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

This is part of a series 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 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.

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, this summer 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!

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.‘“