We are currently recording 2 covers for an EP / bonus disc for those wishing to buy oh tall tree in the ear on cd this year. 

For those of you who do not follow us on twitter, Skip has started an interview series for American Songwriter magazine called "Drinks With." The idea behind the interviews is not too complex. It's to sit around with a drink and talk about songwriting.

 So far the published interviews can be found here:

Wild Beasts (from UK)

Travis (from UK)

Jason Isbell (from Drive by Truckers / 400 unit)

Other interviews already completed and waiting for publication include:

Arctic Monkeys

Tom T. Hall

Brendan Benson

Elvis Perkins

Peacock that greeted us from the porch of Fox Hollow, Drinks With Tom T. Hall, December.

Drinks With Arctic Monkeys, Chicago. December. 

We were very excited this morning to find out that one of our favorite authors / musical ears, Nick Hornby said yesterday on (the sunday version of) npr's weekend edition, that he'd been listening to our record on his ipod. Nick Hornby has been one of our favorite writers for years. His new book, Juliet Naked is especially good.

We don't otherwise know him that well, so it was a great surprise. To quote ("American Movie") filmmaker Mark Borchardt, "Life is cool like that sometimes." At the time, I think he was talking about the burger kings in wisconsin switching from pepsi to coke products.

Here is a link to the full transcript, and an excerpt is below: 

HANSEN: What music is on your playlist?

Mr. HORNBY: Oh, I've got it in my pocket, I think.

HANSEN: Take a look.

Mr. HORNBY: Hold on a second. Well, I know I've been listening to Steve Earle's son, Justin Townes Earle, a bit recently and also Elvis Perkins. He's, I think Anthony Perkins' son. The most recent playlist that I made myself had a band called Roman Candle on it, Los Lobos, Phoenix... There's a lot of stuff. It's been a good year, I think, for music.

HANSEN: Really, that sounds good. How often have you changed that playlist?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. HORNBY: Well, I make a playlist twice a year... 

 

(posted by Skip) 

They are already selling peppermint ice cream in the Kroger people. Time to spend the evening working on a Christmas song with Keegan.  Only trouble so far: finding whichever indeterminate nook or cranny the sleighbells have been "hidden" in. 

This picture was taken at Messiah College, PA during our set from backstage by Sam Beam's manager John. We are back home for a few days after a long week of great shows. This past weekend of shows was a real treat for us as we got to play with some great bands (thank you Wild Beasts and Iron and Wine) and we also got to meet a bunch of new fans and friends (thank you to Main Street Music in Philadelphia and all of you that came out for the North Star Bar show). We got a chance for a short week break in SC to rest but will be heading back out on Thursday for a few shows with Jason Isbell.

Also, below are a few pictures taken by a fan from our show supporting Iron & Wine. Each of these are taken from his facebook page. There are several more photos posted there.

(posted by Timshel)

Thanks to their uncle Keegan, our little ones got this drawing in the mail, done by one of our favorite filmmakers /artists Michel Gondry . Keegan's record "Islands" comes out in the UK and US on vinyl and mp3 one week form today Sept. 15. 09

(posted by Skip)

Thanks to all who made the last few weeks so much fun (especially ha ha tonka, the people at daytrotter and schubas, and all you who came out).

We are glad to be home for a few days before heading Northeast, to play with iron and wine, Wild Beasts , and to play our first legitimate headlining show in the great city of Philadelphia (sponsored by the great people at wxpn.)

We will be posting photos from the last couple weeks in the next few days. Meanwhile here are links for tickets:

tickets for Sept. 10 NYC show with Wild Beasts at Mercury Lounge

tickets for Sept. 11 09 Philadelphia show at North Star

(posted by Skip)

diaper change:

outside the hi-tone club:

the kids in the trailer:

inside da club:

in the van:

recommended eating: (bonus: 2 blocks from hi-tone club)

thanks to all of you who came out to 3rd and Lindsley tonight. We sold out first copy of "oh tall tree" on vinyl to Nate Yetton and Joy Williams (Nate also took the above picture from the back of the club). We will be selling vinyl at all of our upcoming shows.

Welcome to our new romancandlemusic.com website by the way. If you register (either with your email or through facebook connect) for the site and go to the downloads tab under media, you can download 2 free mp3's.

One is an acoustic "you don't belong to this world" from our a session we did at water music with Jane Scarpantoni (cello - Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, many others). The other is an unreleased verison of Thad Cockrell performing one of our songs, "I can't even recall".

(posted by Skip)

I found a recording today I have been looking for since 1996. It’s not that obscure really, I just could never find it.  It’s a version of “almost like being in love” by the nat cole trio. If anyone can imagine back to 1996, it was still hard to locate music back then. I bought all uk import singles that schoolkids in chapel hill (r.i.p) did not carry through a mail order company called parasol out of Indiana. Needless to say, I had a hard time finding this recording even since we’ve years of internet. And thanks to lala.com I was able to hear it (though ironically not download it) this morning. I found it on amazon of all places later today. A minute and fifty five seconds long. 

(posted by Skip)

Thank you Huntsville.

Thanks to Shelly Colvin, who was amazing.

Thanks to Nancy Cloud for the barbecue.

Thanks to Duquette Johnston and Beauford Warren for singing.

(The above photo is the King in Huntsville, AL 1975)

This weekend we picked tomatoes:

and found an indoor “inflatable bounce stadium”

(in this picture: Skip under a giant boxing glove + strangers.) In this bounce stadium’s brochure they say they do corporate events.

We ate BLT’s and went to Crema. Also really had the song “Everyday I have to cry some,” by the bee gees in my head tonight. I found a (later) version of arthur alexander singing it, and it’s stuck with me. The recording sounds like somebody did it on a midi keyboard, drums and all, but his singing is fantastic.

Lastly the amazing Jason Lehning (produced Oh Tall Tree in the Ear) was interviewed on WRLT’s Music Business Radio program yesterday. Jason is an amazing producer / engineer /  arranger / writer, and comes from a talented family (all in those dept.’s) The show aired last night on WRLT and will replay tonight at 11pm. Jason was kind enough to talk about us and the great Sarah Siskind.

Here is a link to hear the whole show.

(posted by Skip)

Ambrose Matheny (July 2009)

John Hartford 1971

(posted by Timshel)

I think Chris Stamey is my favorite guitar player. We used to travel as his backing band with Tyson Rogers when he released the “travels in the south” record and when he released the record with yo la tengo back in 2004. Chris would wear this sequined jacket with a glittering horse on the back and play some of the most unpredictable exciting guitar I’ve ever heard.

Some evenings he would play 20 bars that all sounded as wild as the first time I ever heard the intro to “eight miles high”. Some nights he’d just wander around on a few carefully picked notes. Whatever he felt like it during the set. He’s a fantastic artist. And truthfully, I’m not much of “guitar person” and never have been. Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Doc Watson, Johnny Marr, Jerry Reed. There. — that might be all the guitar players I’ve ever thought twice about (as guitar players).

I just got back from seeing Chris play acoustic with Jen Gunderman at the Family Wash (east nashville). Hearing all the songs he played from the new record (with Peter Holsapple)  ”hERE aND nOW”, and his last few records, in a quiet bar with an acoustic guitar/wurlitzer was pretty revelatory. He’s an amazing writer and I don’t think I’ve ever read a music writer pull out half of what he puts into his songs. Some of the songs on “travels in the south” show a musical understanding and love for Brian Wilson I haven’t heard anywhere else. (not that I’m out pounding the pavement looking for people who understand Brian Wilson’s chord & melodic structures — I’m just saying go try and figure out “don’t talk put your head on my shoulder” on a piano. And then figure out Chris’s “And I love her”. )

He and Peter Holsapple also played at the basement earlier tonight (Jeff Crawford played bass, and Logan may have sat in on drums for a song or two). Some roman candle folks were lucky enough to play on their new record in spots.

And if you don’t know who I’m talking about, there’s a great article from this week’s nashville scene that can help.

(posted by Skip)

Alice Cooper says in Wayne’s World, Milwaukee is pronounced ‘mill-e-wah-que which is Algonquin for the good land.’ And he’s totally right. This town surprises me every time we come up here. It’s clean, well-planned, and the people are really nice. we are sitting at Alterra coffee on S. 1st st waiting to go to soundcheck and the coffee here is really good! I couldnt help myself from having a double espresso AND a large coffee. The espresso is actually a lot like our (Drew’s Brews) Zappia blend. Although the shop here has a La Marzocco (older model) machine with normal portafilters, the crema on these shots were really nice and golden brown with even a touch of ‘tiger striping’ visible on top. The taste was really bright and citrusy, but not bitter or to acidic. Really good balance with a soft weight to it – seemed to have been properly dosed and tamped. Timshel had a cappuccino and really liked hers also. As far as method and technique goes – I really didn’t see anything out of the ordinary or new. The typical hand leveling, and tamping (although the Barista did use a few knocks to increase the dose).

The drip coffee was very good as well – they serve a ‘mild’ and a ’strong’ blend. I tried the ’strong’ – dark and earthy with a lot of good earthy and smoky tones. I’m thinking it was probably a blend of a couple of African beans…anyways – really cool shop with a lot of seating, and a really friendly staff.

—posted by Logan (who works at Crema in nashville. stop by for some great coffee if you ever in that neck of the woods)

170 S 1st St.Milwaukee, WI 414.765.9873 
Hours:M-F: 6:30am-9pmSat: 7am-9pmSun: 7am-8pm

Yesterday Keegan DeWitt and Aaron Katz (director) came over to shoot a video of Keegan’s song “Stormy Weather” off of his Islands record. — quick side note: roman candle produced Islands with Keegan, it was mixed by Chris Stamey, and is getting U.K. / U.S. release on vinyl through Izumi Records on Sept. 15.

The video was set in SPACE and featured our two children, as keegan’s backing band. There was floating cereal, floating magazines and a couple tears shed (thankfully not in the parent-child-actor strange way, just out of stubbed toes, etc.) We will post the video when it is finished. Aaron goes back to Brooklyn today where he is wrapping up his new film “Cold Weather.” (produced by Noah Baumbach)

Tonight we drive to Milwuakee (or halfway at least) for a show at Summerfest. We are playing on the “miller lite oasis stage” at 8pm. 

(posted by Skip)

our daytrotter sessions have been posted. thanks to sean, mike and phil for such a fun time at the horseshack. seriously good folks.

This is Chris Stamey (or at least his lower half) playing with us on stage at cats cradle (May 9, 09). Some more photos from this show will be posted to our website soon. We just received them from an amazing photographer named Geoff Wood

photo credit, obviously (as well as the new banner at this tumblr address): Geoff Wood

Nice to be home after our weeks out with the deep vibration. I’ve posted this recipe once  before, but we just made these the other night, and I figured I’d put it up again, not knowing how many people know *all* of our blog posts. 

thanks to all the radio stations who have been playing our record (and xm) we will be posting your names somewhere around here soon.

(posted by Skip) 
 

Roasted Jalapeno BLT’s:

Ingredients:

Bacon - Even when it’s bad, bacon is good, but I would buy something that will not taste floppy, rubbery or otherwise microwaved.

 

Lettuce - this is fairly easy, use what you like on a sandwich.

Tomatoes - Not to be underestimated as the real honey in this sandwich. Again if possible, use good ones, ideally ones bought from a farmer as opposed to a kroger.

Jalapenos -

Fresh basil - you can use as much or as little as you have. The more the better, to go with the

Bread - Anything can work here, but if you can afford some kind of artisan bread (even whatever’s in the kroger bakery section — they usually carry La Brea, I think), it will really pay off.

1 - Roast Jalapenos - There are a couple ways to do this, though if you don’t have a lot of time, I usually roast them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. It’s best to do this with the pan covered, so as to prevent your whole family from crying and coughing for a half hour. The capsaicin in the peppers (when released during cooking) gets into the air and stays for a while. It’s especially nasty with water /steam. Oil will tame it some, but keep the pan covered nonetheless. Once the jalapenos have turned bright green in the pan, remove from heat and probably leave the lid on until they cool down.

 

2 - Cook Bacon. Do this however you usually cook it, however you like it best. Need instructions on how to cook bacon?

3 - Cut tomatoes, wash lettuce etc.

4 - Finely chop the roasted jalapenos and for spreading onto bread (with mayonaise - if you like mayonaise)

5 - Toast the bread. Again lots of ways to do this, I usually spread some olive oil and a little kosher salt on the sliced bread and broil it in the oven (I only toast one side of the bread, but whatever you like here) . If we have fresh rosemary, or Herbes de Provence I’ll chop it and add it to the bread too.

6 - Assemble sandwiches: Spread the jalapenos with or without mayonaise on the bread. If you aren’t going to use mayonaise and the peppers look a little dry, you may want to add a very small amount of olive oil to the peppers (after chopping) to encourage them to “spead”. From here it’s pretty standard architecture for a BLT, only adding fresh basil to the leaves if available. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of tomatoes and/or bacon.

posted June 4, 09

For those of you native to Birmingham, The Garage is an obvious treasure and you don’t need me to tell you about it. But, for those of you who have never been or who might be heading through, it is absolutely worth the visit. We first found The Garage four years ago when we were touring through and playing at The Nick.  The Nick itself, steeped in club/rock history, is one of those kind of places that “builds your character” as a band.  I think they have held onto some loop hole in the liquor laws to where they can sell drinks for 23 total hours.  It is famous for set times that are the most packed around 3 in the morning.Needless to say, it definitely has it’s own “vibe”.

Anyways,  I think we must had driven in to town late that night because all that I can remember is a late set time, it was already dark outside, and we were hungry.  The club owner told us that we could find really good sandwiches if we walked up around the corner to The Garage.  Then he got a curious look on his face and said, “You all should be fine to walk there as long as there are five of you.” Nice.

What we found was completely unexpected.  The Garage is a restaurant with absolutely DELICIOUS sandwiches, but that is just the beginning. The restaurant itself is literally a courtyard surrounded by old garages that have been filled to the brim with every type of curiosity and then locked shut. At night the garages are lit up to display the treasures of statues, ironworks, typewriters, books, antique baby dolls, glass globes, old bicycles, etc. We ordered sandwiches and Makers from the bar and then walked outside to wander mesmerized from lit garage to lit garage.

This time we returned to Birmingham with local friends in tow. When we described our fantastical memories of The Garage, they didn’t even flinch. Instead, they piled us all into the car and called more friends to join us. They were proud and unsurprised by our enthusiasm and on tasting the sandwiches for the second time, I knew why. Good gracious, it was incredible. Go there. Go there. Go there.

(posted by timshel)

Last time we were at World Cafe they were in their old building which was a cool old house down near the campus with a skinny driveway and three stories of old rickety stairs to the studio.  We were on our first tour and we were super attatched and picky about the organ/keys sounds so to insure our sonic happiness we brought a full size Leslie 147 cabinet and a Rhodes on tour with us.  This was ridiculous seing as how we had zero road help and each of these pieces of gear took half our band to transport them in and out of every venue.  The people at WXPN were wonderfully supportive and accomodating, however, as you would expect them to be. They watched us cart that big old Leslie up those three flights of stairs and were very helpful as we spilled out into the hallway with all of our ridiculous gear.  I think the leslie actually had to be placed down the hall, outside of the actual studio, and at the top of the stairs.  They all just smiled and congratulated us on the heave and climb. Funny.

This time through though WXPN is in a beautiful new building with a doorway that we can drive right up to and load through to the stage. absolutely luxurious.  And we didn’t even bring that big old leslie. Man.  If only we had known.

(posted by Timshel)

The past week has been a blur of radio shows and great shows.  Thank you SO MUCH to all of you who came out to the DC, Charlottesville, Charlotte, and Atlanta shows! We all had so much fun travelling to your places and getting to see all of your faces. Very fun and cool. Thank you. You made our week.

Somewhere on our morning trip from Charlottesvile to Durham ( at 8:30 am after a 2:30 show finish) in rural VA, we took a wrong turn. Since we were due in Durham for “The State of Things” at 12:30 p.m, the fact that we looked up at 10:30 and were 33 miles from Richmond and going in the wrong direction led to a fair amount of hairbrained confusion in the van across the five of us.  We stopped off somewhere near Chula, VA and redirected ourselves.  This meant thrity minutes back in the direction of Charlottesville.  One man we asked actually said he had never heard of 85. Not encouraging.

The people at NRP were fantastically kind, of course.  Schedules were melded and everyone was so wonderfully flexible.  And Skip even managed to sing his butt off despite nearly loosing his voice while giving his criticisms of google maps in general for the last hour of our trip south-ish. A flying success on our radar.  Thank you to Frank and to Katie.  You all were gracious and full of humor which was just what we needed.

(posted by Timshel)

Thank you so much to everyone who came out for these past three shows. New York, Maxwell’s (Hoboken), and Boston.  It was a ton of fun and we had a great time putting faces to some long known names we have seen in the email box over the past few years. It was a real pleasure.

Also not to be missed are the turnpike service station experiences up 95N and i-84 to Boston. We managed to stop at the same (unnamed) exit on the way up and down to see one woman straggling from her car directly up into the woods, a very intense dunken donuts crew puzzling loudly over whether or not to rebrew the iced coffee or just “keep with what we know here!!”, and a man at the phone booth looking as if he had just washed off a full face of make-up, tearfully claiming (to the person on the phone) to have walked from Canada to Florida and wondering why he could not convince the person on the other end to stand to reason (i.e. let him come over to see her); exact quote: “that is not my concern here. My concern here is your concern.” weird business.

(posted by Timshel)