Design Yourself a Fart

So we made it back in one piece from tour. All in all, it was a giant big ball of success and fun. Can't say enough about how fun it was to play shows with our pals in polarOPPOSITEbear in Wichita and Lawrence. Any band swinging through Iowa should definitely check out Ames Progressive where the kids are cool and the surrounding bars have ridiculously cheap beer and free food. Oh yeah, we also found a kitten in Texas on the side of the highway and took him along with us. He is biting the side of my computer as I type this. His name is Mowgli.

While on our way to Wichita, we stopped through Stillwater, Oklahoma. We talked to Nathan Poppe, who tapes bands live or in their practice spaces and posts them to his blog. Since we weren't playing live and only had a couple of hours, he suggested we just set up in his apartment and play a song really quick before someone complained about the noise. We loaded our gear into his place, set up, Matt deadened his drums with shirts and socks and we did one take through 'Design Yourself a Heart.' We then loaded out and played a show in Wichita. It was a total blast. Check out the result below, the sound is all from one small handheld camera,and I was shouting to try and cut through the mix.

Curl Up and Dye

Here's a video of us playing "Breed" by this band Nirvana. Our new friend Goose shot the footage in Little Rock, Arkansas at Pizza D'Action. They gave us free beer and pizza and were total sweethearts. Matt won a ping pong match against a guy named Lance. I leaned back on a table on fell on my ass during the end of a song. Goose let us stay two nights at his unbelievable semi-mansion with about 3,000 TV channels and a dog named Mabel who Matt thought looked like a warthog. The night before we also played in Little Rock at a totally rad venue called Vino's Brewpub. The kids that came out were really excited to hear music and the show was a real blast. After we went to a bar called Speakeasy with a woman named Monet. There was a jazz piano player sounding amazing and they played a jazz rendition of 'Everything in Its Right Place.'

Last night we played in Fort Worth, Texas at a really well-run D.I.Y. space called 1919 Hemphill. We played to another bunch of kids that were all excited to see music and hang out. It's really refreshing to go around the country and find these little pockets where kids are setting up shows, helping out bands and getting people out to support music. The bands we played with were INCREDIBLE. Big Fiction was a cross between The Jesus Lizard and Refused and the drummer rocked so brutally he went and puked on a skate ramp immediately after they finished. Decades played last and had one of the most energetic frontmen we've ever witnessed. When not writhing on the ground screaming into the microphone, he was running around the audience yelling his guts out and doing front flips onto the concrete. Please check out both bands because on top of putting everything they have into their music they are completely awesome duders.

We saw the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington today and it looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Seriously, big-as-hell. We're in Denton, Texas right now hanging out in a coffee shop waiting to play another show with free pizza at the Hot Box. One week left until we get back to lovely and frigid real life!!

Don't mind if I Duplex

Sitting in Louisville, KY. It's almost midnight here and the boys and I are leafing through a crazy book collection (Radical Dude, The Secret Life of Teens, 500 Best Metal Albums of All Time) and drinking Kentucky Tavern whiskey. Played a show earlier tonight with a couple of bands in a living room type area with only space heaters. The heat in the place is broken, and the main room with a stage and lots of space feels like a garage. The pipes are frozen so the bathroom doesn't work, and the closest bathroom nearby is a Dizzy Whizz fast food restaurant where you have to get a key and go outside somewhere where the bathroom is. Matt just found out someone left Dizzy Whizz french fries under a chair and is looking for a microwave. Tour is good, people.

Played last night at Casa Cantina where they gave us a free 30-pack of PBR. We played last out of 3 for some reason. After the local bands no one stuck around, but by the end of the set a bunch of drunk people were up front and having a good time, so it ended up being a lot of fun. Running out of free CDs faster than we thought. Stood in line for 15 or 20 minutes at Big Mama's Burritos and it was glorious. I made the mistake of trying to replicate an Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode and put my burrito in my top coat pocket and eat it without my hands. Refried beans are difficult to wash off.

DeKalb was amazing as usual. Good friends, played some Lady Gaga and Nirvana and watched a folk band take an hour and a half to set up, play and tear down. Next stop is Knoxville, TN where we'll meet with our pal Karl Shuster (sp?) for some Pilot Light action. Oh yeah, Matt won a romance novel at the show last night! There were two really pretty people in a super intense embrace on the front.

We will be in you soon, the south.

It's almost here Internet friends. It's almost here. Our butts are tingling with excitement to hit the road in a few days on our winter tour, "Crappy Songs for Jerks Tour 2010." See above for the lovely poster design done by our lovely friend, Austen Huth. Look out for this one, she's taking the design world by storm with her unique style and impeccable ability to quote The Simpsons.

The tour starts Jan. 7 in that sweet den of vanities, the 7th St. Space in DeKalb. Check out the dates!

Jan. 7 7th St. Space DeKalb, Illinois

Jan. 8 Casa Cantina Athens, Ohio

Jan. 9 Brick House Louisville, Kentucky

Jan. 10 Pilot Light Knoxville, Tennessee

Jan. 11 Tasty World Athens, Georgia

Jan. 12 Off

Jan. 13 Vino's Brewpub Little Rock, Arkansas

Jan. 14 Pizza D'Action Little Rock, Arkansas

Jan. 15 1919 Hemphill Fort Worth, Texas

Jan. 16 Hot Box, Denton, Texas

Jan. 17 Bash Riprock's Lubbock, Texas

Jan. 18 Soundpony Tulsa, Oklahoma

Jan. 19 Rock Island Live Wichita, Kansas

Jan. 20 Replay Lounge Lawrence, Kansas

Jan. 21 Bourbon Theater Lincoln, Nebraska

Jan. 22 Ames Progressive Ames, Iowa

Jan. 23 CJ's Lounge Rockford, Illinois

We've had a couple of nice write-ups in some blogs. Check this one out from Fort Worth:

http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/2010/01/geronimo-1919-hemphill-1152010.html.

We will have specially handmade tour EPs to give away for free featuring 3 songs from our upcoming full-length, "Fuzzy Dreams." Also new shirts, covers songs and other crazy gizmos and shake-em-ups! LET'S DO THIS AMERICA!!!!