Nov 10-12. Rhythm Devils and a day of Spinal Tap!

Hello all you Big Love Bussin' Daddios!


UPCOMING SHOWS
11.17.11 - Local 506 (Chapel Hill, NC)
11.18.11 - Fat Frogg Bar and Grill (Elon, NC)
11.19.11 - Clementine Cafe (Harrisonburg, VA)


Last weeks travel blog was our most successful post yet, smashing all viewing records.   This week we didn't travel much, with our shows being very close to home.  So to make up for it we'll do a fun contest at the end of the post that contains some surprising facts about each member of the band, and we'll also talk about our upcoming charity events.

We also just found out that we are up for "best band of the year in Charlotte, NC."   You can vote by clicking here and following the directions.   It looks like they only way to vote is to send a text from your cell phone.   

But first a few shots from our shows this weekend.

Thursday, November 10

High Rock Outfitters
Lexington, NC


This show is available for download or stream by two tapers:
Travis Viars here. 11/10/11 High Rock Outfitters

Dale Glenn here.  11/10/11 High Rock Outfitters

This was officially a "sold out show" for us which is always fun to have.   We love playing here for a few reasons, but at the top of the list is the fact that the owners are just fantastic people in every way.  They are breaking all types of rules by doing what they love.   Whoever has heard of a successful outfitters boating store and music venue as one?  Well, when you have two people who love both passionately and work their asses off, then anything is possible, and High Rock Outfitters is one awesome place to play and hear music.     Here's to Chris Phelps and Brittany Wilson who would probably win the "venue owners of the year" if we were to vote on it.

Chris and Brittany!

Here are some shots from Jenny Viars!

 

Friday, November 11

Murphy's Pub

Boone, NC

Anyone that lives within 2 hours of Boone needs to come see us play here for one reason:  Shawn Roberts!   Shawn takes percussion to a whole new level.  He has a PhD in world percussion and his approach to rhythm is fascinating.  Shawn is featured on the first half of "Dream-Suite" on our new album, which is "Mid-Summer's Dream > Dreamwalker.   

The drummers having a blast together!

The date for this show was 11/11/11 which has a special meaning in the music industry.  Any answer to the question, "What is it like being in a band?" that does not contain the words "Spinal Tap" needs to be discounted immediately.   This cult classic movie nails it on so many levels that it boggles the mind.  Here is the clip of why 11/11/11 has special meaning to us.   

Yes,  this happens!!

We are proudly hosting two charity drives in the next few weeks.   We will be doing a food drive in Sparta on November 25th, and you can find more info here on our FB event page. 

And we will be doing a Toy Drive at our Raleigh show on December 8th.  Check out our FB event page for more info. 

Thanks to everyone who entered last week's contest. The winner was Barry Harrell, who answered: "I'm thinking Swenk and Chasper for, Dan indifferent, Ashley and Joey again." Good work, Barry! Since you all enjoyed the contest so much, here's another one. The first correct answer will win a t-shirt of their choice and either a copy of both albums, or 2 tickets to a show of their choice.  We will keep the contest open until Monday and announce the winner on next Thursday's blog post.

Match the band member with the "odd facts" we've collected, and post the answer as a comment under our Facebook post of the blog.  

1. Ashley

2. Brian

3. Chasper

4. Daniel

5. Joey

A.   I have never rode a horse,  I got 3 underage drinking tickets in one day while at App st. lawn party, I used to dye and laminate human lungs for Duke med students, first concert was Janet Jackson.

B.   I once lived in Laramie, WY.   I use to work at Sherwin Williams plant  cleaning out tanks with HIGHLY explosive chemical solvents. My very first paid club gig was at the age of 16. I used to be a licensed life guard.  My current favorite music dvd is Zappa meets Zappa.

C.  Played in a Guns n Roses Tribute band in college.   Studied Fish and Wildlife management in college hoping to be a Park Ranger.   I think Bon Jovi's song "Wanted Dead or Alive" is one of the greatest rock songs ever written.   I had a childhood club called "The Star Team"

D.  I used to be obsessed with golf.  The only competitive sport I competed in in high school was tractor driving in FFA. I have owned 7 different motorcycles and four wheelers in my life. I spent a year studying fish and wildlife management.

E.  I have a trophy for getting 1st place in the Waltz competition at a Cotillion that is larger than any of my baseball trophies, I was born on Easter Sunday, and the first band I was in was called Leather Veil.

Make your answers in the following format:

Ashley: A,B,C etc

Brian: A, B,C etc

Chasper:

Daniel:

Joey: 

Thanks, everyone, for enjoying another edition of our Travel Blog!

Brian and BDL

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.

11.17.11 - Local 506 (Chapel Hill, NC)
11.18.11 - The Fat Frogg Bar & Grill (Elon, NC)
11.19.11 - Clementine Cafe (Harrisonburg, VA)
11.23.11 - The Camel (Richmond, VA)
11.25.11 - Silver Dollar Music Park (Glad Valley, NC)
11.26.11 - Outer Banks Brewing Station (Kill Devil Hills, NC)
11.27.11 - Goombay's Grill & Raw Bar (Kill Devil Hills, NC)
12.02.11 - Machiavell's (Bristol, TN)
12.03.11 - The Grey Eagle (Asheville, NC)
12.08.11 - The Pour House (Raleigh, NC)
12.09.11 - The Backstreet Pub (Beaufort, NC)

BDL and the Carnival of Follies

Howdy Love Bussers!

I hope everyone is having a beautiful day.  It looks like we will be posting our travel blog every two weeks, and the last two weekends are the perfect example why.  Sometimes we just have short trips to gigs, and there just isn't much to report, and then we have weekends like our Bristol>Boone>OBX, where touring basically turns into a Chevy Chase National Lampoons movie.  Every calamity that can happen does happen.  More on that later.

September 29-October 2


Thursday:   Hickory, NC was great as always.  This is one of our longest-standing gigs and we are able to see some of our very first fans here at the Taproom, as well as our great friend Janell Henry, who designed our album cover for Let It Grow.

Anna Swenk

Friday:  Hillsborough, NC turned out to be a really great gig!  We had no idea what to expect, and between this little town rocking out and our great friends from Raleigh/Durham that made the trip, we had a great time.  The highlight of the show was the Spirit>Easy Goin'>Hokey Pokey>Easy Goin': the kids really rocked out some Hokey Pokey dancin'!    And we were blessed with the presence of one of our very first "super-fans,"  and my cuz, Anna Swenk!

Hardcore BDL Fans!

Saturday: High Point, NC.   We really like this venue a lot and the crowd was probably double from our first time. 

BDL at Blue Bourbon Jack's in High Point, NC

Sunday: Justin Mychal's Cancer Benefit.   This is easily one of the best things we do all year.   Justin picks a family that has a child struggling with cancer and all the money that is raised helps the family, and he raises A LOT of money.   Trust me, you will not attend this thing and maintain dry eyes.  It's a very beautiful and very emotional day, and every single person leaves realizing how lucky we all have it,  because these families go through hell that few of us know.  

Chasper giving a drum lesson to a new friend backstage

October 6-8

Thursday:  The weekend started off on a slightly ominous note as Dan misjudged the leaving time and had to meet us in Boone instead of Winston.  No big deal really, as things like that happen from time to time and we can easily adjust.   The Bristol show was a really good show for a Thursday night.  Sometimes it takes a night to get back into the swing of things, but this one felt really relaxed and comfortable and had some great jams.   Joey was stoked about a vintage Fender Stratocaster that he just had bought, and this was the first show with it.   I also discovered that Cass can sleep for 3 hours while his phone alarm blasts in his face, but if you put on one Nickelback song he wakes right up!  (Great info to have!)  We left Bristol thinking everything was ok...

Friday:   The first thing we had to do was get new tires for the van, since we were about down to the wires on one of them.   Luckily we have a fan in Boone that works for a tire place!  He helped us some, but $600 later (ouch!) we were rolling on new tires.   Ashley wanted to get some "spinner wheels" while we were at it, but we told him he had to wait until next year.

BDL fan Thomas Hand of Boone, NC!!

Then we pulled up to our first gig of the day in Boone, the High Country MusicFest, and started unloading the trailer; which is when we discovered that there was NO STRATOCASTER!  It was left in Bristol.   We've been through this before as someone (who will remain nameless) left a banjo in Atlanta.  I swear it wasn't my fault, though, but that's another story.   We quickly found out that it was still safe at Machiavelli's, so we started working on getting it back.   Meanwhile, we saw one of Joey's old blues friends play some of the best guitar we've seen in a while: Rusty Barkley with the Part Time Blues Band. Joey says that outside of fellow Spartan Dennis Shaw, Rusty has taught him more than anyone else.  Keep your eye out for these guys, they will blow you away.    Enjoy!

We were able to play the fest with our friend Shawn Roberts, who plays the percussion tracks on our new album.  It really takes the Mid-Summers Dream>Dream Walker to a whole new level.   Chasper really loves playing with Shawn, as they have some great drum solo sections together.  Here is the full photo album from our official photographer, Jenny Viars.  

I was able to catch Shawn playing drums with his African Drumming Group on King St. in Boone, NC between our gigs.   This is why Boone is so special.  You never know what you'll find downtown.

Mid-way through our Murphy's set that night Joey got his guitar delivered by Jamie Morrell who was  very quickly made "Fan of the Week" on our Facebook page!

We decided that we should drive through the night to get to the OBX after our Boone gig and around 5:45am both Chasper and I jump up awake from a noise that doesn't sound right.   We had a flat tire on our new trailer, and it was leaving an impressive trail of sparks!   We decided to name the trailer "Sparky," by the way.   So as the sun was coming up we were out changing a tire.   Four brand new tires on the van and we blow a trailer tire!

We finally make it to the beautiful NC Outer Banks and to the Nags Head Fishing Pier that always gives us a house right on the water in return for acoustic sets at the restaurant.  It's a great deal and we definitely come out for the better in it.   We also decided to buy new trailer tires, so 6 new tires in a span of 20 hours.   Maybe we should ask for tire donations next year?

Nags Head Fishing Pier and a single set of footprints in the sand.  I guess I was being carried....

  After 3 acoustic sets at the pier through the day we played Goombay's that night for a really fantastic crowd.  (8 sets of music and 400 miles in a span of 30 hours! wow)   OBX loves some BDL, and we have John Mebane and Robert and Cindy Via to thank for that, as they are also "super-fans" and make sure that the crowd is really strong.    And to cap the weekend follies off, as we were setting up Dan realized that he left his guitar back at the house!   All we could do is shake our heads and laugh.  What a weekend.

See you on the road!  We might need a place to crash so be on the lookout! :)

Brian and BDL
www.lonesomebanjochronicles.com