Archive for the ‘concert’ Category

Daring Ravine Driving – our first day in Colorado

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

It was our first day in Colorado. We arrived in Colorado Springs to play in the Glen Eyrie Castle. The only trouble was getting our trailer and equipment TO the castle.

Turns out, they don’t make castles for easy trailer-access.

The helpful castle residents informed us we would need to take our trailer out a trail they called the “Fire Road”. It would lead us up a steep mountain overtop the castle, and finally to the castle’s back door.  And half-way through, we would need to reverse the car and trailer, and take the whole contraption backwards to the entrance.

Video can’t really capture the fact that a huge ravine lies directly to your side. But here is our attempt:

 
Daring Navigational Feat by The Redding Brothers at Pike’s Peak

The Last Night in Africa

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Tonight was our greatest show so far – and to think it would be in the African desert.

I got up this morning, and walked 4 miles in the blazing sun, in a place where humidity reaches 100%. I’m not a sun person, but it was worth it. The trail led outside the military base, so I had to present identification and register to actually walk outside. They warned us about malaria, insects, and wild dogs. I wore insect repellent.

I did run into some wild dogs. They were actually kind of cute, in a weird, spotted-like-a-cow way. I picked up two sticks, just in case. After that, I saw what someone called “Meebos”, they look kind of like meerkats or squirrels, but weirder.

And of course, I saw French paragliders gliding over the ocean. The trail led out to the end of the runway for the military planes, so I stood at the end of it, and looked out to the ocean. Planes flew right by us. The French were here long before Americans, so they know how to have fun here – go paragliding in the early morning.

But the trip wouldn’t have been complete without the random truck decorated like a pinata driving by and the Africans inside asking us if we spoke French.

At least, I assume that’s what they asked. I don’t speak French.

Afghani trucks were the same way. Our semi-trucks are all about function – theirs get decorated like crazy.

We leave for the United Arab Emirates tomorrow. As always on this trip, we have no idea what will happen or who we will meet or where we will go when we get there. Someone knows, and they’ll tell us on a need-to-know basis.

It’s kind of nice.

Biography

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

Three guys who grew up listening to their dad play Johnny Cash tunes on an acoustic guitar have embraced the spirit of independent rock & roll. From the backwoods of West Virginia, the dust of Oklahoma, and the pouring rain of Seattle, they’ve created their own brand of scruffy, intelligent rock.

It all began while cruising around small-town Oklahoma in an old LeBaron convertible, the mid-nineties mix of country music and alternative rock scratching through their FM radio. There the guys beat together their idea of what real music was, and what a band should be.

But their lives were about to take several twists and turns. Through the earliest years of the 21st century, they would move from Oklahoma to Seattle, from Seattle to living on the road, and from living on the road back to their original home of West Virginia.

It was while in WV, in a town with few venues and a sparse music scene, that they would first buckle down and do the one thing most bands fail to do – grow a huge, loyal audience. Where there had been no venues, they took a local movie theater, and made it one of the most popular ones around. Where there had been a sparse music scene, they helped grow a network of musicians and bands that captivated the area. And then, they started aiming for the biggest goal they could find: to fill Charleston, WV’s Civic Center.

Riding a wave of anticipation, and looking for a way to grow geographically and musically, they made one final move, and headed for Nashville, TN.
From Nashville, the brothers have struck out into the college circuit, traveling as far as Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Clarion, Pennsylvania. They’ve been selected to play alongside performers like Sister Hazel, Gin Blossoms, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. And they’ve started doing what they do best – growing a huge, loyal audience.

Quick Facts

  • Birthdays: Micah (November 11, 1981 in Charleston, WV); Josiah (August 19th, 1983 in Charleston, WV); Gabriel (February 11th, 1987 in Seattle, WA).
  • All vegetarians.
  • All libertarians.
  • All preterists.
  • All DIY maniacs.
  • Founded their own record label in 2005, Brick & Stone Records.
  • Have performed over 300 tour dates as of this writing.
  • Are known for crazy stage lighting, on-stage stunts, climbing towers, etc.
  • Wrote, recorded and released 52 songs consecutively over a 52 week period spanning April 2007-2008.
  • Have been touring non-stop since 2003.
  • Are known for their guerrilla gigs, self-promoted concerts in strange places.
  • Have toured nationally and internationally.

Back from the Brink of Chaos

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

In the past 3 months or so, I have had hardly any time. Thus, the fact that it has been a while since I posted on this blog. I have been living the crazy, leave-work-and-immediately-leave-town-for-another-show-or-maybe-6 kind of lifestyle. We’ve had several weekends with back-to-back-to-back shows. One day, we did about 6 shows one right after another. Our tour calendar counted this as one show since it was all crammed together. That same weekend, we did three other appearances.

We did a TON of work preparing for the Civic Center Show. It was a huge deal, and an immense amount of work.

And we got to step up our show by a lot. People said it was the best show they’d ever seen. Period.

There were, however, an immense amount of technical difficulties. So even though people loved the show and said it was the most intense and best ever, I know it could have been even MORE intense. Other people don’t know, but I know. I know how much more ridiculously awesome it could have been.

Which just means next time, it will be mind-blowing.

-micah