The February Whirlwind

The February Whirlwind

Hey Yall,

We just rolled home from about 2 1/2 weeks out on the road, and wanna say hey to all the folks we met while we were gone. It was great to see family and friends everywhere we went. We can't tell you how it feels to roll in from an 8 hour drive and be greeted by the warmth of the people we know. Thanks to Missy and Jim and all the families in Lexington,KY who open up their homes to us. Of course, it was wonderful to go "home" to Spartanburg, SC for a few days. Just in case you don't know, Jeff, Rob and Marshall grew up there, and the community supports them so fully that they have taken the rest of us in and Spartanburg has become a second home for us, too! Thanks to Shane Pruit for all the jams. Here's a link to a blog written about the show in Spartanburg,SC by Dan Armonaitis:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=377773638&blogID=470729420

Another great part of the last tour was the Folk Alliance. If you don't know, the Folk Alliance is a conference where a bunch of musicians get together with a bunch of people in the folk business commuinty and cross pollinate for a weekend. It is always a blast for the musicians because we get to see our friends from around the country/world who are doing exactly the same thing as us and exchange stories/songs etc. into the wee hours of the morning. Since we were only there for the friday night of the conference, we took full advantage of the evening. The one night we were there, got to hang with the guys in The Boulder Acoustic Society, check out The Duhks, and even see tons of our friends from Austin including Dustin Welch and The Marshal Ford Swing Band. It was really an honor to have Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn sitting and watching our showcase in our friend Greg Liszt's showcase room. I am still amazed to look back and think of all that happening in one night.

The last night of the tour was the show in Charleston, WV on the Mountain Stage. What a highlight! If you are unfamiliar with Mountain Stage, you should know about it. Mountain Stage is a nationally syndicated radio show that gets recorded twice a month or so in front of a live audience in Charleston, WV. They always have a great line up of bands, and the week we were there was no acception. We got to play with a fun cast of characters, including Sometymes Why, The Spring Standards, Steve Poltz and The Drive By Truckers. Truly inspirational to see such amazing music in one night!

Meanwhile, Rob and Jeff have been working hard on finalizing all the details for the festival that they are throwing just outside of Spartanburg, SC on June 19th and 20th, The Music Camp. Stay tuned for the launch of the website, including the exciting line up of amazing bands! All that work combined with us getting the details on our new record out has made the van into an office on wheels. Except maybe a bit more fun!

Well, off to get ready for the show tonight at Momo's in Austin. Hope to see you there!

-Phoebes

OK guys – Let me first start with an enormous apology for not being more on top of this blogging stuff. Until about mid-way through this past tour, I truly never thought being a musician was much of a “real job,” as they say. We get to perform in front of amazingly receptive people all over the country, we get to see all kinds of places across the country, we get to meet famous people, we get to record records in incredible studios, all in the name of doing something that we love.

But for all of those great things, there is indeed a “behind the scenes” scene, if you will. We’ve been what seems like everywhere this summer. We’ve been up at 6AM, in the van for 12 hours, and then cranked out 2-3 hours shows. We’ve slept in crappy hotels, and some nice ones too. We lost our beloved chariot a couple weeks ago to a failing transmission. (fret not, we have a new one.) We’ve blown tires, and missed shows. We’ve had bad shows, and we’ve had great shows. We’ve seen each other’s smiling faces literally everyday since the middle of May when we set out for California. And, now, we’re home.

You get so used to the road schedule after a while. It even seems weird to me that I actually have time to sit here in my living room and write about it. I even slept in my own bed last night, imagine that.

But for all of the daily in and out drudge that sometimes accompanies this particular profession, we are lucky people, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is simply just to rewarding, when after a seemingly endless day of travel, accompanied by all of our patience running out, and a show we just didn’t quite know how to feel about, someone comes up after a show and tells you it was the best show they’ve seen all year. So, I’d like to thank each and every person that made it to a show, bought a CD, or just took the time to come say hello, from the bottom of my heart. We simply can’t do it by ourselves, so thanks. A lot. Really.

So really, with the exception of 2 very, very short lived and busy trips home, we’ve been on the road since the middle of May. 8 weeks. Pictures will be going up very soon on our MySpace page, and our Fickr page, which you can link to from our website.

We got to meet and play with some amazing bands and musicians along the way so far. There are so many people out there trying to do the same thing we are, and who are, in my humble opinion, far more deserving, so if you get the chance to see someone you’ve heard about, or read about, please go see them. Buy their CD if you like it, put some money in their tip jar, because it ain’t easy folks.

Sorry to preach, just now that I’m home, I actually got a little nostalgic about this summer. We’ve played 40+ shows since we set out, not including radio, and I can remember the good and the bad about all of them. So all I ask here is that those of you who read this and would like to share anything about a set you caught, or our van running you off the road in Nebraska, please do. (If you’re reading this on our website – pop over to the MySpace page or the Blog page). I could write a novel about this summer’s events if I started from the beginning of this tour, so instead of doing that, I want to open it up to you. I’ll do my best to respond to questions or good stories.

So that’s going to be it for now. We have 3 weeks off here in Austin before we set out to do it again. Back to Colorado for the Four Corners Festival. We did the sister festival back in June called Pagosa Folk and Bluegrass. Absolutely beautiful place, equipped with the nicest people on earth, and the best back stage food we’ve found to date.

We have a rehearsal today too! And surely many, many more to follow, so expect lots of new stuff coming at you on this next leg.

Thanks to everyone, wishing you all the best…

Rob

two vids

Two videos to check out - one from ME-TV here in Austin and another taken in Baltimore when we opened up for Lyle Lovett. Enjoy.

7/17/08

Seven and a half weeks on the road.

Nevada, California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and home again

Lots of time in the van. Lots of pictures. Even a video or two. Check it

#10 baby snakes

We're #10 on the Americana Music Charts this week. Check it out here http://www.americanaradio.org/ama/displaychart_beforetracks.asp?mode=lw&dtkey=

It's getting hot in Austin.


Photo by Rockslide Photography

SXSW and the past

The latest news from Belleville Outfit World Headquarters here in Austin, TX

SXSW

We were very honored to be asked to play an official showcase this past saturday for the SXSW music festival here in Austin, as well as a spot playing at the Austin Music Awards, in a tribute to Walter Hyatt. Lyle Lovett and David Ball were among some of the other musicians also playing. Here's a shot of Lyle in the dressing room with Connor in the backround. (photo by rockslide photography)




We've also been doing some great house concerts lately, completely acoustic and stripped down of any amps or microphones. We did one here in Austin for John Grubbs and his family. Then in the same week we played in Houston at the Frederick family Side-Door Sessions. Those folks sure now how to throw a party, and we had a great time making music for them. Here's some pictures from both. (Photo's by Rockslide Photography and The Fredericks)

















And here's some pictures from earlier this year, starting in Colorado and ending up in South Carolina. Enjoy!