Dimes Don't Rust

That's What Makes You Strong - Jesse Winchester

2011-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

Performer Magazine

2010-12-05T12:02:00.001-08:00

Interested in hearing more about the recording sessions for "Under California Skies"? Check out this article in Performer Magazine on our recording sessions.

Performer Magazine - Studio Diary with Andrew Heringer Band

October Show & News

2010-09-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday October 2nd, the Andrew Heringer Band will be playing a very special all ages show in support of the El Dorado High School Drama Department in our hometown of Placerville, CA. Tickets are available in advance or at the door. Come help us raise money for Studio 81 & see one of our last shows in Northern California in 2010. Hope to see you there!

Oct. 2nd @ 7:00pm

Carl Borelli Amphitheater

561 Canal St, Placerville, CA‎ 95667

TICKETS: http://www.studio81.org

=========================

UNDER CALIFORNIA SKIES (Bonus Edition)

Our new album, Under California Skies is still available for FREE download at: http://andrewheringer.bandcamp.com. There are 4 bonus edition tracks available on at iTunes.com/ that are not included in the free download from bandcamp.com.

10% of the proceeds from all my album sales, online at http://itunes.com/andrewheringerband & physical CD's, this year will go towards a scholarship for Sugarloaf Fine Arts Camp. Sugarloaf is a place that has influenced the artistic education of thousands of Northern California kids over the last 50 years, myself included, & I am lucky enough to still be involved as an instructor.

For more information on Sugarloaf visit: http://www.sugarloafcamp.com/

=========================

TV APPEARANCE:

Check out our new song, Baskets, from a recent appearance on KCRA 3 in Sacramento

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cLGuu0EEvY

=========================

As always, thank you for the support. Please help us continue to get the word out about the new album & post links on your facebook & twitter accounts or forward the information about the album to a friend.

-Andrew

"Baskets" on KCRA 3 in Sacramento

2010-09-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

CD Release Show

2010-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends,

Our new CD, Under California Skies, is almost done and to celebrate the release we are having a show on September 4th in Sacramento. Here are the details:

September 4th

at Fusion Yoga

2310 Fair Oaks Boulevard

Sacramento, CA

doors open at 7:30 : show starts at 8:00

$12 in advance : $15 at the door

All in attendance get a copy

of the new CD "Under California Skies"

BUY TICKETS HERE

We would like to sincerely thank our fans for making this record possible. Without their finanical support, we would not have been able to spend the desired time making this album live up to our expectations. You guys rule.

Much Love,

Andrew, Kellen, Arlyn, Jason & Jonathan

album art

2010-07-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

We are starting to put some of the finishing touches in place for the album release next month. Here is a sneak peak at the album art. The cover art was done by an amazingly talented friend of mine, Rick Jones. View more of his work at: http://www.papercuts.us

2010-05-10T20:24:00.001-07:00

Andrew Heringer Band - Releasing Our New Album for Free

The Andrew Heringer Band is proud to announce that since mid-March, we have been recording a new album. Since we have no record label and there are multiple costs involved with recording, we are looking for sponsorship to help us financially. If we are able to raise the money to cover all our costs - we are going to release the CD for FREE - downloadable directly from on our website and we will make thousands of physical copies to give away. In exchange for the support, we will give our friends and fans gifts (seen on the right hand side of the page).

We want to release this CD for free to get our music to as many people as possible. We are part of a new era of music and we know that sharing music is very easy. Our hope is that our friends will tell their friends about our new FREE album - and our music will continue to spread.

This is your chance to truly support our music as we are asking you to be our record label. The money we raise here goes directly towards recording studio rental, engineers, producer fees, CD production and duplication. People who sponsor our project will get access to the album before it is released to the general public as well as get access to videos of the recording process not seen by the general public.

The (as of yet Untitled) CD will include:

Roads
Brooklyn
World Traveler
Baskets
Fine
Broadway
Tree
Lions Park
I Know You Well
Missing You

There will also be a Deluxe Edition CD with addition material for everyone who sponsors the album. The Deluxe Edition album will have these bonus songs:

Away
December (full band)
She's Suddenly (full band)
Roads (acoustic)
Brooklyn (acoustic)
Baskets (acoustic)

Thanks for supporting independent musicians,
-Andrew, Kellen, Arlyn, Jason & Jonathan

the ANDREW HERINGER BAND

Recording & Traveling

2010-04-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello!

While the full band continues working in the studio on our next album (email updates about that soon), I have a number of Dawson & Marie as well as a New York solo show.

Dawson & Marie Shows:

April 24, 2010 - 7:30 p.m.
Auburn, CA
The Acoustic Barn
opening for Jill Knight

April 29, 2010 - 8 p.m.
Fresno, CA
CSU Fresno

April 30, 2010 - 7:30 p.m.
Dana Point, CA
Lord of The Strings
Tickets: $15

Andrew Heringer (solo)
May 5, 2010 - 9 p.m.
New York, NY
Sidewalk Cafe
Tickets: Donation
opening for my lovely sister Morgan Heringer (it'll be her birthday!)

The new Andrew Heringer Band album is moving forward very well. We will have information online very soon about the progress and about ways our fans can help us release the album.

-Andrew

2010 Pacific Northwest Tour

2010-01-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

January 7th - Redding, CA
January 8th - Ashland, OR
January 9th - Eugene, OR
January 10th - Yachats, OR
January 13th - U of Portland - Portland, OR
January 14th - Silverdale, WA
January 15th - Bremerton, WA
January 16th - Seatlle, WA
January 22nd - Sacramento, CA
for more information view our SHOWS page.

-Andrew

Live Tracks, TV & Show

2009-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

my last minute Halloween Costume : JIM HENSON!

LIVE TRACKS

We have posted audio from our show last month in Placerville for download at : http://andrewheringer.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-el-dorado

TV - THURSDAY

We will have an interview and perform live on the morning show "Sacramento & Co." this Thursday, November 19th on channel 10 in the Sacramento area. We will be on throughout the 9 am hour. Watch or set the Tevo!

SHOW - FRIDAY

We are playing a big show this Friday, November 20th at the Woodland Opera House. I encourage anyone in the Northern California area to attend this show. It is one of my favorite places to play (it's a late 1800's opera house...cool right?) and the other performers are fantastic (Thomas Cunningham from Woodland & Justin Farren from Sacramento).

Andrew Heringer Band
Woodland Opera House
in Woodland, CA
Friday, November 20th
7:30 pm : $10 : All Ages

Buy tickets here: http://tinyurl.com/yae5qpj

We are gearing up for new recordings in the next couple of months as well as a January Pacific-NW tour. We will announce specific dates for Redding, Eugene, Portland, Bremerton and Seattle soon.

-Andrew

Merch, Tour, Videos, Etc.

2009-10-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

New Merch:

We have some shirts, buttons & tote bags with our new logo in the store at http://andrewheringer.bigcartel.com. CD's are now only $9.99.

Pacific Northwest Tour:

Our Pacific Northwest Tour for January 2010 is coming together. We have confirmed dates for Eugene OR, Seattle WA & many points along the way. We are also searching for more college dates & house concerts to fill the tour. If you or any you know may be interested in helping us out between Sacramento and Seattle - email booking@andrewheringer.com

Woodland Opera House:

Tickets are now on sale for our Andrew Heringer Band show at the Woodland Opera House on November 20th. Tickets are $10 each. If you live anywhere in the Northern California area - this is a show you should try to attend. The Opera House is a beautiful venue & we will be playing with our friends Thomas Cunningham & Justin Farren.

Buy tickets at: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1090989&cobrand=wohtheatre

New Videos:

New song - World Traveler (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFomPciWR8s

Cover of Rocky Votolato's "White Daisy Passing"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D318gWgiS1s

SXSW Competition:

Vote for us at OrigAudio.com and help get us to South by Southwest in Austin, TX. Check out there cheap and green-friendly speakers as well! If buy there speakers & enter “AndrewHeringer” at check-out you get $6 off.

-Andrew

p.s. remember to say Happy Birthday to Kellen this saturday (yes he is a halloween baby).

Live Footage : World Traveler

2009-10-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

This is one of our newest tunes (lyrics below).
Recorded Live on 10-17-09 at the Carl Borelli Amphitheater in Placerville, CA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFomPciWR8s

i hope you find your way
i hope you're out there safe
world traveler

i hope you get your break
i hope you're out there safe
world traveler

where you go i go too
i already told you

i know that your feet will carry you home
i hope that you feel that you're never alone
i hope when we meet that it's always the same
i hope everyday that you think of my name

i know that your feet will carry you home
we'll find a way, we'll find a way
i hope that you feel that you're never alone
when you're far away, when you're far away
i hope when we meet that it's always the same
we'll find a way, we'll find a way
i hope everyday that you think of my name

i hope you find your way
i hope you're out there safe
world traveler
world traveler

we'll find a way, we'll find a way
we'll find a way, we'll find a way
we'll find a way, we'll find a way

-----------------------

Special thanks to Roger Ruby @ RjRubyProductions for posting the audio and pictures.
The show was a Benefit for the El Dorado High School Drama Boosters to send their students to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. To find out more about more of their fundraising events go to: www.studio81.org

wow. am i actually posting regular blogs!? i'm on a roll.

Sac Bee Article

2009-10-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

Jim Carnes at the Sacramento Bee Newspaper did an interview that covered both my groups, Andrew Heringer Band and Dawson & Marie. We were stoked to find out that our story made it to the front of the ticket section last friday. As well, Jim did a fantastic job showing the realities of our independent musician life. For those who haven't had a chance to read it, here is a link :

http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/story/2241257.html

There was another article in the Mountain Democrat in Placerville that I have not had the chance to read yet.

September

2009-09-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

I am not very good at keeping blogs. It usually takes me a month or two to get around to it. I apologize. If you are really interested in keeping up with me follow me at http://twitter.com/andrewheringer or friend me on facebook at http://facebook.com/andrewheringer. I think it has to do with somewhat of an online attention deficit I have. I would rather post shorter updates more often then long boring blog entries that I am not sure if anyone ever really reads.

The full band is working on a new record. This includes:
Baskets
Lions Park
So In Love
Roads
Broadway
Brooklyn
Fine
and more... (not a song title, just saying there are a couple of others songs that may or may not go on there).

We are currently in the demo phases. It may take a while to get these songs right and ready to record but that time is worth it to me because I want to make sure and get this one done right and make it the best gosh darn album we can do. We aren't doing a lot of touring due to our focus on demos though we are playing a bunch around Sacramento.

On a personal note, I have started shopping at the Farmer's Markets around Sacramento and goodness I am enjoying this fresh and healthy food. I implore you to find the Farmer's Market near you! Below is a picture of Kellen with his bike and all our fresh fruits and vegetables. We bought more than we planned on and had to rig a system to get it home with a box and a rope. It took us awhile but we got home without an incident.

-a

Months Vol. 1

2009-07-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

I think it's rather fitting that I just got done with an album entitled Months Vol. 1. So much of my life these days consists of consistently thinking 3 months ahead. And because of that the months seem to have added meaning because of the places, people and memories i have attached to them.

Months Vol. 1 (which one can listen to at myspace.com/dawsonandmarie) is a collaboration with singer/songwriter Marlana Sheetz. Marlana and I had started songs together in the summer of '08 and one day after playing at a wedding on a overcast day in Central California I sent her a text message that said "it feels like December at the beach". She wrote back and said, "that sounds like a song title"... and thus the months album concept was born.

The second half of the year is going to be a little slower. In the last 6 months, I've played 70 shows in 4 states. We are gonna be working on a new record with the band the second half of the year and, mostly, staying around Sacramento/Northern California.

Very soon we are gonna be launching a new section of the website. For our currently Untitled next album, we are looking for donors/sponsors; and in return these people will get different gifts as well as exclusive access to behind the scenes video, photos, and blogs of the band in the recording process. It is a new era for music and we are looking for a new way to interact with ours fans on our musical journey.

Congratulations to our newly married saxophone player, Jason Galbraith.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS SUMMER TOUR '09

2009-05-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce our Summer Tour dates. We will be playing some great venues right here in Northern and Central California. As well, I am really excited to share the stage on a number of shows with my sister, Morgan, and her band Big Tree. Please take a minute to look at our schedule and pencil into your calendar the date nearest you.

June 4th : Santa Cruz, CA
The Catalyst : 9pm : 18+ : $10
1011 Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz, CA
w/ Still Time and Matt Masih

June 5th : Monterey, CA
Monterey Live : 9pm : 18+ : $6
414 Alvarado St. Monterey, CA
w/ Big Tree and Matt Masih

June 6th : San Luis Obispo, CA
Steynberg Gallery : 8pm : All Ages : $5
1531 Monterey St. San Luis Obispo, CA
w/ Big Tree

June 12th : Oakland, CA
Fort Gallery : 8pm : All Ages : $5
480 23rd St. Oakland, CA
w/ Big Tree

June 13th : Sacramento, CA
Beatnik Studios : 9pm : All Ages : $10
2421 17th St, Sacramento, CA
w/ Big Tree

June 19th : Placerville, CA
Summer Solstice Festival : 6pm : All Ages
More info at : solsticeproduction.com

July Summer Shows include:

Dawson & Marie CD Release
July 10th : Placerville, CA
594 Main St, Placerville, CA
Cozmic Cafe : 8pm : All Ages : $10
DawsonandMarie.com

Andrew Heringer Band at
Cameron Park House Concerts
July 18th : Cameron Park, CA
More info at : cphouseconcerts.com
Or email cphouseconcerts@me.com to RSVP

Bruce couldn't fit in the drive-thru tree in the CA Redwoods.
More pics of my adventures at my Twitpic

For those who are unfamiliar with Dawson and Marie, it is my acoustic duo project with singer-songwriter Marlana Sheetz. Over the last 6 months we have worked on our own CD which is a concept record featuring songs about the months of the year. Our first CD will feature 7 tracks and will be available by early July.

The track list includes the songs: "February," "May, It's Raining," "July," "August,""October," and "December" : with bonus track "Laugh About It."

Photo by Danielle Supola

: APRIL :

2009-04-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Life has brought me back to Sacramento and it looks I will be stationed here for some time. The band is mostly here at this point (Kellen, Jason and Jonathan). Though it is not the same line-up as last year. Eric Frank (guitar, vocals) has spent the year working with his band LINKS quite a lot and Max Haymer (keys) moved out to New York after we recorded the Paradise Sessions.

First Full Band Rehearsal with Arlyn Anderson (right) on Guitar.

We had our first show on Monday night with Guitarist Arlyn Anderson at CSU Monterey Bay. I can't start to say how excited I am to have Arlyn playing with us. There were times on Monday where I couldn't help but smile. Marlana Sheetz also stepped in on some back up vocals. We are all starting to talk about recording again as I have another batch of new songs. More details coming soon about these recordings. We will be looking to our fans in a big way for these recordings - so stay tuned.

Also look for a Dawson and Marie (my acoustic side project) album in the coming months.

Found at CSU Monterey Bay : I call it the "Hula-Hooping Pedestrian"

We have some summer tour dates starting to get posted around Northern California. We will be doing many of these shows with my sisters band Big Tree.

As part of the tour, we are proud to announce that we are opening the first evening of the 3rd Annual Summer Solstice Festival right outside of Placerville, CA this year. The Solstice event is located right off of Highway 193 on the River by Chili Bar, at the Nugget River Park. It's five minutes from downtown Placerville at a private campground that is a gem on the South Fork of the American River.

We will be playing on Friday, June 19th at 6pm.
Tickets are only $8 in advance or $10 at the door.
Tickets can be bought at Solsticeproduction.com & at Ravens Tale Books in Placerville.
And anyone under 16 is FREE!

Friday Night Features:
Andrew Heringer Band
& Mind X

Saturday Night Features:
Izabella
Five Eyed Hand
Kate Gaffney
Jonny Mojo
Garrin Benfield

For questions contact:
530-644-6093 OR SOLSTICEPRODUCTIONS@COMCAST.NET

more soon,

-ADH.

...and the driving continues.

2009-04-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

The driving has gotten ridiculous. This week I am up in Oregon. Eugene, OR currently. I got my oil changed three weeks ago and it's time for another oil change.

I have started to use my twitter account more and more to post pictures and updates from the road. Add me at twitter.com/andrewheringer. Jonathan and I played dates in Arizona last week. Our favorite stop was in the town of Jerome, AZ. It is a little old once copper-mining town now artist town. I hope to make it back there someday. We also played in Scottsdale and at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

Jerome, AZ

After Flagstaff, we stopped in Vegas for a night so Jonathan hit the strip. Our funny story from Vegas was that we parked in front with the complimentary valet. The baggage guy comes over. He talked to Jon and throws the guitars, some recording equipment i didnt want to leave in the van and clothes on to a cart. Before I know it he is gone. I figured he must have sorted things out with Jon. We go up to the room and the stuffs not there. I start freaking out a little. After a number of trips down to the baggage area and walking numerous laps around Harrah's - I realize that the baggage guy had thought we were the main Musical Entertainment at the Casino and about an hour later the guitars and all show up at the room. You can imagine, I was a little worried there for a while with my two main acoustic guitars missing. I have learned my lesson and will keep them with me.

Bruce gets a bath in Arizona

I have some T-Shirts up at the new online store. I wrote this on my twitter, but seriously next time I need to do my research. It all started when my friend Alex Dita (who has take most of our pictures over the last couple of years) joked about having an I LOVE MOLLY SHIRT based off my song Molly. I thought it was clever and went with the idea. I still like the idea mind you but I really had no clue that "Molly" was also a term for the drug Ecstasy. Oy. Anyway - many people are buying the shirts and I am pretty sure they aren't druggies. I don't think most people think about Molly as a drug reference but maybe I am wrong...

this filly is named Hank.

Baskets

2009-03-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

i have been writing a lot of songs on the acoustic in the last couple of months. I don't know what the next recordings will be at this point - but there is a good chance parts of it will be extremely stripped much like this. Enjoy Baskets... feedback welcome.

Baskets

We started out simple
I loved when you smiled
You loved when I sang
And maybe it was us we were fooling
we thought there was nothing
That would get in our way
But slowly we built up our worries
We stacked them between us
hoped they'd go away
now sometimes I wonder where you are
I used to know that every
second of the day

It seems that we cant find a way
To take us as simple as we came
Did we make it so complicated
that we couldnt be together anymore

I wish we could take all our worries
and put them in baskets
and wash them away
I wish we could still have those moments
Where nothing else matters
Besides you and me

It seems that we cant find a way
To take us as simple as we came
Did we make it so complicated
that we couldnt be together anymore

I will always wish the best for you
I will always wish the best for you
Even when its years since youve gone
I will always wish the best for you
I will always wish the best for you
Even when youre out on your own

I will always wish the best for you
I will always wish the best for you
Even when we dont speak for months
I will always wish the best for you
I will always wish the best for you
Even when new lovers come

I wish we could take all our worries
and put them in baskets
and wash them away

-Andrew

Union Mine High School : Vote Sean & Luke

2009-03-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

As a Union Mine High School Alumni - I have a strong connection with my alma mater and there is an important vote coming up... the only one that really really matters is for the Rally Commissioners.

And really, my good buddies Sean and Luke are the only real choice for the Rally Commissioners. Because they are educated in the art of the Theater Arts and Dramatic Improvisation (which I can vouch for) they know know to entertain the masses. Plus they look sharp in those ties and glasses. VOTE SEAN AND LUKE.

http://www.seanandluke.com

-Andrew

Spring Acoustic Tour

2009-03-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hitting the road for the next month playing with drummer Jonathan McHenry playing stripped down acoustic sets.

ACOUSTIC TOUR DATES:

3.12 - Cupertino, CA : Britania Arms : 8:30pm
3.13 - Santa Cruz : 99 Bottles : 9pm
3.14 - DAWSON & MARIE show : Sacramento : Luna's Cafe : 8pm
3.17 - Los Angeles : Genghis Cohen : 10pm
3.19 - Irvine, CA : Anthill Pub : 9pm
3.21 - Scottsdale, AZ : Angel's Serenity : 7pm
3.24 - Jerome, AZ : Spirit Room : 7pm
3.25 - Flagstaff, AZ : Northern Arizona University : 12pm
3.28 - Monterey, CA : Monterey Live
4.02 - Salem, OR : Boon's Treasury : 8pm
4.04 - Lincoln City, OR : Living Room Concert : 8pm
4.10 - DAWSON & MARIE show : San Francisco, CA : Living Room Concert : 8pm

note that some shows are with my side project "Dawson & Marie" : http://myspace.com/dawsonandmarie

we have been doing some recording over the last month with Dawson and Marie and hope to have an EP out in the next couple of months.

Jon and Marlana ruin all my photos during recording

A Crazy 4 Days

2009-03-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

This photo of me miniature golfing has nothing to do with the last four days but shows my love for the sport (though it often leaves me frustrated).

Highlights from last weeks touring include but are not limited to:

Wednesday : Santa Clara University
- the entire crowd singing "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind
- playing for a crazy fun audience. the clapping during morgan the conqueror was ridiculous

Thursday : in San Luis Obispo
- woke up at 7am to leave Monterey and get the crew to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for an 11 am show.
- Hung out at Avila Beach during the day
-played Churro St. at the Farmer's Market. It was a little cold...
- drove back to Sacramento that night thinking we would be on Fox 40 the next morning.

Friday :
- 5:30 am : get a call that we are not on playing on TV at 8am which is good because I really needed sleep.
- Amazing Show Friday night with Matt Masih and Still Time. We had 250+ in Marilyn's on K
- There will be some video from this show posted very soon!

Saturday :
- House Concert in Sacramento

Goodness... with the combination of 5 shows, lots of driving, lack of sleep and not enough vocal rest... it was a long 4 days.

San Francisco & the Record Shop

2009-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our San Francisco show at Grant & Green will be one to remember for some time. We played our set and right before our buddies in Matt Masih & The Messengers were about to play something very, very strange happened. I started coughing. And there was a strange taste in my mouth/feeling in my lungs. I look up. And everyone around me is coughing. Most of the people rush outside of the venue. It turns out, thanks to the knowledge of my friend Glenn Miller, what we experienced in the place last Friday the 13th had been tear gas. Why someone choose to set off tear gas is completely beyond me but it sure makes for one hell of a story.

Before the show we spent some time poking around a record store that was around the corner from the venue. Viewing these record covers really reminded us how ridiculous some album covers can be. Here are a couple of our favorite covers:

next week we play in Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo and Sacramento. Here are some details:

Santa Clara University
9pm : at the Bronco : free

San Luis Obispo : 2 shows
UU Hour at Cal Poly : 11 am : Free
&
Farmer's Market : 6:30pm : Chorro St.

Sacramento at Marilyn's on K
9pm : +21 : $8
with Matt Masih and Still Time

Tell your friends about the shows
Thanks for your continued support!

-Andrew

Oregon & Washington Highlights

2009-02-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

(look how much room there is in Brutus, though Jonathan and I missed Kellen and Jason on the Pacific Northwest leg)

- Thanks to my good friend Brian “Daz” Dezzani, we played at the University of Portland and met lots of cool kids. A couple of which were the founders of a t-shirt company called Norjack. They outfitted us with a whole bunch of T-Shirts that we proudly wear.

- Our second Portland show turned into a Sugarloaf reunion/dance party.

- We played a really cool venue in Seattle (technically it was in Ballard) called Egan’s Jam House. They usually do jazz shows there – but from time to time they do Singer/songwriters. It had a really cool intimate vibe.

- I believe in the barter system and I wish more people did. Who needs money when you can just exchange goods for services? In Silverdale, WA : I exchanged our new Paradise Sessions for a shirt of one of the gals in the audience. This shirt reads “I love Activities Committee.” If anyone would love to trade me anything for a Paradise Sessions, I am open to almost any suggestions.

- Whilst staying in Bremerton, WA with the Wallen’s. I got a chance to go kayaking out on the Puget Sound.

- Coming back thru Eugene, I took advantage of the Free Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny’s.

The touring is over for the time being and I have to thank all the people who have gone out of their way to make this last tour possible:

Rob Bean, Brian Dezzani, Bill Scheuner, Jill & John Wallen, Alison “Mom” McFarlane, Jeff Wilson, The Garcia Family, The Papathakis Family, Brennan Maloney-Krips, Eric Frank, Robbie Arnett and all the gentlemen of Links, Dan Byers, Spencer Williams, Jakob Martin, Matt Masih, Helen Chance, Caitlin Fanning, Mari Venturino, Kyle Holmes, Marlana Sheetz, Megan Rabone…gosh I am sure I forgot someone. I can not thank all of you enough for helping out in all the ways you do.

Thank you to all the bookers who consistently give us rooms to house our music and fans. Lastly, Thank you to all the people who came out and supported our shows and said hi to us on the road.

I have realized how important community is as a human and how important it is to feel like you fit into a community. It has been a beautiful experience over the last couple of months to realize that my community spans from San Diego to Seattle.

Tour Blog : Part 4

2009-01-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

This blog entry is longer overdue and contains at least 1,151 miles worth of documentation.

First off, I have to thank Subway sandwiches for keeping me, and the band, alive with their tasty $5 footlong subs. The best part is, not only do they will throw piles of tomatoes on their sandwiches, these sandwiches last not one but TWO MEALS if 6 inches at a time fills your stomach (which for me it does). Next time around I must look into a corporate Jared-like sponsorship that would supply us with unlimited sandwiches and would allow us to eat more than 6 inches at a time.

WEDNESDAY

SAN DIEGO.
We played a very cool room called Le Stat’s in our first visit to San Diego and played with a local band called Fusse. During the day before the show, we dropped Jonathan off with his lady friend Mari and the rest of us went over to the beach at Torrey Pines State Reserve. While we were there, we talked mostly about future recording though we did stare deep into each others eyes and watch the sunset too.

We were lucky enough to crash for the night with a friend of mine who I met playing in Monterey a couple of months back. He is a songwriter named Jakob Martin – check out his music at : http://www.myspace.com/jakobmartinmusic

THURSDAY

I played a bad trick on Jason’s fiancée Carey. Jason and Carey got engaged at the end of December and they have just begun to get the details in order. While Jason was off taking a shower, I left Carey a facebook wall posting saying how happy I was to be Jason’s BEST MAN (not true btw) and she in turn wrote me this:

“Aw, Andrew. It does mean a lot to have you in our ceremony--your friendship has meant so much to Jason, and of course to me now, too! :) Thanks for everything, especially for taking care of Jas, and I'm really excited that you'll be a part of our wedding day! Take care! :) :) :)”

Once Jason was informed of my devilish activities, he immediately tried to correct the situation though we all got a good laugh about it.

IRVINE.
We returned to UC Irvine’s Anthill Pub for a show on Thursday night with our good friends LINKS. The Pub at my college alma mater was PACKED with people. My friends in the a cappella group Deceptive Cadence joined us for Morgan, the Conqueror and She’s Suddenly. Eric Frank was able to play with the band for the night.

FRIDAY

After being graduated from UCI for a year and a half now, I finally picked up my diploma. The woman at the admissions desk had a good laugh at how long it took me to get that fine piece of paper but I have a feeling she has seen worse.

LIVE on KUCI
In a band first, Jason and I played a duo gig at the UC Irvine radio station KUCI.

LOS ANGELES.
I am not sure why I even stop in Los Angeles anymore. The venues pay you nothing, it’s like pulling teeth to get anyone to show up and the sets are short. I understand it is all due to the fact that the ration of performers to venues in LA is out of control and venues can make their own rules. We even had to pay for our band photographer Alex Dita to get into the venue.

We played at ROOM 5 in LA. There was a good amount of people and playing was a lot of fun. Eric Frank joined us on percussion and back up vocals for the set as well. But the show was a bummer as it was 30 minutes/6 songs of playing for our fans/friends to see us at $10 a piece; money which we see nothing from.

SATURDAY

YOSEMITE
The story of this gig will be one I will tell for quite some time. Planning the tour this year, I wanted to make a stop somewhere on our drive back from Los Angeles to Sacramento. The show we booked for this stop was at the Yosemite Bug Resort in Midpines, CA.

This show started out with extremely poor turn out to the point where we ended up playing to no one by the end. We had been very fortunate up to this point in the tour to not have any shows where we didn’t have a good crowd but this show was rather laughable. By the end of our set we joked that the little pay, excellent food and rooms to stay for the night were the little saving grace of the gig. It was especially a downer since this would be our last gig before we dropped Jason and Kellen off in Sacramento and Jonathan and I headed north for Oregon and Washington.

But as we were about to wrap up our set about 45 people, mostly Americorp volunteers, showed up. They were there specifically to listen to music, drink, dance and be merry. We just sat there shaking our heads as moments earlier we had been the only ones in the lodge. Very quickly, it went from being on of our worst shows ever to a very good one.

OREGON

We said goodbye to Jason and Kellen in Sacramento on Sunday morning. Jonathan and I had a couple of days of rest before driving up to Portland for our show at the University of Portland. Thanks to my good friend Brian Dezzani, we played to a room full of students at UP for 2 hours on Wednesday night and have many new friends in the Portland area. The UP students helped me confirm that Myspace is old news and everybody is doing Facebook these days.

We have another show in Portland tonight and head up to Seattle and Bremerton this weekend. Playing on the University of Oregon campus next week headed back to California.

More to come soon,

-Andrew

Tour Blog : Part 3

2009-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

So it seems as if Maurice has come and gone (if you missed the earlier blogs, Maurice was the name given to the flu that was traveling around the band). Kellen ended up having a bout with it; though Jonathan and Alex (our good friend and photographer) were able to slip through with full health.

To Recap the last couple of days:

linnaea's jan 17-09
--------------------------
fort bragg
roads
sit and stare
molly
lions park
so cal
morgan
goodnight
last dance with mary jane (tom petty cover)
may it's raining
broadway
she's suddenly
fine

For anyone who has stopped by Linnaea's in San Luis Obispo, you know that it has the smallest little stage in the entire world. There was only enough room to fit Jonathan and his drum set and the rest of us stood on the floor. We had a great turn out. People were standing out in the halls and sitting out in the back.

The moment of our SLO stay came when Jonathan convinced Kellen and I that there were ghosts present at the house of the Papathakis' where we stayed the night. A light mysteriously flickered and answered questions by flashing once for yes and twice for no. At one point the fan that was attached to the light started spinning and I swore for the first time in my life that I was communicating with the dead. Kellen and I were tripping out until Alex Dita realized that there was a remote control. Jonathan had been controlling the fan the entire time with his foot.

Before we left SLO we took some pictures at GUM WALL ALLEY

VIEW PICTURES HERE

We played a great house show for some great people in Santa Barbara hosted by my good friend Brennan. We set up and played in his living room right in the world of crazy 20 somethings in Isle Vista and it is safe to say that if we hadn't tricked Kellen into getting into the van to leave, we may have lost our bass player for good. Girls in bikinis in the middle January on the beach is close to his own personal heaven.

VIEW PICTURES HERE

After a day of rest and driving to LA on Monday, we went to Disneyland on Tuesday thanks to my friend Megan Rabone. This was Kellen's first trip to the magical kingdom (that's what they call it right?). Our "Set List" for Disneyland went something like this:

Indiana Jones ---> Pirates ----> Big Thunder Mountain ---> Space Mountain ----> Buzz Lightyear (jason had the best score) ---> The Matterhorn. A pretty natural progression from ride to ride if you know Disneyland.

Then from there we went over to California Adventure and ended the day with Tower of Terror and Soaring over California.

-Andrew

Tour Blog : Part 2

2009-01-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Special Blog written by Bassist Kellen Garcia

Here is a link to all the pictures from PART 2

The cold, I'll call it Maurice, has been taking it's tool. He (now that I've named the cold, I feel it necessary to use personified pronouns) first infected Heringer, and then moved on to Jason. I first felt his icy touch last night but I, unlike my weaker band-mates, have vowed not to let Maurice win the battle against my immune system. Maurice is a crafty one, so I've enlisted the help of Airborn and and Andrews King size bed. We'll see what happens.

The gig last night was fun. The Crepe Place had a really intimate vibe. We played some funky Heringer tunes and the Matt Masih & the Messengers continued the funk until last call. we got home late. Jason was bummed, he wanted to party till the break of dawn. Gotta go. I have some X-files to watch.

"May your foreheads grow like the mighty oak..."
- Sir. Kellen heir to the throne of Garcia

PS I've come up with an alternate name for Heringer's song, "Love to See You Smile". I'd like to rename it: "It's A Good Thing That Your Parents Invested In Braces".

Tour Blog : Part 1

2009-01-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

We started out the tour at the end of December in my hometown (as well as Kellen and Jason's) with 2 sold out shows at the Cozmic Cafe. We set up in the round which provides a really cool energy and focus to the performance. the set list for night one was:
Goodnight
fort bragg
brooklyn
roads
socal
broadway
lions park
sit and stare---->
molly
tree (with Morgan)
racecar
love to see you smile
so in love
ocean
summer roof
=================
fine
as you can see there are a lot of new songs in there. we ended up changing around the set list for night 2 during the set itself so i can't give a good listing of that show at the moment. my sister, morgan, joined us for some songs as well as our good friend marlana sheetz.

after a couple weeks apart to celebrate new years, a new engagement (congrats jason), and to go skiing in tahoe we joined back up in Sacramento on the 10th and drove down to Monterey. With a little extra time before the gig we walked around the wharf in Monterey and I got my picture drawn which looks a lot like chuck norris.

We got over to Monterey Live about 7 and set up. We played a great show with Matt Masih and Sarah McCoy and played to a very full room. the set list went something like this:
Sit & Stare ------>
Molly
Roads
Fort Bragg
Southern California
Broadway ----->
California Stars
She's Suddenly
So In Love
Summer Roof

Sunday, I got up far too early and played three songs Live on KPIG. The three songs were Roads, Fort Bragg and So In Love. The complimentary Bagels and Odwalla drinks were a nice way to start the day but I was feelng a lack of sleep from the night before. I am someone who doesn't do well with limited sleep and the 4 hours from the night before didn't sit well and though I got through the set and the living room show we did later on in the day in Carmel Valley - I have needed the 3 days of down time to recuperate from getting a bit of a cold.

if you aren't familiar with living room shows, we literally set up in a living room and play for an intimate crowd of 30 people. the shows provide a nice mellow contrast to the high energy shows we do in the venues like monterey live.

We hit Santa Cruz (the Crepe Place) and San Luis Obispo (Linnaea's) later this week. One exciting thing about the shows so far is the difference in attendance - it is an obvious step up from last year's tour. Come out to a show and bring your friends!

the andrew heringer band

2008-02-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

2008-01-29T21:25:00.002-08:00

Berkeley - January 27th

Dita and I stayed the night in Berkeley
and during the day made a music video for "don't forget"

it was filmed in berkeley, ca

we were lucky to have a beautiful location thanks to amanda bensel and we were also lucky that no cars were driving on the street during any of our takes. the video is one long shot with Alex Dita on the steady cam backtracking the whole time. Amanda also guided Alex and i have to thank Erin Jenkins for playing the part of "the chess player"

there are so many people i have to thank for their support and devotion to helping make this tour possible - the list goes on and on and i will probably forget some but here it goes:

alison mcfarlane, patty and mike garcia, pete miller, chas prior, rob bean, sayre miller, the haymer family, dan byers, spencer williams, caitlin fanning, eric papathakis, brennan maloney-krips, the frank family, cole dutcher, matt power, brian "daz" dezzani, john and jill wallen, deborah "barb" lyon, amanda bensel, erin jenkins, as well as everyone who came out to the shows and all who told friends to come out to the shows - we really really appreciate your support and that support is the reason we able to do this tour.

thank you for taking the time out of your busy lives to support us.
it means more then i can possible tell you.

look for some solo shows in California in April and another full tour in the Summer.

Forever Grateful

-Andrew, Eric, Kellen, Jonathan, Jason & Max

Living Room Set - Last Show

2008-01-29T21:25:00.001-08:00

Berkeley - Living Room Set - January 26th

Last day of the tour.

We got over to Berkeley in the early afternoon to set up and then went over to Eric's Parents place again for some more fantastic food. His Parents have been so amazingly supportive.

We played the set at our friend Amanda Bensel's place near UC Berkeley. It was my favorite living room set of the tour - it was literally a very full house. We played the usually set but we added the new songs "I know you well" and "so in love" with eric on dobro and myself on the guitar with the special tuning i use for these songs. C G C E G C . we also ended the set with summer roof but upon request played one more song - which ended up being racecar and by the end of the song everyone was playing which hadnt happened on the tour and it turned into a great jam. for this last song the band felt really connected and tight.

the set list was:

fort bragg
sit and stare
molly
don't forget
southern california
roads
so in love
i know you well
a thousand years
love to see you smile
shes suddenly
summer roof
racecar

as kellen, jason and jonathan drove back to sacramento and eric to los angeles after the show i realized how much of a family/community we had become. through all our differences in race, religion, morals, musical tastes, etc. we all came together as a group to play this music and these songs the best we could and each person providing their own musical fingerprint. and it was a lot of fun indeed. this really sounds like cheesy bullshit but we all bonded in a way that you only realize once you come to the end of being together consistently for a month.

we drove over 4500 miles together
we played for over 1150 people
at 20 shows in 3 different states.

for the first time in a month i was without
the rest of the boys which felt pretty strange.

Luna's Cafe

2008-01-29T21:24:00.003-08:00

Sacramento - January 25th

Eric, Dita (the documentarian) and I got up early, well early for us at least, and went and played at American River College. An old teacher of mine from High School, Keith Atwater, set up the gig for us. It was another lunch time show in a cafeteria and it is always nice to have the opportunity to play for new people.

I haven't talked about Alex Dita much because he has tried to stay neutral to the band and just be a quiet observer. He has filmed the entire tour which includes every show we did as well as moments of us in our down time and on the road. the footage is completely priceless for us and as a little, independent, unknown rock band - its awesome to have the ability to get the whole thing video documented. he will be making a full length documentary and whatever footage he doesnt use in the documentary we will post online and have some new web content.

We played in a cafe in Downtown Sacramento called Luna's Cafe. Very cool venue but really small. Jason said he counted only 40 seats. 45 minutes before the show started the seats were already filled up. It is a hometown show as Jason, Jonathan and Kellen live there now. At some point they had to stop letting people into Luna's which as an artist you cant really complain about - its actually one of those bragging rights type of things - to try to see how many fire codes you can break. We guessed that there were about 100 people there.

the set was:

fort bragg
sit and stare
molly
don't forget
southern california
roads
racecar
goodnight
a thousand years
love to see you smile
shes suddenly
summer roof

this was the set list we used pretty consistently for the last half of the tour.

thomas cunningham opened the show - we played second and justin farren played last. i wish the order of it had been a little different as the place really cleared out after our set and about 25 to 30 stayed to see Justin who deserves better. he is a killer songwriter/storyteller and a fantastic performer.

It was so nice to be back in Sacramento. I am planning to move back there in the coming months to continue with this band.

Le Salle's

2008-01-29T21:24:00.001-08:00

Chico - January 24th

We have had really great luck with weather on this trip for it being January and all. It has rained twice: once on the way to monterey and once in seattle. well... today the weather decided to catch up with us a bit.

We left Eugene at 10:30 am. Mapquest told us we'd get into Chico about 5 which was when we need to set up at the venue. As we were coming down thru central Oregon it started to snow. We started to get a little worried but with nothing sticking we made it down to medford to stop for gas and lunch. As a side note, what the heck is the whole - you cant pump your own gas - deal? i cant be public safety - ive personally never seen, had or heard of any blowing up a gas station because of a gas pumping accident. it has to be some kind of jobs thing but when you have ONE guy working 15 pumps and you end up waiting longer for the dude to come take the hose out of your car then the entire time it took for the gas to be pumped thats not cool.

Anywho - so we get into Northern California near Shasta and the weather hits. SNOW. no much was sticking to the road - but it was really slushy and the snow was making everything else around look like a winter wonderland. No chains were required but we ended up driving 35 miles an hour all the way to redding. At this point it was already 6 o clock.

The gig was supposed to be a 3 hour bar gig - which in all actuality is not fun at all - so it kinda worked out in our favor as we got there about 7 - went on at 7:30 and played our hour and a half set. The bar was pretty large and a little bit lifeless into a group of friends came in with 7 girls screaming for Jason to take off his shirt for the last three songs. it was definitely a hard show to get into the music for us and we ended up driving back to Sacramento to spend the night at Kellen's after the show.

Cozmic Pizza

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

Eugene - January 23rd

The first two weekends of the tour were mostly Central and Southern California - places where we had played before and knew that we would have people attend the shows. Driving to Oregon last week i warned the boys that this was the risk end of the tour - playing places where we weren't quite sure who would show up.

Tonight we played at Cozmic Pizza and musically we came off stage feeling like it was our best show yet. The crowd was small, somewhere around 25, but really attentive. This was our first show as a 4-piece (guitar, bass, sax and drums) and it worked out really well. It is nice to know that the extra flare of Eric (guitar, vocals) and Max (piano, organ) are awesome but not essential.

This would be a really cool venue on a weekend night with more people out. It was nice to have the crowd we did for a Wednesday night though.

We leave earlier tomorrow to head back to California.

University of Oregon

2008-01-29T21:20:00.001-08:00

Eugene - January 22nd

we played on campus at the University of Oregon in the Fishbowl around noon. for those not familiar with the fishbowl its a cafeteria pretty much - but not in the converted gym type of way. you never know what you are gonna get when you play these kind of shows. There were a lot of people hanging around though and we definitely had attentive listeners which was awesome.

One super cool thing about this band is how each member brings their own influences and abilities to the songs - which has given all the tunes this "Folk/Rock/Jazz/Funk" sound. The bummer though is that our cds don't reflect this sound because of how new of an ensemble this is. Even though we are playing songs from the last 3 albums its a completely different experience and i hope that doesn't disappoint people when listening to the albums.

We are looking into dates as to when we can record these tunes with the full band and release somewhat of a live album with songs from & we hope, Unfold and It Seems So Long Since Yesterday.

Without a show tonight, We had a quiet night back at Rob's house where we watched a little of Jim Henson's Dark Crystal and got ourselves some mongolian barbecue.

We got some good news tonight - our guitarist, backup vocalist, ladies man and beat boxer Eric Frank will be with us for the Sacramento and Berkeley shows to wrap up the trip. Eric not only provides much to the music but is an awesome guy to have around as his personality and humor bring a lot to the group energy.

Driving back to Oregon

2008-01-23T16:05:00.002-08:00

Driving back to Eugene - January 21st

I have had a lot of band members over the last couple of years. Though I have loved them all - this group of people is my favorite. I think it has a lot to do with the bonding experience of being on the road and really becoming a group. As well, this is the "sound" i want to keep - the Folk/Rock/Jazz/Funk blend. Every person adds more than their fair share to this band and I feel like this is the perfect unique blend of musical influences which also really compliments my songs.

I started talking about wanting to keep this group together early in the tour. I felt that way from the first Placerville show. I want to continue to build upon this group because i think it has a lot of potential and i think that the musical personalities fit together just right. Responding to this thought, Max tried to convince me that I would find good players wherever i located myself and have just as good if not better of a group but I really don't think this is true.

It's possible that as individuals we aren't the best players - but when this group comes together and brings their musicianship to these songs i truly believe it is something special. There is strength in coming together as musicians and over time learning how to work together and how to best play as a group.

My favorite part about this group though is that we are all friends and have a great time together on and off stage. Jonathan mentioned to me the other day that he's played in a lot of bands but none have had this energy and this much fun onstage. I believe that it is one thing to be great musicians but another to have a great energy and ability to work together as a group.

and i dont think that is something you can find anywhere.

we have plans to record an album of previously released songs like the ones we are playing on this tour with this band in the coming months.

Seattle - The High Dive

2008-01-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

Seattle - Sunday, January 20th

We got up real late and had a gourmet pancake breakfast thanks to Eric's friend, and now a friend of all of our's, Debra who we lovingly call Barb. Her real name is Debra but she just seems like a Barb.

The gig at the High Dive proved to be one of the best of the tour. Not only was it a great venue but there were a lot of people at the show as we were sandwiched between two local bands - Joe Gould's Secret and The BGP. It was our shortest set length at 45 minutes. We played:

Fort Bragg
Sit & Stare
Molly
Don't Forget
Roads
Goodnight
Love to See You Smile
She's Suddenly
Summer Roof

this was Eric Frank's last show with us unfortunately - tomorrow we take him to the Portland airport on our way back to Eugene. Eric provides an awesome presence onstage. He is definitely our "lady killer" and adds great harmonies and choice backing guitar. We also have added a really cool beat-box and vocal jam into she's suddenly.

Jason has become a fan favorite. Every night we get a couple people, usually attractive women, telling us about how much they enjoyed the saxophone. Jason and I have had a lot of time to talk on car rides and in down time and I'm really happy to have gotten to know him better during this tour.

After the show - we drove back over to Bremerton to stay at John and Jill's. They have a place right on the Puget sound and the band was begging to go back over to spend the night there.

Bothell - Lyon's Den

2008-01-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

Bothell - January 19th

We stayed the night in Bremerton at John & Jill Wallen's place. They were far too good to us. They had pizza when we showed up last night and a large breakfast for us this morning - not to mention a large basement to call our home. It is this kind of generosity that has given us the ability to do this tour and keep our spirits high. This is a very low budget tour and the kindness of friends like John & Jill are completely priceless. Not only does it help out financially but it brings a sense that there are people in the world who care about your success which means a ton when you are out on the road every night not knowing if people will show up to your gigs.

During the day today, we took the ferry over from Bremerton to Seattle. It was a nice relaxing journey and it was really cool to see some of the surroundings of the Puget Sound. Everyone in the band has a love for Washington.

When I was scheduling the tour, we ended up having a down day in the Seattle area on a Saturday night because we were playing in Silverdale on friday and Seattle on sunday. Not playing on saturday night didn't make much sense so we picked up a gig in a town called Bothell about 20 minutes northeast of Seattle.

It is definitely the gig of the trip that I would leave out the next time around. It was one of those nights where it was hard for the band to get into the performance though i'm sure we picked up a few new fans and that's what this tour is all about.

Silverdale, Washington - The Global Bean

2008-01-23T15:43:00.001-08:00

Silverdale, WA - January 18th

In a couple of conversations with Jason about touring life - we have come to the conclusion that when you are a band like us doing a tour completely independently you need to places where people "care" that you are there. To us this means that people actually know who you are and will take the time and effort to come and bring friends.

There are a number of people who have really gone out of there way to help us get people to the shows. Last night in Portland, our friend Brian Dezzani really spread the word and got some friends who'd never heard us to come out. This is the best promotion we could possibly ask for because when i friend tells a friend about a new band - it actually means something. People trust a friends advice and it means something coming from someone you know.

Tonight in Silverdale was the same. My friends Jill & John as well as some friends from Bumbershoot in 2006 came out to the Global Bean and got the word out to a whole bunch of friends. The place was packed and we sold the most amount of CD's since the first show in Placerville.

The Buffalo Gap - Portland, OR

2008-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Portland - January 17th

We all woke up late at Rob's house in Eugene, had a late breakfast and got cleaned up. Rob Bean is going to be along for this next section of the tour to help out as a tour manager of sorts. It's really nice to have some help with merch, the venue and keeping the boys on schedule.

One of my favorite moments of the trip so far happened in Rob's living room in Eugene. I'm not sure when it happened - but at some point Jason and I thought it would be a good idea to prove our manliness in the oldest of competitions; a wrestling match. It ended up happening about 3 am last night - technically today. Jason's attributes include cat like reflexes and superior intellect but i had an advantage as i had about 50 pounds on him. We stopped after two draws because jason threw me into a storage container.

We drove up to Portland in the early afternoon to play at the Buffalo Gap. It was the smallest crowd we had had on the tour - we played for about 20 people but they were all into it and it proved to be a lot of fun. Sometimes its hard to get into the show if you arent feeling the energy from the audience but this energetic crowd gave us the power to rock the house. We played 3 sets. the first was an acoustic set with Jason on Sax and Eric on percussion. We played a lot of songs that we hadnt touched in a long while like Hold My Hand, Can't Find Love and Crazy Sexy Beautiful Wonderful.

We are crashed here tonight at Brian "Daz" Dezzani's here in Portland.

Driving to Oregon

2008-01-17T02:29:00.001-08:00

Driving to Oregon

Today is our day to get up to Eugene and without any gigs tonight we were in no hurry. after a fantastic at kellen's place we went to pick up Jonathan and head up I-5 or the 5 as you so cal folk like to say.

At the beginning of the tour we named our 2004 ford econoline van Bruce. it seemed like a fitting name of a van of his size. Max started calling it Brutus - which is a good nick name indeed. Jason and i have taken turns driving the van. we have the cleanest driving records.

in other news - jonathan "found" my keys in his bag. im not sure how they wound up there but at least they are back. i knew they were close by!

once we got into oregon we threw on Dave Matthews Band live at Piedmont Park in the van. we set Jonathan's laptop between the front seats and bumped the audio threw the car speakers.

i hope to see a day where my music starts to go places. it might take a while and i have a while to give so we shall see. its an interesting postion to be in - an unknown band. so many out there - but i think the songs and musicianship are unique enough - at least i hope they are. i love this band and i hope to keep this group of guys together. the add of jonathan on drums has really taken the music to a new level and i think jason and kellen and i are all learning to work with each other musically more and more everyday even though we have been playing together for years. though max and eric are completely different musicians though add perfectly to the band.

we have been having people listening every night and not once have we felt like we were playing a worthless gig. for right now we are cool for playing for 50 people at a time.

Sebastopol - Infusion Tea House

2008-01-17T02:28:00.000-08:00

Sebastopol - January 15th.

we spent the night at eric's parent's place. when we arrived after our santa clara gig we were showered with food, food, more food, alcohol and a great place to sleep. the menu included meat loaf and spaghetti. after dinner jason and kellen crashed early while eric, jonathan, alex and i spent some time in the hot tub. it was a great way to end the day. the perfect way in fact.

we got up in the morning and were again greeted by some fantastic food. eric's dad makes scones that are to die for. scones are usually dry and taste like cement - but - these were quite frankly the best scones i've ever had.

after a walk over to indian rock in berkeley we packed up the van and drove up to sebastopol. when i got the gig - i wasn't sure where sebastopol was to be honest. i knew its general location and i knew we would be driving through that area so i took it.

we played the infusion tea house. it was a small but very intimate room. before the show we realized that my capo was no where to be found. so while jason and i went through every bit of the van - eric went over to his aunt's house and got one from there.

the set list was:

fort bragg
sit and stare
southern california
don't forget
molly
a thousand years
roads (solo)
your song (solo - elton john cover)
circles
love to see you smile
morgan the conqueror (by request)
she's suddenly
goodnight
summer roof

the set list has been pretty similar to this for most of the tour so far.

after the show we packed up and drove to sacramento. we took jonathan to his place while the rest of us went to kellen's place known as the Moddison Manor. jason and i passed out in our clothes on the couch.

alex dita has been along on this tour as a video documentarian. he will have tons and tons of hours in HD video that he hopes to make a documentary out of. we have recorded every show so far and i hope to have some good highlights up on youtube at some point.

Santa Clara - The Bronco

2008-01-17T02:27:00.000-08:00

Santa Clara - January 14th

This was the one day that i had to hang out at home in Carmel Valley and take a shower in my own shower and do laundry and hang out with my sister and dog - the list goes on and on of things i could have done. of course - none of that got done. i went into town to run some errands one of which was getting Bruce (our tour van) a oil change and tire rotation.

they told me it was going to be a while before for oil change which bugged me but i had my iphone and i recently found a site for games so life was good. about an hour later they come out and tell me that "it was good we did the tire rotation because the brakes were worn down to nothing." we bought Bruce (our tour van) from this place recently so they did the brakes for free - which was awesome - but it was gonna be another two hours before it'd be done. so i spent 4 hours sitting in a car dealership only to race home, get the boys in the van, shove food down my throat and get up to santa clara.

i was in a bit of a bad mood having not been able to spend any of the day at home but that was quickly remedied by the wit and humor of the boys.

i knew this was going to be an interesting show. it was a show on a monday night in a college hangout at Santa Clara University. we showed up and there were two bums playing pool and that was about it. By the time we had set up - there were about 15 people sitting around waiting for a show - which is enough for me. this was our first show without max and though he is missed it wasn't as big of a change as we thought. by the end of the show we had a good amount of people listening.

the highlights of the show include: a 50 year old man named Guy who stood about a foot from the stage most of the show asking for John Prine covers - at other times he went around the crowd with the tip jar getting tips for us and selling CDs (we didnt ask him to do this so it made us laugh a bit) and he also got us free pizza as well somehow.

another highlight was when part of a dorm came in and they were on one of those video scavenger hunt type of things where they have to do things while video documenting. one of the group named Kevin said they needed video of him on stage singing a song - we asked him what songs he knew and we ended up backing him in a rendition of What I Got by Sublime.

the show turned out to be a lot of fun and we got CDs out to a lot of new people. i feel blessed that we have had audiences to play to every night so far.

after the show we made our way to berkeley.

Santa Barbara

2008-01-17T02:26:00.000-08:00

Santa Barbara - January 13th

We stayed the night at Eric Papathakis' place after the SLO gig. For those of you who remember the Eightfold days he was one of our drummers. when we woke up, Max got to watch his football while i went and rounded up eric and kellen from a friend of ours in SLO.

we got back to Eric Paps' and took some band photos and while waiting for Dita to download some video we played an exciting game of ultimate frisbee. the problem with the game was that we were playing too close to a house and frisbee wound up on the roof every 13th throw. it was much fun none the less.

we got on the road and back tracked from San Luis a bit down to Santa Barbara. We played in a Living Room on Del Playa in Isle Vista. Thanks to my good friend Brennan Maloney-Krips for hosting the event. we have had to adjust the sound some days in order to accommodate the venue and not blow people away - Jonathan played brushes for much of the show. This was Max's last show of the tour. He will be missed greatly but we will adjust.

When i first started writing the song Goodnight there were some times when the song would get overly emotional for me because of the subject and lyrics - the words really resonated in my body. It has been some time since it really effected me and for some reason it choose to again in a living room in Isle Vista today. it may be that I am a little worn down from sleep and the road - it was also a little emotional knowing that it was the last show with Max. he has added a lot to the sound.

we have found a sound on this tour that i would like the be "the sound" for the band. The addition of both jonathan and max add a very jazz/funk element - so we have started to describe our sound to people as folk/rock/jazz/funk which is really appropriate though it may be a mouthful to say. we have tried to compress it to Forock- Jafunk or even further as Fock Junk. I am interested in doing a live style CD with the whole band sometime in the next couple months.

The living room was packed with a good 30 people and we got some cds out to some new people which is really exciting and what this tour is all about. Before leaving Santa Barbara we ate some HUGE burritos at Firebirds. We drove up to Carmel Valley and i was looking forward to spending some time at home.

San Luis Obispo - Linnaea's Cafe

2008-01-17T02:08:00.000-08:00

San Luis Obispo - January 11th

After getting out of the pit that is LA - we made our way up to San Luis Obispo.

I love SLO. i really really do. i think its the fact that its a small town with a sweet downtown area and location-wise its kind of isolated there in Central California. I have played there a lot over the last couple years at the Farmer's Market, on campus at Cal Poly and at coffee shops. Always a good experience.

Linnaea's is a real small coffee house - especially for a 6 piece band. we all ended up fitting though and the place was packed with people. standing room only out in the hallway and people were even sitting in the isles - im sure the fire marshall would have shut us down if he'd caught wind of the haps.

we made the mistake of not clearing out the room and starting from a clean slate prior to the show - the chairs weren't organized enough in the audience and we never got an adequate sound check - which i will never go without again - so there was a bit of adjusting during the show. The show went real well but the band felt like we fell apart in the last couple of songs. which was really frustrating especially after playing great for all but the last 3 songs. it's probably not something that the audience noticed but we tend to be perfectionists so it got to us a bit.

i understand why people tour with tour managers now - there is just too much to think about sometimes - and its wearing to devote yourself to music and business.

our drama of the night was that someone lost the car keys. of course when i started asking everyone started pointing at some else. we searched the venue at the end of the night but they were no where to be found. we are still hoping they are just buried in the van somewhere.

Irvine - Anthill Pub

2008-01-17T02:02:00.000-08:00

Irvine, January 11th

We did another roadtrip nation interview - this time with Peter Erskine. He is a drummer who played with Weather Report and on a ridiculous amount of albums with other artists and bands. It's funny talking to people like him because he was always in the "scene" - he was such a good player at such a young age that his path sort of fell into place.

After the interview i took the boys over to Shoops in Santa Monica where we got some lunch/breakfast. After that we headed down to Orange County and with some time to spare we hung out on the beach at Corona Del Mar. in our time there, Kellen and I tackled the challenges of tic-tac-toe and we have realized that it is a pointless stupid game if both people know what they are doing. so what we learned is only play tic-tac-toe with stupid people.

We went over to Irvine and picked up some food at Trader Joes. it was very strange for me to be back in Irvine. i spent the last 4 years of my life and all of my adult life there and for some reason coming back gave me this feeling in my stomach that was really hard to shake. It's a place a feel extremely connected to but also a place where i no longer belong. i think that's just about the worst feeling ever - not feeling like you belong. Post-college is a harsh transition but life goes on and i'll get use to it in good time.

i have been playing a song on this tour currently titled Roads. It's about that place where you could curl up into the fetal position and stay there for a long time. It started as random thoughts written down when i was in Placerville, CA last summer. though i moved around a lot as a kid and i dont think i ever officially lived in the town of placerville, i lived all around it in the outlying areas and it is the place i connect to as home. though i have not lived there for a while - i go back there often and during these visits i felt this feeling that you get with an ex girlfriend. you know each other so well but you distance yourself once its over and when you bump into each other you try and act like you don't know each other anymore. its weird feeling like a stranger in your home town even when you still think of it as home. it is this tragedy/paradox of life that i love to write about in my songs.

i dont write songs unless i need to say something these days. i dont think its far to waste peoples time on songs that are meaningless lyrically.

the show in Irvine at the Pub on Campus was awesome and it was great to see a whole bunch of friends and family there. the place was packed - with lots of people standing against the back walls.

We were without Eric Frank tonight but he will be with us on the tour until the 21st and he'll back to LA from Portland.

all of us with Peter Erskine

The Mint - Los Angeles

2008-01-17T01:57:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles January 10th

This was a gig we were looking forward to playing. The Mint has a long history of really famous people playing there - the likes of Ben Harper, The Wallflowers, Bonnie Raitt, etc. etc. etc. a lot of people still play it and its considered one of LA's good best night clubs. I had never actually been in to the Mint but from the website - it looked really clean. As well Eric was going to rejoin us for this gig.

Well... it wasn't a great gig. in fact, it will probably end up to be one of - if not - the worst shows on this tour. the sound man was text messaging through our performance. as well we didnt get on and playing til about 11:30 and half the place was talking loudly through the entire set. the venue was really dirty as well. Unless i get into the hotel cafe next time through - it may be a while before i play Los Angeles again. its a hard city.

for lodging this week, half of us stayed at Max's and the other half at Eric's which proved to be very hard on us. i look forward to getting on the road - in the next 17 days we have 15 gigs. its nice to be busy and productive.

We listened back to the recording and we sound better than we originally thought - though the effects of not being able to hear my own vocals onstage are evident.

Jonathan and Kellen

KPIG and Fresno

2008-01-17T01:53:00.000-08:00

Fresno - January 6th

we got up early and drove to Freedom, CA to play live on KPIG which broadcasts all over California. we played Fort Bragg, Don't Forget and Summer Roof and did an interview as well. the radio station was in an old motel and had a chill vibe - lots of cool people hanging around during the set and poking their heads in the studio.

we packed up as quick as possible to get over to Fresno for our first living room set. the boys were questioning me about this gig and it is a strange concept setting up and playing in someone's living room. my main goal on this tour was to get the music out to new people and these living sets seemed like a great way to do that.

this show was at my Aunt Sari's place and it turned out to be a great show. we had plenty people who were eager to listen and the room was real large. we played two sets. mucho thanks to Sari for getting people to come out and hosting a great show. the boys didnt question why we played it afterwards.

my moment of the day was when we stopped in los banos to get some food on the way over to fresno - max and i ordered some burritos from a hole in the wall taco place while jason, jon and kellen went over to fosters freeze. while max and i were waiting for our burritos we thought it would be a good idea to have jon get us 2 milk shakes. unfortunately we ordered these on an empty stomach and once we got done with our burritos we were stuffed. max and i tried to force down the milk shakes but we ended up giving them to jason and kellen. i was in literal pain but still trying to get the shake down....

Monterey Live

2008-01-17T01:38:00.001-08:00

Monterey - January 5th

We stuffed Bruce (the van) full and went to go pick up Max at the Sacramento Airport. We were supposed to play a living room show in Novato but the gig got cancelled as the house had no power thanks to a huge storm that hit northern california. so we drove straight to Monterey.

The venue, Monterey Live, never told us that the show was 21+ so we spent awhile seeing if we could get some of the underage folk in. But it worked out and we ended up having a packed house. Monterey Live is a real cool venue - has a jazz club type of feel and it was very clean. People are sitting which has actually been the case with every gig so far.

Our old drummer Matt came down and played a tune with us and he brought a whole bunch of folk from the Defensive Language Institute with him. Matt is now studying Dari in monterey in the airforce.

By the time we got out of the venue it was really really late and we had to get up early the next day to go play on KPIG.

New E.P.

2007-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

As some of you might know - earlier this summer i recorded 5 songs for a new E.P.

these songs include:

Goodnight
Fort Bragg
Don't Forget
Love to see you Smile
and Summer Roof

the song Fort Bragg will probably start the album. this track is about a roadtrip taken with bass player kellen garcia where we met up with some new friends on the northern california coast.

Don't Forget is a new song about dealing the insecurity of relationships and how calming and reassuring close physical distance can be.

goodnight is a song about my own personal health problems. i live with something called behcets disease and though i pretty much have it under control sometimes it gets the best of me. many people are unaware that i deal with this and the song sheds some light on the subject i guess you could say. the music for this song was written with my good friend max haymer who does a beautiful version of the song with his jazz trio.

love to see you smile is about picking someone up when they are down. and knowing that they will be there for you when you are down as well. this is the oldest track on the album - written a good 4 years ago.

you may recognize summer roof from the album & we hope - i choose to rerecord this song because it had really gone thru some changes and had a completely different sound with the full band that i wanted to capture.

i'm really excited about this album. during pre-production i talked with the producer andrew capra (check out his band Hopefield) about getting a sound that captured the rawness of & we hope as well as the full band feel of Unfold - i really wanted to find this happy medium. with this new E.P. we cut out the horns and violins from the last record - though there is one saxophone solo on the album - and we grounded it in guitars and vocals. there is more electric guitar work on this album then the last two records but it still has a folk-rock feel. this year - my ipod has been dominated with artists like rocky votolato, ryan adams and the counting crows and i believe that they all have a strong influenece on this album. the E.P. has a bit of a twang but still stays true to the indie-folk-rock genre. i hate genres - i want to be an artist and not be stuck having to write in a certain style or sound - and i think it has been that ability to not classify my sound so specifically that has allowed me to experiment so much over the last 3 albums.

thank you for your continued support while also allowing me to find myself, my identity, my fingerprint as a musician and songwriter.

-Andrew

p.s. - at this time there is no set release date - and the best a can say is that it will be done in the next couple months. my good friend eric frank is mixing the album - and im really not going push the mixing process too fast - i want to really play with the sound of the album. it is in the mixing and editing where the rawness will be achieved.