Reminder: Billy's Tonight!

January, 28
Last show before the Jammies next month.

UPDATE: Bol mentioned that "Maria," the Crosstown prequel song, may be debuted tonight.

New Album Update

Bol checked in last night to give an update and had a lot of good stuff to report.

First of all, the band has finished recording demos for the album, and is actively recording all of their parts of the album. Bol said that there were three separate days last week that band members dropped by to lay down their parts, including another session last night at Dex's basement studio.

Bol also noted the names of four songs, Nobody's Baby, My Sunshine, My Machine, and Maria, which is the prequel to Crosstown. Many of the songs only have working titles and nothing is finished or mixed yet.

Good stuff.

Catch the band at the Jammies next month, as they take a break from performing to focus on recording the album.

Here's the band performing My Sunshine at Founder's in October.

A Winter's Tune on YouTube

Chance performing his original Christmas tune from last months show.

New March Shows Added

Bol just checked in with a killer Pot Roast and Noddles recipe, plus 3 new shows in March.

March 7th at Founders (Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire cd release)
March 12th at Hopcat
March 22nd at Dog Story Theater

This is in addition to the upcoming show this month that was announced earlier.

January 28th with Lazy Genius at Billy's Lounge

The Recipe:
first brown the meat

get two cans of cambells french onion soup

add the cans and meat to the crock pot

add one can full of water

let it cook for like 6 hours

it can go longer too before the last hour a

add the potatos

and carrots
Temp is on High

after the carrots and tates are good

take the meat out and cook the noodles in the crock pot
takes about 10 minutes for the noodles

The Letter 11

Bol just reported that this is just an idea at this point. I'm assuming that this means no work has been done on it, and nothing is planned.

Here's hoping it comes to pass, but I wouldn't hold your breath for it.

Billy's Lounge, January 28

The full band will be playing at Billy's Lounge on Wednesday, January 28. The cost is $3, and this is a 21+ show. Billy's website says 9:30-1:30, but I doubt it will be a four hour show.

We'll see what we can do in the new year about setlists and post show updates. If I were attending each show it wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think I'll make it to this one.

Happy New Year, 2009

Sorry for the lack of updates, but we'll plunge into the new year with a renewed vigor. I will not use the birth of my daughter, Lilly, as an excuse for not writing in December.

Since we last spoke, Chance played at A Winter's Tune, to high regard. I haven't heard if the Chance selections will be made available for mp3 download, but I'll have a link should it happen. The full band united for a show at Billy's and a show at Founders. The Founders show featured 6 new songs, and sounded pretty good according to Bol.

The band continues to track new material and songs for the upcoming release of Friction. Apparently Friction has some new things happening that could prove beneficial to the band. I don't know how that will play out, but it could be interesting. "Spring" is what I'm hearing for a finished album, as yet untitled. I think the plan right now is to track as many demos as possible, then bring the finished demos into the studio to cut quickly for release. The "Letter 11" album of reworked solo songs is on the back burner, as far as I know. The older songs might be cut right along with the new album, since they don't require any, or much, demo tracking because of how long the band has played them live.

While there aren't any new shows coming up soon, I imagine that the band will be performing at the Jammies next month. Look for an update on that as soon as I get confirmation.

Summer looks like it will be a good time to catch the band on tour.

All in all, the first half of 2009 should be a great time to follow the band. New songs, new album, the Jammies, summer tour. Good stuff all around, hopefully.

Medium Fidelity Best of 2008

Check out Troy Reimink's Medium Fidelity blog where he asks local West Michigan folks for their best albums of 2008. Chance (Josh) was asked for his favorites of the year, as was Herm Baker of Vertigo Music. If you aren't buying your music from Herm, I don't know what to tell you. Please support Vertigo. If they don't have it on their shelves, they can order it for you, usually for a better price than you would find online. He also has the best selection of local music, including The Angel's Share, Daisy May & Seth Bernard, The Mighty Narwhale, LSDudes, Breathe Owl Breathe, and once upon a time, Zoozersadd.

Kevin Murphy, station manager of WYCE, had The Angel's Share listed in his top 10.

For posterity, here's Chance's top ten:

Josh Burge (aka Chance Jones) -- singer, Chance Jones

• Adam Green, "Sixes and Sevens"
• Raphael Saadiq, "The Way I see It"
• Vampire Weekend, "Vampire Weekend"
• Pet the Warrior, "The Murray"
• The Mighty Narwhale, "A Ship Without A Country, A Mast Without A Sail"
• Beck, "Modern Guilt"
• Silver Jews, "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea"
• Tim Fite, "Fair Ain't Fair"
• The Fireman, "Electric Arguments"
• Deerhunter, "Microcastles"

Jammies X

The 10th annual Jammie awards from WYCE will be held at the Intersection on February 17. Bol reports to me that the band are up for quite a few awards, including "Kitty Hijinks" for song of the year, and The Angel's Share for album of the year. There is also a people's choice vote for local album of the year, and The Angel's Share is nominated there as well. Click here to stuff the ballot! As always, call in to WYCE to request the band. Wednesday afternoon I caught "Crosstown" in a best of 2008 show. Call in the studio at (616) 742-9923.