Last Saturday, we just played at a Bushwick Music Studios show with Or The Whale, Palmyra and Alex Greneir.  My friends Lisa and Sue from Renminbi even dropped by!  There was an excellent 2$PBR/BBQ balance, though the weather had just started to turn frigid, and playing with cold fingers is no fun.  At any rate, we’re playing again tomorrow at Pianos around 11pm … come check it out if you’re still awake!

Tuesday, October 13th 2009, 11PM @ Pianos

More details are up on the Pianos NYC site.

See ya,  Avery

Some Ravens, outside Bushwick Music Studios

(posted by Avery)

Hi Everyone,

We’re playing September 23rd  (tomorrow)  at Southpaw!  Should be a fun show — hope to see you there.

-Avery

September 23rd 2009 at Southpaw

(posted by Avery)

Since our last post, Ravens & Chimes have played three jazz festivals, one house party, one radio appearance, drove 4,000 miles, and spent two hours getting searched by the boarder patrol. All in all I have to say this was our most successful tour to date.

In just a half hour of driving into New York last night, we had a celebrity sighting and heard about a half dozen Reggaeton songs from car stereos. New York never felt so good. Sure the west coast has beaches, Montana has endless valleys and mountains, and the North Dakota has, well, straight and flat driving, But the bagel I ate this morning was probably the best breakfast I’ve had in a month.

I’ve posted some show pictures from Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and KEXP. enjoy.

Avery’s gear at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, just minutes before doors open.

Sitting in the cut at the Commodore.

Soundcheck at Sugar in Victoria, BC.

With Cheryl Waters after our KEXP on-air performance.

Brittany is possessed.

Playing for a semi-hometown crowd in Seattle

This basically sums it all up.

(posted by Abe)

Hey,

This is my first time writing on a blog ever. Along with my post I wanted to show you all some ravens I made out of socks while in the van for the past many days.  I sold four out of five of them at our show at Spaceland tonight!  Pretty awesome.  Gotta make more on our way to San Francisco tomorrow!

(posted by Nora)

We got caught in some serious weather while passing through Iowa on tour. Check out this video! (Brittany filmed and Abe edited).

(posted by Avery)

I asked this from stage last night and I think I saw a tumbleweed float by. I guess our fans aren’t the sandals-wearing, frisbee-tossing types. I love you all regardless.

And speaking of our show last night. It was sold out! (see above) Amazing. Everytime we come up to Montreal we have a blast. Great people and great culture. All the kids at the Casa Del Popolo were so friendly and, well, Canadian. Soon after our set I quickly made it across the street to a performance by Oneida (rock!) and Carla Bozulich with Nels Kline. Nels Kline! What a treat.

One of the Wolf Parade guys were out at the show last night. I love this city.

In other news, I just discovered Avery’s Website.

(posted by Abe)

Asher is moments away from picking me up in the new tour van. This time we’ll be rolling across the country with a DVD player on board. I’ve of course packed three seasons of The Simpsons, One season of Arrested Development, Super Troopers and Spaceballs on DVD. Below is a more comprehensive list of things to bring when touring with a rock band:

Tent
Industrial strength velcro
Soldering Iron
Cut-off jean shorts
Baseball glove
Adam Sandler CD’s
And a mascot

Here’s a nice write up of our Montreal show happening tomorrow.

(posted by Abe)

We’re going on tour again! This time we’ll be hitting several cities in Canada, as well as most northern US cities (apologies to our southern US fans … we’ll come see you again soon too).

New York NY, Montreal PQ, Toronto ON, Chicago IL, Madison WI, Los Angeles CA, San Francisco CA, Portland OR, Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Winnipeg MB

Check out our tour section or myspace for dates!

(posted by Avery)

We’ll be playing at the following parties next week. Come drink PBR and eat pulled pork with us.

Wednesday, March 12, 2pmish
Soundcheck Mag Party at Spiderhouse (2908 Fruth St)
w/ Son Lux, Project Jenny Project Jan, Home Video, Chris Bathgate, Birds and Batteries, and The Antlers

Thursday, March 13, 1pm sharp
SESAC day stage (Austin Convention Center)
w/ YB, Les Aus, The Hood Internet, Cadence Weapon, Billy Bragg, White Williams, The Cool Kids, and The Blow

Friday March 14, 8pm sharp
Big Shot Touring Showcase at Club Deville (900 Red River Rd)
w/ The Builders and Butchers, Bobby Bare Jr., Longhorn Slim, White Rabbits, and White Denim,

(posted by Abe)

Download Ben Britten – Lies

Ravens & Chimes are joining bearded Brooklynites, coffee drinking Portlanders, and blackberry addicted Los Angelinos on the great pilgrimage known as SXSW! So far we’re playing shows at Club De Ville and at the Convention Center (day stage). Of course I’m not really a fan of too much downtime when touring with Ravens; we love playing shows and are always thrilled to set up in crazy venues, houses, street corners, and dorm rooms. So, If you’re throwing a party in Austin and want us to come hang out, play some music, or just eat some ribs all you have to do is ask.

In other news, I’ve been working on a few insane music projects: Most of my time has been eaten up by a sound design gig for a theater in New York. It’s been really fun mimicking a giant’s footsteps, cow moo’s, and wolf slayings. Last night I put the MXL 990 in my apartment building’s stairwell and recorded the sound of dropping a suitcase down a flight of stairs. I definitely captured the feeling of a fifty foot woman falling to her death. check it: Sound Q

A couple of weeks ago Ben Britten came up to my studio from Lancaster, PA to work on some demo recordings. He had spent a few days at The Sugar Tank tracking some songs and thought it would be cool to try his material out in a different studio. The guy had just recorded on a Neve console, a huge open loft, and crazy vintage mics and preamps. And there I was trying to rig 50 feet of microphone cable in order to get a decent sound out of my kitchen. The work was cut out for us and I think we did a pretty decent job.

www.myspace.com/benbrittenmusic

Stay tuned for some more of the session along with me and Avery’s ghetto hip hop record.

(posted by Abe)