There’s a bunch of new music being unveiled in NYC.  There’s a Philly show for Noam Weinstein‘s new LP that also has The Universal Thump (featuring Australian/Brooklyn musician Greta Gertler).  There’s a TV show with Julian Velard.  There’s a Book Party at the venerable McNally Jackson. And more! Info on my Tour page.

Lastly, Some of my friends have released more wonderful music into the world.  I can’t believe how much is going on.  Here’s a random sampling for today: Check out these new releases by: SAADI‘s new single, Josh Ritter new song and video (Music produced by Josh Kaufman, video produced by Sam Cohen of Yellowbirds), Sydney Wayser‘s new video from her upcoming record!.

So, it’s all good. in either case, a day like today is going to put a spring in anyone’s step.  I’m dog-sitting my family’s old pooch in Brooklyn.  He’s an adorable mutt they got from an animal rescuer after he was hit by a car.  He’s missing an eye and a tooth, but that makes him all the more the raggedy hound everyone likes to root for.  You bet he’s got a spring in his step. Every day, every walk, every fire hydrant - every smell -  is a gift.  He reminds me to stop and smell… the coffee, silly.

End Up Records is hosting a night of labelmates at NYC’s Living Room.

More details at our Facebook event page:

End Up Records Friday Nite Mashup

It’s a Friday night in New York City, no excuses!

Click for holiday video!

Hope to see you there! (More info on the showcase and the bands sharing the bill: SAADI, Less the Band, Desert Sharks).

Lots of love,

Andrew

Bonus: Travel tip!  Remember to check your snow globes with your luggage! Our nation’s security depends on it.



WORLDWIDE DIGITAL RELEASE of “Passing Knowledge” EP on Sept 13!

This just in ~ I’ll be unveiling a bunch of new songs on August 23 ~ a night with great friends and their bands.  Come to Brooklyn.  Sieze the tail end of Summer and have your way with it.

At the end of the month I’ll be playing random shows at Burning Man in Nevada, then off to Nashville for a spell to write and play as I continue to gear up for a full-length record this winter!  Oh, and I’ll be posting videos shortly of song requests from my Album Supporters (thank you) - so stay posted!

The other day I saw Sonic Youth rocking youthfully at an open-air concert on the East River in Brooklyn on a perfect night.  The sun was lighting up the skyline like a Chinese paper lantern while the spotlight moon rose over a neon audience.  The band gave out cheap glowstick bracelets, which broke easily and splashed florescent specs and fingerpaint drips all over everyone.  Quite a sight. Every night has been like this in one way or another.  Hot town, summer in the city!

All hair air conditioning!

Here’s a livestream video from the Homecoming Show at Joe’s Pub in NYC.   After the first couple minutes they sort out the sound and other issues and it’s great!

Now summer’s here, and the time is right to kick back, daydream, and write songs for the upcoming record.  I’ll be playing in NYC and the Northeast from time to time, so keep a look out.  Tour photos posted on Facebook. Tag yourself and post ‘em if you got ‘em!

Until soon!  Andrew

[All the copies have been sold - so enjoy the video!]

Yes, I’m ON TOUR, bringing my new record to the people. Only one month left to get the limited-edition release and other deals, so get yer copy HERE. (Reviews coming in!)

Here’s a quick hello video from the Tennessee trail - where it’s HOT as heck.  At the end of the video I play a new song for those lucky few… you?

“Help, Ranger! Help!” Linda and I flashed looks of trepidation at each other. We had received no training ­– medical, nor enforcement – to help anyone in trouble. We were primarily educators, though for that too we were barely trained.  It was the trial-by-fire approach of city bureaucracy: untrained educator-officer with silver badges and funny hats, educating and enforcing the law.

We hustled to the scene.   We rounded the corner past an azalea in magnificent bloom and arrived before a gorgeous fountain. There on the concrete was a skinny white man laying unconscious, with a circle of people around him.  An attractive, healthy-looking young blonde woman was crying and frantic, as others tried to console her.  She said she was his girlfriend and that he had just collapsed.  The man’s lips were blue.  He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and looked pretty beat up, even for someone who wasn’t breathing.  He was emaciated. He was missing many teeth and the ones left were rotten.  The thought that he and his girlfriend made an odd couple flashed through my mind.  Some strangers were giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.  “Good grief,“ I said to myself, “there’s no way I’m doing that.“  In either case, I was the one in uniform, and etiquette dictated that Linda and I should make ourselves useful. My only medical training was from my lifeguard certification in high school.  At the very least, the situation called for checking for a pulse, as this was something Central Communications would want to know when they dispatched an ambulance. I kneeled next to his pallid body and placed two fingers on his neck where his carotid artery should be while placing my ear over his mouth to feel for his breath.  All eyes were on us.

As I completed this maneuver I leaned back up and my eyes met with those of a joyfully astounded young woman. She was smiling widely and kneeling directly across the man’s lifeless face.  She cheerfully ejaculated, “oh my god, Andrew?  Hi!  I didn’t know you were a park ranger!“  It took me a second or two to place her. It was the flute player I had met not 12 hours earlier at a show downtown – possibly the only rock-flautist I had ever met. I looked at her. The crowd looked at us. I blurted a quick hello and announced to all that the man had no pulse.

I grabbed the radio from my hip to request an ambulance.  For the sake of those assembled, I wanted to present myself as a pillar of strength, an island of calm, a seasoned officer.  I pressed the transmit button and in an authoritative voice I initiated contact, “Manhattan 77 to Central, K.”  Central replied, “Manhattan 77, this is Central, proceed.”  I continued stoutly, “Be advised…” but then I lost control of my voice, as it swung upward an octave and I spoke louder and faster, blurting: “adult male, approximately 35, unconscious, no pulse.  Requesting ambulance. Conservatory Garden, 5th Avenue at 106th Street.” I got the point across, but it wasn’t going to win me points for composure. 

After an eternity of 2 minutes, EMS arrived.  A burly black medic stepped out of the vehicle, took one look at the fella and gruffly said to the girlfriend, “Heroin, right?”  She shook her head and said no.  Without taking his eyes of the girlfriend the medic mashed an oxygen mask to the man’s face, and asked coyly, “you sure about that?”  She denied it again.   The medic asked how old the man was, while forcing air into the man’s face. She answered “seventeen.“  The medic retorted, “Really?“ and without taking his perturbed glare off the girlfriend, in one fluid motion, made a fist, gave the man a wallop on his chest, then pulled up the man’s sleeve, revealing a barrage of red needle marks down the man’s arm, asking dryly, “How ‘bout now?”  She finally acquiesced, admitting her boyfriend shot up in the bathroom. The medic exclaimed, “Now we’re getting somewhere,” and with a syringe containing a clear fluid that he immediately produced, gave the man his second shot of the morning. 

What then followed was one of the more dramatic recoveries I’ve ever witnessed. Within a minute of receiving this antidote, the formerly fairly-dead man opened his eyes, sat up, and moaned weakly, “Ooh. Where am I?”

The medic offered, “You’re not in Oz anymore,” and wheeled him into the ambulance.

Announcing the release of my new 6-song record and its companion pocket-size book, Passing Knowledge and Other Songs ~ as well as the effort to fund the new full-length album to be recorded this summer!  Here.

 The digital version of the new EP and Book is available for $5 and you’ll receive the download today.  I think it’s my best recording ever, and the handmade book is super cool!   I’m also offering great deals on my catalog to fund this summer’s record - I introduce all these things in this video filmed in my Brooklyn home!

You can preview the songs at the Album page on my website.  And you can share this info with friends that might be interested.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hope to see you out and about sometime soon!

Andrew

Since I’ve been home I’ve been busy working in my little workshop.  Last week we mastered the new EP, Passing Knowledge, with Joe Lambert in Brooklyn.  Done!  For those of you on my mailing list, you’ll receive a free song shortly.  For those who aren’t, subscribe using the form to the right, and get an advance copy of the title track!

This week, over at the End Up Records headquarters, we finished designing the amazingly cool artwork (a 20-page pocket poetry booklet with an introduction by the award-winning writer Will Heinrich).  It’s been a wonderful winter to whittle away at things and get ready for the Record Release (soon!) and the spring shows (East Coast!  Europe!).

Rehearsal Video

Here’s a fun little clip from out rehearsal on Monday at Lauren and Pascal’s home.

AN ASIDE

This is one of those loopy weeks that seem happen a lot lately.  So many different things flying around.  On Friday I play the NYC “Metro Area”  with my ensemble (Lauren Balthrop and Marika Hughes).  (The NY Times just called to interview me about the venue!)  On Sunday I play a family show as The Rozz & Val Show at 92Y Tribeca—and then i fly to Sundance and play that night at a scene-ster party with The Honey Brothers.  Then fly to LA, play a benefit, and play a solo show at LA’s Bootleg Theater. All the while, I finish up the artwork on my new EP, and write more songs for the next record. A bit crushed, but good things one and all.

Til soon pardners ~ Andrew

Mid-Winter Recess Tour details here.

NYC hold tight, something special soon!  Europe - May is the month!   Still putting together shows in the UK, France, and Scandinavia.

I will also be performing this month with The Rozz & Val Show at 92Y Tribeca and with The Honey Brothers at Sundance and in LA.

Will leave you with a video from Vienna (Austria - not Virginia!).  Perhaps you’ve seen it?  It will be the lead song from the New EP!

It’s been a New York “minute” since I wrote - so much good stuff going on since coming back from Europe.  Here’s the latest, plus and some gifts for you - below!

Andrew

Happy Chrisma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-Rama-Krishna! (a Gift!)

NYC is such a beautiful melting pot, and I love this time of year when we choose to celebrate or not-celebrate any number of holidays.  If you’re like many friends and family here in NYC, it can be a lot of fun, and a little confusing.

So I wrote a song for my diverse hometown peeps: an inter-faith,  cross-cultural, mixed-marriage song for them all.   It’s my holiday gift to you and yours!

Click here to listen and download “Happy Chrisma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-Rama-Krishna!“

This year we of Balthrop, Alabama  are performing the Third Annual Holiday Shows at Lincoln Center and Joe’s Pub. Click here for details.  

Watch the video from last year’s show! Please share the song and news about the show!

There’s no escaping this - a sweet sales pitch.  I have some rad limited-edition European Concert T-Shirts Left.  I’ve selling them in an affordable bundle with The Wheel, my first album released in Europe!    Please peruse my store at Bandcamp and buy gifts for self, friends, family and be cooler than anyone else.

OK enough ~ Look out for me playing the new songs at the EP release party in the New Year.  And look out Europe 2011, the first dates have been booked.  Working on the rest.  Holla!

Happy Chrisma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-Rama-Krishna!

Andrew

In the meantime, be sure to catch me under my many aliases - as Dory Honey of The Honey Brothers (at all our shows this season, including Music Hall of Williamsburg), as Cotton Tyler Guin of Balthrop, Alabama (at Lincoln Center), and as Val of The Rozz & Val Show (at World Cafe Live).  Fun!

Here’s the official showcase info for the CMJ Music Marathon.   Saturday, October 23, 11pm at The Living Room in NYC’s Lower East Side.   Playing before me is SoKo, who toured with us The Honey Brothers down the West Coast. Very endearing.

The Official European Tour T-Shirt is available online!   Speaking of endearing there are some endearlingly fun (awkward? sexy?) photos of some   friends and Honey Brothers modeling them.  It’s soft and sweet and you’ll   know it complete if you check it out HERE. It comes with free album download!

Oh,  and if you sign my mailing list (on the right hand side of the page, you’ll get the secret password for a 10% Discount on all my merch on Bandcamp.  Knowledge is power!  hee-YAH!

Wait, what, more awesome news?  I promise, I’ll stop after   this.  We finished tracking my new EP (thanks Misha Volf, Lauren   Balthrop, Jason Lawrence, Colette Alexander, and Giovanni Palacios!).   Finishing up mixes with Dave Schiffman in LA this month!

Now, if you haven’t seen it, here’s an amazing video filmed in Vienna while on tour by a great Viennese outfit called FairSoul Communications.  It’s for a song from the new EP, about sitting on the old piers watching the sun sink over the skyline.  mama mia!   And be sure to check out the rest of the tourblog on my website -

Andrew Vladeck - Living The Dream from FairSoul-LIVE…ACT..BE on Vimeo.

Alrighty friends, at long last I’m bound for Brooklyn.  I’m about 5 miles from the Dutch town of Breuckelen, waiting at the airport.   It’s been a great tour - 22 performances in 21 days.   Sparkling and shimmering with fun shows, good people, food, drives.  Here are a couple of last videos, and as always, all the tour photos are on my Facebook Profile and Facebook Page (snarky captions on facebook profile).  Tag yourselves, or upload your own photos).  NYC Homecoming show is on Thursday 10:30PM Rockwood Music Hall with Lauren Balthrop, Jason Lawrence.  Coulon at 9pm.  Oh yeah!

I’ll keep this blog brief, just some sketches -


The Hague - First off, I love cities that have a “The” in their name.  Maybe it’s because half of my family hails from The Bronx.   In either case, the venue was amazing, with really friendly fans, and photos - it’s been neat to meet facebook fans across europe - so thank you all!   Best of all were our wonderful hosts, Didi and Rene.  Rene is in the band Cooper, and we had a great time walking around Den Haag.  We even went to the Olde Jail Museum where one of the forms of torture was a window to the Sheriffs Kitchen, though which they’d “Torture the prisoners with delicious smelling food.“   THE HORROR.    But the best part was them taking us in a skiff through the canals of town.  Delightful.

Edan - a gorgeous little canal town with a nice venue and a good way to relax for an afternoon driving along the dikes and the flatlands of Holland.

Bruxelles - So glad to have made it to this french-speaking city.  I didn’t know what I was in for, musically, but after the third encore I had to tell people to GO HOME!   It was interesting, and of course fun.  At the end of various shows, twhen, as people wanted more, i took to playing American folk songs, on guitar and banjo - things I usually don’t perform, but they really dug that.  They like “America” more than most Americans.  It’s cute.   Also, one of the frienlieyst towns I’ve seen, everyone was so polite on the crowded saturday night streets.   With public consumption of alcholol legal, I was surprised how congenial everything was. 

Amsterdam -  I was a little low on energy for this last show, but the city was having a heat wave and the weather was perfect.  I didn’t get nearly enough time in this town, busy with the show and set up - but Amsterdam, I’ll be back!
I loved the vibe of Netherlands and the people.  At the first rest stop in Netherlands, at the concession counter they had the usual gum and candy bars, but also little travel-size bottles of booze.  Crazy, right!   I love how they all bike their gorgeous dutch bikes (no helmets), I like how FREE spirited they are, almost libertarian, but certainly progressive.   Thumbs up.

Drove from Modena, Italy to Chemnitz (former GDR) in one day.  Gorgeous and fascinating to be able to cut through the formerly impermeable Alps in one afternoon.  Made me thing of Hannibal leading his calvalry of Elephants through the Alps to attack Rome way back in the day - didn’t work out so well.   Anywhoo, for us it’s working great.   Such different terrain, people, language, food, culture, weather.  It doesn’t seem possible in one week, let alone one day.  But that is the wonder of Europe.

Zittau - an amazing club (Emil) with a wonderful community feel.  tons of kids came out, and students from the university.  since Zittau is off the beaten-path, and my show was featured in the paper, people were excited for my arrival.  And so was I.  Really down-to-earth, earthy, crowd.   We were fed an amazing 3-course vegetarian meal my Chef David.  So incredible.  I’ve never been asked for so many encores as I have on this tour.  As headliner, I’m already playing shows that are already an hour-and-a-half long, and still I have to cut them off after the third round of encores.   It’s madness.  and very, very sweet.

Leipzig - a breathtaking venue (Moritzbastei) in the bastion of an ancient fortification in the center of the city, which the promoter and the lighting designer made beautiful.  as usual, many of completely new faces.  The language barrier is particularly steep, in conversation, yet during the show, people are still engaged.  I must admit that this phenomenon is curious to me, but I’m grateful for the attention and patience.

Drove through a cloud lying across the rolling farmland and modern windmills of the former German Democratic Republic.   I’ve been feeling more than ever in a bubble.  A “tour bubble.“  haven’t read the paper since sept 13.  i know what town i’m in - that’s the fun part - but lose sight of the time and the day.   no watch, no phone (left that in vienna anyway).  No text messages, or iPhone anything.  Limited laptop time.   it’s such a radical change. At first I was going through withdrawal, but now it feels good.  It kind of feels like I’m meditating, all the time.   I haven’t even carried a wallet, as the venues provide dinner and and the accomodations often provide breakfast, and otherwise my tour manager has been handling the cash.   It’s like i’m 10-years old.   Language barrier has been great in the East and the South (of Germany) and in Italy - it’s hard to find other anglophones other than my friend and tour manager.   In each new city there’s usually one person I meet - the promoter - whose english is very good.  Some towns, there’s no one.  It’s very curious to see the reaction to the music and the stage banter.  At at some points I feel like i’m a crazy person talking gibberish to myself, in a crowded theater.

It’s interesting how eastern and western Germany are different, as any German (east or west) will tell you.  It makes sense, as it was literally walled-off from Western Europe for almost 50 years.  50 very formulative years - the post-war development, the continuing march of modernization, technological revolution, cold war, English-learning versus Russian-learning.   Anyone over a certain age grew up learning russian, which explains why so few speak English.   as a result it’s a slightly different place.  i wonder if it will always be.  i think it has a lot of soul.  in some ways feels closer to Poland and the Czech Republic than to Frankfurt and Berlin.

Frankfurt!   The language barrier has come down -  what a difference that makes!   I did a radio show on one of the stations earlier that day, and with the press, there was a wonderful audience.  I was happy to have the local artist, Ina Simone (that’s her real name) open up the show with her gorgeous piano-based alt-folk-pop songs.  I’ve been a fan of hers for a while, so it was a real thrill.   I had a great time playing, the sound system was amazing,  and a great responsive crowd.  It was electric.   After the third encore I had to sneak out the side door.  That felt good, and it’s just so hilarious.  It was fun to hang out with the various other people and musicians after the show.

Berlin!  amazing.  My show was featured in several of the leading print papers, in Berlin and that drove up attendance quite a bit… which is awesome!   especially since most of these shows have me headlining with no support.  I’m very thrilled that the response has been so good, because I’m as new to town as one could get.  Had a neat moment when one of my songs mentions “Berlin” and I got to sing “Berlin” in Berlin!  Very cool!  Also a bunch of friends came out, including my cousin Tom (who had run the marathan earlier that day (an incredibly rainy day).  

After 5 more shows in Germany, we’re driving to the Netherlands today, for a radio show in Rotterdam, and then a show in Belgium in the evening.   Three countries in one day, bring it on!

Oh!  and here I am backstage with Ina Simone and David of The Lonesome Thrones in Frankfurt, Germany at Hazelwood Studio’s Yellowstage.

Kind friends, driving north through italy, and in a wonderful groove.  (More photos posted on Facebook).  But first, I’ll start with a little video from the road.  Driving from Roma, We decided to take a detour, the scenic route from Firenze to Modena, which entailed some magnificent mountain driving through Tuscany.   That being said, it was a bit of a challenge, being new to driving stick shift, but it was a lot of fun with our hot wheels - the rocker working behind the desk at the rental company bumped us up to a sweet, diesel BMW for free, and we salute him!

All in all, have a hard time believing my luck - with the great shows and audiences and other musicians and cool promoters, and great meals.   It’s funny, by the third day, I feared everything would get routine.  And it has, but in the best way possible.  I think this is what people call a groove.   It’s hard to get in a groove when the gigs are few and far between… but on tour, with each show containing, mirthful new faces and each stop a decent, beautiful drive (Umbria!  Tuscany!  Venezia!) it certainly is a groove.  It’s been nice to get good radio and press, so even though it’s my first time playing in Europe, and i’m playing smaller solo headlining shows, there are people coming to the shows!  how awesome is that?  Plus the shows have gotten nice press in Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, and etc.  Read some of the press here. 

Performing night after night makes everything become second nature, so organic.   I’ve done plenty of tours in the States, but this tour has been more rewarding in some ways - I mean, having Italians shout “Bravo!“ at the end of a song feels pretty fucking good. 

In Rome, I had a couple of hours between soundcheck and the show, so we hopped on the subway and took a quick tour of the tourist hotspots.  I have seen them on other occasions, so it was fun to just zip through town.   Day two of driving stick-shift and I drove in Rome, fitting, as “all roads” lead to it, as they say.   Did my part to add to the gorgeously choreographed chaos that is traffic there.   So much fun!   Special thanks to Lullo at Conte Staccio for promoting a great show, and then feeding us and putting us up in such a gorgeous flat in the Trastevere neighborhood (above a Pizzaria no less = HEAVEN).  

Although I must say, the Rome night started out pretty shakey. First, I was almost eaten alive by red ants.  After soundcheck I was hanging out with members of the supporting act, and i leaned on a wall that was covered with red aunts leaving their nest.   Before I knew it I had ants in my pants, and ants in my hair, and in my shirt, all pinching me.  Everybody got a good laugh I i stripped to my skivvies to wipe them off my cadaverous, New Yorker skin.   Also, the promoter and my tour manager didn’t exactly mesh.  It was a classic Italian versus German personality types in all it’s textbook stereotypical hilarity.  I watched multiple levels of miscommunication and frustratioin unfold before me, yet in the end the night was still AMAZING, with a great venue, late night eats, and the wonderful, aforementioned B&B.  

Tonight I play Arceto, just north of Bologna.  And then tomorrow drive through the Alps back to Germany, then Netherlands and Belgium.  

I’ve been surprised how many of the bands I share bils with sing in english - especially when I talk to the musicians afterwards and we can’t even hold a conversation.   Still they do it to varyine degrees of success.   In Vicenza, the band Roulette HiFi really beat Wilco at their own game - excellent.  Still others don’t have as much luck;  Last night one group played and it took me a while to even figure out what language they were singing… English.  Why?    The Italian language is so beautiful!    My favorite bands so far sang in Italian - one of them, RIVE from Seregno, is a band anyone would love.  Check them out here:

Just arrived at the venue near Bologna/Modena - the “Salumeria Di Rock.“   OH YEAH. 

So…  THANK YOU, to you and you, and especially YOU!

Andrew Vladeck - Living The Dream from FairSoul-LIVE…ACT..BE on Vimeo.

4 shows down, 17 to go.  I can’t for the life of me believe it’s only been four days.  Four gloriously long, interesting, fun, soulful days.  I’ve already met and played for so many wonderful people, enjoyed meals and drinks and pretzels and funny sandwiches and pizza, driven through the gorgeous german and austrian countrysides…. the alps, the dolomites…

I can’t believe I have 5 times as many shows waiting for me. Awesome.  I’ve been trying to type this as we drive, the mountains covered in evergreens, the valleys filled with smokey clouds.  It’s intoxicating.  All of it.  There’s no way to do it justice in a blog - the amazing audiences, the kind people who have opened their venues and often their homes to us and have fed us coffee and eggs and pretzels in the morning and sent us on our way.

I’ve been thinking of my friend Abigail Chapin‘s status updates from her world touring.  Often she simply says one word - the name of the city.  Last week it was “Berlin.“  Or something like that.  They leave me hungry for details, but I can understand why now… it’s hard to describe, too much to say, not sure where to begin, and perhaps best left a mystery.

These days I never see the sunrise unless i fly a Red-Eye.  We started with a red eye to Frankfurt, and I played that night in Heidelberg.  At a fantastic venue run by anti-fascist activists, Our gracious host, Martin, fed us well and showed us around as we walked through the old part of town near the University and, of course, the castle.  They’re everywhere.  There was an interesting opening act, a german folk/punker, who sang every whiskey-laden song in english. But what a cool first night.  Students, activists, musicians, all sitting in a salon-style show.  People signed my mailing list in the best handwriting i’ve ever seen.

The landscape is lush and gorgeous, and reminds me of New York State, with the first signs of fall.  We’re zipping by in a TOTALLY SWEET black, diesel BMW stick shift car.  We had reseved a 2-cylander sardine can called a “Twingo,“ but then the rental place only had this stealth bomber of a vehicle left.  Wiebke, the svengali and partner-in-crime of this tour, is at the wheel..  we cruise at 140kph, on the autobahn, cars are FLYING past us.  each time it happens it takes my breath away.  WOW.

Did a fun interview with the biggest radio station in Bavaria, on3radio with Christina Wolf.  I got to DJ songs by a bunch of my heroes and influences, including songs by The Honey Brothers and Balthop, Alabama.

The night after our second show we drove from nurnberg to munich, as a delightful new friend graciously put us up, and in the morning fed us eggs and bavarian pretzels.  She takes the prize.  There will be payback in Bklyn bagels and genuine Nova lox.  Played an incredibly special venue in Vienna that was run by a delightful Austrian named Dominik along with at least 4 of his five siblings, and their cute dog, Vespa.  I love Vienna, stately, yet somehow quaint.  I shared the bill with this fantastic expat American named Andy Fite, who lives in Stockholm with his wife and children.

Next stop Italy.  Never really know what to expect next - it’s hard to imagine the changes that await on the other side of the alps… [next morning] Well a wonderful show awaited at Sartrea in Vincenza, brought by Albe and Enri of Occasional Disaster Booking.  Local favorites Roulette Hi Fi joined the bill - and we kicked it off with a backstage family-style pizza party.  A DREAM COME TRUE!!!

Europe, y’all. How bout that?

If you have friends in any of the below cities, please tell them!  If you could send them to my website, and post/share the Facebook listing, that’d be RAD!

Kind friend, with THE WHEEL set to roll across Europe, now is the perfect time to get your own copy! (You can also find me on Pandora and Jango!)

Top not-secret! I’ve been recording a new record with new songs and a new ensemble - I’m so excited about it I can hardly stand it. It feels like I’m bringing it all back home - that is, it feels right. Ya know?  The new EP will be released during CMJ in October in NYC.

Stay cool,
Andrew
O===::
www.andrewvladeck.com

(Note: New York Farewell Shows: 8/13 Museum of American Folk Art; 8/31 Rockwood Music Hall)

THE WHEEL 2010 EUROPEAN TOUR

09-14-2010 8pm Heidelberg, Germany - Café Gegendruck
Fischergasse 2, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany http://www.gegendruck.de, Free!

09-15-2010 8pm Nürnberg, Germany - Pegnitzbühne
Silberstr. 9, 90427 Nürnberg, Germany http://www.pegnitzbuehne.de 49-911-329024
Tix EUR 8 (Advance EUR 7, Member EUR 6)

09-16-2010 8pm Wien, Austria - Verein 08 w/ Andy Fite & Agnes Heginger
Piaristengasse 60, 1080 Wien, Austria http://www.verein08.at 43-676-3935141, Free!

09-17-2010 9pm Vicenza, Italy - Bar Sartea Sartea’s Freakshow w/ Roulottehifi
Corso SS Felice e Fortunato, 36100 Vicenza (VI), Italy http://www.sartea.it 39-04-44563725, Free!

09-18-2010 11pm Seregno, Italy - Arci Tambourine
Via Carlo Tenca 16, Seregno (MI), Italy http://www.tambourine.it 39-03339 85 43 404

09-19-2010 6pm Montebelluna, Italy - Osteria da Tocchetto
Via Risorgimento 27, Montebelluna (TV), Italy, Free!

09-20-2010 Roma, Italy - Conte Staccio
Via di Monte Testaccio, 65, 00153 Roma, Italy http://www.myspace.com/contestaccio
39-06 57289712, Free!

09-21-2010 10pm Arceto di Scandiano, Italy - La Salumeria del Rock
Via per Rubiera n. 36/a, 42019 Arceto di Scandiano (RE), Italy http://www.lasalumeriadelrock.com
39-0522-989989, Free!

09-22-2010 10pm Chemnitz, Germany - Exil Café im Schauspielhaus
Ziechestr. 28, 09111 Chemnitz, Germany http://www.exilcafe.de 49-371-4009024, Free!

09-23-2010 9pm Zittau, Germany - Café Emil
Mandauer Berg 13, 02763 Zittau, Germany http://www.emil-zittau.de 49-3583-510537, Tix EUR 5

09-24-2010 9pm Leipzig, Germany - Moritzbastei
Universitätsstraße 9, 04109 Leipzig, Germany http://www.moritzbastei.de 49-341-702590, Tix EUR 7

09-25-2010 8pm Frankfurt, Germany - Yellowstage
Westerbachstraße 47, 60489 Frankfurt, Germany http://www.yellowstage.de 49-69-97840266, Tix EUR 10

09-26-2010 7.30pm Berlin, Germany - Art:Gerecht
Jungstr. 14, 10247 Berlin, Germany http://www.art-gerecht-berlin.de 49-30-47019141, Tix EUR 5

09-28-2010 8pm Köln, Germany - Die Wohngemeinschaft Spielraum Songs To Sing
Richard-Wagner-Str. 39, 50674 Köln, Germany http://www.die-wohngemeinschaft.net 49-221-39757718, Tix EUR 6

09-30-2010 4-5pm Live on Air at Amsterdam FM
http://www.amsterdamfm.nl

10-01-2010 9pm Den Haag, Netherlands -Paardcafé
Prinsegracht 10, 2512 GA Den Haag, Netherlands, http://www.paardcafe.nl 32-70-3601838, Free!

10-03-2010 8pm Amsterdam, Netherlands - Café de Doelen
Kloveniersburgwal 125, 1011 KC Amsterdam, Netherlands 31-20 6249023, Free!

This video was filmed at Andrew’s family’s home in Upstate New York, a cabin deep in the forest glade, where he enjoys the rustic life, and home-made apple pie.  This is part of a series of weekly videos in anticipation of Andrew’s European Tour. The first two weeks will featured traditional American folk songs, followed by new songs on the upcoming EP.

When last I wrote, my bike was stolen, and the thief was selling it on Craigslist.

Here’s a passage from my last post: “In the immortal words of Queen, “I Want to Ride My Bicycle.“  But in the most tragic of ironies, it was stolen by a person FROM Queens (the borough, not the band), and the thief is selling it on Craigslist.“

Well, three weeks after my bike was stolen from in front of my building it is back at home where it belongs.

In brief:

I made a google alert for whenever the words “Giant Halfway Craigslist” would appear on the internet. And sat back an waited.

Google emailed me an alert on Saturday morning. I clicked on it.  A man in Chinatown was selling a bike like mine.  It raised my suspicion becuase they posted a catalog photo.  Very oddly enough, it was the SAME generic photo as the last person who posted an ad for the bike a week earlier.

(aside: in a previous ad, a person offered only a three-word description: “NEED IT GONE”.  That bike, while it looked a lot more like my bike than the bike in the photo the person posted, was, I determined in the end, possibly not my bike.  The police thought it was, based on my photos, the description, and the suspicious ad, but fortunately I balked.  It was probably someone else’s, although it looked so much like mine, it was uncanny!).

Anyway, back to Chinatown. I called the seller and asked if it looked like it did in the photo.  He said it had no fenders or rack, just like mine.  He hesitated when I asked if he was the original owner.  I decided it was worth having a look and told him I’d visit in an hour.  He asked me to meet in outside his housing project in the Lower East Side/Chinatown.

This is going to sound so completely unbelieveable, but I kid you not - this perp is living in THE VLADECK HOUSES, the housing project in the Lower East Side that’s named after my great-grandfather, B. Charney Vladeck (I’m A. Charney Vladeck), a labor leader and City Councilman (he ran with LaGuardia).  The perpetrator walked out of THE VLADECK HOUSES to sell me my own bicycle. How flipping crazy is that? I mean really, I still can hardly believe it. (in another note, it’s really sad that this thief is abusing houses reserved for working families, to run his fencing operation).

My friend “Alice Chen” joined me on this operation.  I saw the bike and it was 1000% clearly mine.  I even took it for a spin.  Every odd detail completely matched up.  I told him I wanted to buy it and told him i was going to get cash, and instead Alice and I walked straight to the 7th Police Precinct. Two good cops said my description of the guy fit someone they were watching. and then they even took me to the corner where they thought he’d be, and my bike was right there locked outside Chang Wang Restaurant.   They brought the man out of restaurant and encouraged him to give me back the bike of spend the holiday weekend in jail, and asked me to not press charges for possession of stolen property in exchange for a warning him. i think he well knew the bike was hot (he had told me he was the original owner, but changed his story to say he bought it from the thief), but i don’t think he was the one that stole it. Though right before I checked out my bike, he sold another bike to another customer - so he’s moving plenty of bikes.  He said he bought it from the first person to post it on craigslist three weeks ago, who I had also called at the time (a Jason/Jayson/Alex from Queens).  Anyway, The police will keep their eyes open and hopefully they’ll investigate the contact in Queens.

Now, I’ve just made what could be a VERY LONG story short.  The whole saga was fascinating.   But for the sake of this blog, I’ll leave it at that.  And in anycase, I’m rocking my trusty old steed!   Thank you officers Ducret and Newberry, and “Alice Chen” for getting my back!

YEEE HAAAAW!

This video was filmed at my family’s home in Upstate New York, a cabin deep in the forest glade, where I enjoy the rustic life, and home-made apple pie.

This is the second of weekly videos in anticipation of my European Tour.  The first two weeks will feature traditional American folk songs, followed by new songs on the upcoming EP.    

This video is part of my “Influences Series.“  This is a cover of Mr. Hobart Smith’s 1940s recording of the English Folk Song turned Appalachian Mountain Ballad.

As promised, here’s the first of weekly videos that I’ll be launching in anticipation of my European Tour.  The first two weeks will feature traditional American folk songs, followed by new songs on the upcoming EP.    This is a cover of Doc Boggs’ 1920s version of the Appalachian Mountain Ballad “Sugar Baby”

This video was filmed at my family’s home in Upstate New York, a cabin deep in the forest glade, where I enjoy the rustic life, and home-made apple pie.

It’s an honor to be asked to play The American Folk Art Museum this Friday Night. We’re performing in a diorama with little strings attached to levers and pulleys. Next to the early-modern mid-century matchbox sculpture. Or not. But either way, it will be aweseome.

This won’t be permanent exhibition, because I leave for EUROPE next month for THE WHEEL TOUR (End Up/Sonic Rendezvous). Tell yer friends and charter your Learjet early.   If you’re not on my mailing list, you can sign up using the form to the right and receive the title track to the album I’m touring!   Would love to have you!

Lastly, I’ll be posting new videos weekly until the tour, of new songs and traditional folk songs, that were recorded up at my family homestead upstate (yes, city-born, country-raised). Friend and/or Fan me on Facebook and you’ll see em pop up, or just check back on my website.

The Fond Farewell NYC Show is Tuesday 8/31, 9PM at the majestic Rockwood Music Hall. Be sure to come a early for the dance lesson or to make sure you get in.

Enough! Now go splash around or something!

Andrew
O===::
Facebook, Pandora, Jango

Friday, August 13th, 2010, 6:30PM
Museum of American Folk Art
Free museum admission from 5:30 to 7:30 pm
45 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

New York Farewell Show
Tuesday, August 31, 9pm
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street (between Houston and Stanton) 10002
with Lauren Balthrop, Jason Lawrence, and Colette Alexander

Here’s a dispatch from family vacation.   Hope all y’alls’ summers are going great.

Last year, on family vacation, my mom and I went for a hike through a beautiful cypress swamp in Virginia where she was bitten on her achilles heel by one of the most poisonous snakes in North America (the water moccasin).  Thanks to my vague recollection of first aid from my cub scout days, I almost made things much worse (note: don’t elevate leg, don’t apply tourniquet).   She spent the week in the hospital getting rounds of anti-venom, and a couple of months later was dancing the zumba.

This year, on family vacation, I was not hoping for a repeat.  My brother and I went kayaking in the ocean, with his little fishing rod.   Now look, for the most part, I’m a city boy.  In the ocean I’m like a… like a… fish out of water (for lack of a better term).   So I’m sitting in this dingy, listening for the telltale ominous cello music to begin, waiting for some underwater leviathan to surface on cue, it’s dorsal fin cutting through the water like a stiletto… and then my brother catches, you guessed it, a flippin shark.   It was about yay big - if you could see my hand gesture… but still… it looked the part.      So to add to the excitement, my brother (and by contrast, he somehow became an outdoorsman extraordinaire - think Grizzly Adams meets MacGyver)  insisted on removing the lure from the sharks jaw, so it would not have to swim around with a plastic fish hooked to its jaw for the rest of its life, like a donkey following a carrot.  A noble idea, which required us bringing the shark to the beach and figuring it out from there.  Basically, one-part shark out of water, two-parts towels, 3-parts shots of Tequila.  Long story short, we did, and nothing got injured, except for the sharks pride.

Anywhoo, what’s a little excitement, right?  Have a great summer ~~~ !

Andrew

This has been the longest stretch I’ve mostly been in NYC in ages, though I haven’t seen much of it, nor much of you, as I’ve been ensconsed in studios and rehearsals.  But good things are coming!   I’ve been biking all over NYC with my guitar on my back, getting things done.  There’s one stretch of road near the BQE where I always hear a Mockingbird singing.  But the mockingbird is singing the car alarm medley that we city folk know all too well.  It’s amazing that to some birds, the car alarm is like a Top 40 hit that it can’t help but repeat.  The world just gets weirder, I suppose.

First off, I’m playing New York City Wednesday, June 30, 10PM at the esteemed Rockwood Music Hall.  Send your NYC friends my way, it’s a huge hall.  I’ll be playing a bunch of new songs that I’m in the midst of recording for a new EP.  Photos below.  I’m SO psyched!  I’ve got some great players on it: Lauren Balthrop, Colette Alexander, Jason Lawrence - to start with.  Thanks to The Honey Brothers, we have a great new studio that I’m learing to use, and can’t wait until “the boys are back in town” later this summer!

While I’ve been setting up camp in my new home in Brooklyn, I’ve made frequent jaunts out of town and appearances in.  I played an impromptu concert with Lauren Balthrop on the penthouse floor of the Chelsea Hotel.  I can check that gig of life’s To Do List.  I’ve played in Boston (with Bhi Bhiman), in Philly (with my former nemesis turned good friend Julian Velard - I’ll tell you that story sometime!), and even in Indiana (the Indy 500) with The Honey Brothers (DC on July 4 with THB!).  Shows/tour with Balthrop, Alabama coming up too. I also had the honor of MC-ing the birthday extraveganza concert of Mr. Paul Brill, where I was fortunate to be accompanied by Threeds and Matt Ray.   I’m happy for my great piano playing friend Bill Malchow to have moved to New Orleans - good luck Billy Boy, we’ll miss ya!   And The Rozz & Val Show has free family concerts all over NYC this summer. 

But MOST of all, I can hardly contain myself to not release the European Tourdates yet!   I can’t wait [ :.).. tears of joy].  Suffice it to say I start in Italy and end in The Netherlands.   Thank you Here We Go Agency.

and I promise I’ll have a new video up soon. i’m fired.  really.  this time i mean it.

Andrew 

Photos:  AV in studio; Colette Alexander on cello; Lauren Balthrop on Piano; Misha Volf on Producer; Indy 500 with THB; Rozz Nash-Coulon from The Rozz & Val Show; Julian Velard in Philadelphia; 2 dragons outside a building.

Philadelphia on May 7 with Julian Velard. Spread the word!

Will announce European Dates soon - promise!

More reviews throughout Europe for The Wheel.  Be sure to hear what they’re talking about!!!

I’ve been remiss in not writing sooner – but busy with good things.   Nothing like being in a van with WiFi for some catch-up time! 

I’ve returned from magical trips through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama – to a new apartment in Brooklyn.   It’s so much like my grandparents’ old apartment, which was just down the street.  My memories begin here.  I’m in the middle of developing a new record with various friends from my musical world and it’s been feeling as excellent as the warm weather.

I was lucky to pass through New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and we spent a couple extra days winding up and down over as much gumbo and beignets as I’ve ever seen in my life.  A friend of mine opened a great venue called Sound Café – it was the first time I got to play there, and we biked to the gig.   From there we crossed into the chitin’ circuit, stopping off for homemade chitlins (our tour manager, Ace, is a chitlin’ connoisseur, if ever there was one) en route from Shreveport to Biloxi. Another high point: we got to see Merle Haggard in concert = the real deal. 

South by Southwest in Austin was impossibly busy, but there’s nothing like running into friends from all over the map - even NYC friends who are always on the road – it’s surreal to finally see each other in another city other than our own.   I played with The Honey Brothers and with Balthrop, Alabama, I crossed paths with The Chapin Sisters, Saadi, Amber Rubarth, and my friends from Ireland, Dark Room Notes.

European dates are booked for September, and will be announced soon.  My latest record, The Wheel (End Up Records) is now being distributed in Europe by Sonic Rendezvous/Cargo – in fact they sold out of the first shipment – woot!  Thanks to Here We Go   for getting the word out with a ton of new reviews from all over the place.

Oh, lastly, if you’ve gotten my record, would you be a dear and review it on iTunes, Amazon, or CD Baby?  I’d appreciate it!  And if you haven’t gotten a copy yet, you can help the USA keep up with Europe!

Alright, am pulling into the Holland Tunnel, so I’ll sign off for now - please come out if you’re in town!  Would love to see you at these shows and the others to be announced!     

UPCOMING SHOWS

Tuesday April 20 (yes, 420), 8:45 PM Sharp

New York City

Rockwood Music Hall

196 Allen Street (just south of East Houston Street)

With Special Guests Lauren Balthrop (piano/vox), Colette Alexander (cello), and Jason Lawrence (percussion). New songs and other general newness.

Friday, May 7, 7:30 PM

Philadelphia

The Tin Angel

20 South Second Street

Opening for Julian Velard

Thanks to the good reviews coming in from Europe (thanks Here We Go).  This interview just published from the UK.  This just in from Germany.

The shows in New Orleans, Biloxi and Bossier City were great - we even got to see Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson play in Bossier and the Hot 8 Brass Band in New Orleans.   

SXSW is ON.  CT is on.  NYC is on.  More shows to be announced.

Mostly, I’m focusing on writing new songs for a new EP- heading into the studio in early Spring!

Vladeck

Shows booked for later in January, with a NYC residency coming later this winter, and other good things.

I’m starting an “Influences Video Series“ to pay homage to my favorite folk songs of all time.  I’ll post them to my YouTube Channel (subscribe!) and on my Free Weekly Podcast (subscribe here or on iTunes)!

More reviews in from Europe for  The Wheel - excited to the sojourn there later this year thanks to Here We Go Agency!

Side projects galore!  In addition to the Andrew Vladeck Show, things are brewing with The Honey Brothers; Balthrop, Alabama; and The Rozz & Val Show.

Honey Brothers finish record with Malcolm Burn, and tour the southland in February.

Hey - and remember Andrew’s other two bands are playing the same night - this week!   The Honey Brothers and Balthrop, Alabama play the Brooklyn Bowl (tickets HERE). 

IN DETAIL

1) HOLIDAY GIFT every week this December.   Starting with a free download of my cover of “Toxic”  - it was declared Best Covers of 2009 by tastemaker Snob’s Music.  I fell for this Britney Spears song after hearing The Chapin Sisters’s deadly awesome version (Visit them HERE).  For the weekly gift, visit my Free Weekly Podcast page and right click on the song of the week. Next week’s is “Chrisma-Hanna-Kwanza-Rama-Krishna” - from End Up Records‘s Holiday Compilation - HERE.

REVIEWS FROM ACROSS THE SEA.  I’m so grateful for the reviews my LP, THE WHEEL has been garnering the past several months from across the states, but also now dreamy, faraway places as The Wheel hits Europe: The UK Italy, Germany, Holland, Turkey!   I have the pleasure of working with Here We Go Agency prepping for European Tour this fall.   Read the reviews HERE.   *Gift Idea: buy the album!

TOP TEN & BEST OF 2009  “7/8/9” EP made the Top 10 of 2009 and my Cover of “Toxic” selected Best Covers of 2009 by Snob’s Music.  A pleasant surprise for the live EP I recorded one night this summer in a Brooklyn’s Saltlands studio.  Thanks to Dawn Landes!

NEW VIDEOS on my YouTube Channel.  Filmmaker Jason Banker, shot my big band for my tour’s homecoming show in NYC.   We’ve posted videos so those who couldn’t make a show can enjoy from around-the-world.   The currently featured video is the unreleased song “She Did”.

PANDORA will be adding my music to their Music Genome Project!  Their musicologists should be posting it in the coming months.

THE HONEY BROTHERS RECORD WITH MALCOLM BURN.  I’ve been working hard and playing hard with my brothers in Kingston, NY with the producer Malcolm Burn - it’s been fantastic - I feel SO lucky to get the opportunity to work with him - and them.   Look for some East Coast Dates this winter, with a dash of The Gulf Coast (New Orleans!) and Tinsel Town.  Also visit the new Honey Brothers youtube channel - videos posted from the Last Winter’s Inauguration tour!

THE ROZZ AND VAL SHOW.  Say what?  I made a children’s record and videos?  Say yes to THE ROZZ & VAL SHOW!   I’d been heaps of fun making this record and videos with Rozz Nash.  It comes out Dec 8 on Hotness Monster Records.  Check it out HERE.  (Hello: Gift Idea!!!)

2009 RECAP.  It was the year that was… a blurrrr!
- Concerts in Australia, Europe, Two East Coast Tours and and West Coast Tour and Festivals in the US and Canada.
  Solo, with band, and with my various other bands, where all together we recorded -
- EIGHT ALBUMS!  GASP!  Andrew Vladeck‘s “The Wheel LP” and “7/8/9 EP”; The Honey Brothers “Demonstration EP”;  Balthrop, Alabama‘s “Country Songs / Subway Songs” EPs;
   and”The Rozz and Val Show“ Debut.   Not including the NEW Honey Brothers record we’re wrapping in December!  Whoa, and also i played all over Seb Leon‘s great new record!
- TWELVE VIDEOS - filmed by Jason Banker, now on my Youtube Channel!  Many videos feature the 10-piece band I put together in NYC.
- Sweet new website - by Arthur Shim and new myspace pages.
  Just reading this puts me in need of a transfusion - and I wondered why i was completely crushed…

2010 PREVIEW.  Friends - look out for various surprises, new songs and shows in starting in early Spring.  I’ll be kicking in a free weekly song podcast for those of you far and wide - sign up at my website or on iTunes.   Will also be posting informal song videos more regularly - subscribe to my youtube channel!   And of course, there will be blood - I mean concerts!   A US summer tour.  A European fall tour.  EUROPE!  A stint in Nashville.  Assorted festivals.  Tours with The Honey Brothers, with Balthrop, Alabama, and with the brand new “The Rozz & Val Show”.   And who knows what else!   Green clovers, Yellow diamonds.

Happy Holidays Y’all!

Andrew

Andrew is featured in the current issue of Pulse Magazine:  “strolling at his own speed across the country from one gig to the next.  With rust-colored hair and a thoughtful, deliberate choice of words, he beckons you closer.  He wants to tell you a story and he’s going to let his amped-up banjo do most of the talking…“ More.

The US Tour Finale - Philly on 11/11 with The White Buffalo.

First off, as you know, I just came out with a hot new record, produced by Kyle Fischer.  This review from The Netherlands came in last week, not everyday I’m called a “poëtische woordengoochelaar” (Rootstime).  My Summer Record Release Tour for The Wheel took me up the East Coast, my first shows in DC and Philly and headlining the Mercury Lounge here in NYC.  I caught many of you good people (thank you very much!) ~ and then west to Hotel Café in LA, where local press had some nice things to say (Grimygoods), and I had a delightful time catching up with friends and eating Mexican food.

Then, a week for a family vacation in Virginia.  Family, Beach, BBQ, venomous snakes… I was hiking with my mom in the middle of a Virginia cypress swamp when all of a sudden she was bit on the heel by a cottonmouth snake (aka water moccasin, aka pit viper, aka bad news).  But she was a trooper, and after 3 days in the hospital with plenty of anti-venom to go around, she was well on her way to a good recovery with a story to tell.  It took my legs (and my psyche) about a week to recover from sprinting like a banshee several miles through the woods for help.  Next year let’s stick to the beach and sharks, riptides and the like.

After that, everything was comparatively uneventful.  The only wild animals to contend with were Fleet Foxes and Arctic Monkeys, who we found amidst at the Canadian Border crossing station at 9 in the morning.  I haven’t seen so many quiet, bearded, rockers in a linoleum tiled waiting room in my entire life.   Yes, within the week I was off to a spate of rad festival gigs with The Honey Brothers.   We loaded in by tram to the top of Squaw Valley for the Wanderlust Festival, where we shared the stage with favorites such as Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, Kaki King, Sonya Kitchell, and Amanda Palmer (who joined us on stage for a rousing yet curious “We Are The Champions”).  (New Music Exchange).  You can rock harder at 9,000 feet because the air is thinner. 

We rode the plane back east with half the performers, singing “American Pie.”  Then off to All Points West, seemingly in Jersey (but officially NY State – don’t tell The Boss) where I was delighted by Vampire Weekend and The National (oddly, both bands have people who went to the same college as us Honey Brothers), and most of us slogged through the sumptuous mud in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.  As soon as our set was over we had leave for Osheaga in Montreal, where be played in the most wonderful deluge, to lovely, spirited people.  Beforehand our manager reassured us we wouldn’t get electrocuted playing in the rain, which helped us enjoy singing in one gigantic communal shower.  As it was my bandmate DS’s hometown, he made sure we warmed up with some good food - Schwartz’s - and we made sure we got lost in the old city in search of French brunch.  These were our first shows in a while, and were thrilled be what people had to say. (Montreal Gazette).

Also, I was able to make a cameo with my beloved Balthrop, Alabama out in California as well.  It was like scoring a trifecta. (Portland Mercury, Albuquerque Alibi). I was glad to catch them on their first Cross-Country Tour, playing both Country and Subway songs for the teeming masses.  They even got to play with their Brooklyn neighbor Josh Ritter in Fargo, North Dakota.  Cool! 

In between all this I managed to record a quick live record of my current show with the uber-talented Dawn Landes at Saltlands in Brooklyn.   I’ll look to release several videos and audio of some of these tracks in tandem with my Fall US Tour and The Honey Brothers shows at Seattle’s Bumbershoot in September and West Coast Tour (Interview in NO DEPRESSION). 

Photos posted on Facebook and Flickr.  Button-links above.

See you out there!   And for pete’s sake, let’s please support the Health Care Initiative - let’s try and decrease the amount of human pain and suffering in our fair land… ya know, smile on your brother and all that stuff!

Ah, Vermont, where a Sunday drive up Route 7 finds locals engaged in a “Piscachio Hunt” on the front lawn of Church, the “Ho Hum Motel” in the shadow of Mt. Philo, the rural birthplace of the fabled founder of AA, the biggest moth I’ve ever seen, that had gigantic owl eye patterns on it’s wings.

The Radio Bean in Burlington was lit up like a fishtank in the afternoon sun, dazzlingly bright and hot, and not finding a rock I could crawl under I sweated it out with people out front before the show, which included a young woman carving a stick with a gigantic hunting knife.   It was a great way to start the tour - with people who love music, ice cream, and organic yerba matte tea.  

The next day brought a gorgeous drive to Cambridge, MA and Club Passim, celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary.  I opened for Shannon Whitworth and her band from Asheville, NC - gorgeous voice, banjo playing, and is there anything better than a pedal steel guitar?   Thanks to everyone who came out on a rainy Monday, setting a precedent for the “this is your life tour” as fans, friends and family from grace each show.  I never knew I had so many cousins.   Problems arose as I was getting ready to drive out of Boston - I couldn’t turn the key in the El Camino Roadster.   Shannon took the keys, climbed in, put her cowboy boots to the pedal - and in one try fired it up, with the radio blasting AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.“  Hot.

Immediately after the show I started for DC ~ stopping halfway and sleeping in my own Brooklyn bed.  At night you can make Boston to NYC in 3.5 hours, which can come in handy.  At this point, however, touring solo became tedious – and I wished for a friend, bandmate or dog to help with driving and conversation.

The DC gig at IOTA with DC’s Lucky Day and Richmond’s At the Stars was one of my favorite nights - the DC train catastrophe was on people’s minds and shutting down the rails.  Still, many made it out - old friends, new friends, and cousins.  And all my hard work rehearsing and developing the set was making these shows extra fun for me.   I’ve figured out a way how to boost my banjo/guitar/etc sounds to fill up the whole frequency range and room using various pedals and tricks.  It’s freaking awesome to push out that much sound out of my two Fender Twins.    It was another night in which other musicians and the soundman asked me how I get the sound I do, which is oddly satisfying.  An old friend, “The Guru,” counseled me firmly: “The colonel doesn’t give out his recipe, and neither should you!“

I spent an extra magical day-off traipsing around DC with some great new friends.  There was the American Folklife Festival on the Washington Mall - that had an odd combination of the music Latin America and Wales (unfortunately the country and not the leviathan).  We followed it up by driving around with who I understood to be the “Yalla Sashi Betch” crew, crashing a party at the Danish Embassy where, over cocktails, the four of us we rescued a fly drowning in the pool dried up with a coffee Tryst in the Madam’s Organ neighborhood.  It was the first time I realized I actually feel bad for Chinese Food Restaurants and the new wave of Thai Food gentrification.

On the drive to Philly the next day I stopped in historic Wilmington, DE to see more relatives - connected with my father’s cousin David Bromberg (one of the most inspiring musicians in my life) and got a tour of his encyclopedic shop of violins from around the world.  I held at 100K violin from the 16th century – Bile ‘em Cabbage Down!   Caught up with another cousin near Rittenhouse square and went to soundcheck at the super cool North Star Bar.   The folks in the other bands were all incredibly nice (Wooden Birds and Other Lives on a big tour from Oklahoma, and the delightful Two White Horses from Sweden).  Together we learned of the tragic news of Michael Jackson, and perhaps that’s why we all had a particularly fine show and quality hang.  There was the usual exchange of CDs with other bands, and happy trails until we meet again.

Back in wonderous NYC.  Returning never fails to blow my mind…I mean, it’s amazing, within 36 hours of being back I feasted in Chinatown, took in performance art in Tribeca, witnessed a magical rainbow in brooklyn with beers at Barbes and a concert in the park with Dr. Dog, sweated through a MJ-infused house party in the Slope, performed with Balthrop, Alabama on Smith Street, cheered Dawn Landes’s rock stylings, fired it up with Seb Leon… and no, I did not tweet once about it.  This is my life at the moment.  Just got a new banjo - super excited for my NYC record release on tuesday!

That’s the latest.   Love it or hate it, the popularity of twitter and it’s combo of bite-size blog morsals of immediate gratification and the corresponding withering away of attention spans and interest in information that is not in real-time makes me think there are fewer (but better, perhaps) readers of the old-fashioned blog post.   Maybe the reality is the above would be more engaging if it was twittered in it’s crack-rock sized installments in real-time, but there’s something that is so undignified, mosquito-like, if you will, to be constantly stopping everything to swat a thought into the twittersphere.   For those fellow Luddites, I salute you in staying the course on journeys that exceed 140 digits.

We’re playing all over the country this summer at sweet festivals.  The EP has already been featured on Spinner.com, Artist Direct, Relix Magazine.   Not a bad start.

We recorded it over a week in midst of a New York winter - but still warm from our tour of Australia.   Producer Brad Albetta did a gorgeous job with our musicality and insanity.   And his studio had the most AMAZING views I’ve ever seen.  It was perhaps the most inspiring element of the EP.   Ask us about it sometime.  (Hint - buried low in the song “Moonlight” you might hear Honey DuContra joyously exclaiming a particular word while playing his drums).   Also stunning was the musical cameo by David Amram, a friend of Hoyt Honey’s father.  His fleet fingers sounded the most dulcet tunes on his penny-whistle, which you can hear at the end of “Moonlight.“    Apologies that it’s only four songs - but it’ll be a good fix for your summer - and this fall we’ll turn out something more substantial, PROMISE!   See you soon!

The various other projects include: My beautiful band with my brothers - The Honey Brothers.  The Honey Brothers finished our recording in March - Brad Albetta did such a freaking gorgeous job with our insanity and musicality.  You gotta hear it. Soon.   And his studio had the most AMAZING view of NYC I’ve ever seen.  Ask me about it sometime.   We were just booked for summer festivals at All Points West (NYC), Bumbleshoot (Seattle), and Osheaga (Montreal)!

I also recorded all over the amazing double-EP for my labelmates and neighbors in Balthrop, Alabama and played several shows with them.  I love them.  Now they are driving around the country, bringing it to the people and I wish I was with them, all 10 of them.  In their magic bus.

I’ve also been rehearsing with my labelmate Seb Leon for his LP release party next week for his white-hot vinyl album.  Kyle Fischer is on that gig too, and we’ve been channeling all sorts of electric howling ghosts to do justice to his super cool, vibey sound.  He’s off to Argentina next month and I’m going to crawl in his luggage.

I finished writing and recording another album - called “The Rozz & Val Show.“  With the virtuosically-velvet-throated Rozz Nash, called “The Rozz & Val Show.“  We sing and harmonize and have a lot of laughs singing songs.  I think it’ll awake your inner child.   It’s super fun to do this sorta thing with my old college mate.  We shoot 3 videos next week!  

When riding the subway, i put in my headphones and muse and  mulling over the co-writes I’ve been doing with the brilliant Felix McTeigue (we’ve penned such future classics as “Not Here, Not Now” and “Women & Whisky”).   Last but not least, I’ve been relishing the odd “vibe-guy” sideman gig I have with David Weinstone and his Music For Aardvarks Band (you can hear the songs on Nickelodeon).

Hmm, only 7 projects?  All I can say is I’m just looking forward to April when I will slow my involvement in ALL projects down so I can get FOCUS on MINE and my Brothers Honey.   A boy needs time to practice, or stare at the wall and drool.

Further fueling our disorientation was the eternal timelessness of the old city - “The City of Spires.“  Our hotel overlooked this skyline and ancient university library, whose 17th century design, in the absence of electricity, allowed for enormous, stately windows and for us to watch students studying and (as our manager deduced) for them to observe us walking around naked after getting out of the shower…  yikes!   

And then there was the dreamlike quality of the light - a glowing white neon comforter of clouds that saturated all hours of the day evenly, so that in between naps and coffee we couldn’t tell what time it was. And then there was the legions of commuters riding mid-century English road bicycles.  Old Raleighs, in puzzlingly mint condition, with painted chrome, high handlebars, fenders, wicker baskets and little blinking lights.    Copenhagen, it turns out, is the most bike-friendly city I’ve ever seen.  People ride these exquisite, vintage bicycles and leave them willy nilly along the streets squares, if locked at all, locked to themselves by an inconspicuous clasp on the rear tire.  The appearance begs a spirit of trust and comfort.  At least I thought so.   This detail of the city - the charming multitudes of bikers - was something I was so endeared by (more than the koalas of Australia) that I couldn’t cease my over-effusive spouting until compelled by my brothers’ spiteful mockery.  But here, in Blogland, no one is safe.

We were given a tour of the city-unto-itself, the Christiana artists commune neighborhood, where people lived in what Carl Honey observed to be giant dog houses.  Whimsical, clapboard cottages, the kind Snoopy might live in if he was a sculptor with dreadlocks and bought his hash from the open stalls in the local market.   Our lovely tourguides were two Danish friends of Asgers, who rapidly became friends of ours.  One with the undeniably awesome name of Elvira, and delightful, sharp-edged spirit to match, and another who graciously led us around, though limping, as she was still recovering after being bitten by a fucking SHARK, acquired while exploring the Galapagos.  (Can you dig that, 2,000 miles from the nearest hospital?).   We occasionally took turns giving her piggy-back rides as we hopped around the neat Christianshavn neighborhood.  These is good people!  

We felt that way about so many of the Danes we met.   That’s why it was hard to call it a night, especially since we could count the hours we had left in Europe…   But I digress - we were there for music, after all!   Forgive me for not getting to this point sooner, but you already knew that, didn’t you.  The beauty in these shows is about the people and the places.   We played a gigantic party, sponsored by our friends who are designers for “Chicks with Guns” (yes, that’s the real name of their line).   We played right before the famous Danish rapper Jokerum - old school hip hop in Danish.   You can’t get THAT in NYC.  I’ll definitely say it was neat to have played 3 continents in one month, and especially to feel us grow as friends and as a band - and this was a fantastic final concert.   It was our manager’s generous assessment was that we were sounding better than ever, in part thanks to his prophetic theory that we would play better if we held off on partying until AFTER the gig. 

In the van we’re debating the best way to describe the gleeful, beer-curdling, eardrum-bursting response of our Brooklyn audience when, in a lull between songs, we simply exclaimed the fun, rolling syllables “O-BA-MA!“    DuContra isn’t sure how to accurately describe the highness of the pitch.  And Carl isn’t sure how to describe the sheer overwhelming power that i witnessed rock him backwards clasping his ears, with a look of fear in his eyes.  It was probably most like standing in front of a double jet engine.  At 30,000 feet.  Yes, we were exceedingly grateful the NYC audience was very much on our side…. but nothing in our set could compete with the ovation for President Obama.    Still, we couldn’t complain, as we concurred wholeheartedly, and besides, all the positive energy was harnessed to contribute to a great night playing a sold out show in our hometown.

Despite the home-team crowd, perhaps because of it, we found ourselves more nervous than any other of the tour.  We all had butterflies in our stomachs.  Not just because it was a big, beautiful venue, but mostly because friends and family came out and we wanted to justify our existence.   I guess.  Either that or it was Philadelphia’s cheesesteak from the night before.   But in any event, The Prigs were stunningly joyous and rocking, and kicked the night off in the best possible manner (converting the audience) and made our job easy, thank you very much.

I don’t know where to start except to state the obvious rhetorical question: HOW FREAKING AMAZING IS THIS?   We took a long walk from the hotel to the Washington Mall, each block more and more people, until every street was jammed.  Yet amazingly enough, we ALL made it in timely fashion to stand near the Washington Monument about 100 yards from a “jumbotron” TV.  I don’t think we’ll ever be surrounded by such a mass of humanity ever again.   Especially such a beautifully cool mass of humanity, all watching TV together.  It was like a Super Bowl party, without the lime-flavored nachos and the salty halftime show.    As the dignitaries began to approach the crowed cheered each one.   It got comical when Joe Biden came on the TV and the everyone cheered - then when they cut to Bush everyone booed - then they cut back to Biden and everyone cheered.  It sounded like one big word: “YeaaaaaaaaBooooooooooooYEAAAAAAAA!“

When it came to the speaches everyone got so quiet you could hear a pin drop.   The million people hung on every word. When Aretha sang the national anthem the delay from all the speakers echoed off the monuments and around the mall.   When the preacher came up to off the invocation many hissed and muttered due to his politics, but several people said “it’s alright, let us pray.“  And it was incredibly moving to pray with all of those people for the best for our country, our president, and our world.

But i sure could have used a hot toddy.   i think i’m still thawing from standing on the Washington Mall for several hours.   memories grow even fonder as i get feeling back in my toes.

Later that night we played the historic 9:30 Club for the Rock the Vote Party.   You couldn’t ask for a better night and a better crowd.  And we all were in awe as the Dresden Dolls took the stage after us.    Afterwards we headed for Red and Black, a totally great bar/venue with super cool staff.  

I felt like it was New Years Eve all over again.  a momentous New Year - a New Era, in fact.  And in fact, it is.   

It’s funny, I’ve been in NYC my whole life and I’ve NEVER been to Times Square to watch a light-ball get lowered down a pole… and I can safely say I never will.   Same with everyone in the band.   (Hmmm… I probably shouldn’t knock it til i tried it).   The inauguration seemed the complete antithesis - an immensely important and meaningful event with an appropriately immense crowd. 

Did I mention how freaking awesome this touring van is?   I’ve toured a LOT in my day, and it makes a big difference to have some nice wheels.   I’m loving it, as does Sonny Honey (Dan Green), who similarly has traveled far and wide.   I mean, you can actually stand up in this van.  And there’s wifi… and we’re touring the east coast… so each city is practically on top of one another.

On the way out of DC we brunched at The World-Famous Florida Avenue Grille.   It was jam packed with inauguration revelers for good reason: some of the best hotcakes north of the Potomac.   It was personally thrilling to meet a bunch of people who worked on the Obama Campaign, who were fueling up for their big “Staff Ball” that evening.  Good people, all around.   Honey DuContra INSISTED we sing a couple of old-skool Honey Brother folk songs for the diners…  i tell you, that brother has chutzpah.   Everyone seemed to appreciate “Drunkard’s Lament” - but honestly, I don’t think anything could have ruined the sunny mood inside The Grille.

Now we’re in the van driving from our one-night stand Baltimore.    A humble and down-home rock rock experience after the DC thang.   Philly, here we come.

Anyway, parting thoughts, as per DuContra, “FUCK GUANTANAMO, IT’S GONE!!!“

I’ve had the great opportunity to play gigs BOTH with The Honey Brothers, AND solo “Andrew Vladeck” shows on the same tour.  Pretty neat how that worked out, i must say.   The only hitch has been having to haul a 1,000 pounds of combined musical gear.  Walking through all the airports with two suitcases of gear makes me feel like a prima donna.  But it’s all gear… not wardrobe changes, I swear.    Hopefully the next tour, we’ll have a full wardrobe planned out.  and pyrotechnics.  and fake blood.

My first solo show was at The Basement, in Sydney, with fabulous Ann Vriend.    Yet there was something brilliantly pathetic about the way the night began.

The soundman insisted on plugging my board in without a transformer.  When I questioned “going for it,“ he said “it should be fine, but if it starts smoking, we’ll know.“   Well… the power supply melted licketly split.   melted plastic oozing down the stage.   I took that as a sign to 1) trust my instincts; and 2) carry on.

It all worked out just fine… in the end, it’s all about the SONGS and not about neato effects, as attached as one does get to them.     That being said, the gig was great, and the soundman was great, and the audience was great.   And Ann Vriend blew us all away - virtuosically amazing.     It was also nice to play Sydney as we got to spend the better part of a week there and I met a ton of awesome people I hope to be in touch with for a long, long time.   They taught me about vegemite and “took the piss out” of just about anything.  And they taught me this curious sport of “jowling.“

But seriously, time passesss sllooooowly when you are on the road.   I don’t understand it exactly.   I don’t think it has anything to do with Einstein’s theory of relativity (which I don’t understand), though all this time flying 600 miles/hour around the world has probably slowed my internal clock by at least 4 seconds.    But all the indulgences of the tour have probably aged me by 5 years.  Keith Richards said recently that he’s spent “5 years playing music and 40 years waiting around.“   Word.  That is probably a generous estimate.  

 “A Very Balthrop Christmas” is a collection of brand new holiday classics with your friends and neighbors from Balthrop, Alabama and End Up Records.  All proceeds go to benefit End Up Records, a not-for-profit music collective based in Brooklyn.  AVAILABLE TODAY!

The New Yorker talks about the Balthrop, Alabama Holiday show happening and features Andrew’s song, “the funny and practical “Chrisma-Hanu-Kwanza-Rama-Krishna.‘“