Thursday, March 29, 2012

March 23-24: BIG/BIG Show and The BIG River Cleanup in Asheville!

UPCOMING SHOWS
3-29-12 - Live Bar (Greenville, NC)
3-31-12 - T-Dawg's Backporch Hootenanny (Lafayette, GA)


Greetings, all you Big Bus Lovin' Daddios!

Last weekend seemed shorter, with only two nights of shows, but in between we got together with some fans and did the river cleanup.

Friday, March 23: Burlington, NC.   The BIG/BIG Show


We really love playing Fat Frogg in Burlington, NC, near Elon College. We knew it was spring break for the college, so we had no idea what kind of crowd to expect; but we had our biggest turnout there yet! It is the hometown of our good friends Big Something, so of course there were some cross-band jams.  You can listen to the show HERE!

Casey from Big Something playing Big Country with us.   He killed it!

Joey on stage with Big Something.

Our intrepid photographer Jenny Viars got a great shot of the band!

Saturday, March 24: Asheville, NC


We had to head out early Saturday morning for Asheville, so we could help out with the Love Bus River Cleanup at the Swannanoa River. A couple of student groups got a head start that morning, so Eric from Asheville Greenworks led us to the section we would be working in. It was too cold to be down in the actual river, but there was plenty of work to be done on the banks and along the road. It was amazing how much trash and recyclables we picked up. All total, 49 volunteers collected 62 full bags of trash and recycling along a 4-mile stretch of the Swannanoa River. We're looking forward to making this an annual event that will grow every year!  Extra special thanks to the two people who keep The Love Bus going, Jenny Viars and Stacy Jones. 

Give us weapons and we will battle

River Clean Up ROCKS!!

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round

This pic shows our FANS OF THE WEEK 
With organizer Eric Bradford


Joey and I found our way to an old campsite on the river bank.  We managed to pull out several bags of trash and even a tent that was full of trash and was just rotting.  After taking a picture of our huge trash score we realized that it was probably once the home of the ghost that has been following us lately.  


Our sparta friends Beth and Marcus Edwards were kind enough to let us go to their beautiful home to shower and hang out before the gig. Thanks, Beth and Marcus! This is the gorgeous view from their back deck:



Our show at Jack of the Wood drew our best Asheville crowd yet! Someone even told me he was visiting from out of town and was told the BDL show was THE place to be that night. We always love hearing stuff like that! My friend Aaron Burdett opened up for us.  I've known Aaron from our Boone days and he's one of the best songwriters around.  I encourage you to keep up with him here. 

Aaron Burdett

We also continued the Love Bus events and had a raffle benefiting Asheville GreenWorks, which raised about $50. Thanks, everyone!

Thanks everyone and we'll see you soon!

Brian and Big Daddy Love
Lonesome Banjo Chronicles

SPREAD THE LOVE
We would LOVE for you to help us out with the street team activities. If you'd like to help promote an upcoming show, email streetteam@ufomusic.net and we will set you up with everything you need. We've got great e-flyers, widgets, and other tools you can use to help promote online, so if you've got Internet access, you can help! If you want to hang up posters, hand out flyers, and talk to real people, feel free to print up the digital posters. And of course, we'd also love your help over at the merch booth! Check out the list of places we could use help spreading the love.

3-29-12 - Live Bar (Greenville, NC)
4-6-12 - Jake's Bar & Grill (Columbia, SC)
4-7-12 - Bucked Up Super Saloon (Kernersville, NC)
4-13-12 - Murphy's Saloon (Boone, NC)
4-14-12 - Bathtub Gin (Mooresville, NC)
4-20-12 - The Backstreet Pub (Beaufort, NC)
4-21-12 - The Camel (Richmond, VA)
4-25-12 - Loveless Cafe (Nashville, TN)
4-27-12 - Ten O One (Winston-Salem, NC)

Friday, March 23, 2012

March 15-17: Bountiful Basses, and St. Paddy's Day Bash

Hello, all you Big Bus Lovin' Daddios!


UPCOMING SHOWS
03.23.12 - The Fat Frogg (Elon, NC)
03.24.12 - Jack of the Wood (Asheville, NC)
03.29.12 - Live Bar (Greenville, NC)

We've found one of Wookie's long lost relatives



Last weekend's adventures led us up into Virginia, and then back down to Raleigh for a St. Patrick's Day bash.

March 15: Harrisonburg, VA


We really like playing at the Clementine Cafe.  The place is full of original art and everyone in the town is super-nice.   The opening band was called The Judy Chops.  And Joey knew exactly where they got the name from, The West Virginia Ninja.  It's one of the best youtube videos we've seen. 

The Wook demands that there be fresh flowers backstage so he can get his mojo on.


On Friday, we headed to Staunton, VA to go to this great music store that we've been hearing about, Fretwell Bass.  And yes, the owners name is really Jerry Fretwell.  Any bass player in the southeast needs to come to this store.  It really is amazing. 

One happy Wook!

This is why musicians are always late.

Joey opened their guestbook and the first two names he saw were from Sparta NC. 
Sparta people are everywhere.

Downtown shot of beautiful Staunton, VA.

March 16: Richmond, VA


Before the Richmond show, we stopped at one of our very favorite stores: a thrift store. It's a one stop shop for BDL, with shirts for Ashley and Joey:


and books for me.




The bad news is the ghost seems to be following us. He must be our newest fan.


March 17: Raleigh, NC
The first part of the day had us at my niece's birthday party.   This has become an annual tradition for us and Joey wrote about it in our regular  "fan of the week." 


These are all my kids.  Future banjo army. 


We last played the Lincoln Theater on Halloween, so we were really excited to be back for the "Big Paddy Love Party." Our friends the Shane Pruitt Band opened things up for us - we always love to see and share the stage with them. Athens, GA-based band The Corduroy Road also played; it was our first time seeing them, and we really enjoyed their high-energy bluegrass!





It was awesome to see how many people there wore "Good Morning Sunshine" shirts for their St. Patrick's Day green. As for us...well, some of us got more into the holiday than others.

A little known superhero "The Green Wook" made a special guest appearance. 
Look for more superheros at special events!

Daniel celebrated by using a green toothpick



This weekend, we are looking forward to playing at Fat Frogg in Elon with our friends Big Something, the River Cleanup on Saturday morning, and Jack of the Wood in Asheville on Saturday night (with Aaron Burdett!). Hope to see you out there at one (or more!) of those!  Scroll down to see our nifty River Clean Up poster, and help us spread it around. 

Brian and Big Daddy Love

SPREAD THE LOVE
We would LOVE for you to help us out with the street team activities. If you'd like to help promote an upcoming show, email streetteam@ufomusic.net and we will set you up with everything you need. We've got great e-flyers, widgets, and other tools you can use to help promote online, so if you've got Internet access, you can help! If you want to hang up posters, hand out flyers, and talk to real people, feel free to print up the digital posters. And of course, we'd also love your help over at the merch booth! Check out the list of places we could use help spreading the love.

03.23.12 - The Fat Frogg (Elon, NC)
03.24.12 - Jack of the Wood (Asheville, NC)
03.29.12 - Live Bar (Greenville, NC)
04.06.12 - Jake's Bar & Grill (Columbia, SC)
04.07.12 - Bucked Up Super Saloon (Kernersville, NC)
04.13.12 - Murphy's Saloon (Boone, NC)
04.14.12 - Bathtub Gin (Mooresville, NC)


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Ghosts, Rivers, and Mr. Miyagi

UPCOMING SHOWS
> > 03.15.12 - Clementine Cafe (Harrisonburg, VA)
> > 03.16.12 - Cary St. Cafe (Richmond, VA)
> > 03.17.12 - Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC) 

Hello, all you Big Love Bussin' Daddios!

We just wanted to check in for a brief update before we hit the road this weekend. We had some much-needed time off last weekend, but the beginning of the month found us in Virginia and Maryland.

We played right below a big picture of Einstein in Wilmington; in Charlottesville we play in front of another master.

We discovered that Roanoke VA has some famous ghosts around town and one came to our show.

We've also started a new feature at shows, called The Wall. It's a chance for all of you to leave us a message, a joke, a comment...the sky's the limit! Bonus points for creativity, and we'll be looking for a "weekly winner" that entertains us the most. The weekly winner gets internet fame and the satisfaction of knowing you made us laugh. We'll be posting photos of The Wall from each show over on our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you! Here's the one from Roanoke:

This week's winner was "Sometimes late at night, I fill my bathtub with marinara. I get in and pretend I'm a meatball."

Don't forget: next Saturday (March 24), we have a big Love Bus event in Asheville. We'll meet that morning to clean up a section of the Swannanoa River. You can find details here. Hope to see you there AND at the show that evening! We're especially excited that Aaron Burdett will be opening for us at Jack of the Wood that night!

See you soon!
Big Daddy Love


SPREAD THE LOVE
We would LOVE for you to help us out with the street team activities. If you'd like to help promote an upcoming show, emailstreetteam@ufomusic.net and we will set you up with everything you need. We've got great e-flyers, widgets, and other tools you can use to help promote online, so if you've got Internet access, you can help! If you want to hang up posters, hand out flyers, and talk to real people, feel free to print up the digital posters. And of course, we'd also love your help over at the merch booth! Check out the list of places we could use help spreading the love.

> > 03.15.12 - Clementine Cafe (Harrisonburg, VA)
> > 03.16.12 - Cary St. Cafe (Richmond, VA)
> > 03.17.12 - Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC)
> > 03.23.12 - The Fat Frogg (Elon, NC)
> > 03.24.12 - Jack of the Wood (Asheville, NC)
> > 03.29.12 - Live Bar (Greenville, NC)
> > 04.06.12 - Jake's Bar & Grill (Columbia, SC)
> > 04.07.12 - Bucked Up Super Saloon (Kernersville, NC)


Thursday, March 8, 2012

River Runs: BDL and Volunteer River Cleanup (Love Bus Event)

We're excited about our next Love Bus charity event, which is a river cleanup in Asheville, NC the morning of our March 24 show at Jack of the Wood.  We also want to take a second and announce a very special guest for this show: the Aaron Burdett Band will be opening for us.  Aaron is one of the best songwriters in the state and we are always proud to perform with him.  I'll post a YouTube clip of one of his songs, "You Still Amaze Me,"  below.   Please take a second to check it out and visit his page.






“River Runs: Volunteer River Cleanup” is a family-friendly river cleanup event organized by Asheville GreenWorks, a nonprofit working for a clean and green Buncombe County, and the Love Bus. Call for Volunteers: fans, friends and any community members are asked to participate with Asheville GreenWorks and members of Big Daddy Love for this event on Saturday, March 24th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m to help remove debris and litter from the Swannanoa River waterways. No registration required, just show up!

Volunteers should meet outdoors at 387 Swannanoa River Road, Asheville, NC. This is by the I-240 bridge, on Swannanoa River Road (directly across from the U-Haul Rental Dealership), on the left-hand side of the road in a gravel pull-off by the water. Park in the gravel parking area and not in the U-Haul lot. A Google map is available for the meet up location at: http://g.co/maps/74svf.

• Groups and families with children (student groups participating)

• Wear layered clothes that can get wet/dirty

• Rubber boots/galoshes recommended

• Cleanup gear, first aid equipment, and drinking water for event provided

• Photo opportunity with band members and giveaways for participants

Following the “River Runs: Volunteer River Cleanup” event, we'll be performing at Jack of the Wood (95 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801) on March 24th, 2012 starting at 9:30pm.  More about Big Daddy Love and show details can be found hereAaron Burdett will be opening.

Please help us spread the word! We look forward to seeing you out at the river!

Here is Aaron Burdett singing "You Still Amaze Me."