It’s time to sing “Happy Birthday!” (but only half of it so you don’t have to pay royalties) to Philly’s Primary Stages which turns 10 years old this month. Look at our little Primary Stages, growing up so fast! Soon it’ll be in 5th grade, trying to steal Dad’s Playboy magazines, playing video games, climbing trees, and eating boogers, like all 10 year olds do.
I stole this from Google Images. I have no idea what it means, but it somehow seemed surreal/appropriate.
Philadelphia is known for having a great underground theater scene, and one of the driving forces is Philly’s Primary Stages. PPS is a “down and dirty script-in-hand staged reading series of new 10 minute plays” where playwrights get to see their new works up on their feet, and actors and directors get a fun, short project to jump into. Audience members are bribed with beer, wine, sodee pop, bottled water, assorted chips, dips, vienna sausages and puddin’ packs (of which Jill is a fan).
Philadelphia Dramatists Center; purveyors of fine Philadelphia theater since… well… a while ago. The format of these events is that the PDC gives area playwrights a theme or topic, and then they write a 10-minute play based on that theme. Then we all get together to watch them! Because this is the 10th anniversary of the Primary Stages, they’ve chosen the theme of “X,” and playwrights can interpret and apply “X” to their new play in whatever way they like (X-rays, XXX-rated, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, etc.!). If you’re feelin’ theatery, you could come both nights and see a dozen morsels of fresh, original theater. We can’t promise we won’t repeat any songs, however… 🙂
This month’s shows are happening on Tuesday October 7th & Wednesday October 8th. . We play a 30-35 minute set beginning at 7:30pm, and then a 15-ish minute set at intermission. We also play the outro music for each play– songs that are hand-picked by the directors. (The directors love to test us, so we’ve been asked to do everything from rap, Led Zep, play Sousa marches on kazoos, and even play TV theme songs. We never know what we’re gonna be asked to do for the out-tro music, but we have a blast retrofitting these songs for our dork-rock-duo instrumentation.)
DEETS:
WHERE: The Meetinghouse Theater inside the Community Education Center: 3500 Lancaster Ave. (sorta by 30th St Station) Philadelphia, PA 19104-4916 WHEN: Tuesday October 7th & Wednesday October 8th. Doors open at 7:15ish, HB! plays at 7:30 sharp, the plays start at 8pm. Different plays both nights! CASH: Because this is their fundraiser, this round is $10 each. FACEBOOK EVENT:http://www.facebook.com/events/658386820941317/
For a measly ten bucks ($10!), you get a night of terrific theater, snackies, beverages, and music. What better way to spend a mid-week, autumnal evening, AMIRITE?
It’s time for our annual funny songs show! Yaaaaay!! Were back at The Kennett Flash again, and it wouldn’t be a comedy music for without our beloved Todd Chappelle on the bill with us. As an added bonus, we’ve invited our good friend (and, City Theater favorite) Melissa Bernard to work her stand-up and improv skillz. Wheeeee!
Come! Come! The show will be not entirely squeaky clean, you’ve been warned… But I’m pretty sure you can handle it. You watch HBO.
The venue doors open at 7:15 and the show starts at 8 PM. Tickets are cheaper online, so swing over to kennettflash.org and get them while they’re hot!
Don’t forget to BYOB!!
This show will be different than our show at The Queen on 7/26… We’ve worked out the set lists and only two songs overlap. BONUS: We’re giving anyone who can prove they attended both shows an exclusive reward which will never be offered again. Exciting stuff!
We’ll see you soon!
Your owl (I meant to type “pal” but my tablet autocorrected it to “owl,” which I’m totally keeping),
It’s video-makin’ season for some of Wilmington’s most innovative artists. They need extras, so here’s your chance to be involved! These aren’t our videos– we’re just going to be extras, and you can be too. We don’t have any additional info other than what we’re posting here, so if you’re interested, please follow up directly with the artist, not us. 🙂
Saturday, July 26th, Noelle Picara is shooting a video for her song Alone With All of You at The Grand Opera House in Wilmington, from 12 (noon) to 7:00pm. you don’t have to be there all day, so stop in when you can. If you can only come for a portion, come between 4pm and 7pm, because that’s when they need the most extras. Come dressed as you normally look– no zombies or anything this time. 🙂 (Wow, that timing is super-convenient! You can get a bite to eat and then come see our show at World Cafe Live a short walk away!) Here’s info on that video shoot: http://www.facebook.com/events/333886626769108/ You don’t need a Facebook account to view that link. For more info, respond via Facebook, or contact Noelle via her website or social media.
Tuesday, July 29th at 11:00am,Angela Sheik is filming a portion of her video which features a slow-motion fight between Pierrot-style clowns and mimes. There will be costumes and makeup involved, so an RSVP would be appreciated. Angela’s words: “I am working with a team to shoot a music video during the day on Tuesday, 7/29. The concept is a little out there – basically it is a slow motion fight between Pierrot style clowns (and eventually some French mimes). I’ll add some pics to this email so you know what I’m talking about. I am in the process of looking for volunteer actors (especially those with any clown/mime or circus skills), as well as a makeup assistant and camera crew help. We’re hoping to shoot that Tuesday starting late morning. I will happily provide pizza and drinks. The video will be shot by Jay Walker, one of the guys who helped create the beautiful floating instrument album cover. I know he will make it dreamy and wonderful (not toooo creepy).”Here’s the Facebook invite. For more information and to RSVP, contact Angela via her website.
You get to gawk at five sets of good lookin’ legs for $10. CAN’T GO WRONG.
We received a call a few weeks ago from the fine folks at World Cafe Live at the Queen, asking if we wanted to share a bill with two touring acts: the solo Alex Culbreth (performing without his band “The Dead Country Stars“), and the thunderous Megan Jean and the KFB. After some digging, we said “Heck yeah!”
Megan Jean and the KFB (KFB = “Klay Family Band”) is an acoustic duo with Megan’s thunderous and theatrical lead vocals and her husband providing an eclectic soundscape to support her. They write passionate, powerful songs, and you should expect to have your hair blown back by these guys.
Sounds like we have a lot in common… an acoustic duo with a big-voiced/theatrical female lead singer, with some epic songs for ya. Granted, we’re more on the dork-rock side of the house, but I think we can all agree that our songs are passionate. Of course we’re not a husband-and-wife duo, but we might as well be considering the time we spend together and how plugged into each other we are. (Awwww yeaaaah.)
We hope you’ll join us!
Your pal,
Ji11
DEETS:
What: Three bands for $10. Can’t go wrong, really. Who: Alex Culbreth (8pm), HOT BREAKFAST! (9pm) and Megan Jean and the KFB (10pm). When: Saturday, July 26, 8:00pm-11:00pm; maybe even later if you ask nicely. Where: World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N Market St, Wilmington DE. Tickets:Right here at the WCL@Q website. Food & Drink: They have it! Pretty fancy and delicious stuff, too. Make sure you get a reservation for a table… a ticket doesn’t guarantee you a table! Parking: There’s a parking garage right next door at between King and Market. So handy! Facebook Event:Here you go!
It was on a high school band trip in 1986 when a high school junior named Andrew Durkin found out Jill Knapp could sorta carry a tune. A musical partnership was born that year and never stopped.
Andrew and Jill were in a zillion bands together in high school, college, and beyond… in NJ, in Los Angeles, and even in Portland. No matter how far apart they lived from each other, they still found ways to collaborate across the miles.
In 2000, Andrew created a small jazz combo who eventually called themselves The Industrial Jazz Group. When they needed a singer, Andrew called on Jill despite them living several states away. Over the next few years The Industrial Jazz Group grew in size from a quintet to a septet, to a nonet (9 pieces) to a dectet (10 pieces), and eventually all the way to a a 17-piece monstrosity. They toured extensively around the US and Europe, and their music even served as as bumper music for various NPR segments and shows. Critics almost universally loved them (except for one stabby New York Times review, but hey, even bad press is good press, right?) Neat! What, you never saw a jazz singer dressed as a bee before? (Hague Jazz Festival 2007)
In 2007 The Industrial Jazz Group played at The Hague Jazz Festival in The Netherlands, as well as at the world-famous Bimhuis in Amsterdam. From the Amsterdam show, the band got a magnificent live recording which ultimately became their 2008 release “LEEF” (which loosely translates to “Live” in Dutch).
Andrew took a hiatus from The Industrial Jazz Group so he could focus on writing a book (which comes out this November!), and coincidentally during that time, Hot Breakfast! gained lots of momentum… so Jill never stopped performing. It’s very different to front a big band dressed as a bee than it is to be one-half of an acoustic dork-rock power duo… but it’s an absolute joy either way.
These days, the center of Jill’s musical universe is undoubtedly Hot Breakfast!, but it sure feels nice to play with The Industrial Jazz Group when the rare opportunity arises… it’s like seeing old, dear friends and picking up where you left off as if no time has passed at all.
ANYWAY. All of that history is to tell you that this Friday is a dream come true for Jill: A joint gig of the two bands that are the great loves of her life. It’s happening in one of her favorite cities: Portland, Oregon, which has been the new home of The IJG since about 2006.
The show is taking place in a multi-purpose coffeehouse space in Portland called Tabor Space. The place has events ranging from yoga to children’s music classes to touring rock bands and fancy coffee tastings. It’s so very Portland. What’s not to love?
If you’re a regular reader of this website, there’s a good chance you’re located on the east coast… so we really don’t expect you to show up to this show. But if you know anyone in Oregon who is looking for a somewhat family-friendly musical experience this weekend, send them our way.
DEETS: WHO: Hot Breakfast and The Industrial Jazz Group! WHERE:Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, Oregon 97215 WHEN: Friday, July 11, 2014. Doors open at 7:00. Hot Breakfast plays at 7:30sharp; IJG plays at 8:30. We have to be out of the building by 10pm, so it’ll be an early night. COVER: $10-$15, sliding scale. FOOD: I don’t think there’s food, but there will likely be coffee. It is Portland, after all. FACEBOOK EVENT: Here ya go! http://www.facebook.com/events/867466406600726/
This is gonna be one hell of a show. We can’t wait.
It was Halloween 2013 when a band named Los Festingos took the stage at Lickety Split in Philadelphia and played a song professing their love of Total Wine, and then another about how girls from NJ are questionable. Being a chick from Jersey myself (this is Jill writing, by the way), I fell in love. Hard. Not only were these guys funny, but they were great players, and had a bunch of sincere songs, too. They were kind and classy enough to stick around to hear our set, and whaddaya know, they dug us too… And the romance began.
Months later they asked us to share a bill with them at The Grape Room in Manayunk, and their set was fantastic. They were The Grape Room’s house band for that month, so they really had the chance to dig deep into their catalog and play some tunes that normally don’t get performed live. We loved what we heard: really great, interesting music with topics ranging from bright and playful to a downright epic song cycle in several movements. They’d make both Tenacious D and Yes equally proud. But best of all: They made us happy. 🙂
That same night they asked us to open for them at their CD release party at The Kennett Flash, and we agreed right there on the spot. The name of their new album is “Aquaculture Is Not A Game,” and what we’ve heard from it will rock your socks off. These guys are dork-rockers of the highest caliber, and we’re thrilled to be sharing a bill with them. (We’re also just happy that these young guys think we old farts are still cool or something…?)
The Flash is quickly becoming a regular venue for us… we’ve played there a bunch of times already this year, and now we’ve got two more shows this summer (this Festingos show, and another Comedy Music show on August 1st– see our calendar for details). Playing there is always a treat because the place is set up for listening. We feel like we can be dorky, but we also feel comfortable playing some of our sincere stuff too. We dig it.
[I need to mention that I’m on a plane right now and we are bouncing around SO MUCH it’s making me really nervous. I understand and trust physics more than anything, and I logically grok that the plane wants to stay in the air thanks to science, and the only way it’s going down is it the plane actually breaks, or if we get bitchslapped by a microburst– and the chances of those things happening are infinitesimal. But still… Yikes. It’s bumpy. I’m gonna cut to the chase and get to the deets because I need to put my portable electronic device away.]
DEETS:
WHAT: Los Festingos CD Release Party — we’re playing the first set, and we’re playing it just for you! WHO: Hot Breakfast and Los Festingos! Los Festingos is a four-piece band from Kennett Square, PA. They don’t use the phrase “dork-rock” to describe their sound, but we will gladly let them into our dork-rock club. Read about them here. I love their bio. WHEN: Friday the 13th of June (oooooh!). Doors open at 7:00PM; The show starts at 8PM sharp with Hot Breakfast! WHERE: Kennett Flash, 102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, PA. Click HERE for directions and a map. FOOD/DRINKS: They have yummy sandwiches and simple appetizers. No bar, but you can (and should) BYOB. There’s a $4 corking fee per person. (BYOB! BYOB! BYOB! The more you drink, the better we sound!) PARKING: Street parking is free in Kennett Square after 6:00. There’s a garage for The Flash only a block away…check this map for directions. Facebook Event:Here you go!
See you there! (assuming my plane doesn’t crash because of these thunderstorms we’re flying by right now. No lie, the woman directly behind me on the plane just barfed. I’m not saying this for comic effect. There is actual, literal, real barf. And everyone knows that when one person barfs, there is often a barfy chain reaction… so yeah, I’m gonna close my laptop now and do some deep breathing, because I’m not gonna barf next, no siree!)
Sitting in a chair in the sky,
Your pal Ji11
We totally just flew by this. I’ll show you the video I shot out my window next time I see you!
Apologies to Planet Ten Media for defacing their poster with our name with Paint Shop Pro 7.06. Arden, Delaware really is a remarkable place. For what is essentially a collection of neighborhoods (“population 474” says the Year 2000 census), they have at least five terrific performance spaces, several art galleries, clubs of all kinds, weekly community dinners, you name it. Their concert series is run by the Arden Concert Gild, and it’s impossible to predict who is going to grace their stage. I know there are many others involved with the Concert Gild, but in my mind it’s personified by Ron Ozer. Ron is such a music fan, and his tastes are all over the map. He is so passionate about live music and sharing it with everyone, and his enthusiasm is truly infectious. I love seeing shows with him. If I’m attending a show and Ron walks in, I know I chose the best show in town. Purely on Ron’s recommendations, I’ve seen bands which normally wouldn’t be on my radar: Debo Band immediately comes to mind. Ethiopian jazzpop? Never knew it existed, but thanks to Ron’s eclectic tastes and ability to bring musicians to our state, we danced our asses off to this incredibly complex but accessible and vital music. Wheeeee!
One thing I especially love about the Arden Concert Gild’s shows is how they pair headlining acts with opening bands: they often don’t match genres– SO COOL. Like, if I’m going to hear a jazz quintet, most promoters would book another jazz musician or ensemble as the opener– logical, right? Sure, but that doesn’t really expand anyone’s horizons. For example, when Debo Band (Ethiopian pop fused with with hella sick jazz and heavy funk) played in Arden in 2013, the flawlessly ethereal musician/looper Angela Sheik opened (She was the BOSS’ Looping Champion of the USA). You wouldn’t think they’d go together… but the Arden approach is, as long as the musicians are great at whatever it is they do, they’ll fit!
So with that, we have no earthly idea how the heck we’ve gotten to play in Arden so many times. (Could it be the subliminal messages we’ve been whispering outside Ron’s window for the past few years? That’s not creepy at all!)
We’ve had the honor of playing on Arden’s various stages over the years, both as a headliner and as a supporting band. It’s always a laid-back (but super-professional) vibe, with a great sound system and the magnificent George Brockelsby on lights. If you’re lucky to be playing on a non-summer Saturday night, performers also get treated to the Arden Dinner, which is a community meal prepared by volunteers and eaten with neighbors. It’s the best. The food is always incredible, and the company simply can’t be beat.
So all of this backstory is to tell you the news: As of just the other day, we’ve been invited to be the opening band for the Jedi Master of the Banjo, Mr. Tony Trischka…or more specifically Tony Trischka Territory, which is him and his band. Even if you don’t know diddly-squat about bluegrass, you’ve most definitely heard Tony Trischka. He’s a freakin’ legend not only in the bluegrass world, but also in Arden: He’s holds the title of Artist Who Has Played in Arden The Most. The New York Times called him “…the godfather of what’s sometimes called new acoustic music.” And DUDE… we get to open for him! EEEEEEEEEE!!! By now you’ve probably figured out that this blog post was written by Jill and not Matt. 😀
In true Arden style, it only makes sense to pair the bluegrass’ Banjo Deity with Delaware’s premier acoustic dork-rock power duo. 🙂
The show is this Saturday, May 10th and it starts at 8pm. We play right at 8, and we’ll serve up a 30-35 minute set… after which we’ll pour ourselves a glass of wine, grab our seats, and let Tony whisk us away on five strings of awesome.
We’ve got a ton of new material for you… so now we have to decide if we play the new stuff with an eyeball on the new lyrics, or if we stick to the classics. You’ll just have to show up to see. 🙂
DEETS:
What: Arden Concert Gild and WVUD Present Tony Trischka Territory Who: Hot Breakfast! opens, and Tony Trischka Territory headlines (of course!) When: Saturday, May 10th, 8:00pm Where: Arden Gild Hall: 2126 The Highway, Arden, Delaware 19810 Tickets: $20-25, via Brown Paper Tickets. Click For Tickets! Food & Drink: Beer, wine, soda, water for sale. No food, though. (The dinner I mentioned above is for Arden Dinner Gild members only). Parking: Plenty of free parking at the Gild Hall. Facebook Event:Here you go!
We’re really excited about this show. We hope you are too.
IT REALLY IS A HOLIDAY. Ask Joe Trainor how to celebrate it; he’ll totally tell you.A long, long time ago, 10 years ago to be exact, Matt and I were standing backstage at the Baby Grand with Joe Trainor as we rehearsed City Theater Company’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. Matt was the body of the famous man-eating plant Audrey 2, and Jill provided the voice. Joe played piano and led the pit band, as he does. It was early May, and the three of us were trying to find a time when we could all hang out. This was before smartphones, so you used the calendar in your head more than the calendar on your phone. One of us suggested we get together on a certain day, and another one of said that we couldn’t do that day since it was, “uh, whaddaya call it, Cinco de Ocho.” We laughed so hard over this until we couldn’t breathe, and every year since then, the three of us have been trying to get together for a celebratory drink on May 8th but have always had some kind of conflicting plan. Joe had a gig, Jill was out of town, Matt had a show… something.
And this year, my friends, is no different. We will not be having our celebratory Cinco de Ocho drink with Joe Trainor because Hot Breakfast! will be playing a gig at The Social Lounge in West Chester starting at 9PM. It’s a damn fine excuse, really.
The Social Lounge is a venue in West Chester, PA. Colin McGetrick (of Wave Radio fame) is the host of that venue’s weekly showcase known as The Thirsty Thursday Roadshow, and this is our week!
DEETS:
What: A Cinco de Ocho celebration thanks to the Thirsty Thursday Roadshow! Who: Hot Breakfast!, hosted by Wave Radio’s Colin McGetrick When: Thursday, May 8th, 9:00pm 11:00 pm; maybe even until midnight. Where: Social Lounge: 29-31 East Gay Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19382 Cover: FREE! But please drink or eat something; that’s how they stay open, y’know. Food & Drink: They have it! Pretty fancy and delicious stuff, too. Parking: No idea. Whatever it is, I’m sure you can handle it, Scout. Facebook Event:Here you go!
Will you be there to have a drink with us?
Come on out. We’ll toast to Joe.
We’ve been in love with Austin for a very long time. Between the music scene, the food, the technology, the food, Alamo Drafthouse, Barton Springs, Congress Street bats, the food, the people, the creative communities, the weather, Burning Flipside, and the food, it only seemed to be a matter of time before we decided to pack up and move there.
But Delaware has its charms (not to mention our families), so perhaps being bi-state-ual makes more sense. But could we ever be Texas’ premier acoustic dork-rock power duo? Texas sure is a big place; I mean, you can fit 107.95 Delawares in Texas. That’s a lot of area to fill with our awesomesauce… so I think we’ll stick to living in smaller states for now. We’ll be traveling from Delaware to Austin courtesy of hearo.fm and their wonderfully low standards.
But we’re no strangers to playing in Austin; no ma’am! We played at ye olde Burning Flipside Festival in 2012 and had a blast, and we’ve played a few house concerts there too. But this year, we’re playing at South By Southwest as part of Hearo.fm’s showcase at 219 West. Wooot!
Hearo.fm is taking over the downstown gastropub named 219 West on Saturday March 15th and the music site’s favorite bands will be playing all afternoon and into the night. We’ve got a gig the night before in Delaware that there’s no way we’d miss, so we’ll be flying into Austin the morning of the 15th, which means we get to play an evening slot!
Here are the details of the Saturday, March 15th’s events at the venue/gastropub named 219 West. NOTE: The venue’s name is NOT its address, which is confusing. The venue’s address is 612 W. 6th St. (which is between Rio Grande and Nueces), Austin, TX 78701. Their phone number is (512) 474-2194. Please don’t go to the wrong place. 🙂
219 West has a comfy indoor stage as well as a gorgeous roofdeck! As of now, we’re scheduled to play on the indoor stage. Here’s the schedule:
Inside Stage:
2:00pm – 3:30pm: Songwriter’s Circle (round-robin style)
Jennifer Logue
Mary Scholz
Samantha Aurelio
3:50pm – 7:20pm: Hearo Folks
3:50 – 4:20 – Lover’s League
4:40 – 5:10 – No Good Sister
5:30 – 5:50 – Keelan Donovan
6:10 – 6:40 – Granville Automatic
6:50 – 7:20 – Jamie Kent
7:40pm – 9:40pm: Songwriter’s Circle (round-robin style)
Michele Karmin
Alyse Black
Hot Breakfast!
Dylan Andre
We’ve played with a bunch of these bands before on the big stage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, and we’re here to tell you: they’re outstanding! Heck, if you wanted to park yer butt at 219 West all day and eat their delicious foods, drink their delicious drinks and listen to all the music, that’s a great freakin’ day right there. And best of all: You don’t even need a wristband!
DEETS: WHO: A bunch of bands, including Hot Breakfast! WHAT: South By Southwest Interactive, baby!! WHERE: A venue confusingly named 219 West, which is located at 612 W. 6th St. in downtown Austin. (That’s on 6th between Nueces and Rio Grande.) FOOD: Yup! This is a highly-rated gastropub with outstanding food/drinks. PARKING: Likely nada. This is SXSW, so you’re taking the shuttle and hoofin’ it. It’s part of the fun! COVER: I’m fairly certain it’s a free show. We’re trying to find out from the promoter. AGES: We pretty sure it’s 21+.
So come on out– there will be press coverage, food, and Hot Breakfast. It’s the next best thing to brisket.
I have no witty caption. It’s almost 5:30am.Folks, we owe you BIG. We asked you to send an email nominating us for some Homey Awards, and you all stepped up! Your efforts got us on the ballot, and thanks to you, judges are currently voting on who will win the 2014 Homey Awards… and we are on the list.
We are just flabbergasted and overwhelmed and overjoyed, all thanks to you!
OUR NOMINATIONS:
Our May 2013 release “39 Summers“ is up for Album of The Year. We are so proud of our little album; we think it represents where we are as a band and what we’re about. The nominees in this category are out of this world though, and we don’t blame anyone for voting for John & Brittany or Angela Sheik. Their albums are absolutely fantastic.
We’re also up for Best Band — how is this possible for a teeny duo? (Thank you!)
Jill is up again for Best Lead Singer— HOLY CRAP! (Wow, I would absolutely love to win this again, but everyone else on the list is just fantastic. There’s no need to win it twice in a row. Gotta spread the love around!)
Matt is up for Best Songwriter— I’ve always loved Matt’s songwriting, waaay before we were ever Hot Breakfast!. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s a playwright; but he just understands lyrics like nobody else (and how I loooove a good internal rhyme!). His jazz and classic rock influences really shine through his sense of melody, harmony, and mood. It’s such an honor to sing his songs; I mean it. His song “You Were a Spider” is about redemption, but with the twist at the end, it just KILLS me, and I can’t get through it half the time without crying… but then we’ve got the funny stuff like “It Only Takes Two to Rock” and “The Garden of Bad Metaphors,” and that song that will haunt us for all eternity, “Hole in Your Pants.” Sometimes I worry that people just write us off as a novelty act, but hey… at least that meant they listened. 🙂
Not helping our “silly band” case, our techno parody “This is Our Hit Song“ is up for not only Best Pop Song (how is that possible?!) but it’s…
… also up for Best Collaboration thanks to our brother-from-another-mother Todd Chappelle giving us some, er, hip-hop cred. 🙂
We’re also up for Best Live Act (This nomination makes makes us the most excited, we’ve gotta say)
And our video, “An Idiot for Christmas“ is up for Best Video thanks to mastermind Kevin Regan.
Music competitions are very strange to me; I don’t know how to quantify how music is “better” than something else. I really don’t care if we win anything… I’m just so genuinely honored to have even crossed anyone’s mind long enough to be nominated. 2013 was a very good year for us; it feels really nice that people noticed. 🙂
Thank you so much. Really. Thank you. We’re just floored. <3 <3
The 8th Annual Homey Awards Ceremony and Concert is being held on Friday, March 7th at World Cafe Live at the Queen. We will be in attendance, and we might even be presenting an award, who knows?
Here's a link to the Facebook Invite — keep checking there to see who will be performing that night at the ceremony!
And here’s the tickets link. Only ten bucks!
See you there?
See you there!
Your pal,
Ji11
ps: Here’s what some of the music community was saying when I said something similar on Facebook… and even if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can still (likely) read the comments.
The Millennium Music Conference is happening for the 18th time this year, but this year’s conference is special: It has 200% more Hot Breakfast! than it has ever had in past years.
Full disclosure: We tend to approach music conferences with a bit of skepticism. Questions like: “Why is a giant music conference in Harrisburg PA?” and “Why are we going to Harrisburg in the middle of winter?” and “Let’s face it: Music industry people are not going to be interested in two 40-year-olds with an acoustic guitar and a megaphone. Why are we going to this?” and “The two performance slots they gave us are both at Stupid O’Clock in the Acoustic Loser Lounge. If nobody is going to come see us, why are we doing this?” and “We’re not getting paid for these performances… in fact, we’re paying to play there. If our goal in 2014 was to try to make our living off of being musicians, isn’t paying to play counter-intuitive?” and “All of the correspondence we’ve received from the Millennium people have been misspelled, difficult to decipher, and not exactly confidence-instilling. If they can’t pay for a proofreader, how seriously are they taking this?” and “If you google the conference, the only articles written about it are for local community newspapers. If no big newspapers or music industry or pop culture magazines seem to cover it, it’s clear we’re not going to get any press… so why are we going?” and “In addition to the showcases we’ll be playing (to nobody) in the evenings, we can attend conferences during the day to learn things we kinda already know.”
And to be honest, we don’t have good answers to those questions.
Boy oh boy, winter is in full swing, isn’t it? And sometimes the only way to prepare for being snowed in for a few days is to get out of the house while you can! On your way to get yet another round of milk, bread, and eggs, why not swing by the Meetinghouse Theater (it’s over by 30th St. Station) and see five brand-new 10-minute plays? Sure as hell beats watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on your couch, which is what you’ll be stuck doing after this storm hits. Get out while you can! And just in time for Valentine’s Day, the theme of this batch of plays is “Heart Attacks, Too” which celebrates the bumpy side of love. Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow... (Don't stop!)
Just as Delaware is known for having a great acoustic dork-rock power duo scene (if you consider Hot Breakfast! a scene) (as we certainly do), Philadelphia is known for having a great underground theater scene, and one of the driving forces is Philly’s Primary Stages. PPS is a “down and dirty script-in-hand staged reading series of new 10 minute plays” where playwrights get to see their new works up on their feet, and actors and directors get a fun, short project to jump into. Audience members are bribed with beer, wine, sodee pop, bottled water, assorted chips, dips, vienna sausages and puddin’ packs (of which Jill is a fan). Philadelphia Dramatists Center; purveyors of fine Philadelphia theater since… well… a while ago.
We Hot Breakfastians come from pretty strong theater backgrouns ourselves, so we love getting to split our time between being on stage as pre-show and back-stage as the house-band/soundtrack.
This month’s shows are happening on Tuesday, February 11th and Wednesday, February 12th. We play a 30-35 minute set beginning at 7:30pm, and then a 15-ish minute set at intermission. We also play the outro music for each play– songs that are hand-picked by the directors. (The directors love to test us, so we’ve been asked to do everything from rap, Led Zep, play Sousa marches on kazoos, and even play TV theme songs. We never know what we’re gonna be asked to do for the out-tro music, but we have a blast retrofitting these songs for our dork-rock-duo instrumentation.)
We’re trying something a bit new this time around! For our Wednesday night show, we’ll be completely unplugged… no amplification at all, as we get back to our theatrical roots and fill the room with our voices and a guitar… no mics, old-skool. (If you ever want to hear Jill get on a mighty rant, ask her how she feels about schools giving student actors mics during their musicals. A teaser: “How about maybe you teach students proper singing and voice projection technique instead? ARGH!”)
There are five or six different 10-minute plays each night, so if you’re feelin’ theatery, you could come both nights and see a dozen morsels of fresh, original theater. We can’t promise we won’t repeat any songs, however… 🙂
DEETS:
WHERE: The Meetinghouse Theater inside the Community Education Center: 3500 Lancaster Ave. (sorta by 30th St Station) Philadelphia, PA 19104-4916 WHEN: Feb 11th & 12th. Doors open at 7:15ish, HB! plays at 7:30 sharp, the plays start at 8pm. Different plays both nights! CASH: Five bucks donation… feel free to give more if you’re so moved.
For a measly five bucks ($5!), you get a night of terrific theater, snackies, beverages, and music. What better way to spend a mid-week, mid-winter night?
It’s Homey Awards Season ladies and gentlemen, and now is the time when we beg you to nominate us for an award or two. We know it’s gross; we know it’s shameless. But we’ve worked really hard throughout 2013, and we’d love to be recognized for some of it. Can you blame us? Even the most ego-secure people need validation every once in a while.
This time, we’re asking you to vote in the 8th Annual WSTW Homey Awards (the link goes to a Facebook Note that lists the categories and nominees you can choose from, but don’t worry, you don’t need a Facebook account to view it). This is where you get to vote for all your favorite Delaware musicians, bands, songs, albums, and videos from this past year.
And as you most likely know, 2013 was an amazing year for Delaware music.
How do you do it? Simple. Just send an email to Homey (at) wstw.com with your picks between now and February 7nd, 2013. All of the categories, eligible albums, EPs, and songs are listed on that Facebook Note, but you don’t need Facebook to vote – and you can even add your own categories in your email. Because this is the preliminary round, you can pick up to five nominees in any category, but you only get one email entry per person… so make it good!
As hey, as it turns out, your pals Hot Breakfast! are eligible for this round’s voting! We’d love it if you’d consider us for:
Album of the Year: “39 Summers,” Hot Breakfast!
Song of the Year: “We Are Not Cool” and “Defender,” Hot Breakfast!
Band: Hot Breakfast!
Lead Singer: Jill Knapp of Hot Breakfast!
Live Act: Hot Breakfast!
Comedy-Music Artist: Hot Breakfast!
Best Songwriter: Matt Casarino, Hot Breakfast!
Best Rock Song: “We Are Not Cool” and “Defender,” Hot Breakfast!
Best Alternative Song: “Defender,” Hot Breakfast!
Best Collaboration: Hot Breakfast! and Todd Chappelle, “This is Our Hit Song”
Best Pop Song: “This is Our Hit Song,” Hot Breakfast! and Todd Chappelle
Best Video: Hot Breakfast, “An Idiot for Christmas” (Kevin Regan, dir.)
Best Producer: Ritchie Rubini (for Hot Breakfast’s “39 Summers”)
Best Engineer: Ray Gagliardino< (for Hot Breakfast's "39 Summers")/li>
Best Studio: Studio 825 (for Hot Breakfast’s “39 Summers”)
…and any other category where you think we deserve a nod!
If you’re very trusting (or just lazy), scroll down and copy/paste our pre-written nomination note and email it over to homey@wstw.com. See how helpful we are?
But tell you what, friends – even if you DON’T vote for us, we still want you to vote. There are so many wonderful musicians in Delaware – the original music scene here is as active, essential, and vibrant as ever – and this is a great way to show some love to your favorites. We are so indebted to WSTW’s Hometown Heroes for their wonderful focus on, and commitment to, Delaware music, and hosting these awards is a great way to give recognition to the many, many wonderful artists in the area.
So vote, won’t you? Again, in this preliminary round, you can vote for up to five artists/venues in each category. And all of them will love you and find you wildly appealing.
Why? Because VOTING IS SEXY, that’s why.
Your fellow Americans,
Hot Breakfast!
* * * * * * * * *
IF YOU’RE LAZY AND/OR TRUSTING, PLEASE COPY/PASTE THIS TEXT INTO AN EMAIL AND SEND IT TO HOMEY@WSTW.COM
Hi! I’d like to nominate the following acts for the Homey Awards. Thank you!
Album of the Year: “39 Summers” by Hot Breakfast!, “Start Sinning” by John and Brittany, “One by One” by Angela Sheik, “Morning People” by Todd Chappelle, “Better Late than Never” by The Keefs
EP of the year: “Wrong Decision” by Brene Wilson, “Soul” by The Honey Badgers, “Nature Tunes” by Em McKeever, “Dismantled” by RKVC
Song of the Year: “We Are Not Cool” by Hot Breakfast!; “Defender” by Hot Breakfast!
It was just after the new year in 2013 when we played a snuggly, dork-rockin’ show at Milkboy Coffee. Since then, a lot has changed… we’ve released our CD, Matt went through puberty, and Milkboy Coffee changed their name to Melodies Cafe. It’s still the same wonderful venue with the same terrific staff; they’ve just got a new name.
And… DUN DUN DUN… they’ve asked us to come back.
Turns out JEWMONGOUS is in town, so who better to share a bill with than another all-caps band?
Who is this JEWMONGOUS, you ask? Remember Rockapella, that amazeballs a cappella house band for “Where In The World is Carmen SanDiego?” Their founding member, Sean Altman, has formed a new group called JEWMONGOUS… and on this magical Winter Solstice night, we will share a freakin’ amazing stage. Jews, goyim, non-theists, dorks, rockers… we come together as one in dorkitude.Aaaaaaaa-maaaaaayn.
With loads of gratitude to Kevin Regan, Georgie Staley, Julie Snow-Regan, and YOU, our zillions of patient extras… we are thrilled to announce that the video is complete and we’ll be releasing it on Sunday, December 1st! (That’s today! So here it is!)
SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…
We are SO excited about this video! It took us a year to make since it had to span three seasons: Summer, Fall and Winter. (Nuts to you, Spring!)
A brief timeline:
December 6 2012: Kevin Regan left us a voicemail pitching the idea of shooting a video for our song “An Idiot for Christmas.” He envisioned it being shot over the course of a year, with the shots corresponding to the seasonal lyrics.
December 2012: Brainstorming, planning, storyboarding
January 2013: Waiting patiently for snow!
Early February 2013: We had a snowstorm finally, so we grabbed the shots about scraping off the windshield and heading to the mall while we had snow on the ground. Snow angels happened, hot cocoa was sipped while staring wistfully out the window, and light-up Santa hats and glittery eyeliner were donned.
July 28: We shot our outdoor baseball game scenes at Brandywine High School
August 3-4: We headed to Rehoboth Beach, where the wonderful Georgie Staley taught a bunch of wonderfully talented and gung-ho people a 16-bar dance routine. We were SUPER-excited that our filming day just happened to coincide with the annual sandcastle contest at Rehoboth Beach, so Matt was able to steal a shot in front of one of the award-winning sandcastles! We also grabbed shots of skee-ball, bumper cars, ice cream eating, Gravitron barfing, and beaming kids with beach balls.
August 21: Uncle Henry’s Creepy BBQ in Media PA. Kevin Niemi played a delightfully creepy Uncle Henry… that shot of Kevin staring into the camera cracks me up.
August 24: We shot the swimming pool scenes at Kevin’s folks’ place. (Thanks, Momma Regan!)
September 16: We shot some concert footage at 1984 in Wilmington, recruiting Jeff Dement on drums and Randy America on bass. We also begged some friends to come watch us play through the song a few times to make it seem like people like us. 🙂
October 12: We grabbed some autumnal shots at Linvilla Orchards, and some Halloween footage (featuring a horrifying Guy Fieri and Phantom of the Opera) in West Chester
November 24 2013: We wrapped it all up on November 24th at the Christiana Mall, just as soon as the Christmas decorations went up.
It was a whirlwind, and also pretty fun trying to play with the continuity between the shots. (What color is Jill’s hair this week?)
Yes yes, we know it’s hella schmaltzy. From the midi drums and gratuitous jingle bells to Jill’s prissy over-pronouncing of words and loungey delivery, it doesn’t get cheezier than this. The irony of all this is that Jill reeeeaally hates shopping (which also makes her a commie terrorist)… but hey, we’re not above stooping this low in hopes of getting on WXPN’s holiday compilation. 🙂
So… let’s see how many stupid YouTube Comments we can get. Maybe we can turn it into a drinking game. Everytime someone comments using any of these words, take a drink:
OLD
LAME
DUMB
STUPID
STRONGBAD
O_o
RON PAUL 2012
It’ll be a party! 🙂
No seriously.. we are really proud of the video, and we’re so happy you were all a part of it; whether on camera, in spirit, or even now just by watching it, reading about it, and spreading the word. Many, many, many heartfelt thanks to you all, and especially to Kevin Regan. Now go watch his series of web series: The Clink, The League, OK?
