Summertime!

Hey Everyone. Hope you're enjoying your summer. Sorry for the lack of communication as of late. We've been busy writing the next album and trying to plot the way forward as a band; a slow and arduous process indeed. Can't wait to share the new material with you all. Stay tuned!

Conversations with Locals: Tour Journal Week 1

When you’re on a long tour like we are, it’s difficult to appreciate each place. Drive. Eat. Load in. Show. Load out. Party. Sleep. Time rolls by faster than our minivan eats up stretches of American highway. Throw in a hundred names of bands and venues, a little sleep deprivation, some time zone shifts and you start forgetting where you are. For me, every place has a strange sense of familiarity and I often have to remind myself I’m somewhere new.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to appreciate about the places we’re visiting – but it’s like what Vincent Vega says in Pulp Fiction about how Europe is cool because of the little differences. Any cross-country traveler with a keen and experienced sensibility will detect a great diversity of food, accents, architecture, etc., but those are little differences.

In my experience so far on this tour, I think a lot of the bigger, more important stuff is the same for most people of our generation all over the country. The same topics – like figuring out life after college, trying to improve the hometown, fighting social pressure to retain personal integrity – keep coming up in conversations with locals and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. It's a camaraderie I have with other members of my generation facing similar issues and striving to reach similar goals that makes places I’ve never been before seem familiar.

Anyway, we’re a little over a week into the second leg, so check out the dates below or visit www.liketrainsandtaxis.com and come out to a Like Trains & Taxis show near you! Speaking of familiar places, If you’re in Seattle, we’ll be playing at Café Venus, Mars Bar tomorrow night at 9 p.m.

Tour! (Round 2)

The second leg of our tour kicks off Saturday night in Pittsburgh. West Coast here we come! Check out the dates:

Saturday May 15th: Howler’s Coyote Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA
Sunday May 16th: The Summit, Columbus OH
Monday May 17th: The Greenwich, Cincinnati, OH
Tuesday May 18th: The Gramophone, St Louis, MO
Wednesday May 19th: The Dark Room, Chicago, IL
Thursday May 20th: TBA, Iowa City, IA
Friday May 21st: The Beauty Shop, Fairfield, IA
Saturday May 22nd: Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
Sunday May 23rd: Barley Street Tavern, Omaha, NE
Tuesday May 25th: Rex Lounge, Denver Colorado
Wednesday May 26th: Terrapin Station, Boise, ID
Thursday May 27th: Cafe Venus, Mars Bar Seattle, WA
Friday May 28th: In Other Words, Portland, OR
Saturday May 29th: The Connecticut Yankee, San Francisco, CA
Sunday May 30th: The Bootleg, Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday June 1st: Lightning Bear, Las Cruces, NM
Wednesday June 2nd: The Deli, Norman, OK
Thursday June 3rd: Scissortail Social Club, Oklahoma City, OK
Friday June 4th: The Ghost Room, Austin, TX
Saturday June 5th: The Circle Bar, New Orleans, LA
Monday June 7th: TBA, Little Rock, AR
Tuesday June 8th: P & H Cafe, Memphis, TN
Thursday June 10th: Sapphire, Knoxville, TN

As was the case on the first leg, we're waiting on more details for a couple shows. We're also trying to fill in a few open dates. You can find more details and get updates on our myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/liketrainsandtaxis

Also, if you haven't voted for us in Deli Magazine's NYC Artist of the Month poll, or have access to a second computer, smart phone, etc, please vote; we're in a really close race: http://nyc.thedelimagazine.com/

The poll is on the upper right hand side.

Thanks!!!

Deli Magazine Artist of the Month?

We've been nominated for Deli Magazine's artist of the month! NYC can be a hard place to crack and this may be a sign that things are starting to give a little bit. Please take a moment and vote for us on their NYC homepage:

http://nyc.thedelimagazine.com.

The poll is on the upper right hand side. We really appreciate the support!!!

Update:

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for us and help spread the word to others. We were able to amass 816 votes; an unfathomable number to me when I originally created the event.
The three of us are extremely grateful for all the support!

Unfortunately, we fell just short of the other band's 836.

We're all smiles nonetheless!

"Tales from a Revolving Door," out now!

As of yesterday, our debut full length album, "Tales from a Revolving Door," is officially available!

You can get a copy on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tales-from-a-revolving-door/id359166377, as well as various other online retailers, or at any of our shows.

Speaking of which, the first leg of our tour kicks off tonight in Newark, NJ!

Tour! (round one)

Well it's that time again. We're preparing to hit the road in support of our new record, due out April 6th. Here's a list of dates:

Wednesday April 7th: The Spot, Newark, NJ---8pm
Friday April 9th: The Khyber, Philadelphia, PA---9pm
Saturday April 10th: Bowery Electric, New York, NY---7pm
Sunday April 11th: Cousin Larry’s, Danbury, CT---9pm
Monday April 12: The SAC @ Rutgers University, New Brunswick---8pm
Tuesday April 13: The Savant Project, Boston, MA---9pm (solo)
Wednesday April 14th: Langdon Street Cafe, Montpelier, VT---7pm
Thursday April 15th: Manhattan Pizza, Burlington, VT---10pm
Friday April 16th: Penn State University, State College, PA---12pm
Friday April 16th: House Party, Syracuse, NY---10pm
Saturday April 17th: Longitude Global Headquarters, Fredonia, NY---8pm
Monday April 19th: Wilbert’s, Cleveland, OH---8pm
Tuesday April 20th: Elbo Room, Chicago, IL---8:30pm
Wednesday, April 21st: The Vollrath, Indianapolis, IN---9pm
Thursday, April 22nd: ACAC, Little Rock, AR---9:30pm
Friday, April 23rd: The Lounge on Elm St, Dallas, TX---8pm
Saturday, April 24th: TBA, Austin, TX
Sunday, April 25th: Dean’s Credit Clothing, Houston, TX---9pm
Monday, April 26th: The Red Star, Baton Rouge, LA---10pm
Tuesday, April 27th: Cafe Prytania, New Orleans, LA---10pm
Wednesday, April 28th: Smith’s Olde Bar(Atlanta Room), Atlanta, GA---8pm
Thursday April 29th: Manhattan’s Club, Knoxville, TN---9pm
Friday April 30th: TBA, Asheville/Charlotte, NC
Saturday, May 1st: Broad Street Cafe, Durham NC---10pm
Sunday, May 2nd: Diven House, Norfolk, VA--6:30pm

We're still finalizing some info on a few dates. That should be up soon. If you or anyone you know are in or around these areas, please spread the word and come out to support. We can't do it without you!

In another month or so we should have info regarding the second leg of the tour. Look out West Coast.

For further details visit: http://www.myspace.com/liketrainsandtaxis

Here's a look at our fall 2009 tour:

Inspirations: Wilco

When I listen to Wilco, the first thing I notice are the layers of rich guitar tone, then Tweedy’s rhythmic wordplay entices me with its imagery, but eventually I end up focusing on Glen Kotche’s drumming. Playing in a lyrically driven band with 3 guitars, bass, and keyboards means knowing how to leave space—and Kotche shines at doing more with less. His talent lies in his time, his feel, and a keenly developed sense of his “voice” on his instrument. Check out the artful way he drives the beat in “Side With the Seeds”

Inspirations: Leonard Cohen

Beneath My Hands

Beneath my hands
your small breasts
are the upturned bellies
of breathing fallen sparrows.

Wherever you move
I hear the sounds of closing wings
of falling wings.

I am speechless
because you have fallen beside me
because your eyelashes
are the spines of tiny fragile animals.

I dread the time
when your mouth
begins to call me hunter.

When you call me close
to tell me
your body is not beautiful
I want to summon
the eyes and hidden mouths
of stone and light and water
to testify against you.

I want them
to surrender before you
the trembling rhyme of your face
from their deep caskets.

When you call me close
to tell me
your body is not beautiful
I want my body and my hands
to be pools
for your looking and laughing.

-from The Spice-Box of Earth


I suppose when most people think of Leonard Cohen the first thing that comes to mind is his music, and with all time classic songs like "Hallelujah" in his repertoire, it's no surprise. Recently though, I encountered a collection of selected poems and songs dating back to his first book of poetry called "Let us Compare Mythologies," which was published in 1956 when Cohen was twenty two. There are several things that have impressed me about this collection so far, but for the sake of brevity, I'll simply offer the above poem for your rumination.

Inspirations: Phil Spector

This week I've been listening to music produced by Phil Spector in order to study the "wall of sound" he achieved in the 1960s. That huge sound of guitars strumming in unison, drums recorded in an echo chamber, and full orchestras accompanying lush textures of vocal harmonies is why I still love the oldies station on the radio. Check out this prime example of the "wall of sound" - "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes - used to full effect here in Matin Scorsese's 1973 film "Mean Streets" (song starts at 0:40) :



Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were also influenced by Phil Spector's production techniques, although they never worked together. In fact, Brian Wilson said that "Be My Baby" is "the greatest pop record ever made" and he considers the Beach Boy's song "Don't Worry Baby" to be the "male answer" to it:

"Charlie" Video!

Inspirations: Serge Gainsbourg

Despite the fact our album hasn't officially been released yet, we're already busy laying the foundation for the next one. We're all really excited about the new songs that are brewing, some of which you can expect to hear on our upcoming tour. This time around, we've decided to have something more concrete to reference when attempting to make our demos so we can experiment with different modes of arrangement and production. With that in mind, every Friday (or so) one of us will be sharing something that is, in one way or another, influencing the process and the way we think about our songs, as well as music and art in general.



Recently I've been exploring the work of Serge Gainsbourg. His music encapsulates one of the main goals I have for the next album, and really moving forward as a songwriter in general; eclectic arrangements informed by forward thinking production.

"Tales from a Revolving Door" out April 6th!

We're happy to announce that our debut full length album, "Tales from a Revolving Door" will finally be available on Tuesday April 6th. In the meantime, you can pick up an advance copy at any of our upcoming shows.

As with our two other releases, the artwork was done by the wonderfully talented Christina Entcheva. Check out more of her work here: http://www.christinaentcheva.com/

Haiti Benefit Show this Friday!

It's going to be a great show for a great cause. Come out!

Update: We were able to raise $1000 for the relief effort in Haiti. Thanks to everyone who came out!