Record Review--Jen is Rock Star

Kalaloch record release tonight!

Check it out! Our record got reviewed in The Portland Mercury (local newspaper)--and it was a great review! (click here)

We are super excited for our record release shows--one is tonight in Portland, and one in Salem next Friday.

Why two? Um...two sides to the record? Tonight is the release of the a-side, and next week we will release the b-side.

We were also on the Mastan Music Hour (click here)--a podcast of local Portland area music (Episode 58)

Lots of exciting stuff going on these days! (Also...it appears that we will indeed be recording a full-length album this fall. Probably a cd...more info later!)

Dance shoes and a plan

Last night at the Ida / Tara Jane ONeil concert (which was amazing, by the way) we were...treated?...to a performance by Fred Nemo. During Tara Jane's set, a homeless looking man with a suitcase approached the stage. He sat purposefully on the steps at the side of the stage and begin to open his suitcase.

At more cautious venues, this may have resulted in bouncers tackling the guy and dragging him out of the show. But, the Doug Fir was pretty relaxed. And apparently this guy is something of a legend.

So, with his long greasy, balding hair and tattered Hazel shirt--he crouched above the suitcase as it creaked open to reveal...his dancing shoes. He carefully removed each hiking boot, tenderly slipped his large dirty feet into the dance shoes, and asked if he could dance on a stool on stage.

The stool was moved to the ground in front of the stage where Nemo climbed atop to "perform" to one of Tara Jane's songs.

Afterwards, he bowed, leaped from the stool, walked back over to his suitcase, tucked the dance shoes away, replaced his hiking boots, and walked out of the room.

Ah, Family Politics...

Kalaloch Tour Part IV (House shows, Hippies, and Home)

Sorry for FOUR new blog entries all at once. I've been busy. And lazy. Both. Now I'm making up for it. But if I don't just blog the whole tour now, I'll never get it done.

So...I would suggest scrolling down and starting with Part I (=

Or...just glance through the pictures. Or...just ignore it all together. You get to choose!

....

So...after San Fransisco and the Oakland show, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and headed up Highway 1 (The WINDIEST road in America) to the Redwoods and our next show in Arcata, CA.

The show in Arcata was probably the most successful. It was a house show at a college-house with a great vibe. Arcata itself was great. The fog rolled in as we drove in. After all of the long drives under the high desert sun--it felt like home (= In fact, Arcata felt like a piece of Portland and a sliver of Eugene, OR all emigrated to California. It felt like home. There were college indie rockers, hippies at the Farmer's market, organic food, and recycling bins. Seriously...a bit of heaven after the the dry desert where everything gets tossed out with the Styrofoam.

The show was great. Two other bands played: Clapsnapslapstravaganz and ...shoot. Can't remember. Chick with a guitar + Guy with cello + guest harmonica guy. It was fun. We had some fun jamming moments after the show. There were also some sing-alongs and snap-alongs. We stayed at the Haus that night. Hm...no photos.

After that...we were done. We made about 60 bucks (Which covered about 1 tank of gas and 1 meal). We sold a couple records. We made some new friends.

And...we headed home. We had a few days to kill before Work and Real Life came due...so we took it easy up the coast. We hiked Fern Canyon. GORGEOUS! It's in the Redwoods. I definitely recommend it.

We also saw lots of Roosevelt Elk. I have avoided putting our deer shots up (as they always end up being boring)...but here is an Elk picture. It was a big family crossing of the road. Daddy Elk waited until everyone was safely across before giving the all clear to the cars.

We took some afternoon naps on the beach in the sand. We walked into some beach shops. We ate some food. We stayed in a hotel. And we drove.

This was our last day. We watched an awe-inspiring sunset over the water before turning inland and going home.

Kalaloch Tour Part III (Stretching our Legs in San Fransisco before the long drive up Highway 1)

We stayed in a hotel in San Fransisco. We booked online.


We got what we were looking for: a hotel with free parking in town so that we could park the car all day and walk around San Fransisco. The bonus? The Embassy Hotel is in The Worst Neighborhood in San Fransisco. It's true. Even more homeless than Portland and sirens all night long.

Still, the walking was fun (and exhausting!). We walked through China town (anyone see Big Trouble in Little China? I'm pretty sure THIS is the alleyway.)

We walked UP to Nob Hill. (Wow! Seriously steep. The sidewalks have stairs cut out in places because it is nearly vertical). We walked DOWN to Pier 39 and watched the Sea Lions.


Then we walked UP a bazillion stairs to Coit Tower and looked out over the city.

Then my knees turned to jello and my ankles shattered into a million pieces...so we took the Cable Car home. Did you know that you are supposed to pay $5 to ride? We didn't know. We tried to ask, but the driver said, "Just hold on tight!"













That night we crossed the Bay Bridge and played a show in Oakland. It was...okay. The people there seemed to enjoy the show. But...we were told at 8:10 that we didn't have until 10--we had until 9:00. And the other band (Jonesin) had just gotten there. We made it work. Jonsin's set was really fun--but far too short. Perhaps we played to long. Anyway...it went well. Afterwards, Matt & Jen (Jonesin'...another boy-girl band) took us up to Twin Peaks--a local make-out point where you get a 360 birds-eye view of the whole city. It was gorgeous.

Kalaloch Tour Part II (The Lonliest Road)

After a few days of R & R in Utah, we were headed to San Fransisco via The Great Basin National Park (on the boundary of Utah and Nevada).

It was HOT. The park is about 4 hours from Provo. We left just after lunch (not the best time to drive in the desert.) We had some Alligator Ice (Slushee drinks) to cool off.

We got to the park really late. (We're getting good at setting up our tent in the dark). We had just enough time for a twilight hike to see 4000+ year-old Bristlecone pine trees. Pretty awesome.







We toured Lehman Caves. The next day. It was a pretty fun cave, as touring caves go. It wasn't quite as awesome as Oregon Caves...but still quite fun. And very proud of their "shields."
















We then drove to San Fransisco along the old Highway. It was high desert, empty, and beautiful. Something like 300 miles between gas stations. We had lunch at the Pharmacy soda counter in an old mining town. It was...quaint? like in a movie? like stepping back in time?

(The door says "POWDER". Do miners need powder rooms? Perhaps this is a movie set...)

It was fun. It was hot. It was aptly named the Loneliest Road in America.

Kalaloch Tour Part I (Hell and Provo)

So, we had a blast on tour (=

It was really 40% tour / 60% vacation...which was perfect.











Our first show was in Provo, UT--which we reached via Hell's Canyon. (The laughing picture of me is Alex's telling me I looked like Hell...)We got to Hell's Canyon pretty late--just enough time for a quick view of the world's deepest canyon (1.5 miles) over sunset. There was a little boy there that was convinced they were volcanoes because of the blood-red clouds above the Seven Devils Mountains. We camped that night and awoke to deer wandering through our campground and watched the sunrise over Hell's Canyon.












Then...on to Provo for fun with family, friends, and of course...ROCK.






I love this picture. The PEOPLE sign @ Muse Music in Provo made for some very arty pictures. This is my Brother Ryan & his girlfriend Kaylee with my brother Adam & his wife Candice.




This is Jen playing the violin. As I explained at the show, I don't actually play the violin...but we picked one up on Craigslist and the song needed a violin!









The best part about the Provo show was all the friends and family that came: My high school band director & his wife, my best friend's parents & brother, my good friends John & Liz, Dave & Susan, and Mike. My old room-roommate Julie & her hubby Josh. My brothers & their ladies. Even Alex's old roommate Ontario showed up after the show (and his mission president showed up but didn't stay). It was really cool having everyone there.
(It was even Dave's birthday! He didn't know we were in town until we showed up at his surprise birthday party!)

This last picture was taken during our last song (River). It's just 2 notes played over and over again for 10-20 minutes, so we invited anyone with an instrument to join if they felt so moved. We ended up, what one person called a "fun post-rock jam"

Updates coming soon

I promise.

We're back from tour and I have lots of pictures and lots of stories (=

In the mean-time, check out some pictures from our Provo show on my sister-in-law's blog (=

Thanks so much to everyone who made our tour/vacation so much fun!!!