Friday, February 27, 2009

Redbud Alerts

I just came back from a few days in west Texas to find that the redbud tree in my front yard has decided it’s spring, which means the industry boondoggle known as SXSW is just around the corner.

As usual, we’re playing a couple of shows, though keeping it a bit low-key this year as we continue to work on the new album. We’re happy to be working with our friends The Local, from the UK, and with MOJO magazine at their showcase and party, and plan to try out some new songs. We’ll also be talking with our friend Bob Boilen from NPR about songwriting and performing on the 20th in the afternoon, I think at the Austin Convention Center.

Post-SXSW, we’re thrilled to be playing with Neko Case here in Austin at the end of the month. May touring is shaping up nicely, with dates all over the place including the All Tomorrow’s Parties, Sasquatch, and Primavera Sound festivals. We’re glad to finally make it to Spain and Scandinavia, which have always escaped our European tours so far.  For many of these European dates, we’ll be joined by Hospital Ships (aka Jordan Geiger and friends), whose excellent album, Oh, Ramona! was released last year on Graveface records.

In other news, it was a pleasure to see our friends Kahn and Selesnick again at Untitled Artspace in Oklahoma City. They’re working on the cover for the new record, and I’ve sent them some rough recordings that we threw together at the end of January for them to mull over as the artwork and album grow and bloom together. Here’s hoping that springtime is also making its way to you, wherever you are. (JM)