We just sent out our Winter 2019 Snoozeletter… and here it is!
https://mailchi.mp/708b043f2260/introducing-15-minute-coffee-break-concerts-with-hot-breakfast-18825972
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Category: Rocking
There’s a wonderful joint just this side of the Pennsylvania/Delaware line. It’s had a few names, but those aren’t important right now. What is important is its current name: BAR XIII.
Billed as “Delaware’s Home for Original Music and Strange People,” Bar XIII hosts an incredibly diverse arrangement of performances, from comedy to burlesque to dance to – here’s the important part – live music. The owners have taken a great space (huge bar on one side, stage/floor on the other) that never really saw its full potential and turned it into a wonderful venue. There’s a reason The Dead Milkmen requested it for their birthday celebration earlier this year – it’s their favorite place, that’s why.
As the kids say – if ya don’t know, now ya know.
So we are very happy to head back to Bar XIII for a fun, diverse night of rockin’ bands – especially considering one of those bands is your very own acoustic dork-rock power duo Hot Breakfast!
We’ll be joined by Heartside, Magnetic North, and Wild Virtù. That’s a lot of great music – a blend of melodic pop, Americana, rock n’ roll, and, of course, dorky covers of Styx songs. (Uh…that last one might just be us.)
But here’s the important part: HOT BREAKFAST! is gonna kick off the night at 9:00 pm. So make sure you’re there by 9:00. (Make it 8:30. Have a beer.)
Remember, this will be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from our other shows this month. Unlike our Bellefonte Cafe show, we’ll be pulling out all the dork-rock stops for this one.
(Along those lines, here’s a fun story: just after our set opening for the Dead Milkmen at Bar XIII a couple months ago, the bartender stopped as we were heading toward the back. “Hey!” he yelled in mock-fury. “You guys took my bar!” Seems halfway through our brief set, the power of dork-rock was so potent that just about everyone drinking at the bar abandoned ship to check out the old folks singing about “kids today.” Our goal for this show: make that happen again.)
So, to sum up: Friday, July 15th. Great venue. Great beer & liquor selection. Great lineup. Great music. This night is gonna be…uh…what’s the word…really good.
DEETS:
WHO: Hot Breakfast!, Magnetic North, Wild Virtù, Heartside.
WHEN: Friday, July 15th, 9pm – 1am.
WHERE: BAR XIII. 1706 Philadelphia Pike, Wilmington, DE 19809. Easy to find, but parking can be tricky – try to carpool. (Here’s a map.)
TICKETS: $5 cover at the door. No pre-sales, so make sure you have cash. We’ll be worth it, we promise.
PARKING: Bar XIII has a lot, but it’s not very big. Carpool if you can. If not, you should be okay.
FOOD: Have dinner before you head out; there’s no food menu at Bar XIII. But lots n’ lots of beers & other drinks. Sometimes food trucks come by, typically the Plum Pit Food Truck, which is tasty tasty BBQ. But I don’t know if they’ll be there or not. I’m not psychic. It’s not my job to feed you. 🙂
FACEBOOK EVENT: Here’s the Facebook Event Link, if you’re into that sort of thing. 🙂
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C’mon – head out to Bar XIII. “Delaware’s Home for Original Music and Strange People.” That’s us to a T – and we’re pretty sure it’s you, too.
from the Magnetically Wild Heart of Breakfast,
Matt
(The Suburban Legend)
yet
But that is a blue canary in the outlet (sorta) by the lightswitch…
It’s been a while since we’ve played at The Bellefonte Cafe. For a while there, we were trying to play at Bellefonte once a year in the summertime, but we fell off the horse… until NOW.
There’s something extra-amazing about the Bellefonte Cafe in the summertime. When the weather’s right, they open the windows between the performance space and the porch seats, and people can sit outside and chat and enjoy the music while the breeze wafts in the room and carries the smells of coffee and black bean soup around the place. And our pals at the NOAA are saying that this craptastic wet blanket of oppressive heat and humidity will break by Saturday, so hopefully we’ll be able to get those windows OPEN!
Anyway, if you haven’t been to the Bellefonte Cafe in a while, they’ve been under new ownership for maybe two years now. The food is still just as delicious, lovingly prepared, and veg*n friendly, but it comes out infinitely faster. Everyone appreciated that upgrade. You’re still encouraged to listen and linger, but it’s no longer forced upon you because your food hadn’t arrived. They also moved some tables around, so now the musicians have a bit more space in the front of the big room there, which is nice for everyone.
This night is going to be special for a few reasons: Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? “How is this night different from all other nights?” Sorry. I had to make a dumb Passover joke. Carry on. 😉
- We’re recording the show to see if we can get some live tracks out of it.
- We’re playing a bunch of our “deep cuts,” meaning, songs we don’t get to play very often because we don’t often have the good fortune of playing listening rooms… and these are songs that work best when people are listening. Bellefonte Cafe is a great listening room. And you can’t force a listening room… either people listen, or they talk loudly so they can hear themselves over the music. It just depends… but we find that a Songs like “Gravity” are hard to do in a rock club, and “Run” just never seems to make it onto our set lists for no particular reason.
- You might think the night sounds boring. I can hear my mother saying, “Who wants to hear songs ya don’t know? And is it gonna be the all ballads channel? Bleaggh!” A reasonable concern, but you don’t have to worry about it. There will be PLENTY of dorkiness on Saturday night. We’re Delaware’s PREMIER acoustic dork-rock power duo for heaven’s sake! Have some faith in our dorkdom! We promise we won’t get all navel-gazey atcha. For example, Matt’s alter ego, The Suburban Legend, will be making an appearance, since we’re playing his song, “Yeah Baby.” See? NOT BORING. PLENTY DORKY.
- We’re going to be world-premiering a new song, possibly even two!
- Jill will introduce you all to her newest instrument: Her bass recorder. It’s an AuLos A533B, and it’s GORGEOUS. Wait until you hear this thing. Jill plays AuLos recorders.
Anyway, if that isn’t enough to sell you, then we’ll hopefully see you at a different show this summer… there are many to choose from! But for now, I’m just gonna give you the all-important deets for this gig.
DEETS:
WHO: Just us. Hot Breakfast!. The Suburban Legend and Ji11.
WHEN: Saturday, July 9th, 8-10PM. (Bellefonte’s shows used to be 7-9 back in the old days, but now under the new ownership they bumped it later. We dig it.)
WHERE: Bellefonte Cafe, 804 Brandywine Blvd, Wilmington, DE.
TICKETS: No tickets! It’s a free event, but it is a restaurant, and you need to justify your arse taking up a seat for two hours. So please order some food and beverages. Also: The band gets paid via tips, so if you feel so moved, please toss a buck or two into the tip jars judiciously placed around the space.
PARKING: It’s all street parking; it’s a neighborhood. All free. No meters or anything.
FOOD: They’ve got a full kitchen and bar, and everything is hand-made to order and delicious. They can handle all of your funky dietary needs, so don’t be shy.
FACEBOOK EVENT: Here’s the Facebook Event Link, if you’re into that sort of thing. 🙂
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We hope to see you at this show– We promise it’ll be nothing short of wonderful.
Your pal,
Ji11
LADIES AND GERMS, THE TIME HAS COME. You’ve been oh so patient… and now we can REVEAL… this album that was in the works for 18 months, and that we are absolutely head-over-heels in love with: The Big Reveal. It’s time to CELEBRATE as we unleash this new album with a blowout show at The Blue Ball Barn at Alapocas Run State Park in Wilmington, DE.
We will be joined by Glim Dropper in this special concert event. After the awesome Glim Dropper opens the show, they’ll back us on several tunes, including brand-new songs from our new full-length album The Big Reveal! Other guests include Joe Trainor and Kevin Niemi (from The Joe Trainor Trio), Joe Testa Noelle Picara (from Noelle Picara’s band), the fabulous Penny Carmack, Rachel Schain, Rodney Anonymous (!!!), Todd Chappelle, and more. (Don’t worry – we’ll be playing lots as an acoustic duo as well. It’s what we do.)
The doors open at 7pm so you can grab a beverage and some great post-dinner finger food from Bachetti Bros., and then the music starts at 8pm sharp! You’ll also be first in line to purchase The Big Reveal, the new album produced by Ritchie Rubini. The Big Reveal is loaded with original and highly eclectic rock n’ roll, a mix of styles from 70s “Mellow Gold,” analog synths of the 80s, blistering punk rock, and even rockabilly– all infused with that unmistakable Hot Breakfast! dorkiness you know and love. Guests on the album include Jake and the Stiffs, Angela Sheik, Cooke Harvey from The Splashing Pearls, and many more.
Don’t miss this unique and incredibly fun night of music at one of Wilmington’s true treasures – The Blue Ball Barn, a historic museum at the new Alapocas Run State Park in Wilmington, Delaware. It’s a really cool space; you’ll dig it.
DEETS:
- WHAT: Our long-awaited CD release party for our new album The Big Reveal
- WHEN: Saturday November 14th. Doors open at 7pm, music starts promptly at 8pm
- WHO: Hot Breakfast! Glim Dropper, and pals!
- WHERE: The Blue Ball Barn at Alapocas State Park: 1914 W Park Dr, Wilmington, Delaware 19803. (You’ve seen this place from Concord Pike about 1000 times and always wondered what it was. Now you’ll know!)
- PARKING: Free parking in their lot.
- FOOD/DRINKS: Please eat dinner BEFORE you show up. We won’t have dinner for you, merely snacks, because what’s a party without snacks? These are catered finger-food simple snacks (cheese & crackers, fancy fruit, little delicious desserty things) but this is a gig in a museum, not a wedding in a restaurant. 🙂 There will NOT be any substantial food for sale. Snackages are included in the price of your ticket and will be mostly available pre-show — from 7-8pm or until we run out. 🙂 Simple, non-boozy beverages (Water, iced tea, lemonade) are also included in the cost of your ticket. Beer and wine (only), soda, and bottles of foo-foo water will be available for (cash-only) donation.
- KID FRIENDLY? This event is not geared for kids, and we won’t be watching our language… but with that said, we don’t really drop many F-bombs anyway. Maybe 4th grade and up? You know your kid best, not us. As long as they won’t be distracting, go for it. 🙂
- TICKETS: http://hotbreakfast.brownpapertickets.com They are $20 each online, and will be $25 at the door if it’s not sold out. If you’re buying at the door, we will have the ability to take plastic. (The bar will be cash only, however.)
- CDs: All of our recordings will be available at this show. 39 Summers and The Big Reveal are $10 each; our 2012 “HOT BREAKFAST!” EP (which includes “An Idiot for Christmas” will be available for $5. We can take plastic.
- Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/1019265348115096
That’s all the news!
We are SO EXCITED to share this music with you. We worked on it for 18 months, and we think it’s worth the wait. We hope you’ll agree. 🙂
See you soon!
Your pals,
Jill & Matt
The Dead Milkmen are very kind to us. Earlier this year we recorded a song with them called The Prisoners Cinema and a Shaking Through documentary was made of the two-day recording session. We played with them at Slim’s in San Francisco in April, and then opened for them at Crash Bang Boom in Philadelphia (which was the most crowded and most fun show we’ve ever played EVER). And on October 30th, The Dead Milkmen are playing a show at The Trocadero, and we’ll be playing with them. It’s true, our name isn’t on the marquee, but it’s because we’re kinda part of the Milkmen in a way. I believe Dean called us “The Dead Milkmen Ladies Auxiliary.” We’re OK with that.
DEETS:
WHO: The Dead Milkmen joined onstage by HOT BREAKFAST! for a song or two
WHEN: Friday October 30, 2015. Doors open at 7, music starts at 8pm. Two opening bands: Fight Fuck or Dance, and Ego Likeness
WHERE: The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA.
TICKETS: $22 – $25, available here: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/948091?utm_medium=bks
Come dance with us until it’s time for us to play, and then cheer us on as we play with our punk heroes!
Your pal,
Jill
Hot Breakfast! loves Billy Joel. There, we said it.
So when our buddy Joe Trainor said he wanted to get the gang back together – the one who performed a tribute to Billy Joel a few years ago – we jumped at the opportunity to play this music again. Then we panicked, because we haven’t really been practicing our saxophones for, oh, a couple of years.
But no matter. We are back in shape and completely psyched to perform The Music of Billy Joel at the Smyrna Opera House in Smyrna, Delaware on Saturday, July 25th at 8:00. And that’s just the beginning of it. See, when we create these tribute shows, it seems silly to only play them once because we work so hard to make the show great. So this time around we were sure to book the show in a few places spread out over several months, which lets us bring this great show to many people in many places; and best of all, we get to play these songs that bring us so much joy.
This isn’t a Hot Breakfast! gig, nor is it a Joe Trainor Trio show. It’s sort of a merging of the two bands, bringing Matt, Jill, Joe, and JT3 drummer Jeff Dement together with guitarist Chuck Kuzminski, bassist Allen Trainor, singer & percussionist Kerry Kristine McElrone, and special guest guitarist/harmonica player Stephen Manocchio. Matt & Jill will be singing and playing saxophone, guitar, percussion, melodica, and whatever else they can find.
We love this music. It’s our youth. Billy Joel’s songs inspired both of us to make music. Jill considers Billy Joel to be her first vocal teacher, and I consider him a master of songwriting, someone I still turn to for inspiration (and help) while writing my own music. But in addition to it being our youth, his music is also very much our now; and we’re so thrilled to be a part of this show.
DATES:
- Saturday July 25, 2015 at the Smyrna Opera House, Smyrna, DE. (Tix available here!)
- Saturday October 24, 2015 at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts (a special fund raiser for City Theatre Company!). (Tix available here.)
Saturday January 23, 2016Saturday, April 23 at the Everett Theater in Middletown DE. (Ticket info available soon!)
Look, we know the odds are slim that Billy’s gonna show up to any of these shows and join us for “The Thing About Boats” and “It Only Takes Two to Rock.” But don’t you think you should be there, y’know, just in case? We sure do. (He’s not coming. But it’s gonna be an awesome show, and we’re gonna rock it just for you.)
An Innocent Dork (or two),
The Suburban Legend (Matt) and Ji11 (Barbara)
Legendary Lancaster punks Sherwin play their final show with Marshall, their equally legendary drummer, on Friday, July 17th. And Hot Breakfast! is gonna play as well.
We met Marshall earlier this month, when we performed a free, acoustic show with our friends and heroes The Dead Milkmen. (We know – we can’t quite believe it either. But that really happened.) Marshall was at the show, and in addition to snapping some great photos of our gig, he asked us to be a part of this fantastic farewell show before he leaves for Japan.
Oh – did we forget to mention Marhsall was leaving for Japan? That’s what he’s doing. We consider Newark, Delaware too far away for breakfast (14 miles), but he’s just, y’know, going to Japan.
Anyway, we’re gonna celebrate by rockin’ out in style at American Bar and Grill, the legendary Lancaster punk club, in support of Sherwin. We cannot wait for this free show – it’s gonna be a blast! And if you’re 21 or older, we’d love to see you there too.
The show kicks off at 9:30 or so with the Dead Scouts. We’ll go on second, and the mighty Sherwin will finish things up.
Did we mention it’s free? And we’ll be performing? Seriously, what else do you need to know?
DEETS:
WHO: Hot Breakfast!, Sherwin, and Dead Scouts
WHEN: Friday, July 17, 2015. The music starts around 9:30 pm.
WHERE: American Bar & Grill. 1081 N. Plum Street, Lancaster, PA 17601. (717) 394-8021.
TICKETS: FREE, you Vermicious Knids! FREE! No reservations needed – or taken, for that matter. It ain’t that kind of joint.
PARKING: It’s got a parking lot!
FOOD: Yep! Looks delicious, too. Everything from 50-cent wings to Oysters Rockefeller to thin-crust pesto pizza. Come hungry. Just remember to leave the kids at home.
Hope to see you there – this is gonna be one rockin’ (and dorky) farewell!
Turning Japanese,
The Suburban Legend (Matt)
There are few words that bring more joy to us than “Glim Dropper” and “WaveRadio,” and yes, we’re aware one of those isn’t really a word.
That’s because Glim Dropper and WaveRadio are two of Hot Breakfast’s favorite bands in the entire universe. And we are delighted to share the stage with both of ’em at Doc Watson’s in Exton, PA on Friday, April 3rd. It’s gonna rock and rock hard, my friends, because despite the incredibly diverse musical offerings you’ll receive, we are all cut from the same cloth – the cloth of SOLID ENTERTAINMENT. (Okay, so I’m not great with metaphors.)
Glim Dropper is a duo like no other. With a deft combination of technology, incredible songwriting, and even more incredible musical acumen, they make a mighty rock and roll sound, a blend of modern alternative and good ol’ classic rock n’ roll. When they were a trio, they recorded Heartsick Phenomenon, one of the finest albums released in 2014; now that they’re a duo, bassist/guitarist/keyboardist/singer Dan Kauffman and drummer/keyboardist/guitarist Rob Schnell are putting on stunningly inventive and incredibly fun live shows.
And then there’s WaveRadio, an amazing experimental trio who can, and do, play every style of music this side of Ziggy Stardust. You want blistering hard rock? They got it. You want sparse, introspective reggae-pop? It’s yours. You want amazing vocals and some of the best guitar-keyboard interplay you’ve ever heard? Done, son. All this and the occasional Doors and Radiohead cover.
And then, of course, there’s us. We’ll kick this night off at 9:00 PM — but get there much, much earlier; you’ll want a table and some of Doc Watson’s magical wings and short-rib poutine, not to mention a Hot Sherlock Holmes (which sounds very, very dirty, doesn’t it?). This is our first gig back on the east coast after several shows at South by Southwest, so we are rarin’ to go, as they say down in Texas*. Plus, we’ve played with each of these bands, but this’ll be our first time as a threesome. And if that sounds naughty to you, well, imagine how it sounds to us. We cannot wait.
Love’n’stuff,
Matt (The Suburban Legend)
DEETS:
WHO: HOT BREAKFAST!, Glim Dropper, and WaveRadio at Doc Watson’s
WHAT: We will ROCK YOUR FACES OFF, POLITELY REAPPLY THEM, THEN ROCK THEM OFF AGAIN.
WHERE: Doc Watson’s Public House and Restaurant, 150 North Pottstown Pike, Exton, PA 19341
WHEN: Friday, April 3rd. We kick it off at 9:00 or so.
AGES: All ages.
FOOD: HOLY CRAP, check out the menu. It looks magical. And be prepared to drink. They have those.
COVER: $8.
TICKET LINK: There ain’t none, fancypants. Just pay at the door like a normal person.
FACEBOOK EVENT: COMING SOON.
* Nobody actually says this in Texas, which I learned after a lot of uncomfortable stares.
It’s that time of year again, when thousands of innovators descend upon Austin, Texas to share ideas through film, music, panel discussions, hands-on demonstrations, technology, visual art… all in hopes of changing the world and making it a better, safer, smarter, more creative place for everyone. We played here last year and were asked back by the venue, and our fearless promoter used those kudos as a springboard and booked us a bunch more shows for the week. Yee-haw!
We’re playing three shows with the possibility of adding a fourth, so keep your eyes on our Google Calendar for the most up to date info on our shows.
Each show we’re playing features a gazillion bands, but in the interest of saving space, we’re gonna use this blog entry to tell you when/where we’re playing, and if you wanna know who else is on the bill, click that gig’s ‘Details’ link on our Google Calendar and you’ll see it all there.
I’m gonna cut to the chase since it’s after 5am. So here are the…
DEETS:
Show #1: Wednesday, 3/18, 8pm, Love Goat
WHEN: Wednesday, March 18, 8pm sharp.
WHAT: We play a 40-minute set in the downstairs bar!
WHERE: Love Goat (2716 Guadalupe St in Austin), which is a fantastic two-story/two-stage bar near the UT Austin campus and away from (but still convenient to) the #SXSW hustle and bustle.
COST: No cover charge
SXSW WRISTBAND NEEDED? Nope!
FOOD/DRINKS?: It’s a bar, so yeah… plus they’re ridiculously cheap drinks. Food is pizza and/or Asian food that they’ll order/bring in from neighboring businesses for you. (They’ve basically outsourced their kitchen.)
PARKING: Street parking. Do NOT park in any parking lot or you WILL get towed.
Show #2: Thursday 3/19, 3pm, Love Goat (again)
WHEN: Thursday, March 19, 3pm sharp.
WHAT: We play a 30-minute set, but this time we’re on the roofdeck!
WHERE: Love Goat (2716 Guadalupe St in Austin), which is a fantastic two-story/two-stage bar near the UT Austin campus and away from (but still convenient to) the #SXSW hustle and bustle.
COST: No cover charge
SXSW WRISTBAND NEEDED? Nope!
FOOD/DRINKS?: It’s a bar, so yeah… plus they’re ridiculously cheap drinks. Food is pizza and/or Asian food that they’ll order/bring in from neighboring businesses for you. (They’ve basically outsourced their kitchen.)
PARKING: Street parking. Do NOT park in any parking lot or you WILL get towed.
Show #3: Saturday 3/21, 6pm, 219 West
WHEN: Saturday, March 21, 6pm sharp!
WHAT: We play as part of a 4-act songwriters circle on the downstairs/indoor stage, just like last year. It runs from 6pm – 8pm; each act gets 4-5 songs each in a round-robin style. We dig this format!
WHERE: 219 West (612 W. 6th Street in Austin), which is a more upscale, beautiful two-story/two-stage bar near right in the heart of SXSW.
COST: TBD; please buy food and drinks!
SXSW WRISTBAND NEEDED? Nope!
FOOD/DRINKS?: It’s a bar and grill with really wonderful, creative drinks and gastropub/foodie food.
PARKING: Street parking. Do NOT park in any parking lot or you WILL get towed.
POSSIBLE UNCONFIRMED Show #4: 3/22, Time TBD, Love Goat
WHEN: Sunday, March 22, TIME TBD, IF IT’S EVEN HAPPENING AT ALL.
WHAT: We play a ??-minute set.
WHERE: Love Goat (2716 Guadalupe St in Austin), which is a fantastic two-story/two-stage bar near the UT Austin campus and away from (but still convenient to) the #SXSW hustle and bustle.
COST: No cover charge
SXSW WRISTBAND NEEDED? Nope!
FOOD/DRINKS?: It’s a bar, so yeah… plus they’re ridiculously cheap drinks. Food is pizza and/or Asian food that they’ll order/bring in from neighboring businesses for you. (They’ve basically outsourced their kitchen.)
PARKING: Street parking. Do NOT park in any parking lot or you WILL get towed.
And that’s the news! We’ll keep you posted about show #4. Until then, we really hope to see you at one of these other performances. We are amped. 🙂
Your pal in dork rock,
Ji11
We love, love, LOVE getting to play at Melodies Cafe (formerly Milkboy Coffee) in Ardmore. It’s such a treat. Everyone who works there is so dang good at what they do, from the booking and the sound, all the way over to the food and the coffee. We get pretty spoiled as a performer there.
The layout of the room is great too– every seat is good, and it really helps us connect with the audience. We can play anything there and it’ll work… big bombastic songs, funny stuff, quiet little things too… it all just works in that space! What a joy!
It also doesn’t hurt that the food is really good, and they don’t make fun of me for drinking decaf.
Anyway, enough about that… let’s talk about the music!
Kicking the night off will be the sister duo, Danielle and Jennifer. We have been hearing a huge buzz about these two ladies for a few years now. They have a huge and loyal following, plus they have a strong theatrical background which we certainly relate to. 🙂 They released a video for their song Radical Love last year, which is so much fun and freakin’ catchy, but it might have been the fact that they covered an Alice Cooper tune that made us know we had to share a stage with them. We are going to resist the urge of calling them cute, because that’s gotta make them crazy. Yes, sure, they’re adorable, but SCREW THAT… what’s most important is that they’re good musicians, wonderful performers, and solid songwriters. What they look like is totally irrelevant. (But if they were goofy lookin’, we never wouldn’t have booked them.) Anyway, when Melodies Cafe asked us who we wanted on our bill, we said “Danielle and Jennifer, please!” and Melodies said, “Hell yes! Let’s make it happen!” And that’s exactly what we did.
We’ll be playing second, giving you a nice blend of new material, goofy stuff, sincere stuff, thunderous songs, tiny songs, and everything in between. We’ve also got a surprise up our sleeve…
In the third and final slot of the evening (read: the loud slot), Melodies asked if we were cool with sharing a stage with Wave Radio since their lead singer/guitarist Colin McGetrick played there recently and tore the place up. We said “Yes please!” and added those dreamy guys to the bill. We love them so much; their atmospheric pop is absolutely FLAWLESSLY executed. I am consistently blown away with these guys every time I hear them. Colin’s voice is just killer; Chris Cotter’s drumming is so tasteful, and perfectly complements the song without ever overplaying, even when he’s playing the hell out of his kit. James McLaughlin plays keys, and makes what he does look so easy… but it’s nearly impossible. He’s basically playing two instruments at once, simultaneously being half the rhythm section as he holds down the bass, while playing a combo lead and rhythm/filler instrument with his other hand. I honestly don’t know how he does it. They’re a trio that sounds like a quintet. We just love them. Doesn’t hurt that they’re also pretty hunky.
It’s gonna be a pretty good lookin’ night, gotta say.
We’ll see you then!
Your pal,
Ji11
DEETS:
WHO/WHAT: Danielle & Jennifer, HOT BREAKFAST!, and WaveRadio join forces to ROCK YOUR CAFFEINATED FACES OFF
WHERE: Melodies Cafe, 2 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA, 19003
WHEN: Friday, January 30th. Music starts at 8pm sharp. Each band gets a 45/50-ish minute set.
AGES: All ages!
FOOD: Great food and coffee. You may also BYOB!
PARKING: Plenty of it in the lot next door or across the street; also lots of street parking. It’s also SEPTA-friendly!
COVER: $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
TICKET LINK: http://www.melodiescafe.com/event/760937-wave-radio-hot-breakfast-ardmore/
FACEBOOK EVENT: Blecch. Facebook. 🙂
A few weeks ago, our pal Rodney emailed me and asked me to put some vocals down on a new song of theirs called “Prisoner’s Cinema.” He said that The Dead Milkmen were going to be recording this song as a part of Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through documentary series. These “Shaking Through” documentaries are really fascinating to watch, because you see amazingly talented musicians, engineers and producers working together to record a song at Weathervane’s gorgeous Miner Street Recording Studios. The whole thing just unfolds in front of you, and it’s just inspiring to see how other people work.
Rodney sent me a ruff of the track and told me where my vocals should go, but he didn’t write out any actual parts for me. I asked him if he had something specific in mind for me to sing or did he want me to come up with something, so he said (I paraphrase), “Make it yours! Have fun with it! We want this section to be something totally different than the rest of the song, hence female vocals. It’s kinda Irish-y in feel. Go for it!”
So I wrote this chorus-breakdown thing (using his lyrics and their chord changes) with a sorta Irish-sounding melody, and then arranged some lush double-tracked block harmonies, which pretty much nails the whole “something totally different than the rest of the song” requirement. (I love writing and recording layers of harmonies more than you could possibly know, so it was fun. Choir geek and all.)
I sent them a proof-of-concept quick-and-dirty thing just to make sure I was headed in the right direction and Rodney dug it. I recorded another cleaned-up version and all four guys unanimously loved it, so, woot!
I honestly thought that was the end of it. Like, I initially assumed that I was going to make studio-quality .wavs here at Knappshack Studios and email them to the guys to have them plunk into their ProTools session at Weathervane… I just naturally assumed I wouldn’t be part of the video, because nobody’s interested in me particularly… they want The Milkmen, and that’s totally reasonable. But Rodney assured me that they wanted me along for the videoshoot and to record it live, so YAY!
In the beginning, there wasn’t really anything for Matt to do, but once the guys rehearsed the song more, they agreed it made sense to have an acoustic guitar filling things out a bit… so yay, the gang’s all here!
So… we’re headed into the studio with The Dead Milkmen this weekend. I’m really, really excited! The Dead Milkmen are musical heroes of mine, and it’s crazy to think that almost 30 years after I first listened to their music I’m going to be collaborating with them in one of the best studios in Philadelphia as part of a documentary series about musical creativity and collaboration. PINCH ME!
I’m not going to explain the whole Weathervane and Shaking Through ethos here… you can visit their websites and get the story yourselves. (And if you’re looking for a wonderful charity to support, Weathervane is VERY worthy of your dollars.) But in a nutshell, “Shaking Through is a non-profit, community-produced documentary series about the vision and process of recording music.” (That’s a quote from the Shaking Through website.) So at the end of this weekend, we’ll have a new song recorded and mixed, and the whole process will be captured on video as well. There will also be enough footage collected so the Shaking Through people can put together a lush documentary about how the song was recorded. There’ll be interviews, chats with band members, footage of everyone actually playing and cutting tracks, and thoughts from the engineers, producers, and executive producers, too. But what’s EVEN COOLER is that while the cameras are rolling this weekend, you can actually watch the live stream! So anytime this weekend you can click a link and peek in and see how we’re doing in the studio. It’s not a performance– we’ll be working– but you’ll get to be a fly on the wall.
There will also be a chat window, so if you want to say hello, if you have questions for anyone in the studio (band members, engineers, producers, pizza guy, etc.) just type your question in! You can also chat with other people watching, too. It’s a very interactive, collaborative experience. You are absolutely encouraged to interact via the chat window while you’re watching, so please do!
For the musicians in the audience, a still-even-cooler-cooler-cooler byproduct of this Shaking Through session (in addition to the documentary and the finished song) will be the individual tracks of the songs for you to grab! So if anyone is interested in remixing or rearranging the song, they can take the parts we recorded, dump them into your favorite audio-manipulation-tool, and make a new song out of our ingredients. The Shaking Through website has a place for you to upload your new mixes so we can all hear them and collaborate further. It’s such an exciting time to be a musician.
Bottom line: Weathervane is remarkable, and Shaking Through is really something special. Weathervane’s people are thought leaders in the music industry, and we are absolutely honored that we get to be in a room with these folks and learn from them. We’re so grateful to The Dead Milkmen for their generosity in letting us be a part of this recording and experience. We can learn from this. “We can make famous friends, or we can make our friends famous.”
Musicians, there are so many opportunities for growth, sharing, and interacting out there, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Music isn’t a competition. It’s a connection. Let’s do this.
Love,
Ji11 & the Suburban Legend
(aka Jill & Matt)
DEETS:
WHO: The Dead Milkmen, with Hot Breakfast! tagging along and helping a bit
WHAT: Recording a new Milkmen song, “Prisoner’s Cinema,” as part of Weathervane Music Collective’s Shaking Through documentary series. You’ll get to watch the recording and mixing live, and also interact with everyone via the chat window once you fire up YouTube
WHERE: We’ll be in Philly. You’ll be watching it streaming live via YouTube via these links: Saturday’s Link. Sunday’s Link.
WHEN: Saturday, January 17, from 11am – 8pm, and more studio goodness on Sunday, January 18 from 10:30 – 6pm.
TICKETS: There are no tickets! You just fire up your browser (or your phone’s YouTube app) and watch!
FACEBOOK EVENT: Here ya go. (Note: We’re not mentioned on the Facebook invite. It’s The Dead Milkmen’s song, not ours. We are merely guests.)
Learn more about Shaking Through: http://weathervanemusic.org/shakingthrough
Become a member of the Weathervane Music Non-Profit: http://weathervanemusic.org/membership
UPDATE!
Hey all!
We’ve been given permission to post the schedule for how the weekend is going to play out, who is recording what and when, etc. This schedule is only a guideline and may very well change a bit on the fly. Ya gotta be flexible in the studio, ya know. 🙂
For studio nerds: Here’s a link to the TRACK LISTING SPREADSHEET so you can see what instruments are on what tracks. Follow along at home! This will be used both days.
DAY 1: SATURDAY JANUARY 17.
YOUTUBE LINK FOR PEOPLE TO WATCH TODAY’S LIVESTREAM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQdhxhchg0c
11:00am: CREW CALL / BAND CALL
Video Crew, band members, Executive Producers, recording crew will all arrive at the studio.
11:15 – 11:45: Pre-Session Meeting
Brian, Gabe, Jason and Karen, Matt Schimelfenig will talk about the schedule for the weekend. Light Fare – bagels, coffee, juice, etc.
11:45 – 1:45: Set-up
The band will set up their instruments and Engineer Matt Schimelfenig will set up all drums, bass, scratch guitar, keyboard and scratch vocal mic’s and set levels in preparation for recording the basic track.
1:45 – 2:30: Record Basic Track
The band will record the “basic track” of the song (scratch track). At this stage we prioritize getting a solid drum and bass take of the song, although sometimes the other scratch tracks will also contain “keeper” elements, as well.
2:30 – 3:30: Record Joe’s Guitars
Set-up Joe’s guitar amps in the live room. Re-record Joe’s scratch guitar, along with any additional electric guitar tracks by Joe. (We may switch Joe and Rodney’s times.)
3:30 – 4:00: Rodney’s keys
Set-up Rodney’s keyboards in the live room. Record a “double track” of Rodney’s basic keyboard take. Depending on how well the basic is performed, this track will either replace or serve as a double of the basic keyboard. (Note: We may switch Joe and Rodney’s times.)
4:00 – 5:00: LUNCH
TBD. All crew, production staff, band and Executive Producers will break to EAT.
Sunset @ 5:02 PM
5:00 – 5:45: Record Matt’s Guitars
Set up and record Matt Casarino’s (from Hot Breakfast!) acoustic guitar onto the the final basic track.
5:45 – 6:45: Jill’s Vocals
Record Jill Knapp’s (from Hot Breakfast!) vocals, harmonies, etc.
6:45 – 7:30: Bells + any odd overdubs
Record bells, percussion, oddball samples or effects. This will complete the recording of any instrumental parts for the song.
7:30 – 8:30 Rodney’s Vocals
Record Rodney’s final vocals. We’ll replace Rodney’s scratch vocal from earlier in the day. Rodney will run through the song 3 to 5 times, from which we will compile a final vocal track. This will complete the final tracking for the recording.
8:30pm: FINISH DAY ONE.
DAY TWO: SUNDAY JANUARY 18, 2015.
YOUTUBE LINK FOR PEOPLE TO WATCH TODAY’S LIVESTREAM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvgKHFItRIs
10:00am – 2:00pm: Interview
The video crew will interview the members of the band downstairs in the “black box”. (Note: at this time of year, the Black Box room is *cold*. Dress warmly!!!) This will likely include interviews with one person at a time, though there might be some sections of the interview that will include everyone in the band. The interview supplies the story / basic dialog arc for the episode which are edited together with the footage from Day 1.
12:00am – 2:30pm: “Quiet” Mixing
Engineer Matt Schimelfenig will begin mixing the song from Day 1. Because the Black Box room is beneath the studio’s control room, the general volume for mixing earlier in the day will be on the quiet side, so as to not disturb the interview that is happening below.
2:00pm: Hot Breakfast! arrives
2:30pm – 4:30pm: “Loud” Mixing
With the interviews completed downstairs, Matt will now work with any of the louder elements of mixing, which may include “re-amping” (ie. sending recorded elements from the day before through guitar amplifiers in the live room), or simply listening to the mix at louder volumes in order to put the finishing touches on the mix for presentation at the listening party.
4:30pm – 6:00pm: Wrap Party
All artists, video crew, production crew and Executive producers are invited to hear the final recording. We’re also inviting artists, crew and donors from previous and upcoming sessions this month to meet and celebrate the completion of another Shaking Through recording.
Who’s got four thumbs and will be ROCKING YOUR FREAKIN’ FACES OFF at the Wilmo Rock Circus 2014? Only Delaware’s PREMIER acoustic dork-rock power duo, that’s who! Yep, we’re back for a second time, and this time around we’ve been upgraded from the high-chair stage to the kids table, which is right where we belong. 🙂
Tickets are on sale now folks, and there’s no better place to enjoy a 20-course ALL ROCK BUFFET than the Wilmo Rock Circus. It’s all the rock you can eat for $20, and we’ll be playing on teh upstairs stage at 7:40 SHARP. This pop-up concert runs like a well-oiled machine, and we are starting at 7:40 on the dot and ending at 8:10 on the dot… and if we’re not done playing at 8:10, they’re gonna unplug us, because that’s how this works, baby.
The best part? This is an all ages show, which means it’s an all awesome show. Get yer tickets! Get ’em while they’re hot! We also have discounted tickets available, so if you’d like to save $5 (that means it’ll only be $15 instead of $20), email us with the number of tickets you want, and we’ll leave them for you at the box office.
The Wilmo Rock Circus is now in its 4th year, and this festival just reinforces Wilmington’s status as a great and supportive indie-music town. All bands (up & coming bands and bigger regional bands like Lovebettie) get 30-minute sets, so in just a few hours you can get a sampling of the east coast’s rockin’est offerings; and with two stages pumping at once, you always have a choice around who you go hear. SWEET!
If you’re a Facebook-type person, you might wanna take a moment to:
- “Like” the Wilmo Rock Circus page so you can get learn more about the bands that are playing, and
- RSVP to the event so you can see what other cool kids are coming. Maybe you can coordinate outfits!
We’ll see you there!
Love and dork rock,
Ji11 and The Suburban Legend
October is Benefit Concert season for us! It does a soul good to donate time, talent, and energy to good causes.
Last weekend we had the honor of singing and playing in City Theater Company’s amazing fund-raising Beatles Tribute at The Queen. The place was packed, and playing over 40 Beatles tunes with 17 singers, a horn section, a string quartet, and a sitar player was absolutely mind-blowing for us.
Tonight and tomorrow we’re playing our usual Philly Primary Stages gig, but this month’s proceeds benefit its parent organization, The Philadelphia Dramatists Center (The PDC).
And this weekend, we have the honor of playing a benefit show for a very important organization: MECA Music Heals. From their website: “MECA Music Heals was founded by Peggy Carroll-Henry and Kevin Henry to unite musicians together to empower abused children in their quest for healing and justice.” If you don’t know the Henrys, they’re the power-couple also known as Minerva, who are known throughout the land for their emotionally-driven rock. And best of all, they’ll be on the bill with us and Tyler McClure this Friday night at Extreme Pizza.
We’re going to keep the night short and sweet, with each band getting a 30-ish minute set, and we should be wrapped by 10PM. If you, like us, are planning on seeing Corey Osby’s James Brown tribute at The Queen, have no fear, as he’ll be taking the stage around 10pm, so you shouldn’t miss very much of his show at all. It’ll be one hell of a night! And who says there’s nothing going on in Wilmington?
DEETS:
WHO: Tyler McClure, HOT BREAKFAST! and Minerva (in that order, yo)
WHEN: Friday, October 10, 2014, 8:00 – 10:00pm
WHERE: Extreme Pizza: 201 N. Market Street, Wilmington DE
WHY: To benefit MECA Music Cares
TICKETS/COVER: Free admission, but some portion of your food bill will benefit MECA. If you’d like to make an extra donation while you’re there, it would be appreciated!
FOOD: The place is called Extreme Pizza. Do we have to spell everything out for you? Come on people.
PARKING: The usual; they have street parking which will be free after 6pm, and there’s always the trusty Queen lot on 5th between King and Market.
FACEBOOK EVENT: http://www.facebook.com/events/1703063783252435/
Hope to see you there!
Your pal,
Ji11
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!
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.
Your pal,
Ji11