Happy New Year!

And what better way to bring it in than with new videos, new tourdates, and new toys? The above video comes from our CD Release show in SF last month.

Speaking of video, next year The Whale's Tale is making an ambitious leap to video. Thanks to the gadget endorsing family of yours truly, I will be making videos from the road and intermingling them with our regular blog posts. It will probably still all be about food, but at least you get to watch us eat hot dogs so you don't have to bother using your imagination.

Next item of business - March tourdates! We are making a trip back to Texas for South By Southwest again this year, but this time we are tag teaming the first week westcoast tour with the Maldives. The complete list of dates is posted on our myspace page and on our website.

2009 was an excellent year for us, and we are grateful for sharing it with all of you. Looking ahead, 2010 is going to be even better, and we can't wait to get started!

Rusty Gold Music Video sans nudity

Looks like LA weekly likes our video. Can you blame them? Now I wonder what their reaction would have been if they'd seen the cut with the cut. You know, full frontal, old testament style. Luckily our actor has been spared the indecent exposure. I am sure he is regretting not being the forefather of hipster porn. Could happen.

We'll be at the Great American Music Hall saturday night in SF to support the Mother Hips. Should be a night of serene guitar tone. Looks like tickets are still available as of now - we advise getting them in advance because the Hips will sell this show out!

Tickets

Next post is to announce March tour dates. See you soon!

Whales in the News

Did anyone catch this story in the news? Recent data suggets that blue whales are changing their songs for an unknown reason. According to researcher Mark McDonald (probably no relation to Michael) there has been a steep decline in the pitch of their songs since the 1960's. The whales use their songs to create a communication network around the world. This is probably better than what we've got because iPhones can't get wet. Score 1 for the Blue Whales, 0 for the Or, the Whales.

But unlike our giant blue brethren, we are preparing to crank it up a notch in 2010. Nothing to be forlorn about on our end - I can't spill all the beans, but I can say that we have planned a March Tour and will be announcing dates shortly. And maybe some whales in international waters in the not too distant future?

Stay tuned.

December 19th at Great American Music Hall

We are returning to The Great American Music Hall on Saturday December 19th to support The Mother Hips for their holiday show! Its going to be a lot of fun! Full details and tickets can be found by clicking here.

And of course a little plug - if you are doing a little post thanksgiving holiday shopping, don't forget to visit our online store. We've got everything anybody would ever need, and maybe some stuff they don't even need.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us in Or, the Whale - here's to you!

Hopmonk Tavern Saturday

Hey Folks! We're playing up in Sebastopol this Saturday night at the Abbey at Hopmonk Tavern along with Winter's Fall. Should be a fun one! Details

Things have been pretty mellow since we got home from the long Fall tour. Nothing quite like being home, sleeping in the same bed (or just a bed for that matter), showering with hot water, eating vegetables, pooping when you want to - you know, the little things in life. That said, we do have some pretty important things going on before we close out the year. Unfortunately, I'm going to save it for the next blog post so I am not writing about poop two weeks in a row. See you then!

Cafe Du Nord CD Release Saturday

We are having our San Francisco CD release show tomorrow night 11/14 at Cafe Du Nord. Full details can be found on both our website and myspace page. This show will sell out - we highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance. Here is a link for tickets to the show:

tickets

We will be selling Vinyl editions of the new album at the show - these include digital download cards, are awesome, and are limited edition!

At tours end

We've made it to the end of the line. Tonight is our last show at Echo Curio in Echo Park. It's been an amazing 5 weeks! Tomorrow morning we head back home to San Francisco. We have some local bay area shows coming up, and we will be announcing some winter dates soon as well.

We would like to thank everybody who came out to support us this fall. Friends family and fans alike - you are why we do this! It's been such a pleasure to see everyone across the US and we will see you again real soon.

Week 5

We're beat, but we're gonna make it!

Things start late in Albuquerque on a Monday, and it's a haul to Flagstaff tomorrow - but then we come home to California! This is the home stretch folks, and we are gonna finish this thing on a high note.

We survived the meats of Texas, the days off in New Orleans, and the two day trek from Austin to New Mexico. The greener pastures of San Francisco are less then a week away, and they're so close we can taste them. This has been our best tour ever, and we are really grateful to all the awesome people who helped make it possible.

Venue Changes

Hey folks - we have a few last minute venue changes this week, including tomorrow night's show in Austin. Here's the scoop:

10/31 Halloween in Austin, TX at Cheer Up Charlies, 1104 E 6th st. Free show at 9:30pm

11/3 Mia's Lounge in Flagstaff, AZ, 26 S San Francisco st. Original show was on the 4th, so please note the new date and location. 9pm.

Daytrotter

Our session from Rock Island is up on the daytrotter website. Check it out!

Beautiful Georgia

Last night at the drunken unicorn - so much awesome! The south has been great to us, and it's very beautiful here.

Tomorrow we're off to Mobile Alabama, where it will be even warmer. I think we have officially outrun the cold.

Hot Dogs for Breakfast!

Yes we can.

After another awesome night in Chattenooga, a new beautiful southern day begins, and it began with hot dogs courtesy of Good Dog. Or, the Whale recommends it.

Songs in the South

We've been having a great time in the south, playing with some great bands and meeting new friends.

We are half way through this thing - it's hard to believe how fast it's been going, and how much ground we have already covered.

Tonight is our last night in Tennessee. It's getting sunnier and warmer every mile south we go. What a beutiful part of the country and what an amazig time of year to be here!

What did we do?

We had a lot of fun in Huntington, WV last night. Maybe too much. 3 more weeks of tour, the beards will grow back - but I think we are all kind of digging this look.

And puppy!

Winners

Leaving New England

It's been an awesome run of shows in beautiful New England. Tonight is the last one at the Middle East in Boston. After this we head south, out of the cold. Tonight marks the farthest show from home at about 3090 something miles. So, in a way, you could say that after tonight we are on our way back home. However, we still have 4 glorious weeks ahead of us! We're just getting started!

Bushwick Music Studios

Hey folks - we have changed venues for our brooklyn show tonight. We are now at Bushwick Music Studios at 55 Waterbury st. Should be a fun show with great bands!

Hot Dogs!

Rolling through the Midwest

The Midwest has been really good to us. We have spent the last few days hanging out and playing with These United States. After our first show together in Minnesota we had a day off together, which we spent bowling. We had some high stakes bets, which we mostly lost because it turns out that we stink at bowling.




But it was punk rock Monday so there would be no winners or losers. About half way into the second game the alley turned ultraviolet and the lanes turned into a psychedelic spectacle of flashing disco lights. After enough PBR to drown a horse the band sounded pretty awesome, and the bowling game disentergrated into punk rock angst, most of which we could identify with. Oh Youth, with all of your follies... Put a blast beat behind youself and some feedback and you'll have my attention.

Purpwhale Rain

It's pretty awesome to be hanging around the place where Purple Rain was filmed. The neighborhood seems to have changed a lot since the 80's - it's much more corporate now, but 1st Avenue and 7th Street Entry looked familiar. If you listen closely you can still hear the echoes of Prince's motorcycle in the alleyways.

Other perks of the Midwest: cheese curds. Julie and Tim bought a bag and everyone got to enjoy these squishy squeaky salty little clumps of delicious dairy.







And no, the orange color did not kill anybody, as one might think. (you know, those east coast cheese purists who scoff at orange coloring... yours truly for example)

Today we are enjoying a day off in Minneapolis with These United States. I'll post results of the bowling games - but I think we're gonna kick their asses! (keep your fingers crossed for OTW)

Mr Glen Sims

Perhaps the greatest bartender one can ask for on the first night of the tour. I was lucky to capture Glen smiling and having some fun with us before the show last night.

St Louis treated us well, and we are currently at a pizza joint in Rock Island, IL awaiting our load in for our daytrotter recording session. Tonight we are at the Rock Island Brewing Company as we make our way through the Midwest towards Chicago.

More soon!

National Tour Begins Tomorrow in St.Louis!

Little Sam can barely contain the excitement to see his uncle play in New York the the weekend of the 10th. We like to start them off young!

Tomorrow is the day it all begins - over 5 weeks, 30 cities, and thousands upon thousands of miles will be covered. We have our new record in tow, some new T shirt designs, and lots of music to share with everybody.

The final tour dates are posted below. Full details of each show including other artists on the bill are on both our website and myspace page. We are looking forward to seeing you all on the road - keep checking The Whale's Tale for photos, news, updates and stories about OTW in transit.

Updated Tour Schedule:

Hey folks - we have added some more dates to the tour. Below is the new complete list - you can find full details including what bands we are playing with at our Myspace page.

We have vinyl editions of the new record which we will be selling at our upcoming shows. These come with a digital download card, and they look and sound gorgeous! Its a limited edition run so make sure you get one while you can!

Oct 1 - 8:00P Billiken Club - St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 2 3:00P Daytrotter Session - Rock Island, Illinois
Oct 2 9:00P Rock Island Brewing Company - Rock Island, Illinois
Oct 3 6:00P Chicago Country Music Festival - (Grant Park) Chicago, Illinois
Oct 4 9:00P 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 6 9:00P The Mill - Iowa City, Iowa
Oct 7 9:00P Subterranean - Chicago, Illinois
Oct 8 9:00P Lava Lounge - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Oct 9 9:00P Piano’s - New York, New York
Oct 10 9:00P Shea Stadium - Brooklyn, New York
Oct 11 8:00P Metronome - Burlington, Vermont
Oct 12 9:00P Middle East - Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 14 9:00P Milcreek Tavern - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 15 9:00P Comet Ping Pong - Washington DC
Oct 16 9:00P The Bridge - Charlottesville, Virginia
Oct 17 9:00P The Rocket Club - Asheville, North Carolina
Oct 18 6:00P Mountain Stage at Keith-Albee Theater - Huntington, WV
Oct 19 9:00P The Garage - Winston/Salem, North Carolina
Oct 20 9:00P TBA - Nashville, Tennessee
Oct 22 9:00P JJ’s Bohemia - Chattanooga, Tennessee
Oct 23 3:00P Paste Magazine In-Studio - Decatur, Georgia
Oct 23 9:00P Caledonia Lounge - Athens, Georgia
Oct 24 9:00P Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 26 9:00P Alabama Music Box - Mobile, Alabama
Oct 27 9:00P One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 30 8:00P Revolution - Bryan, Texas
Oct 31 9:00P Hole in the Wall - Austin, Texas
Nov 2 9:00P Burt’s Tiki Lounge - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 4 9:00P Hotel Monte Vista - Flagstaff, Arizona
Nov 5 9:00P The Casbah - San Diego, California
Nov 6 9:00P Hotel Cafe - Hollywood, California
Nov 7 9:00P Echo Curio - Echo Park, California
Nov 14 9:00P Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, California
Nov 21 9:00P Hopmonk Tavern - Sebastapol, California

Or, the Whale is out!

The new album is finally out! You will be able to find it at most music stores and online retailers.

In other news - congratulations to Alex and Melanie, who got married Sept. 13th here in San Francisco. We love you both and are so happy for you!



We are really getting close to the first national tour in over a year. There are details listed below, but for a full list with all details (including who we are playing with) please check our Myspace Page

See you all soon!

Fall Tour Announcement

Its been a long time since we have done a full blown national tour, but we promised we would return to the east coast and to the south and we are about to deliver in October. Also, we are really getting close to releasing our new record which is simply called "Or, the Whale" on september 15th! Thats only 3 weeks away!

Here is a full list of tour dates - more details can be found on our myspace page:

Oct 1 - 8:00P Billiken Club - St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 2 3:00P Daytrotter Session - Rock Island, Illinois
Oct 2 9:00P Rock Island Brewing Company - Rock Island, Illinois
Oct 3 6:00P Chicago Country Music Festival - (Grant Park) Chicago, Illinois
Oct 4 9:00P 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 6 9:00P The Mill - Iowa City, Iowa
Oct 7 9:00P Subterranean - Chicago, Illinois
Oct 8 9:00P Lava Lounge - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Oct 9 9:00P Piano’s - New York, New York
Oct 10 9:00P TBA - Brooklyn, New York
Oct 11 8:00P Metronome - Burlington, Vermont
Oct 12 9:00P Middle East - Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 14 9:00P Milcreek Tavern - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 15 9:00P Comet Ping Pong - Washington DC
Oct 16 9:00P The Bridge - Charlottesville, Virginia
Oct 19 9:00P The Garage - Winston/Salem, North Carolina
Oct 20 9:00P TBA - Nashville, Tennessee
Oct 22 9:00P JJ’s Bohemia - Chattanooga, Tennessee
Oct 23 3:00P Paste Magazine In-Studio - Decatur, Georgia
Oct 23 9:00P Caledonia Lounge - Athens, Georgia
Oct 24 9:00P Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 26 9:00P Alabama Music Box - Mobile, Alabama
Oct 27 9:00P One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 30 8:00P Revolution - Bryan, Texas
Oct 31 9:00P Hole in the Wall - Austin, Texas
Nov 2 9:00P Burt’s Tiki Lounge - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 4 9:00P Hotel Monte Vista - Flagstaff, Arizona
Nov 5 9:00P The Casbah - San Diego, California
Nov 6 9:00P Hotel Cafe - Hollywood, California
Nov 7 9:00P Echo Curio - Echo Park, California
Nov 14 9:00P Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, California

Northwest Tour begins August 13th

We are gearing up for our small summer tour which begins thursday the 13th in Cottage Grove, OR. All details are available on our brand new website www.orthewhale.com.

There are four brand new songs on our myspace page, ready to go! Its a small taste of the new record, brought to you through one of the wonders of the modern world: the internets.

All this new stuff makes one wonder "isn't anything built to last anymore?" and it turns out that yes, it is. You can use your skill of recognizing object permanence with Or, the Whale dry goods available at our Big Cartel store.

Black Rabbit

Its been a great month of slowly leaking songs from the new record, and yesterday, being the final Wednesday of July, means that the final song has been posted on the myspace page.

We are playing a few shows in the bay area over the weekend - you can find all details on our new website!!!

We will be posting fall tour dates soon, and the record hits the street on September 15th!

Redefining Never

To those who might have been offended by my original choice of photo - I apologize. I literally googled "Never Coming Out" and that popped up. Or out. Or whatever. Here is something a little more PC.

Its another Wednesday in July, so we added another song to our myspace page.

This week, Never Coming Out is featured. I really have no idea why I chose this photo to promote the song... probably because there are things that should come out, such as "Never Coming Out" and there are things that should actually never come out to see the light of day. Just take a listen and decide for yourself!

Week two - the power of intention

The second weds in July can only mean one thing - another new song from the upcoming album posted on the myspace page!

This week, we take a spirit journey with Datura. Whoah no what did we accidentally smoke? Or was it intentional? Its matters not: just get your fix until we post another new song next week.

Myspace update will feature weekly rollout of new songs!

Our myspace page is going to feature a new song from the upcoming record every Wednesday in July. This week, let the eagle inside you fly with "Rusty Gold".

The new myspace page is just the beginning - sometime during the summer we will unveil a brand new website and, of course, on September 15th the new record hits the streets followed by a national tour!

Livecast at Chessvolt studios!

Back in May, while we were in LA we had the great pleasure of doing an in studio recording for the Luxury Wafers blog. Its been edited down and posted on their website and is now ready for public consumption. Besides the video posted below, there are additional MP3's which you can listen to. Check it out!

Or, The Whale - Never Coming Out - Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

Summer Tour Dates!

Before summer love, there has to be a lot of summer dates! Here is the list:

7/30 Starry Plough in Berkeley, CA
7/31 Verdi Club in SF, CA (acoustic set to benefit Bay Bridged - the good guys!)
8/13 Axe and Fiddle in Cottage Grove, OR
8/14 Tractor Tavern in Seattle, WA
8/15 Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR

Our new record hits the streets in 82 days!!!

Until then, try not to blow off any fingers and happy Independence Day!

Science and Technology

The world is an amazing place. Many years ago, the internet left the dank caves where it evolved and allowed for users of social networking sites to choose their own username or avatar - now in 2009 this technology is back!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me officially introduce the Or, the Whale official Facebook URL:

facebook.com/orthewhale

Here you can find fresh photos, posts about shows, and connect with other fans of the band. Its the most exciting thing to happen since sliced myspace.

Bay Area shows this weekend, and only SF show of the summer!

Ok, I realize the cheddar bunny thing is dead.

We are playing three shows in the bay area this weekend, including a special show in San Francisco this saturday night at the Independent, with our good friends from Seattle, The Maldives.

We are playing at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz Thursday night, Sophia's in Davis on Friday, and then coming back to SF on Saturday for our last hometown show of the summer.

We'll be doing another trip up north in August, and then we get ready for the big one: a 5-6 week National tour to support our brand new record, which is released at the end of September. Things are really starting to get exciting!

Big Cat, Street Meat, and the long ride home

Friday night in Seattle and it can only mean one thing - street meat after the show! We usually don't do too much experimentation with meat, but this guy really knew how to dress a hot dog in an interesting and creative manner. Putting our trust and faith in him, we were able to soar to new heights of hot dog deliciousness.

Yes, I realize that the majority of the tour blog has been about food, but its a really important part of playing in a band, I promise.


Lindsay took this awesome shot of a jaguar at the Seattle Zoo. To this guy, we were the street meat - walking hot dogs with interesting adornment. Luckily he was behind a wall - lucky for us, but we are not going to begin an ethical debate. We'll just take it at face value that its pretty amazing to be that close to the mystical jaguar.

We are heading back to San Francisco today. The tour is over! We are playing a few Bay Area shows at the end of the week, including our big hometown show at the Independent in SF on saturday night with our heroes the Maldives from Seattle.

Bunny Map Update

As promised, here is the updated version of our mutant Cheddar Bunny map. As you can see, in the past week we have covered a lot of ground. We are on our way up to Boise tonight from Salt Lake City. So far the shows have been excellent, and we have been enjoying every minute of the tour.

Today marks the home stretch - maybe not geographically - but in just a few days we will make our way back to San Francisco and celebrate with a few shows in the bay area next weekend. But lets not get ahead of ourselves - we are still coming to Idaho, Washington, and Oregon!

Sausage Christmas

The Pantry in Santa Fe was hands down the best breakfast place we have ever been to. The green chile single egg breakfast burrito was incredible, and we are forever grateful to Will for introducing us to what will become our new joint. Even though we did not have a show in Santa Fe, it was on our way and we spent our night off there among friends, dogs, and the stars in the night sky.

We have a new mascot courtesy of Matt. He lost his little white cowboy hat after about a mile and a half. I was wondering who might find that little white hat on the road and what they might make of it. Yes, there are cowboy prairie dogs.

The Art of Snacking and Distraction

First, ponder the Corn Nut. Place it gently into your mouth and reflect on its salty deliciousness. Then, accept it for what it is: chew it, swallow, and feel good about snacking. Alex demonstrates this nicely in this photoset.

We had a long drive from San Diego to Tucson yesterday. Needless to say, a large amount of snacking was done. We are driving a fancy new van with a Playstation 2, GPS, and basically so many screens that you can't even see the road at all:

Add a heap of iphones, laptops with 3G connectivity, books, and maybe some conversation to the mix, and you've got a recipe for surviving an 8 hour drive with absolutely no discomfort or want for the fruits of the modern world.

We have a day off tonight which will be spent in Santa Fe. Tomorrow night we'll be at the High Dive in Denver - see you there!

Kittens in the backyard!

While staying with friends in LA, we discovered that there were two families of kittens living in the backyard! We just had to get in on some cuteness! This kitten was the most friendly and the cutest.

Last night's show at the Viper room was great, and today is our last day in California for a while. Out into the great unknown!

We'll be at the Beauty Bar in San Diego tonight - if you're in the area, come check it out!

Day 1

We left our home in San Francisco and made it to LA last night in time to see a fire on the highway and great gobs of traffic as a result. Luckily it was on the other side of the road and did not affect us. Our show at the Silverlake Lounge was a lot of fun!

I have created a map on a mutant Cheddar Bunny that I pulled out of the box yesterday while snacking on the ride down. As you can see, leg one of our tour is pretty short geographically, but we have a long way to go and I will do my best to keep the blog and cheddar bunny updated over the course of the next two weeks.

Viper room tonight. A lot of history in that place!

Tour Excitement!

Tour is imminent. We leave our beautiful home of San Francisco weds afternoon and begin 10 days of fun, music, and reconnecting with friends (pictured).

The tourdates are listed here, on our myspace page, and on our website. Also, you can contact us and check out what we are up to on our new Facebook Fan Page!

We will be updating the blog as we make our way through the southwest and up into the northwest, so if you are on the east coast or unable to make it out to see us for any reason you can relive the highlights right here on the Whale's Tale.

See you on the road!