This summer has been full of art and travel for Eli August and our little band. We started the summer with a tour; continued with hours of recording, for some of which I flew in from New York to add my touch; and we will finish up the month of August with another east coast tour, for which our first stop will be Philadelphia’s premiere steampunk event, Dorian’s Parlor. This is not to mention our most recent event for which we traveled from our respective headquarters to Balitmore, MD. We are truly a band that exists primarily on the road.
The Carnival of the Curious took place at the Vagabond Players theatre in Fell’s Point and featured music by our friends Petal Blight, The Clockwork Dolls, and new friends This Way to the Egress, as well as presentations by a selection of performance artists and mentalists from the Baltimore area. You should check out all of the above for a very diverse view of what steampunk has to offer in the way of new bands; I especially enjoy …the Egress. And while you’re at it, why not Eat Bertha’s Mussels and check out her haunted bathroom?
Now that we’ve taken care of that meticulous linking (wait: click here for pictures from the Carnival of the Curious), on to the promotions. At the end of this month, we’ll be touring the east coast again. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
We are pleased to announce the official unveiling of the music video for our KOI Records release “Asleep at Night,” available only on YouTube. The single is available on vinyl from KOI Records online, or you can pick up a copy directly from us at a show while supplies last! (For those of you whose record players have become one with the ages, we will include with the record a burned CD with “Asleep at Night” plus two bonus tracks, available only as a package at our shows.
And now, without further ado, “Asleep at Night,” produced by Bob Hill and Scott Johnson of Silverback Pictures.
This weekend we will be participating in the Rock for Ruth tour with some friends from Milwaukee and Chicago. Here’s the deal:
Four original artists from the midwest have put together a cancer benefit for one remarkable woman named Ruth Prus. She’s a cancer survivor, and has chosen to “give back” to the community in many ways. One of her selfless acts of support, for others facing what she has already gone through, is to sign up for the Susan G. Komen 3-day, 60-mile walk in Chicago this August. Just being a participant in this walk will cost her about $2,500 (after all, it’s a money-raising endeavor of the highest proportions). So, she has set out to get sponsorships from anyone she can, and people are answering the call.
We will be playing three nights with our friends Union Pulse of Milwaukee, Tom Wanders of Platteville, and No Exit of Chicago.
Today we received our shipment of the vinyl split Eli August/Jim Strange single released by KOI Records. Sadly, because of a printing error we did not have this release for our first stint out east, but you can purchase the record from KOI Records directly or pick it up at any of our remaining shows this summer. (Evidently there are 30 copies of the original pressing out there, which have the labels reversed. Check the black market.)
Speaking of remaining shows this summer, you midwesterners can see the full trio this July on the Susan G. Komen benefit tour, for which we’ll be visiting Minneapolis, MN; Platteville, Madison, and Milwaukee, WI; and Chicago, IL July 7 – July 11. Stay tuned for venue details.
And lastly, we’d like to do another another loop around the east coast at the end of this summer, and we could use your help to make the most out of this tour. This time around, we’d like to play with as many local bands as possible, so if you have a favorite band in the northeast who specializes in chamber rock, acoustic, experimental music, or just plain indie, please post your suggestions in the comments to this post, and we’ll shoot them a message.
Last Saturday was NakamaCon, and the last day of Eli August’s first tour of the summer. I must confess, before this summer, I had been to no convention of any sort and assumed that such events were not for me. I enjoy anime and games, but I don’t really geek out over them, and so, in spite of my nerdy job, interests, and general demeanor, I feel a bit out of place entering the halls of institutionalized geekdom. That said, I’ll also point out that the audiences we play for at cons are much more open and enthusiastic, and consequently much more fun to play for.
I was going to make this post about delving into the question of furry fandom, but that would require too much speculation on my part to be worthwhile, since I didn’t talk to any furries at this particular convention. So instead, this post will be a media EXTRAVAGANZA! First, a couple sketches from Emily Weichbrod, who has supplied us with our first audience tributes (‘fan art’ seems awfully presumptuous to me):
Mike D. by Emily Weichbrod
Eli August (unfinished) by Emily Weichbrod
This set inspired drawings, dancing, and (retroactively) clothing design by our friends at Blasphemina’s Closet. We encourage this sort of thing at all of our shows, especially people doing a jig in period dress.
Last but not least, your video. Here’s “Lion” as played at NakamaCon 2010:
Mike D
p.s. – Keep your eyes open for more blogs and live footage coming soon. Eli August has an eventful summer in store: We will be taking part in a benefit tour in July (WI, IL, MN) for the Susan G. Komen cancer walk in Chicago, going into the studio to record our first LP, and hopefully making it back on the road in August.
Well, well. Here’s the last post for our little tour out east. We made our way down to Asheville, NC last weekend, did some busking, patronized a few restaurants, and played one last show before driving home. Asheville is a sort of hippy town in the same general vein of Madison, except perhaps a bit more compact. Our short time there suggests to me that Asheville is a Janus for performers. Here’s why.
First, looking to the bright future: People in Asheville love street performers, and I dare say they like double bass players, especially when playimg in the classical style. We set up on the corner Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and played a few sets. Long story short, we paid for the gas it took to get there from Maryland and sold several CDs on the street. Oddly, people thanked us just for being there, and waitresses seemed very friendly and interested in our musicianly exploits. We got a hefty tip from one generous listener, which we blew at a Cuban restaurant where I talked to a waitress who was apparently considering moving to New York, and to whom I sadly did not give my email. She looked like the singer from Flyleaf, too. Oh well.
Anyway, the place loves music and we were very glad to be a part of that for a while. There were a ton of musicians out there, which makes the level of acceptance of buskers more surprising to me.
The all-too-familiar past: We thought it’d be a bright idea to do some flyering in advance of the show. Again, a very surprising response – people thanked us for the hand bills, as opposed to what usually happens up north, where people (including myself) usually ignore you. I had high hopes, but sadly, only 1 flyer did its prescribed duty. A few other people dropped by for the set (sitting outside the venue and looking through the door, rather than coming in), but we rocked their faces off even from that distance. So, our scheme didn’t work, but the weekend taken as a whole was quite successful. Asheville is alright with me, and if that waitress should happen to read this, here’s hoping she uses this fine website to get in touch.
Anyway, here’s the usual video, a bittersweet performance on a lonely ukulele:
Epilogue:
This being my first tour, I learned a lot about what the experience is like, and we as a band learned a lot of lessons on how to position ourselves in such endeavors. There was a lot more bathing in gas stations than I expected, and about as many groupies as I anticipated (0). Evidently, having done all the math,we estimate our total profits from this trip…to have covered the gas it took to get there and back. We’re hoping to come back in a few months to try again. We got several email addresses and mailing addresses, so you (my fragile ego requires me to assume that the people we met are actually reading this blog) will hear from us soon about when we’ll return.
Until then, keep checking in for more performance videos from a benefit tour we’ll be doing in the midwest this July, and from Nakamacon, which will be happening this weekend. And, I said I’d try to use my powers of erudition to write a little piece about the steampunk scene, so hopefully we’ll get that up too.
This post should best be understood as a celebration of smaller towns and less so as a denunciation of big cities. After all, I live in New York for most of the year, and I have no intention of leaving anytime soon. That said,
New York City, you done me wrong!
In spite of your many buildings, your attractive women, and your ample hot dog supplies, being with you can feel like being alone. I know I said I’d come back to you last night, but I’m staying out here. This is just something I have to do – I know you’ll understand. We’ve been building a bit of momentum in the past couple days, and instead of me taking a bus back to New York with my bass at 6:00am, I decided just to finish this little stint and go back home to Wisconsin for a while. After all, Nakamacon is coming up next Saturday, and Eli August is playing at 8:00pm. Equally as importantly, this Sunday at 8:00, we’re playing at BoBo Art Gallery in Asheville, NC. We had some great shows in Ithaca, Lock Haven, and Catonsville this week, met some cool people, and sold some CDs – we’re hoping for the same this weekend.
As to Catonsville – we had a last minute venue change and wound up playing at Caton Tavern with our new friends Petal Blight. I will be honest, at first glance, I didn’t have high hopes for this place as a music venue, owing to the prominence of flat screen TVs and dining families. I’ve played in places like these in both Wisconsin and New York and came out feeling mightily sad, but therein lies the difference between Catonsville, MD and these other spots. What is the difference? I don’t know. Could it be that people were happy to see something new in a bar that doesn’t usually have music? Could it be that there was not a whole lot else happening “within walking distance!,” as the bar’s slogan touts? Maybe it’s that Petal Blight has awesome friends and neighbors, and you should move to Catonsville right now. Whatever the case, we set up in a corner below a too-low hanging lamp, and the whole place was ready to hear new music, which is rare. We felt very welcome, and I was quickly ashamed of my skepticism. Caton Tavern also has giant drinks – you should spend all your money there whenever you go to Maryland.
The same can be said about Lock Haven, PA and specifically Avenue 209. Sleepy town at first glance, but once we started playing, things started waking up a bit. Evidently, some of the listeners started texting people telling them to come to the show. Turned out to be a cool show and a great show of support from people we had never even met. The point I hope I’m making here is that evidently Lock Haven and Catonsville provide audiences a million times more adventurous and enthusiastic than New York City does, with all its cultural centrality. Pick up your game New York.
Also, last night, we stayed at the home of Brennan of Petal Blight and his wife. They have Mario stickers on the ceiling in one room – I took pictures. Thanks for the hospitality!
Mike D
p.s. Considering the tone of this post, the following video, taken in Central Park, may seem somewhat inappropriate. Frankly, I don’t care. It’s a good song and the scenery’s nice.
So we’re doing a short tour on the east coast. I met the others in Philadelphia, then we made our way to the Steampunk World’s Fair before going to NYC and Ithaca. We met several cool and enthusiastic people at SPWF, and we hope we can come back next year to hit the fair with everything we learned about the convention. NYC was slim pickings, but we got caught on film busking in Central Park by a documentary filmmaker, who we hope will become riotously successful very soon. Also, we got a $115 ticket for parking 2 feet too close to a fire hydrant – it’d be nice if we could make that back.
Today we played in Ithaca – hours of busking and two sets at The Giving Tree Cafe – probably the most any of us have played in one day ever. We had a bunch of enthusiastic people there tonight, who we met while busking in the Ithaca Commons, where we got some help from a cool little kid who did the town crier thing for a while. People seem to be very receptive to new music here, and everyone we met today was quite nice to talk to after the show. Also, a couple nice people tipped us with cookies and candy. Nothing wrong with that. (Please don’t everyone tip us in food.)
We’re staying with our friends Carol and Cesar tonight (thanks), and tomorrow, we’re off to Avenue 209 in Lock Haven, PA @ 7:00. Then, Friday at The Vintage Coffee in Mt. Airy, MD @ 8:00; and Bobo Gallery in Asheville, NC on Sunday May 23.
Mike D
p.s. Here’s a video of “Door Ajar” from tonight’s show, featuring the voice of the kid mentioned above:
Lobster is very cheap in Maine. That just means we bought a lot. Maybe we should busk here by the ocean to pay for it. 9:00 tonight @Slainte#2010/08/31
Camping in maine. Tonight i cooked a can of beans on the fire. First hobo style can for me. Best can o' beans ever. #2010/08/30
Recipe from the road: Poor Man's Thai Wraps! Apply marmalade, peanut butter to wheat tortilla, add habanero sauce, garnish w lettuce, tomato #2010/08/30
