KB and I lived in the same dorm hall at UMBC and he introduced himself after hearing I was a Matt Pond PA fan. Shortly into the semester I started playing with Patty our Cellist, and eventually we added KB on bass. Basically we’ve been waiting to play this show since we started making music together…almost 8 YEARS AGO!

We’ve seen members come and go, and have had the pleasure to share the stage and studio with other friends. Our latest line-up has been the tightest and one of the most enjoyable ensembles we’ve had, combining musicians from an assortment of genres and backgrounds. So it goes, over time some musicians yearn to fill a creative hole that projects they’re currently involved with just aren’t filling. Our good friend and talented drummer, Austin Stahl has been writing and recording his own music for almost a decade and wants to focus more energy on that.

It is a bittersweet goodbye for us. Austin has been an integral part of the band for almost 2 years now, making our older songs sound great, and our new songs sound even better. All of us also love Austin’s solo work, so the idea of him working on new material is something the band eagerly awaits. Needless to say, finding someone to fill his rather large shoes will be no easy task. So the show at the Ottobar September 21st will be even more special, this will be Austin’s last show with us, as well as our last show for a while, as we take time to regroup.

If there could be anymore reason to attend this show, both Matt Pond & Rocky Votolato have solo releases as well as a joint 7 inch that you should check out, and get yourself ready for a night of incredible music.

Don’t forget to RSVP:
MATT POND PA, ROCKY VOTOLATO & A CAT CALLED CRICKET at the Ottobar – 9/21/11

We’re really excited about this show, because joining us are our friends in House & Home, and The Herd of Main Street. Also, the incredible indie-folk 3 piece from New York, The End of America will be rounding out the bill.

June 5th we will be participating in the first ever Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie Music Festival, which originally started off as a website kick off party for the new music site Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie, is now a 2 day festival at 5 venues with almost 150 bands playing! Check out this Facebook Event for set times and details!

Alex also has a few solo shows coming up, playing a benefit for the Iraqi Student Project. They are a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization whose goal is to bring qualified war-displaced Iraqis to study without cost at U.S. colleges and universities so they can return and help rebuild Iraq. Last but definitely not least, Alex was asked by local songwriter Adam Trice to play his band Red Sammy‘s CD release show. Adam has organized a very cool kind of round robin performance night, featuring local writers reading passages, and local songwriters playing their versions of “A Cheaper Kind of Love Song” (the title of Red Sammy’s new record!). The show is June 12th at Metro Gallery, get your tickets HERE.

We asked our friends Ruby Fulton & Andrew Histand from local instrumental-rock band We Used to be Family, as well as Dan Cohan from Baltimore’s favorite folk buskers The Manly Deeds and rock-duo The Water to join us on a few songs. When we first started setting up, it seemed like a spatial nightmare; rarely does Mobtown see 7 musicians in their live room during normal business hours, add 20 or so audience members and the word intimate starts to seem like an understatement. But once we started playing, all the issues of comfortability went right out the window!

The beautiful sounds of bowed instruments, plucked strings and tapped percussion bounced off the close walls and filled us all with a warm and upbeat feeling. It took us back to our early days of playing friends’ and strangers’ houses; the excitement and nervousness of playing to a small handful of listeners sitting right in front of you.

It was really a treat for us and we hope that the new arrangements and line up were a treat for those who joined us. Enjoy some photos taken by the ever-talented Emily Cartlidge and stay tuned for the recordings from the Microshow that should be available for free soon!

We’ve got a lot of things planned for next week. First we have an interview with Independents Uncovered at WGMU. They’ll be talking with us and Mike Nestor from the Beechfields Record Label, about our new EP and how the Beechfields and it’s artists work.

Next, we are pleased to take part in one of Mobtown Studios‘ famous Microshows. The concept; take a local artist, familiar with the Baltimore music landscape and make them break their mold by stripping down their songs, deconstruct and reform them…in front of a live audience and record it to tape (or hard drive). The small house-like setting of Mobtown really gives the Microshows an intimate and truly unique experience. After all of the house shows we use to play, this performance should really feel like….uh, home?! Dan Cohan from the Water will be sitting in on percussion on a few songs, and Ruby Fulton & Andrew Histand from We Used to be Family will be lending their beautiful strings on a few songs. The Microshows are free, but there is limited space to please email Mobtown and let them know you’re coming.

If you can’t make it to the Microshow next Thursday, or want to see us in full force, then our release show at the beautiful 2640 Space in Charles Village is the show for you! The wonderful people at Red Emma’s really helped us out in organizing this event and let us use this incredible space. We’ve also got some amazing bands kicking off the night, including the newest addition to the Beechfields Family, the Silent Whys and our friends from New Jersey, Communipaw. Silent Whys are a fantastic folk duo, incorporating unique instruments like accordian, banjo, dulcimer and various others. Communipaw walk the line between solid indie-rockers and the coolest breed of alt/country; in short…they rock! We are really excited about this entire week, and have put every last bit of energy we have left into making these next performances some of our best. After all the preparation and planning that we have put into this, I would love watch our own performance. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works we can’t play and spectate at the same time, and to be honest that’s not what we love doing. We love playing our music, for our friends, for our family and for people we would like to call both. If you can make it out, we would love to share the fruits of our labor…of love!

Our very own Patty Blanchard came up with the idea for this benefit, to help her meet her fundraising goal of $3,000. She has been training hard for marathons and other endurance events that help raise money for the Society, and she is hoping this show will make a huge dent.

To help promote the event (as well as the label), our local public radio station WYPR, invited label founder Mike Nestor, Dave Manchester from Kadman and myself to talk about the collective, the benefit and about what our own bands have been working on. Besides kind of making an ass out of myself (sarcasm over the air, doesn’t translate as well as in person!), Mike, Dave and I were asked to perform acoustic versions of our songs.

I wasn’t in town to tune into the segment, luckily you can stream it in its entirety online. I was surprised and pleased to find they aired the song I recorded at the end of the segment.
Give a listen!

Also, make sure to check out the songs Mike and Dave recorded at WYPR:
WYPR ~ Maryland Morning Interview

All proceeds go towards the Leukemia & Lymphoma society, so please come out, and help support a great cause. Doors are at 7:30pm, admission is $7 and the lineup includes Kadman, The Seldon Plan, Infinite Honey, E. Joseph and the Phantom Hearts and yours truly! The night will also feature medical artwork by Frank Corl, who has drummed for many of the artists on the Beechfields’ roster.

If you can make it out Saturday night…awesome! If not, you can still help out by making a donation and help Patty’s Goal!

So we are busting our asses as summer approaches. We are finishing up mixing our EP, and things are really coming together. We are also planning on how we want to package and release these songs for you guys. On top of all that, we have been planning a 4-day tour through the great state of Pennsylvania; visiting old friends, making new ones and just hoping to have a good time. So far here’s what were looking at as far as an itinerary:

Friday June 25th – Lancaster/Reading
Saturday June 26th – Pittsburgh
Sunday June 27th – Johnstown
Monday June 28th – Philadelphia

So we want to have these songs ready for the road, maybe a limited hand-made run of CD-R’s for tour, and then some serious silk screened records when we get back and do a release party for you all! So yeah, we’re busy!

Also, we’ve got a lot of shows already lined up for the summer, 2 this month, a Benefit with a bunch of Beechfields bands on June 5th, that Patty actually put together to help her raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

We’ve also been writing! New, fun, awesome songs! We’re having a lot of fun working on these songs and can’t wait to get a couple together to start working on another full length!

So come hang out with us this summer, if we’re coming to your town come have fun some fun with us and make it a memorable trip!

Never discourage anyone…who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
- Plato

We are getting there people. We wrapped up the last bit of recording for our EP a few weeks ago, and are heading back into Mobtown Studios to finish mixing. This has been a fun experience, and we’ve really had fun experimenting with arrangements and how we can stretch our sound. We are all looking forward to sharing our hard work with you as soon as we can.

Our plan for release is to do vinyl and a digital download, everyone knows CDs aren’t cool anymore. I think our songs might be a little too long for a 7 inch, and 10 inches aren’t as cost effective as a 12 inches. So we’d like to find some friends to split a 12 inch with us. So if you or anyone you know has a couple of songs they’re wrapping up, and would like to put out some vinyl with us, hit us up!

Hoping to have this out around May or June, stay posted.

We’ve been working on some new recordings, new songs, new arrangements and we’ve had a new lineup for a while. Just seemed like the right time for a new family portrait. Check everything out on our Photos page, and if you’d like some hi-res versions, they are up on our Press page.

We’re also working on a super secret holiday surprise for all of you! So stay posted, stay warm and everybody have a safe and happy holiday!

We started recording back in the spring at Mobtown Studios in Baltimore. We had to take a break to get the funds together to finish paying for the sessions, but we were back to work last night laying down some guitar tracks! We’re working on 2…maybe 3 songs, and their really coming together, which is why it was kind of bummer to take such a long break.

But it was good to be back. A few more sessions, then some mixing & mastering and we should have a little EP, maybe a split if any friends are interested in working with us (wink, wink).

In the meantime, here are some photos from the sessions we’ve had so far. I might even try to take some video during our next session. So stay tuned!

Silver Fox...watch over me!

Literally…check us out, at the Library!!! I’m not sure who, but someone’s snuck in our CD into the Enoch Pratt Free Library. I can’t tell you if it’s in all of the Enoch Pratt Branches, or just the main one on Cathedral Street?

I can tell you that we’re not the only ones, we have plenty of other great local bands keeping us company; Wye Oak, Ponytail, The Seldon Plan, Among Wolves, Private Eleanor and many of our other Beechfields Brethren.

But check out the little page they’ve created on their website to promote having all this great local music.

Who knows, maybe we’ll take over the Library of Congress next!?!