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!