We've had a great year and we want to take a few minutes to look back at some highlights.
But first of all, we want to just say a huge "THANK YOU" to all of you. So many of you have done so much for us through the last year (or two) and it never stops amazing us. Like I've said before, you make the great days even better, and the rough days worth it.
Winter 2011
River Runs Thursdays in Raleigh NC
We came out pretty strong, hitting new markets through VA and even up into Maryland. We were in "workhorse" mode, going to new venues where people had never heard of us before, and just hoping that 10 or 20 people show up. Or sometimes there would be 70 people there and we would just hope that 10 or 20 would pay attention to us. These are interesting gigs that every band experiences. There is such a big difference between playing all of our favorite places through NC, where we know so many people on such a deep level, and then going to a new town where we only know each other. These are the times that really strengthen the bonds between us, and where we really get to know each other.
Whitey Morgan and the 78's
One of the highlights of last winter was our Thursday residence at the Pour House in Raleigh that we dubbed "River Runs Thursdays." The first one was with the great band Whitey Morgan and the 78's. We didn't know what to expect from them but they blew us away. Real country music is not dead, it just went underground. Check them out!
We also had our first show at the OBX Brewing Station in the Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head area of the Outer Banks. Little did we know at the time, but this venue would be one of our very favorites by the year's end, and a big reason for this is some important people in the BDL family live here; Robert and Cindy Via and John Mebane. We love y'all.
Robert Via (L) and John Mebane
And of course one of the biggest changes for us that winter was the addition of the one and only Brian "Chasper" Horton. I remember meeting Chasper on a cold winter day in Winston and there were two things that stuck out about him to me, other than his great drumming: he loved motorcycles (immediate bond since bikers stick together), and on the other end of the spectrum, I really liked that he had been in his high school marching band. This meant that his fundamentals were solid and he understood music on a deeper level. He not only can feel it, but he also knows how to count it, and there are times where both are extremely important.
Spring 2011 When we first started this adventure in the late summer of '09, Daniel had a favorite saying: "The Sun Shines on This Band!" And this came true for our set at the Shakori Hills Festival. We have been wanting to play this festival for some time and with the help of some energetic fans petitioning the board we were not only invited to play but given a main stage slot on Friday. Everything was perfect...except the day turned into a total washout with a classic southeastern spring-time rain. As we were setting up on-stage the rain started to taper off, and by the time we started playing the sun actually came out! We watched as people started coming out of their tents and down from the woods and before we knew it we had a HUGE crowd in front of us. And then for some reason, when we were finished, it started raining again and rained for most of the day. You win some and you lose some, and that day we definitely won.
And speaking of family, we were honored to play the wedding of some special people in the BDL family: Richard and Jennifer Clowers.
The ceremony took place under their "Home Tree"
We also started our BDL contests with a picture from this wedding. A fellow Spartan, Kristi Washington Haas, won the best caption contest of this pic with, "You bet your ass I can ride this bull for 8 seconds." New contests are in the works as we speak. One might even involve baby pictures!
Summer 2011 The highlights for the summer included playing the main stage of the great southeast festival Floyd Fest and, of course, recording our second album "Let It Grow" in Asheville, NC with our producer Aaron Price.
And then there was the best night of the year: our CD release party at the brand new Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, with the great Jim Lauderdale opening.
Breakin' Jimmy's Martin playing with Jim Lauderdale at Ziggy's!
Have you ever had a night that you didn't want to end? Well this was it for us. I remember walking off the stage after the encore thinking to myself, "I wish I could do it all over again, right now." This was everything we have worked for. All the hours of practice, all the gigs that no one came to, all the stressful deadlines, all of it had built up to this, and it was all worth it.
Some of the best pickin' of the night took place backstage! This is hot.
Fall 2011 As we were winding down our year we decided that we were going to put more effort into our charity work than ever before. We partnered with Breakin' Jimmy's Martin, which is easy to do since Ashley and I play in both bands, and with the help of some fellow Love Bussers, we had a toy drive, a food drive, and played two nursing homes. There is no doubt that this will be a large part of our future. Every single event was both fun and special, but it also made us want to do even more next year.
Our most successful blog of the year detailed our trip up to New York City, but also featured the great writing of Stacy Jones and her "Sparta Experience."
The Halloween Costume Ball in Raleigh was a blast. Here is the audio recording. One of the biggest surprises of the night was Kristi Boyt, Amanda Lewis, Jenny Oram, and Gretchen Ross dressing up as the elements from the song "Sweet Water." For the first time we were able to see one of our songs "come to life."
Gretchen and Amanda as Flowers and the Sun.
Kristi "Red Molly" Boyt as Fire
Jenny Oram as The Angel
Another highlight was our annual Sparta Thanksgiving show. Our hometown means the world to us and this is always a fantastic show!
Two special guests; Davis and John Paul Smith.
Like father, like sons!
We were honored to find out our album placed #2 in the Regional bands for our favorite radio station WNCW. We were also the second highest regional band (not touring nationally) in the top 100 countdown, coming in at #33. "Thank you" to everyone that voted for us.
That is just a few highlights from our very busy 2011. Again, we want to thank all of you for making it possible for us, and we are honored and thankful that we can be in your story too.
If you have made it this far then you are a true fan, and we want to know what your favorite BDL moments of 2011 were. Write them in a comment, and help us spread this around so everyone can enjoy the 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.
01.12.12 - Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill (Roanoke, VA) 01.14.12 - The Pour House (Raleigh, NC) 01.20.12 - Blue Bourbon Jacks (High Point, NC) 01.21.12 - The Palm Room (Wrightsville Beach, NC) 01.26.12 - Casbah (Durham, NC) 01.27.12 - The Evening Muse (Charlotte, NC) 01.28.12 - Westville Pub (Asheville, NC)
We don't have much for the travel blog this week, so
we'll keep it short. One thing we really need to recognize is the
amount of effort our "Love Bussers" put into the Toys-For-Tots Drive in
Raleigh on Thursday night. Thank you so much to Stacy Jones, Jenny
Viars, Tori Steinberg, and Kevin and Jennifer Swenk for stepping up and
helping us round up over 300 toys and $300 in cash donations. Below are some pictures of
the Marines that were at the show to help out. We have done more
charity work this holiday season than ever before and it has just made
us want to do more and more. It is true what they say: you get the
most by giving. Nursing home shows, food drives, and toy drives are
just the beginning for us. We have had so much fun with every event,
and have met great people along the way. Hopefully we will be able to
double or triple our efforts in 2012.
Want to join us in Florida for a great New Years Eve Festival? Don't forget to use the promo code BIGDL11 (case sensitive) Bond-fire music festival
Remember that we have an online sale of 20% off through our new online store! Order by tomorrow, Thursday the 15th, to get by Christmas.
One last thing that I want to mention is that we were FINALLY able to get Mr. Cass Copsey onstage with his trumpet. We've always heard that he was a great player, but in the two years of traveling with him we had never heard him play much. And wow, he's fantastic.
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.
12.15.11 - Olde Hickory Taproom (Hickory, NC)
12.16.11 - Blue Bourbon Jacks (High Point, NC)
12.17.11 - High Rock Outfitters (Lexington, NC)
12.30.11 - Beachside Tavern (New Smyrna Beach, FL)
01.12.12 - Martin's Downtown (Roanoke, VA)
01.13.12 - The Bus Pit (Kingsport, TN)
01.14.12 - The Pour House (Raleigh, NC)
This is our holiday season blog, which will concentrate on our charity efforts in addition to asking that you help us with end of the year "best of" voting, which means so much to us.
Two polls that count a lot. Please vote, but just as importantly, please pass these links to your friends!
We are also proud to introduce our new online store. We are offering a holiday sale for online orders only, with 20% off our merchandise throughout December; order before December 15 for Christmas delivery.
The holidays are about giving back, and this is turning out to be our most productive season yet. We started with a food drive for our hometown of Sparta, NC that was very successful, and we are now looking at a toy drive for the Toys-for-Tots foundation that will culminate with our Raleigh show this Thursday evening. You can find out more info here.
We will be collecting toys at the Breakin' Jimmy's Martin show tonight at Foothills, as well. Last week we were lucky enough to have an all-star jam with the best pickers in the Triad, as we were visited by Merl Johnson on fiddle, Mike Baliff on guitar and this year's Galax banjo champion, Al Lowe. Our Wednesday night shows at Foothills Brewing have been going great. Come out to see some great pickin'.
On Sunday we took Breakin' Jimmy's Martin on a "holiday nursing home tour," making stops in Sparta, NC and Hillsville, Va.
After our Sparta show
Playing in Hillsville VA.
After our show in Hillsville.
Our friends in Roanoke VA made a BDL tree ornament!
A highlight of the week for us was playing the Little King Records Showcase at the great Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC. Joey did a great job of explaining what Steve "Little King" Metcalf means to all of us personally, and professionally, in our facebook fan of the week.
But first we had to make a very important stop at Chuck E. Cheese for a big-time party (and people say we don't party! ha!). It was John Paul Smith's 4th birthday!
The Grey Eagle show had four fantastic bands that were all very connected with each other through our past: EverGreen, AVAS, ToneBlazers, and BDL.
Our fearless photographer Jenny Viars took a great set of pictures at this show that you can find here. But here are a few highlights.
AVAS stand for Acoustic Vibration Appreciation Society. I first met these guys in the late 90's when we were all going to school at Appalachian State. Here is Andy Pond, Jason Krekel, and Jay Sanders.
The second band of the night, The ToneBlazers, featured my banjo teacher Steve Lewis. It would be hard to find a better person on this earth than Steve, and he taught me as much about life as he did about bluegrass. He is a 2-time national banjo champion. The band also featured two of Joey's old bandmates.
Here is Steve flatpicking the guitar.
Our set felt great. Here is Dan introducing Little King. If you ever get a chance to meet this guy, do it!
SETLIST for Grey Eagle
Here is EverGreen playing the great Tom Petty Song, "Mary Jane's Last Dance" featuring Roger Padgett on Guitar!
Thanks everyone for all your support! And keep in mind our Toy Drive for Raleigh, as well as the end of the year voting. We will see you out on the road!
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.
12.08.11 - The Pour House (Raleigh, NC)
12.09.11 - The Backstreet Pub (Beaufort, NC)
12.15.11 - Olde Hickory Taproom (Hickory, NC)
12.16.11 - Blue Bourbon Jacks (High Point, NC)
12.17.11 - High Rock Outfitters (Lexington, NC)
12.30.11 - Beachside Tavern (New Smyrna Beach, FL)
Also, we are now in the season of "best of" voting. We are VERY appreciative of any votes you give us in the following polls. We were thrilled with our top 25 finish last year on WNCW's top 100 albums of the year. Hope we can do the same this year. Click here to vote on WNCW Click here to vote for HomeGrown Music Network
We've had a whirlwind 12 days recently that included a trip up to the Big Apple itself. I'll concentrate on that for my portion of this post, and we will also feature our very first guest blogger, the accomplished writer Ms Stacy Hope Jones. She will be describing her experience in our hometown of Sparta, NC.
First of all we want to congratulate Cassey Mikles on winning the contest on our last blog post. The correct answers are:
Ashley - 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.
Brian - 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"
Chasper - 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.
Daniel - 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.
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.
Congratulations Cassey!!
We had some good shows in Chapel Hill, Elon, and Harrisonburg VA, before driving up to New York.
Here's a clip from the van as we headed up to NY.
Getting the van and trailer through Manhattan was quite an experience since we didn't know that you can't take trailers through certain tunnels. But we finally did it, found our hotel in Brooklyn near the venue and unloaded. We went back into Manhattan to find my two cousins, Scott and Shawn Cimock, who were going to play tour guides for us. We met up at the Spring Lounge on the corner of Spring and Mulberry. This was a great little pub that had the feeling of any neighborhood bar. If you've seen the movie "Something Borrowed" with Kate Hudson then you've seen this place before.
Spring Lounge
As we all sat inside and enjoyed a drink, Daniel went outside and just took it all in. This was his first time to the city and he was awestruck to say the least. I think he introduced himself to almost everyone that walked down the street and encouraged them to come see the hillbillies play in Brooklyn the next night. When you own your own business you are never "off work."
Then we headed to a restaurant called Kittichai. We had no idea what to expect here. We walked in and were amazed by the decor of the place. Unlike anything we had ever seen in NC.
Joey and Daniel waiting. The flowers behind them were amazing.
There was a pond with floating candles and flowers in the middle!
We then sat down and proceeded to have probably the best meal any of us have ever had. Scott ordered all the food for us, as he comes here often, and we just went with it and tried everything that came. Every bite of something new caused our eyes to light up and a search for new accolades and descriptive words. Afterward we went upstairs and were treated to an authentic Cuban band.
We hit a few more places before finding a fantastic band playing, led by Jerry Duggins. We walked in and we knew this was the place for us. There was only about 20 ppl in there but the band just blew our doors off from the first note we heard. We also noticed this older gentelman dancing right in front of them. I was immediately drawn to this guy, and turned to the guys and said, "That's it, that's how we should live our life, dance like no one is looking everyday!" He allowed the music to consume him completely without any sense of ego or self-consciousness. It was beautiful. Ashley got a picture with him afterwords. You can see him in this video.
Wookie with a man who dances like no one is watching!
Then in typical BDL fashion the guys ended up onstage showing how we do it in NC! Unfortunately they had no banjo with them. Oh well, we made up for that a few nights later! This video has a guest keys and sax player sitting in, Craig Dreyer, who is awesome. Check it out!
We had a fantastic time the next night at the Brooklyn Bowl. This place is amazing and is actually a top-notch music venue and bowling alley right beside each other. You think to yourself, "What? That won't work." But it really does!
The bowling alley to the left of the stage
Soundcheck!
The next night we headed back to the Brooklyn Bowl because our manager, Tom Baggott of Invasion Management Group, got us on the guest list for the Robert Randolph show!
Here's a vid of RR playing the great Michael Jackson song Billie Jean. Give it about 30 seconds before the melody comes in.
The only thing I want to say about our Sparta show before our guest blogger takes over is that part of the way through the show I started thinking about how amazing it is to be a part of something that brings together our small community for a night of music. Back around the turn of the century, before there was Netflix and YouTube and sitcoms, there would be community square dances featuring the best fiddlers of the area, and this was a very big deal for the small communities to come together. We don't have that these days, but when BDL plays Sparta I sense the spirit of those old-times and I feel so lucky to be a part of it.
And now we turn the floor over to Ms. Stacy Hope Jones!
The annual Big Daddy Love Thanksgiving
Throwdown show Nov. 25th in Sparta, NC the small rippling mountain mountain
town where three of BDL grew up together (Dan, Joey, Brian), had a thick as
water hometown turnout of family members of the band, old friends, high school
and college friends, and of course, a heck of a lot of cousins. Having been to
this in the past coming from Winston-Salem, the Piedmont-Triad turnout driving
up the hills to Sparta is growing. To see the fellas in their hometown play
their music to the people that have raised them is one thing, to feel the
lyrics of songs, like Home Tree especially, reach out and be embraced by
the kind people of Sparta is really one of the all-time most authentic energy
shows BDL does. With the addition of two mini-Dan’s on stage (sons John Paul
and Davis) singing Good Morning Sunshine, you see the roots of this
music in its best ‘let it grow’ way. No matter where you are from, when you
come to Sparta, everyone smiles and gets to know you, and it’s real. It brings
to mind the world’s shortest poem, spoken by Muhammad Ali, “Me...We!” It’s one
of the friendliest places I’ve ever been and such a dedicated group of people
supporting BDL.
Sparta gives back to its people. That’s
one of the great beauties of these kind folks. I was there to help The Love Bus
hold its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, first time at the Silver Dollar
Music Theater this year, benefiting Alleghany
County Ministerium’s Food Closet. (A big thank you to Lawrence and the
team with the Food Closet for all your help!) Droves of bags of canned and
boxed food came in and sweet faces that hadn’t heard about the food drive put
generous donations into the jar for the Food Closet. These were BIG donations
too. People handed us all the cash in their wallets toward this. It really
meant a lot and goes a long way to help out. All food donations and cash/check
donations went directly and entirely to the Food Closet, and will go directly
to the families in Alleghany County that need it. This was the third year I’ve
helped with a food drive for BDL and now well over 1,000 pounds of food has
been donated through the efforts of all the fans and friends.
Alleghany County Ministerium Staff on hand for the Food Drive. Thank you!
**(BLATANT CHARITY PLUG: Next, we’re
doing a Marine Toys for Tots Holiday toy donation drive
for the Dec. 8th BDL show at Pour House in Raleigh. New, unwrapped toy
donations can be dropped off at Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem Nov. 30th at
and Dec.7th for anyone not able to attend Raleigh.)
Oh yeah, these folks of Sparta know how
to throwdown too. For instance...
There is what is known around N.C. as
‘Sparta-dancing.’ It leaves you speechless. Complete, unabashed, dancin’,
cloggin’, flat-footin’, tap dancin’, jazzercizin’, former baton twirlin’,
hollerin’, hootin’, hands wavin’ and preachin’ for the words of the songs of
medicine. Taking a slug from the jug of the rug of the wooden floors and
throwing down. The amazing Danny Sheperd tapped on stage with Big Daddy Love
(hoorah!) and some of the Silver Dollar staff joined in the get down too.
Danny Shepard gets board onstage.
Two unique things about Sparta dancin’:
1) Too much dancing going on to be holding a beer at the same time. They mean
business on that floor. 2)You better get ready when the slow songs play...all
of a sudden, I’m surrounded by slow-dancing jellyfish pairs, some wearing
cowboy hats. Maybe it’s that the Silver Dollar once was a gymnasium and evokes
the memory of school dances. Maybe it’s the music. No, it’s the people. They
live well by living simply. They love big and wild. When they are quiet, they
contemplate the echoes of the mountain and the great wide sky tumbling through
their Appalachian peaks.
Oh yeah, there’s always a kickass
after-party somewhere too. This is historically one of the best parts of the
night and everyone tangles at the end of the show finding out where to go.
(Though, there were several very-loved Sparta family friends that could not be
there this year, you know who you are, and you were in our hearts all night. We
missed you.) So, the sweaty bunch of us convoyed, looped, and curved through
the woods (many making the stop for Slim Jims and beer) to a blazing huge
bonfire out on the farm of a mountain brother Sparta native, all-time best beer
supplier, and good friend of the band’s, who’s Mom was Joey’s third-grade
teacher. (Joey, you should’ve come buddy. More fun than Mystery Hill.) We all
stood around jawing and laughing and cutting up circling this hot-as-hell
bonfire.
A thick furry row of Sparta men, donned
with toboggans, plaid shirts, beards, and hair that curls out from under a cap,
all look alike to me and they’re all good-looking, so that works out just fine.
And the Sparta ladies: mountain-pretty, sweet as pie and spunky as firecrackers
− what a great combination. (One married couple was so inspired and giddy that
they wanted to take off into the woods but wanted a chaperone for some reason,
so I tried to pimp out Swenk playing his banjo on the back of a four-wheeler
for a romantic ride for them at what I thought was a great fee of 100 bucks,
promising that his rendition of the Deliverance tune whilst kissin’ was sure to
bring them more babies and would be well worth it.) Sirius radio cranked out
some Allman Bros. and other great jams like a curtain around us on the dark
blazing hill and that fire was fed two sets of old bedroom dressers, white and
dusty with feminine curly cue handles which stoked and heated those flames like
the Phoenix storm of thunder music BDL brings during Big Country, or
better yet, my personal evergreen favorite, Mountain. Ok, well, Dreamwalker
is my favorite...Anyhoo, all our camping chairs backed way up on the sloping
hill, nearly toppling over. Thankfully there were several jars and plenty of
beer to keep us standing up straight, mostly. I’ve heard this fire spot ate an
entire piano before and other old furniture needing to get gone. That’s the way
they do more of that ‘giving back’ here in Sparta. Burn it, turn it to ash,
send it back to its maker as it came here. In other places, there is
‘recycling.’ Sparta calls this, “Let’s burn it”.
Daniel Justin Smith has told me that
writing Heed the Call, he was inspired in part by Into the Wild,
the story of a young man taking himself into the wild alone, seeking life and
peace amongst nature and himself, living on an abandoned bus. There is a bus in
Sparta and many go to it during Thanksgiving to celebrate growing up there, or
what it must have been like to grow up there, or just to be with family and
friends. It’s the Love Bus. It’s far from abandoned, it’s always getting
bigger, and it’s always welcoming to more. That’s the Sparta Way of Much Love.
Wow, I think asking Stacy to be a guest blogger was the best decision I've made in a long time! Thanks Stacy. That was awesome!
We wrapped up our 11 day run with two shows at our new favorite "home away from home," Nags Head NC. The shows here just keep getting better and better! And always a huge thanks go out to Robert and Cindy Via for the beachfront accomodations!
I finished this book sitting on the beach! Highly Recommended.
Nags Head Fishing Pier! Right out of our front door.
And to finish up, if you've ever wanted to learn how to "Speak Wookie" then here you go. Courtesy of Kevin and Jennifer Swenk!
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.
12.01.11 - Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill (Roanoke, VA)
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)
12.15.11 - Olde Hickory Taproom (Hickory, NC)
12.16.11 - Blue Bourbon Jacks (High Point, NC)
12.17.11 - High Rock Outfitters (Lexington, NC)
This is a quick newsletter to pass along some important info in one easy place, and make a special holiday offer.
First of all, we do not yet have a winner in our travel blog contest. Please make a guess soon! You have as good of a chance as anyone to win! Put answers in comments section of this post on our FB page, or at the end of this post if you don't have a FB page. Either one works. I'll give you one clue that will help you. I (Brian) spent my entire high-school career playing football and wrestling. Apparently people think I only competed in tractor driving in high school, which is quite amusing. Ok, one more clue; the person who saw Janet Jackson as their first concert is not the "obvious choice" if you get my drift. Have to think outside the box on that one.
We are up for "Band of the Year" in Charlotte NC. Please vote for us!! Follow instructions on the website; you will have to use your cell phone to text your vote. It's easy and fast! Thanks so much.
We have two really great charity events coming up, collecting food and toy donations. The Love Bus Food Drive will be at our Sparta NC show the day after Thanksgiving. Info here. The Love Bus Toys for Tots drive will be at our Raleigh show on Dec 8th.
Are you coming to the New Year's Eve festival with us in Florida? If so, use this promo code to purchase discounted tickets: "BIGDL11" (case sensitive). Purchase tickets at www.thebondfirefestival.com
Finally, I want to make a special holiday offer. We are willing to play an acoustic set of music at nursing homes throughout the state. If you have family in a nursing home and would like us to come perform, please get in touch with me ASAP, and we will set up a time. We are going to ask that our travel expenses be taken care of, but that is all. This has been a dream of mine to do this around the holidays for a long time and I'm finally in a position to do it. It will either be acoustic Big Daddy Love, or our bluegrass band Breakin' Jimmy's Martin, according to various members' availability. BDL fans, don't worry, Breakin' Jimmy's Martin is one smoking hot band. Please help us get the word out about this offer. This is our time to give back to all our friends who've helped us, as well as making the holidays a little brighter for some special people.
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.
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.
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!
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)
