The Haymarket Squares

Big week/end of shows for your humble purveyors of punkgrass.

Thursday, 6/10 — Trunk Space with Gypsy Nomads (from NYC), Thankful Birds (Marc’s other band), Foxes

Friday, 6/11 — We’re playing the intermission and afterparty for Ignite Phoenix, a gathering at the Phoenix Art Museum of creative types and other ne’er do wells. More than 600 tickets sold for the event. Hopefully a few will like what they hear…

Sunday, 6/13 — Back on familiar turf at Lost Leaf with another NYC band (No How On) and Sharks With Knives

John and Mark whistle up a storm while Marc makes love to the camera

Last Friday, your humble correspondents played at the Phoenix Art Museum in the final stage of TheTrainTracks.org, a program that promotes music and our local Metro Light Rail. It was a battle of the bands of sorts (more details here) and we emerged victorious. The prize? A slot at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, a cool event that takes place April 23-25 and features Robert Randolph and the Family Band along with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals as headliners.

More details to come, but for now, a huge thank-you to everyone who supported us throughout the program. Big hugs!

Click the pic below for some random tour footage. Like a box of Cracker Jacks, there is a fun prize inside!

An extra special thanks to Ryan, Candice and Jade for their hospitality in the Detroit of California. A shout out to our new favorite neighborhood bar Aurora Tatu Club and our new bartender friend Enrique. We played at a fun all-ages venue called Plea for Peace and now we’re off to Fresno. Here’s some pics for your enjoyment!

Here’s a short video of us playing at Biko’s Garage in Santa Barbara. The room was quite dark so I had to make it black and white and grainy just to get it to show up. It’s actually pretty cool in a weird voyeur sort of way. Click the pic below to make it come alive!

Here’s some footage of us being completely out of our element in the Ocean. Click HERE for the hilarity.

Here’s highlights our second show of the tour. We played first at an all-ages venue to a small audience, but it was a fun show. I just set up my camera at the side of the stage and got this humble, grainy footage. Click HERE to enjoy.

Here are some shots of us enjoying life in California.

Your correspondents immediately felt at home at Echo Curio in Los Angeles — it’s got the same indie-gallery-meets-venue vibe as the Trunk Space in Phoenix. And we got to play with some great bands, including Cheese on Bread, who will be in PHX (at Trunk Space, of course) on Saturday, 2/20. They’re smart, talented and their songs are hella catchy. Check ‘em out! Our friends Tim and Debra let us bunk in their lovely Los Feliz home, which was within walking distance of delicious vegan fare. Tofu scrambles and tropical pancakes are even tastier in the company of Eliza and Tami, who comprise Aussie dreampopfolksters royalchord. Food and sleeping arrangements — a touring band’s twin obsessions. (And by “sleeping arrangements,” we mean a place to sleep — get your mind out of gutter.)

Yesterday’s show was at Biko Garage, which is attached to a UCSB student coop house named after the South African activist. Lots o’ moshing in a sweaty cramped space — sweet! And we reconnected with young Woody, bass-slapper for 20 Hands High and our buddies Tater Famine. He steered toward tasty burritos and put us up for the night. Gracias, Woodito.

There may even be some photographic evidence to back up our tale. Stay tuned for that, and for video of Mark S. attacking the big waves in Santa Barbara.