5/1/08 Ah Vermont.... such an interesting place to be. We had a blast in VT, played some shows and got see some family.
My uncle in-law, Manni and new tour photographer... We did a last minute house concert (footage to come soon) and got to stay in thier awesome pad in Post Mills, VT. It was origiannly designed to be either a bed and breakfast or an assisted living home and was right on Lake Fairlee. We hung with family...
And then made our way to Montpelier to wrap up the spring tour at Langdon st. Cafe. And now.... (drum roll please).... as I write to you we are ON OUR WAY HOME!!!! Rest and relxation....? Likely not. We have a summer tour (almost finished) to plan and an album to record, not to mention all the other 'things' that come about. But we're excited, happy and ready to get back out there. So keep checking back, we have shows pretty much every weekend between now and June 18th when we take off again. -- Chris 4/23/08 Heyyyyyy.... So, we've fallen asleep at the wheel as it might be and have slacked off on the journal thing. But, for good reason... we've been driving about, playing shows, and have begun booking our summer tour (almost complete!!!). We have all types of interesting things to talk about. For one, we did a radio show in New Brunswick, New Jersey and after the show the host and friends took us out and got us shitty drunk (well, got ME shitty drunk). I about died, pulled through, and felt like $100 for the next few days. Before that, we got to see Melissa's parents and her Dad and I styled our kick ass baby-blue vests,
So after the drunken outfreakage in Jersey, we drove up to Burlington to see so family,
Simi!!!!! (My little cuz once removed.) On the way to Burlington, however, it wasn't all puppy dogs and ice cream. We were following the directions on our GPS and wound up on the New York State side of Lake Champlain at 3 in the morning trying to cross the ferry which sure as I sit here, was not running. Fear and Loathing in Essex, NY.... We were low on gas and had to back track 70 miles to get to the other side. Before maximum aniexty set in, we passed a gas station in a quiet little town in Vermont... the pumps were not on. As I rassled with those son of a bitch pumps, one of the aforementioned towns' finest civil servants (which will remain unnamed) watched, with much pleasure I'm sure, my futile effort to pump over priced gas. After some kind words from your humble narrator to this 'keeper of the peace' we trekked on into the great unknown. Things got a little hairy after the gas light came on and all the eye could see was cows and more of the same. Finally, on fumes I presume, we got into South Burlington and found a 24 hour gas station. Never have we been more happy to see over priced gas and neon lights. After saying a little prayer, to whom I do not know, we made our pad at the ripe hour of 5 am. After a few days of R & R we made a little drive down to Springfield, MA to do New Music Showcase (a one hour television show set to air late summer/early fall '08). Check some behind and in front of the scenes pics...
Carl in his kick-ass He-Man T-shirt
Yes friends, wessuh gonna be on TV! Thanks for tuning in and reading. Our long journey is almost at an end, we'll be back home and loving life in 10 days (not that we aren't loving it now!). But, as I mentioned, the torture never stops... the booking for our second national tour is almost complete. This time, The Stereofidelics will be coast to coast. Check back soon and be good! - Chris 4/15/08 Yes friends, we played in Virginia for the first time last night... and it kicked ass. We were at 202 Market in Roanoke and it was one helluva classy place; posh seats, great food, and a $1 million PA... oh yeah. We performed with local group The Wading Girl and met an interesting cast of characters; most notably The Moose, similar to the character we based our song 'The Moose' around. Here's some more pics for your enjoyment (or amusement)....
The train keeps a rollin'... we're on our way to Jersey, the jewel of the north, to do a radio show on Click Radio and Indie Music Night in Griggstown. Keep checkin' back and be good! - Chris
4/14/08 We finished up the Georgia portion of our tour with an acoustic set at the Melting Point in Athens--what a great room!
We'll definitely be back in Athens soon--absolutely love that city--so much music going on all the time. . .We're really trying to soak up the warm rays of the sunny south because we're starting our trek up north to New England tomorrow. Ciao! Melissa 4/13/08 Yes indeed... so here's some new photos from our run in Georgia. We played at The Five Spot in Atlanta this evening and it ROCKED. An awesome venue, great crowd, and Melissa let the gorilla out of it's cage (easy boys....). Enjoy!
Ohhhhh spoooooky! More to come, we'll be in Athens again tomorrow at The Melting Point and then it's on to Northern destinations. Check back soon, we'll be doing our PBS showcase soon and other exciting things. Also, we've begun planning our summer tour (official announcement to come soon) and could use your help. If you haven't already, go to our MySpace page and demand us in your town! We'll be going as far west as Cali this time so anywhere is fair game (in theory). Take care and talk soon... Chris 4/4/08 Hello again! So... it's been awhile since our last update. We've been home for the past week catching up on sleep and haven't been very web active. We have some great video for you from our show at Dr. Unk's Oasis in Greenville, NC. This track has never been captured on video and there's only one recording which is drifting about somewhere.
Thanks for checking in with us and we'll have plenty of material for you in the next days to come. We have a Georgia run coming up with some great shows... We'll be in Athens, Atlanta, Washington and Dahlonega. So keep checking back and be cool! Chris 3/27/08 Hello from the road. We just played in Charlotte, NC at The Evening Muse... an awesome venue; if you haven't been there you definately should. Musicians, it's a listening room that digs all original music and is very conducive to those intimate settings we all dream about as performers and music lovers, there's music almost every night of the week and it's usually really good. We got some photos and video from the show for you to check out...
Hope you enjoy, and until next time.... - Chris 3/21/08 Woo hoo! We have a new internet gadget--now you can help us figure out where we should play by demanding us in your city. It's really quick and easy--you don't have to register with anyone to complete the "demand" process. Won't you please help us schedule our next tour??
If you lose track of this gadgett, it's also available on our MySpace page. Thanks! Melissa 3/20/08 We left Baltimore this morning and got to drive under the water (kind of a scary concept, but cool when you realize that you're going to stay dry. . .the water in the Harbor is right on the other side of the grey-ish walls)
We enjoyed our visit to coastal Maryland; we got to meet quite a few enthusiastic music-lovers last night and got to hang out with some old friends as well. Then today . . . a couple of hours ago we were in NYC--what an experience! We've both been to the Big Apple, but never in a car. We learned a few things: 1. It's expensive. Seriously. Eight bucks to cross a bridge.
2. Allow three hours to travel 25 miles. We thought we were being smart hanging back until after rush hour to get close to the city-- then this is what we got.
3. Don't say that Brooklyn is New York City--we found out from a Brooklyn-er that Brooklyn itself is the biggest city in the US. Fancy stuff! We caught some swell views of the skyline and tried to capture them on memory card--this one was our best attempt.
Brooklyn itself was a great experience; we saw so many interesting things that we didn't have a chance to snap a photo of all of them, but we did catch this one.
Then there was the venue. . .
Goodbye Blue Monday is almost a museum that you want to spend hours in, making sure you see everything--from the 1933 Time magazine that was lying on a coffee table to the cat that was lying in the toy boxing ring.
Thanks for listening--keep your ears open! Melissa 3/17/08 Hey hey! So we just got some new pictures from our exploits in Nashville, TN a few weeks back. Tinseltown of the South!!! The photos are great and the photographer, Aaron Hiler, was kind enough to let us use the photos at our disposal. So... google Aaron Hiler, check his work out, for it is awesome....
And there's this guy....
Keep up with us, be good! Chris 3/14/08 So we played the historic Melody Inn in Indianapolis to an enthusiastic crowd and got a taste of the Indy music scene. This venue, unique in many ways, was adorned with a deer-antler chandelier... fascinating...
We journeyed back to the south after the show and played a great place in Morristown, TN called The Downtown...
It was a great show and we'll be back at the end of May with the Asheville band, Speedsquare. We had some fun with the regulars and got our grove on...
More to come, be good! Chris 3/12/08 We've had a bit of trouble with our camera so we've been a little lax on the road journal front but it's all fixed now, so expect to see the normal deluge of photos coming your way. . . St. Louis was fun--we played in a really old, historic club with a great 25c pinball machine (it's in the corner of the picture)
On the way to St. Louis, we tried to stop in and see the World's Largest Prairie Dog, but Prairie Dog Town (not a joke, check out the picture!) was closed.
We totally enjoyed playing at the Canopy Club in Champaign-Urbana on Sunday--what an amazing venue!!! More to come soon. . . Melissa 3/6/08 We couldn't resist--we went out hiking again today. We managed to get enough vertical distance that we were looking down at Denver and looking over at this
We had such a blast tonight--we ran into friends of someone we met in Spencer, IA last week and we also ran into an old friend from NC who was out in Denver vacationing. Dulcinea's 100th Monkey is a really cool venue--the walls are painted with classic album designs, my favorite one
We finally got someone to take pictures (thanks Jeff and Karen!)
Melissa
3/4/08 We're in Colorado!!!! On the way over from Nebraska, we went through a little bit of Wyoming right around sunset--so beautiful!!!
We got a chance to do a little hiking around Fort Collins today--it was a gorgeous day but it was very windy
Melissa
3/2/08 Last night in Spencer, IA (yes, it is a little off the beaten path. . .) was sooo much fun! Shaky Tree is a great spot with such cool folks. I guess they enjoyed us as well; they've deemed Fridays "Stereofidelics day" (everyone's going to wear their new Stereofidelics hooded sweatshirts) and, in the land of one of the most important caucuses, they made a quite extensive petition for a full length Stereofidelics album (it's double-sided with signatures). The fun didn't stop in Spencer, either. On the way to Omaha, I decided to dress up like a movie star (minus the convertible--too cold!) My scarf is none other than a clean pair of Chris' underwear. . .
Then we saw a sign for the Ice Cream Capital of the World. Of course we stopped. . .
We're waiting to soundcheck at The Papio Bowl outside of Omaha, NE then it's off to Colorado!!!!! Melissa 2/29/08 On the way up to Mishawaka, IN today, we got a chance to stop in and see Granny!
She made us some of the best meatloaf, biscuits, deviled eggs, green beans, mashed potatoes and coconut cake--it was such a wonderful change from Waffle House and the McDonald's Dollar Menu (the side salad and the fruit and yougurt parfait aren't too bad really. . .) We were driving straight through Amish country up in Northern Indiana
Last night, we even drove past a root beer bar. . . pretty awesome!
We really enjoyed playing this evening in Mishawaka--a great crowd and we met a lot of cool people. Iowa here we come! (again!) Melissa
2/25/08 Ahhhhhhh!!!! A day off! Don't get me wrong... this whole thing is great, it's just a much needed break. So we drove through the night on Saturday from Des Moines, IA and arrived in Indy at 8 in morning. We performed at The Launching Pad in Muncie, IN last night and had a blast. There was a great crowd and it was a great way to cap off a nine day run. We got some pictures and video from the show.... Check it out!
and then I sing.....
and then Melissa....
Now give me a taste.......
And check out our video from the night....
Thanks for checking out our road journal.... We hit the road again on Friday, Feb 29th and we'll have plenty more updates, videos, pictures, and random stuff to check out. Also, check our website often as we have two new singles about to drop and will be available for download soon..... Take care, friends. Chris
2/23/08 Driving up through Minnesota yesterday, we heard people mentioning that it feels as if spring had come early this year--but it's still below 30 degrees!!! We did find out though, that last week in Brainerd, MN (thank goodness we were still in the sunny south then) it was -26 degrees with a wind chill of -60! We had fun playing at the Eclectic Cafe while our bottles of water in the car froze solid. . . It was so interesting to be in MN, we saw people riding their snowmobiles in the ditches along the highway, a guy walking his dog in the middle of a frozen lake, and proof that interstates are frequently closed
Right now, we're on our way to Des Moines, IA and just rode past the biggest collection of windmills I've ever seen. There were windmills and windmills and windmills--it looked like fields of huge white pointy flowers.
Melissa
2/22/08 We made it safe and sound to our show in Kansas City. Phew! We really enjoyed Knucklehead's and the crowd--we got a chance to play on the same stage as the likes of Willie Nelson and Leon Russell; Billy Bob Thorton is going to be playing there next week! Pretty cool. . . plus we got our name in moving lights!
We got a chance to chat with some really nice folks about blues, railroads, and beer. Chris was ecstatic when he found out that he could order one of his favorite beers (originally only available in Colorado) at Knucklehead's!
Well, it's off to north central Minnesota--we'll keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't snow too bad. . . Melissa
2/21/08 Ok. It's really cold. We're on the way to Kansas City for our show at Knucklehead's this evening. A few hours ago, it looked like this from my seat:
Now it looks like this:
But as Chris keeps saying, we have a show to play, so we're going to get there! (And then tonight/tomorrow we're driving up to play in Brainerd, MN, which is a tropical paradise, so I hear. . .) Melissa
2/20/08 Had lots of fun in Chattanooga yesterday--used bookstore, cute coffeeshop, and JJ's Bohemia with their GINORMOUS (the G is pronounced as it is in "gym") red couches. Speaking of huge couches, Chattanooga has some unique street decorations. . .
We headed out early this morning to Nashville (it's kind of on the way from Chattanooga to Memphis, right??), parked the car, played on the street for a little bit (photos to come!) and did a whirlwind foot-tour of music row.
Check out the size of this guitar!!!!
I was really excited to get a chance to stop in at Graceland since we were in Memphis tonight, but because of our stopover in Nashville, it was dark by the time we started seeing the huge Elvis billboards. Bummer. We still had a good time in Memphis--we played at P&H cafe with Jobu Babbin and Falling for Grey, convinced the bartender to make us a cheeseburger, and in general, had some good, old-fashioned fun. Melissa
2/18/08 We made it to Chattanooga tonight--getting ready for our first evening sleeping on top of our instruments in the back of the car. . .but we had a great time this last weekend--the crowd at the Java Monkey in Decatur, GA was amazing!
Pretty crazy--we were playing outside in the middle of February and it wasn't the least bit cold! It's amazing, just traveling in the US can seem like a far away land. We all know how bad the drought in ATL is, but to actually be there and experience it first hand is something else. Some have taken to prophetic, 'Simon and Garfunkel' like writing on the walls, or in our case, my picture..
Strange... Anyways, we are playing the next six nights in a row (2/19-2/24) so check back for more on a couple of kids trying to make it in this crazy world. Take care and thanks for listening. Chris
2/9/08 It's been a while. . . we've been so busy planning our upcoming tour and recording some songs for our upcoming album (hint-hint -- check the website in the next few days!!) but we finally are really going to keep you all updated!
Which happens to be mostly a punk/metal club. Oops. Aside from the obvious genre faux-pas, the evening went really well. Eric Nassau and friends (including Josh and Keenan from The Great Mad Hoax and Chase the jazz violin/sax player) played on the bill and put on a great show. We got a chance to play Louie-Louie with the "Batman guy", a Columbus dive-bar legend.
(He had already sang the Batman theme song with Eric and friends earlier in the evening, so we got to back him up on his second favorite song. . .) So I guess we're metal now; after we played I got a chance to talk with one of Columbus' metal guitar players and he assured me that we "shredded, man!" so were "definitely metal." Indie-jazz-rock-metal anyone???
Thanks for listening and reading! Melissa
11/25/07 We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. The second airing of our show on WNCW-- Live from Studio B with Kim Clark aired this evening, so we will be sure to have some clips from it on our website soon.
Chris, Kim Clark, and Melissa
Chris and Melissa
11/15/07 Hello all! Welcome to our online journal. After careful thought and much discussion, we decided that this would be the best way for us to keep in touch with everyone. We're looking forward to a busy and exciting next few months, and we wanted to be sure to share it with you all. We'll post all sorts of things on here, from backstage stories to pictures of us standing next to the "World's Largest Prairie Dog" (if you haven't noticed on our schedule, we'll be touring through the Great Plains area early this spring, so the prairie dog is a definite possibility!) Also, if you manage to snap any photos at a Stereofidelics show, we'd love for you to send them to us -- tsf@thestereofidelics.com -- and we'll post them up here as well. Chris and Melissa
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