you like it, keep going.

- Empire of the Sun, I say highest rated, album not so tight overall, but some killer songs, they pull you in.

Enjoy the Fall!

Fish-sticks

This is an old post, never "posted" because I probably intended to write more, add pics, links, who knows. It is old as heck too, but read, and if you were at one of the shows you'll know how old this baby really is. Continuing on...

OK, so the fish-sticks joke isn’t funny written. Funny as a mother fucker said though! Ask the next gentleman you see if he likes fish-sticks, please.

We just got back from one heck of a weekend swing! We started it off with a bang in Charlotte at the Visulite last Thursday. If you’ve read the other posts you’d know we were reuniting with our cohorts, The Whigs. A band I have talked to online before, never in person until that night, also played, The Hymns. Two of the guys grew up in Harrisburg, they have since moved to NYC, but remain cool like they were from around here still. They played a great set and we look forward to meeting up with them again soon.

All of my pedals have been cursed lately (make that pedals, cords, and automobiles). I freaking hate all of those pedals anyway. I mean, the cool guitar players who have the awesome sounds generally have multiple pedals and setups. They just frustrate me, always breaking it seems, and then there goes the fun straight out the window. Take the fun out of this and what’s left? It sure as hell isn’t money! So, I ditched the pedals, ditched the heavy amp, and went with the old Fender Jr. Pro. Guitar to tuner to amp, nothing else; how can you screw that up?

(Plug the amp where the guitar should go and guitar where amp should be).

OK, so we take the stage in my somewhat naked state and it feels good, like rock should man. I like being exposed with no distortion or reverb to bail me out. Yeah, I probably scuffed a note or two, big damn deal. Sometimes you get so pinned up in the business side of things you forget how to forget, and just go with the flow. I had a good friend remind me.

The Whigs were up next and they keep getting better. Parker has learned how to channel the crowd, Tim owns his side of the stage, and Julian is the wizard behind it all. Bobby Freedom jumped up to dual the solo in “Half the World Away” with Tim Dr. Dog style; what a fun Thursday night it was!

Friday the Whigs made the long trek to Nashville to play with fellow buds Wax Fang; and Charlotte to Nashville is in fact quite a trek. The Sammies went up 85 a piece to Elon. We have never played Elon so we were intrigued to be playing somewhere new. The guys at 89.3 (The Bacon) were super nice and we told stories and I played an acoustic version of “Trainwreck.” We went to The Lighthouse and found out we were playing with I Was Totally Destroying It, a band I had wanted to see for some time. They were awesome and owned it! Favorite new local band for sure. We’ll be back at The Lighthouse 4/24.

Saturday, we packed up the ride, this time with birthday friend Big Chris. I guess he was our merch guy, but he got a wee bit drunk (it was his birthday) and ended up being the good time Charlie instead. I think the whole band was drunk honestly, except for Freedom. We played first, so getting ripped and watching The Whigs was on the docket for some time.

When we came out about 10:00pm the 40 Watt was already slammed. Tickets had been sold out all day. Balls out, we went up there and rocked. No fish-sticks for the Sammies that night for sure. We always get a great response from the Athens crowd, and we love playing there, thanks to all! After we played we got to hang out. Did I mention we got drunk? Phone tag:Parker getting his gill on

Anyway, it was so awesome, I ran into old Athens friends, former Whig, Hanktronics (later in the night, after emerging from backstage, Hank played bass on “Can you Hear me Coming” for you old schooler's), Josh Rifkind, Beretta, Modern Telescopes, I mean everyone.

It was a busy, encompassing night, and we finally got back to The Whigs house at 4am. We ended the night watching this old program that seemed like a radio show but videotaped. I recall Roger Moore playing a big role; and my favorite line of the night was, “We’re highly informal and the higher we get the more informal we are.”

We’re blessed to have such good friends!

Yello

I don’t even have anything in particular I want to talk about, just decided to update. I really do long for the time to write; maybe I would write everyday like good writers say you should. I long for time to do lots of things, a vacation, to clean out my closet, plant some grass, beat a couple of video games, finish reading several books I started, oh, and see some people I haven’t seen in forever, that would be nice.

I do find the time for things I deem important though, come to think of it. I got my taxes done, important because of the IRS; I managed to make it to the Dr. Dog show, important because I like Dr. Dog and we played with them back in the day; I don’t have many weeds growing in my Animal Farm town, important because it’s an addiction that doesn’t harm me; I let the real dog (canine) out at lunch, important so she doesn’t pee on the floor and so she is well taken care of; lots of things I guess.

We don’t have many shows coming up, so maybe I can get around to all of these things I speak of. The shows approaching are 4/2, 4/3, 4/4. The first one is at our stomping grounds, the Visulite in Charlotte. Best buds the Whigs headline, and former Charlotteans, The Hymns open. We’re sandwiched in between (ba-doom-tat). The Friday show is up I85 a piece to Elon, and a new/old venue The Lighthouse. It’ll be our first time playing at Elon believe it or not. Finally, Saturday we meet back up with the Whigs at their stomping grounds, the 40 Watt in Athens. We LOVE that venue and I’m sure it will be one hell of a night. We start the evening off, Dark Meat follows, Whigs headline…

…besides that, just a couple of benefits, one in Charlotte, and one in Atlanta. In ATL our buddy Josh Rifkind (also Whigs MGR) is going through the painstaking task of another 500 Songs for Kids. Our song is a secret, but please come support this event any night you can, Smith’s Olde Bar. The whole thing lasts a little over a week and the money goes to a great cause. In Charlotte we’re playing the annual Fool’s Brigade for the first time. This show will benefit Jacob’s Ladder and includes every musician I know in Charlotte! Bruce Hazel is putting it on again this year, and we appreciate him involving us. Rolling Stones covers all night, and I’ve seen the list, no moss will be gathered. The songs are secrets for this one too, but name 5 songs you would want to hear and I bet at least 4 are played. Show at the Neighborhood Theater.

Cool update, our colleague Billy Bennett is working with MGMT on their new album. Billy helped us record our last one and is a true talent. I know they will knock it out of the park!

I haven’t had a music update in a while, and I plan to do that shortly. I have gotten lots of new stuff, and for a change, some of it is freaking really good. Check out A Place to Bury Strangers; NYC band, about to be touring Europe with friends, and Athenians, Dead Confederate. For fans of BRMC, Joy Division, Jesus & Mary Chain, etc.

Big City Life

A great man once said, “To be continued,” and that brings me to our upcoming trip back to NYC. But first, we must go back to October 22nd, when a van (we took a van last time, truck and trailer this go round) slap full of sexy beasts emerged from the Appalachian Mountains in Williamsburg Brooklyn. We have done the CMJ thing before, several times, and honestly had no intentions of going back. SXSW is a damn hoot, but CMJ is a bit much; too many bands in one very small area, you can’t get around easily, it costs a small fortune unless you care to stay in Newark, the shows don’t pay well, if at all, been there, done that. Well, Brooklyn Vegan got in touch with us through our PR people, and asked if we would come play their showcase for CMJ at Music Hall of Williamsburg. A. Brooklyn Vegan is a great blog and they have a taste in music more akin to our own, B. Music Hall of Williamsburg is a fantastic venue and that whole conglomerate of clubs treats bands well, C. It’s not in Manhattan , so it’s not quite the mess other places are, and D. The other bands on the bill were “buzzworthy.”

When we showed up for sound check, which we never got (big bill, no ones fault really, and we were the least in need due to setup), it was obvious that the Sammies would be the odd men out on the bill. The first guy we met was Thor, the drummer/percussionist/clarinet/etc guy from Shearwater, that night’s secret guest. 

He couldn’t have been nicer and when we mentioned that they were the “secret” band he said, “Well, I’ve known about it for weeks.” Anyway, I was tempted to run get us all scarves or something, so we didn’t stick out, but I figured our accents would give us away before long, what’s the use. Besides the fact we looked different, I soon found out rock and roll was music of yesteryear to folks in Williamsburg. The first band, Emmy the Great, was female fronted, acoustic for the most part, and had a song about abortion. I mention that b/c we were next.

We only had 30 minutes, never played The Music Hall before, so, that left us no choice but to play a strict, balls-to-the-wall, rock and roll, in the face set. Plus, if we were going to stand out, we really wanted to stand out! Success:



The Sammies came up next and they were the most WTF choice on the bill (at least that's what I gathered from the look people gave me whenever I brought them up). To quote Bill (who hasn't listened to their new album) (like I have many times), "they were fun and unpretentious and offered a constant stream of photo-ops". Brooklyn Vegan

- Thanks BV for having us and rocking out the album!

“…even at their best moments they were just a warmed over homage to Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and generic Southern rock (see the song "Treat Her Like a Queen" on their MySpace). Idolator

- Although phrased as a “stone-cold bust” I really appreciate this review. Please compare us to those bands any day of the week.

The first band I caught was The Sammies, a down home rock ‘n’ roll party band that reminded me of swilling beer at bonfire parties. The guys were talented, too. And with lyrics referencing taking your clothes off and running in the rain, how could they not be fun to listen to? The band is from North Carolina and made mention of it more than once. “In case you weren’t aware we’re the rock portion of the night,” said the lead singer and guitarist. Indeed. NYCPress

- Indeed!

I've written about Emmy already, so straight to the North Carolina's The Sammies who were odd men out on the bill. They reminded me a lot of stuff I used to play when I was a college radio DJ, the many bands who formed in R.E.M.'s wake. (In fact, their new album was recorded at Mitch Easter's studio, he the man who produced Murmer and Reckoning.) The Sammies don't aspire to be anything more than fun, riff-heavy rock n' roll and in that they succeed. An image makeover could help their rep a bit but it might also make them seem like phonies. I say stay just the way you are. Soundbites

- Would you drink fake beer; then why listen to fake rock and rollers?

The next band began to set up, and I spotted cowboy boots and a guitarist noodling a blues riff during the quick soundcheck. This could be good or bad. The Sammies are from Charlotte, North Carolina, with their drummer explaining, "That’s why I sound like this" (referring to his Southern twang). Some middle-aged men waved wildly to my left and I realized that this band of boys had some dads in the house. Aww. The Sammies launched into a set reminiscent of The Black Lips’ chaos and The Drive-By Truckers’ exuberance, and I’m not surprised when I find these two bands on their MySpace Top 8 later that evening. The bassist owned this band, driving them along at a boot-stomping clip, and the drummer screamed to his heart’s content when he managed to get near his mic. The Sammies urged the crowd to "do a social," and they obliged, but the house largely did the standing-still for the set. Too jaded on rock ‘n’ roll bravado? It’s possible. The Sammies aren’t exactly doing anything new, but for a pack of guys who look like they should still be in a basement somewhere, their chops are disproportionately polished. Sandwich, their second album, is out now on Morisen Records. Tinymixtapes

- True, Gastonia would put their asses to shame, but they paid $15 to stand still so be it.

Favorite set was by the band from North Cakalacki, The Sammies. This band has some really catchy rock tunes and a live set that one just has to see. A few of my pics are below and the rest are on my flickr. Freshbread

- And I fucking love good, freshly baked bread!

Next up was The Sammies, a rock band from North Carolina that reminded us a lot of the Strokes circa 2001 –unpretentious and fun. Except with Southern accents and facial hair. Despite their occasional tendencies to veer toward country jam-band territory, they probably

would have been way buzzworthy half a decade ago. Sothisiswhatthevolumeknobisfor

- Strokes? I still don’t get that reference. Someone please help me out.

We did arrive in time to see The Sammies begin playing. They seemed set on letting everyone that they were a rock band by saying things like “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re the rock band on tonight’s lineup.” Enlightening, truly. Subterranean blog

- I guess we stated the obvious that night.

(Apologies to the Sammies, who played in between Emmy the Great and Shearwater. I missed their set due to a severe wave of jet lag, thanks to coming back from Iceland Airwaves a little over 24 hours previous.) pitchfork

- No worries, we’ll play many more shows. We appreciate the honesty and the past reviews. Getting around NYC is a bitch even when 100’s of bands aren’t playing all over the damn place.



OK, so that was just a taste of the blogs I found with a quick Google search. So crazy! You play one “tastemaker” show and viola. But, I must say, if you live in Williamsburg Brooklyn you either play in a band, write a blog, or are a Hassidic Jew; and possibly a combination of them all.



Alright, continuing on with the night’s billing. After our brief set Shearwater took the stage. I think they are really talented, and so do many others, just look at the “best of” lists, but after our set it was a bit of a sleepy transition. So spot on though, minus the fact you could hear a pin drop, and did a couple of times, if you like chiller music I highly suggest them, check out "rooks."

Batting next was another “best of” band, Ponytail. Don Yale said they were very entertaining to watch, female fronted, and she screams kind of the whole time, but still fun to watch. I downloaded their hit, "Celebrate the Body Electric," and it sounds good, is somewhat catchy, but at 7 minutes, doesn’t make the iPod cut, because when you shuffle you don’t want to run across that. They should remix to 3 minutes and it would be a damn awesome song!

Fighting out of the blue corner (aka next) was Passion Pit. This is one of the bands I could get down on. Their hit, "Sleepyhead," is a great electronic song. Supposedly penned as a Valentine’s Day gift for the front guy’s girlfriend, the EP fell into others hands and then became desired. I would go see them again.

First runner up happened to be who I was most excited to see, Jens Lekman, but billed as, the Singing DJ Jens Lekman.

Read the bigger blogs, he sucked!  He has a great, very interesting sounding LP, but when your highlight is spinning Mariah Carey you're jacked up as hell!  Maybe he's bored with himself already, such an artist in some respects, then where's the next album?  Wait, that was not cool, I used to be a closet musician, and it may have been the best creative times of my life, but music is to be shared...Jens will come through, and it may be some of the best music you never hear.

Finally, last but not least, The Phenomenal Handclap Band. Fronted by two NYC DJ’s, and accompanied by a host of other area musician’s from, but not limited to, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Calla, TV on the Radio, Mooney Suzuki, and others.  I feel bad for sound guys sometimes, especially with such an ambitious bill, but kudos to them for reeling it all in.

It was a long night, and a long drive back to Charlotte, but where are you going to park a van full of equipment, safely, in the city? Exactly, that’s why we always head back, or to the next show.

Brooklyn Vegan was beyond fucking awesome for having us, and everyone we saw and met there couldn’t have been nicer. Thanks again! Funny enough, I’m listening to Brooklyn Vegan’s show on SIRIXMU channel 43; XM/Sirius Radio merged and now the stations are all listed different. This blog is posted late b/c I wanted to include some cool links and pics, then the holidays hit, so here we are, crap, or do I mean carp! Hope to have another post soon!

Be excellent to each other!