Notes Tagged: 'tour'
Keep On Running
Howdy folks. After a decent lapse, I’d like to bring you tales of a brilliant weekend in Fairchildland. DW, Sam Nice and myself are taking Bessie back to Beantown right now and I’ve been tasked to pick up the blog mantle after too many days of letting this thing go. We just went through a toll, paying the 60 cent charge with a five dollar bill. The operator looked at us as he made our change and stated plainly to Sam, who was in the driver’s seat in pure fact only: “You need a receipt.” It wasn’t a question.
Permalink / 05 Nov. '07 / Tagged: brunswick providence boston stevie theband tour gig photos video
Not just a tour blog?
Well, dear friends, that’s the question, isn’t it? I’d like to say “No, this blog is not just a tour blog. We update even when we’re home.” And you could certainly point to the single post that’s happened since our September tour ended. Well, you’d have a point…
Permalink / 03 Oct. '07 / Tagged: tour harry staminashow
And now, it's time for a recap.
We made it. (An earlier version of me would refrain from counting my chickens since, technically, we’re still in the van as I write this. Sam, Wrall and The Rocket are all nestled snug in their beds, but Trick and myself are still wearing tire treads.) The road was good to us. We have been reassured that, fundamentally, people are good. Travelers and musicians are the historic beneficiaries of good-natured hospitality and this tour has proven that to us. I’m happy to say that we were welcomed everywhere we went with open arms; that’s a testament to you folks, our friends that invited us to your homes and clubs, who shared meals and advice with us along the way. We truly couldn’t have done it without you.
Today, I’ll give some statistics about our travels and starting tomorrow, we’ll investigate other aspects of life at Miss Fairchild, including new music (live, remixes and new songs), new videos (remember that vanilla place project?), interviews with the guys about their lives in music, and more. Stayed tune for that stuff. We’ll try to keep it entertaining…
Permalink / 24 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour things
Milwaukee (alias: Last Stop For This Tour)
Well, we played the last show of this particular tour last night. Within the next couple of days, I will post the upcoming dates (Baltimore, Brooklyn, Boston, Brunswick and more towns that start with the letter B) and continue to fill this blog with tidbits about non-touring Fairchild life and videos of people playing our songs. We hope you’ll stay with us for all that. For now, though, let’s talk about Milwaukee…
Permalink / 23 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour milwaukee
Wolfman, Jethro and Lil' Sam
The more comfortable an audience feels with the band, the more likely they are to participate in sing-alongs, dance-alongs and clap-alongs. Of course, they are also more likely to yell thoughts, opinions and obscenities at us. (One favorite was at a Boston show, when one guy wouldn’t stop yelling “What’s your name? What’s your name?” with superhuman lungs, so loudly that we could hear over the P.A. system.) Tonight, it was apparently name game time. As soon as I picked my flute, one such adventurous fan screamed, Jethro!!!!” Daddy Wrall was dubbed “Wolfman” by another. Later that evening, Mr. Nice called Lil’ Sam, because, in her words, “he looks like a Sam.” (And presumably, he’s little.)
So, why not? The Lawfirm of Wolfman, Jethro and Lil’ Sam, now open for business in sunny Bloomington, IN, where it was a solid 90 degrees yesterday. I hope you don’t mind us changing our names again like this. We don’t mean to confuse you, but how can we stoop to refute such astute monikers, dude? (Plus, look at those photos of Wrall. They may not be cute, but this Wolfman thing is a hoot!)
Permalink / 22 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour bloomington fame moniker video
"It's Been A While"
I’ve lived on an island full of seagulls, worked in gardens with mourning doves and blue jays. I’ve spent lot of time in pigeon-filled cities, but never in my life before Miss Fairchild had a bird pooped on me. Now it’s happened three times.
The first time, I was in a car, waiting for the band at Chicky’s in Westbrook, ME. Somehow, the bird crap found it’s way through a cracked car window, past my hand and the cellphone in it, avoided the seat belt I was wearing and landed on the only portion of my shirt that was exposed to air. I had to hang up the phone and the shirt was, for all intents and purposes, ruined, but this event is considered good luck, and I don’t say “no” to good luck.
The second time, I was in Somerville, MA, putting up posters for Miss Fairchild Presents The Miss Fairchild Show when I was hit square on my bare foot, in between my toes, while I was wearing sandals. This time was slightly more bothersome, as my options for cleaning my foot were limited, but I made do and, as I recall, that particular Miss Fairchild Show was pretty happening.
Well, last night in Chicago, I was targeted again. Changing into my gig clothes outside the venue, under an EL train line, I could a glimpse of something white out of the corner of my eye and felt something warm and wet on my left hand and shirt cuff. Sure enough, these Windy City pigeons were Dunlap hunting and I had been hit. Fair and square, child. This time, there was a large supply of wet naps (thanks Jim!) at the ready, and assuming my shirt lives on, I couldn’t be happier about the whole thing. You see, “who’s to say what’s good or bad?” aside, bird poop means good luck. If you think what I’m about to describe is a positive experience, though…
Permalink / 21 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour jedsed chicago staind birdpoop
Chi-town Redux
Summer came back a little bit. Our last few destinations, including Chicago (where we are now), have been more than a little sticky, which is “nice if you’re with a lady, but no good if you’re in the jungle.” This according to Adrian Cronauer. Well, we’re in the city and it could be nicer. JedSed has been putting us up while we’re here, a fact for which we are very thankful. That’s what family is all about, after all. But we would be remiss not to thank Bryan, because this is his living room, too. (So, thanks Bryan.)
Permalink / 20 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour graham chicago food
The Regina Monologues
While in Calgary, we took Bessie to a Minute Muffler to have the tires rotated and the front end aligned. Justin, our man there, was as straight up and forthcoming as we’ve ever encountered in a mechanic, telling us what we don’t need and charging us for the minimum work. He was able to squeeze us into a hectic day despite our being very late for the appointment and even gave some tips on how to fix another problem that we’ve been having for what could end up being ten dollars. He represented you well, Canadian mechanics!
Permalink / 16 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour regina canada video bessie van
Make Me So Happy, I Wanna Slap My Daddy
Calgary, Alberta was described to us by some Canadians as “The Armpit of The World.” We’re not feeling that. Sure, we’ve only been here for fifteen hours, but I couldn’t be more impressed by the people we’ve met. The HiFi Club is a really nice spot in downtown with a deep stage and a spacious dance floor. Many of the posters were made by our old friend Joshua Ruckstuhl, who, as you all know by now did the artwork for Ooh La La, Sha Sha…
(Wait, how could you not know that? Have you forgotten to pick up a copy? We’re trying to outsell Kanye and 50, people. We can’t do it without you.)
Anyhow, we finally got to meet the guy. Couldn’t have been nicer. Thanks again, Josh, for your incredible work. We also met a bunch of other great people, like Anthony, Sarmad, Wax Romeo, DJ Day and our old friend Huggs, who is best known for putting on “Soul Power” when we needed it most a couple years ago. Thanks to all of these people for making a fantastic night. We didn’t meet Pete and Mike, but they deserve a loud shout, too.
Okay, how fantastic was it? Well, it was potentially the best show we’ve ever had in a place we’ve never played before. (Say that ten times fast.) People came out, people sang and people danced. People supported our tour by buying records. Calgary, in short, is the bee’s knees, impossible not love after that experience…
Permalink / 15 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour canada calgary video
Fernie: Ghost Town (But not in that way)
Fernie, British Columbia is one of those places where you walk outside (or look out the window, for that matter) and say, “Wow.” The mountains are all around us and beautiful; the town is very cozy and nestled right in the middle of them. We arrived to much fanfare (parades, the presentation of the key to the city, a champagne reception. You know, the usual) and without too much Bessie trouble. We have forsaken the air conditioning completely and we’re not loosing too much coolant. We filled up what we had lost, including the reservoir, which Jiffy-Lube filled with washer fluid instead of anti-freeze, by the way. Perhaps we should have been watching them instead of getting our hippie on with the hacky-sack…
Permalink / 14 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour live oohLaLaShaSha fernie ghost bessie van hacky-sack canada
Explaining the Cracker Barrel Clap
Much of van time is spent listing our 10,000 things, and though we are all supremely confident that there are, indeed, 10,000 of these things, our list has not reached the higher numbers yet. I neglected to share any things in the last entry, so I’ll make up for it now:
Permalink / 12 Sep. '07 / Tagged: oohLaLaShaSha tour minnesota montana 10000things northdakota crackerbarrel
Two Number Sixes? The Horror! (And More, More, More)
A few of y’all have asked about this, so I have to let you in on it. In the tracklisting on the back of OLLSS where, the number six happens twice: once for track six and once instead of five. There is a reason for this, and I’ll explain it now:
Permalink / 11 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour oohLaLaShaSha hacky-sack minnesota wisconsin coffee jedsed hunidracks bessie
JedSed is the way to go.
We rolled into one of our favorite cities, Chicago, on time for a soundcheck for which we were sure we would be late. (Thank goodness for time zones!) Of course, Bessie is largely un-parkable in these densely populated cities, but we managed to find a paid spot in a nerby lot, said “the heck with it,” and splurged. Despite some confusion about how this gig was to go down, we managed to load-in and sound check with relative smoothness. Before that happened, I had to find a way to post our last blog entry, so I crouched down on the sidewalk next to a coffee shop and borrowed their connection. Sitting there on the concrete at dusk, uploading photographs and editing the blog, I was the object of not a few stares and comments. One guy thought that I was surfing for pornography, which I let him believe and worse, “Yeah. It’s amazing. You can upload from anywhere now. Wanna come look?” That did away with that “conversation.” It has been a significant subplot, though, this search for an internet connection. Most people with laptops have logged on at a stop light, sending an e-mail or pulling up the Times to find out about the latest catastrophes, but since my promise to get an update on here everyday (and occasionally twice), it has been a particular focus of mine to find a WiFi signal anywhere I can. And on to real information…
Permalink / 10 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour oohLaLaShaSha jedsed chicago jivesucka
Pity Money
After our all night drive into the U.S. and down to Columbus, Ohio from Ottawa, we stopped at the motel (Gotta splurge once in a while- as long as by splurge we mean five guys in one motel room) to take a swim and a shower and headed to Oldfield’s Bar & Grille. I wish I had it together to take some photos of this joint, but being a little under the weather, I wasn’t really on my game. Perhaps a description will suffice:
Permalink / 09 Sep. '07 / Tagged: oohLaLaShaSha tour columbus
The Longest Day (Barn Muffins, Not Bran)
Once again in the van, and once again we have just done our business in one of Canada’s finest cities (Ottawa); only this time, instead of heading to a “bed,” we are headed to our next destination: Columbus, OH. Sam Nice is driving and I’m on keep-the-driver-awake duty. I would ask him to explain cellular biology to me (and that would certainly keep him awake), but it might put me to sleep. And that would be counterproductive…
Permalink / 08 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour canada ottawa van muffins columbus border
Immigration
One thing about The Ten Thousand Things North American Tour is that this a learning process for us here at Miss Fairchild. You see, we’ve never done this particular thing in this particular way and, despite research and preparation, things go wrong and unexpected challenges pop up from time to time. In fact, dear readers, I write to you now from a Grand Union supermarket parking lot in Swanton, VT, just this side of Quebec. Why have we stopped, you ask? Well, we’re waiting on some final paperwork to go through so that our work visas are ready for our entry into Canada. Montreal is just about an hour away! But she seems so much farther…
Permalink / 07 Sep. '07 / Tagged: canada tour montreal
Montreal (Jello Bar)
Here I am in Montreal, friends, in the most excellent apartment of our musical and personal host Louis-Marc, aka DJ Truspin. I’m typing as quietly as I can because the rest of the band is still sleeping. We had a late night last night playing our first ever Montreal show…
Permalink / 07 Sep. '07 / Tagged: oohLaLaShaSha tour montreal canada tv
Samubad P. Nice, King of Nantucket
After playing Firehouse 13 in Providence, Miss Fairchild defined the Stamina Show by heading with a quickness to Nantucket Island, the original home of Jive Sucka! and the old stomping grounds for us all…
Permalink / 04 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour live pnice nantucket tv staminashow
Daddy Wrall is Burning! PVD is burning too! (in the good way).
I missed the no-hitter that Clay Buchholz pitched on Saturday, but I have an excuse: Miss Fairchild was playing a killer party in Rhode Island. It’s called Providence is Burning and it’s truly the bee’s knees. This is how it works: Micah and Jackson, along with Certified Max (and Sammy Bananas) team up with Firehouse 13 (a really cool converted firehouse on the west side of Providence that houses art and artists) to create a monthly all-hands-on-deck party with dancing and fun and all kinds of things!
But let’s backtrack a little to earlier in the day on Saturday. Prior to heading to Providence to burn down the Firehouse (irony intended, I presume), Miss Fairchild decided it would be fun to clean Daddy Wrall’s ears. Now, having heard too many horror stories about cue tips and peroxide, we decided to go the new age route and use ear cones. It’s a little loud and a bit awkward (especially if that hair gets brushed by a burning ember!), but effective nonetheless. You can get the general gist from that oh-so-fun photograph above.
Sam Nice (He has too many names doesn’t he? I’m going to have to come up with a few more for myself so as not to feel left out) did the driving to Providence. It’s a drive he knows well, from his time living there, so he decided to take some liberties…
Permalink / 03 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour providence certifiedbananas van bessie arlo tshirt tattoo
B.E.S.
Introducing the newest member of the Fairchild clan: Bes, or as we affectionately call her, Bessie. She’s a lot of van for one band, but that makes for a nice comfy ride. Hope you get to meet her one day!
Permalink / 02 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour van bessie beardedvoice
Join the Street Team
Hey y’all,
As you may or may not know, we are gearing up for an album release and a more expansive tour schedule. We’d love some help in getting the word out about the record and shows. If you are interested in joining the street team, e-mail us at missfairchild@gmail.com with your name, address (for mailing posters), t-shirt size (you get one free!) and phone number (to call you on the day of the gig) and you will be officially a member of the MF Street Team!
This is what it is to be Fairchildren.
Schuyler
Permalink / 01 Aug. '07 / Tagged: tour streetteam tshirt
Introducing Moyne LeHoyne Hoins
Hello Fanchildren:
My name is Moyne and as I have been doing for the past few days, I will be filling in for the injured Dunlap. Worry not, his hands and ears are unaffected. In fact, physically he is fine (if just a wee tired…) It is his mental faculties that are of concern. (Enough so that I have hope that I might replace him in the band.)
Permalink / 23 Apr. '06 / Tagged: dunlap moyne flute chicago lawrence tour
thopie!
Well, the show with Lipschitz in Chicago was fantastic. Thanks to all of you who came out. We’ll let you know as soon as the disc is available online. Filthy Rich (of “Talk” fame from Nothin’ But the Bomb Period Vol. !”) surprised us by driving up from Kentucky and we all had a blast. It was great to see Ma, Pa and Sis Lipschitz at the club.
We loaded the gear into the car before going to bed, so that we could get a quick, fresh start on three hours sleep as we headed to NYC for the night.
And we did all that. P. drove first, and we stopped to caffeinate after a couple of hours as we were all exhausted from the late night finish in the windy city. That’s when it happened. Thopie (our trusted vehicle, remember?) shuddered, and then powered down. We coasted to mile marker 139.8 and called that most-relied upon service: AAA.
Permalink / 14 Nov. '05 / Tagged: tour thopie chicago lipschitz jedsed
portland, portland, home away from home...
Hiya folks,
We’re in Chicago now, after two (somewhat grueling) days driving from Portland. We were only nearly run off the road by an enormous truck one time and we enjoyed our fifteen minutes of sleep at the Day’s Inn down the road from the University of Wyoming. REAL highlights include the Cracker Barrel in Lincoln. Nebraska and our secret weapon late-night driving music.
What, you didn’t think that I was going to tell you what our SECRET weapon is, did you?
Permalink / 11 Nov. '05 / Tagged: tour chicago lipschitz jedsed oregon
food!!!!!
Okay, we finally found a place, a state really, that none of us had seen before. And it’s called Oregon. WE love it, the people are great, we might have to move here. But let’s rewind and re-examine what has transpired since last we spoke.
Permalink / 07 Nov. '05 / Tagged: tour oregon poetry la cheese shasta
star walk
Well, well, well… Here we are in Los Angeles. We have two shows to recap and many people to thank. So let’s begin where we left off: SF (not Frisco, a mistake I will not repeat…)
Permalink / 01 Nov. '05 / Tagged: la tour cinespace makeoutroom fullblownexcuses aliens
more aliens
So, we made it.
This far at least: San Francisco! Daddy Wrall’s first steps in California were glad ones as we spent many many hours in the car leading to this moment. His first question, “Where can we get some motherlovin’ Rice-a-Roni?” Suggestions anyone?
Permalink / 27 Oct. '05 / Tagged: aliens sf california oohLaLaShaSha tour
washing my mouth out with soap
Maybe my language has been particularly foul or something, because I felt some serious(ly funny) karma on the way to Boulder. Daddy Wrall, Samuel P. Nice and myself stopped at a truckstop to use the payphone when I decided to brush my teeth. I went into the bathroom and saw these odd-looking push button faucets that would only dispense a small amount of water at a time. Wrall watched as I wet my toothbrush and proceded to begin brushing.
Permalink / 24 Oct. '05 / Tagged: tour soap thopie dilego colorado
windy city momentarily.
Blew in to the Windy City on the eve of the White Sox’ first World Series in 46 years. Can’t help rooting for them, so people start giving the South Side some love. So, for now: Go Sox!
Permalink / 22 Oct. '05 / Tagged: chicago tour lipschitz live jedsed
East Lansing Reprazent!
What’s up people? We’re in East Lansing right now, staying with some brand new fans, Kelsey and Xristina. I’d like to start by giving them their propers: here.
So, lots of news, some may some positive and negative, but really, who can say what’s good or bad?
Permalink / 21 Oct. '05 / Tagged: lansing live tour flute staminashow
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