4th of July recap, studio update, tour plans, and other announcements.

Hello, everyone.  We hope you all had a very enjoyable and relaxing 4th of July.  Ours was not relaxing, necessarily, but it was certainly enjoyable.  For the fourth straight year, we celebrated by throwing a show at El Rio.  This year, we were joined by Birds & Batteries, Finn Riggins, Writer, Two Sheds, Birdmonster, D Numbers, and Murray the Thief.  We also stepped it up in the food department, with Sneaky’s BBQ providing fantastic (if I do say so myself) pulled pork, mac, and slaw.  Thanks to everyone who came out to the show, to all of the bands (who all put on great performances), to those who helped us serve the food, to the Bay Bridged and the Guardian for presenting the event, to Lynne, Brian, and everyone else who worked, and El Rio for hosting.  We had an awesome time, debuting a brand-new jam and hanging out with our friends.  After the show, there may or may not have been a lot of random fireworks set off in streets, thrown from rooftops, and shot at one another, and there may or may not have been a stink bomb planted in Birds & Batteries’ van.  It’s hard to tell with these things.  Also…(ahem).  Finally, it should be noted that the guys in Writer talk a big game, but when push comes to shove, they end up driving over the bridge to catch up on “The Gilmore Girls” or something instead of staying in SF and tearing it up with a bunch of idiots. 

We were in Hyde Street Studios last night, laying down some epic acoustic tracks with the venerable Scott McDowell.  That guys is awesome.  If I had a sister, I would totally be cool with him dating her.  It ended up being quite a late night, but it was completely worth it.  We recorded “Queen Esther” (a very old Low Red Land song that we recently brought out of retirement), “Abraham,” “The Beast,” and “Longing.”  The latter three tracks all tell pieces of the same story, and will be appearing (in electric form) on a new album that we hope to have done by the end of the year.  We tracked each song live, and then added live key accompaniment.  The songs turned out great, and we’re excited to release them.  I will be printing art for them, something smaller than a poster but bigger than a…small thing, and we will be making the songs available digitally to everyone who purchases the accompanying art.  We figure it’s better than just giving someone a CD that they’ll probably just rip on to their computer and then lose anyway.  Plus, with any luck, the print will look sweet on your wall.  We will have this new acoustic EP ready for our fall tour, and we’ll be celebrating its release at the Hemlock on August 22nd with a special happy hour show.  We’ll be joined by our friends from Brooklyn, Appomattox.  In fact, we’ll be joined on the whole western leg of the tour by those dudes, and in the east, so why don’t we get to that now?

We’ll be hitting the road again from August 19th to October 10th (-ish), and we’ll be playing the whole country.  Many of the dates are currently available on our MySpace page.  We’ll be starting off in southern California and working our way north, up through the Northwest, inland through the less-North-less-West, east through the Midwest, into New England and down the East Coast, west through the South, and back up through southern California (or something like that).  We are very excited to be touring again, playing shows with and for our friends, and road-testing some new material.  We are especially psyched to have the Appomattox boys with us, because they’re awesome people who play awesome music.  As more dates are confirmed, they will be posted, and I’ll soon post the itinerary on this site.  Be on the lookout.  For now, there are a few local shows you should mark on your calendars.  The first is the aforementioned happy hour show at the Hemlock, and the second is the 2nd Annual Rock Make Street Festival on Sunday, August 23rd.  Details:

Saturday, August 22nd
The Hemlock
6:00 p.m. (or so), 21+
Low Red Land (playing acoustic, celebrating the release of Acoustic EP II) and Appomattox (playing electric)

Sunday, August 23rd
Treat Street between 17th Street and 18th Street
Rock Make Street Festival
11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., all ages
Tartufi, Low Red Land, and 10 other local bands (plus over 60 local artists and vendors)

That’s right: two Low Red Land shows, one acoustic and one electric, back-to-back.  One isn’t free (the Hemlock), and one is (but a donation is strongly encouraged), but they’re both different, and they’ll both be great. 

That’s about all we have for now.  We’ll be on the road in a little over a month.  We hope to see you out at a show.  Take it easy.