R.I.P. Zoe
Last year, Soundcheck magazine lured me into an interview by promising that I could meet writer Emily Strong’s pet Eclectus parrot, Zoe. Eclectus parrots are bright and beautiful, and males and females are so different in appearance that they were once thought to be different species. They are also increasingly uncommon on their home turf in and around Irian Jaya (New Guinea), where they live in (alas) mature tropical forests. Like most large parrots, they can live a really long time, 40-50 years or more.
Bill C tour w/ JM and Thor Ends, Sort Of
Bill Callahan’s “Mouth of the South” tour of the southeastern and southwestern US finally came to an end – after a two-week sabbatical – last Saturday with a spur-of-the-moment show at the Mohawk in Austin. As on the rest of the tour, Jonathan opened the evening solo and then, along with Thor, backed Bill for […]
Shearwater at SXSW
It’s that time again. Multiple SW appearances this year, in which we’ll be previewing several songs from ‘Rook’. We’re honored to be joined by our longtime friends Scott Brackett (trumpet/etc) and Elaine Barber (harp), both of whom are also featured on the new album.
See you there!
Shows:
Wed 12th:
4pm Mohawk – Austinist/Gothamist day party (free)
1am Club DeVille – Official SXSW Showcase spons. by Brooklyn Vegan
Fri 14th:
6pm French Legation – Other Music day party (free)
Sat 15th:
Rook Recording
It’s all over but the shouting for Shearwater’s new album, Rook. We recorded it in November at the Echo Lab in Argyle, Texas, among barred owls, pet donkeys, coyotes, and the ominous sounds of gas wells being drilled across the railroad tracks; rural north Texas retreats as Dallas approaches.
Free show for UT Austin students at Cactus Cafe this thursday
Just to be clear (unlike the picture above), the upcoming Cactus Cafe show this week is for UT students only. We just found that out, so spread the word amongst the un-enrolled (like us).
This UT event listing says doors are at 7:30 PM; we start at 8:00. Directions at the UT site.
Kitten Fixes Everything
Improved by a factor of kitten X 5, this is the new Shearwater website. If you find any holes in the boat, or the seats are uncomfortable, please tell us.
If you have a newsreader, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of this content so you never have to look at the splash pictures again.
Expect more news, more often, and more coffee to give that half-and-half some flavor.
Hello Matador, hello double album, hello tours
Big news: We are signing to Matador Records.
They’re re-releasing Palo Santo in an expanded, partly re-recorded, fully remastered, breathtakingly repackaged, and just totally superior edition on April 10th. This was our idea, not theirs, and we’re proud to say that this is Palo Santo as we always hoped it would be. It also comes with a bonus disc of outtakes, intakes, demos, and covers. There’s a double-vinyl version,too, which has a special extra track.
sweat with us this summer
The revised and expanded edition of Palo Santo was released last month on CD and what feels like 2 pounds of vinyl. If you’d like to sample some songs from the new version (and compare them to the original demos), go here.
Also, Howard’s flickr page has some lovely / funny photos from the Xiu Xiu / Casiotone tour. Howard wields a mean Holga.
