The Brakes

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:17:00 +0000

|7.31| Gathering of the Vibes + Jambase.com Review + XPN Festival Set Stream

Gathering of the Vibes is tomorrow and we are really excited to be playing with so many great bands. Come check us out at the Solar Stage on the beach at 6pm!

Here is a link to a review of Tale of Two Cities from Jambase.com, by Dennis Cook. It's a great review...so check it out!

The Brakes set from the XPN festival is up on NPR.org and is available for streaming. Click Here

to stream...

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:31:00 +0000

XPN Broadcast/Webcast of Xponential Festival Set Tomorrow @ 5pm!

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that our set tomorrow at the XPN festival is going to be broadcast ON-AIR at 5pm on 88.5 FM WXPN.

So if you can't make it to the festival to see us rock the Mainstage, tune in to XPN at 5pm!

If you are outside Philly you can also hear the set streaming online:

http://xpn.org/listen-live/listen-live

Don't forget.

Gathering of the Vibes

We are also going to be playing at Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT on Friday August 1st. A lot of people have been asking me when our set time is going to be, and I found out that we are playing at 6pm, On the Solar Stage which is right on da beach, boyee (samson simpson).

Other people playing the festival include: Phil Lesh and Friends, The Black Crowes, Taj Mahal, The Neville Brothers, Derek Trucks and others.

http://gatheringofthevibes.com/2008/2008+band+lineup

We are pretty excited to play this festival, and the line-up is pretty amazing...so make the trek with us!

-----------------------------

http://www.brakesband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thebrakes
http://www.brakesband.blogspot.com/

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Memorial Service for Josh

The service for Josh the other day was a beautifully fitting tribute to our friend. People from all over the country came to pay their respects, and we filled the chapel (and adjacent rooms) to the brim with love and support. It was the type of outpouring that reaffirmed how special he really was...and a sight that I will not soon forget. Thank you so much to all of you who came, and all who have reached out to us these past couple days.

As we are faced with the task of going back out on the road so soon after losing our brother, we have decided to cancel all shows until May 13th. Sorry to those of you who are in Texas, we will be back soon.

People have been asking us about the song we performed at the service. It's called "To the Other Side" and was written by our good friend Chris Kasper for his band "The Lowlands". You can find it on their myspace page .

I have also been asked to make the eulogy I wrote available to read, so I've decided to post it on our blog.

For Josh

In music, there are these rare moments of transcendence, a feeling of unity of the soul with its surroundings. It is an emotion of sublime joy, to know that you are not alone in this world, that everything is bound together. For me, this is as close as it gets to proof of a higher power, and I feel that when we experience these moments of enlightenment, our souls are connected to the place where all came from and we all will return.

For the past 7 years, I have been fortunate enough to have the privilege of these experiences with my best friends in this band, The Brakes, and together we have formed an irrevocable bond. Music is a conversation on the most basic level, and in those moments of fleeting brilliance I have found peace. Now that Josh, my friend and brother has been so cruelly and abruptly taken away from us, it leaves us all devastated. However, in this energy flow, found in music and nature and other expressions of the soul, will be Josh, bound by this benevolent force that connects us all.

Josh was a lover of life's simple things. He loved being outside, reading, good beer, listening to music, smoking pipe tobacco, and a good laugh. He was also a hopeless romantic, and his love for women and their companionship was very important to him. Now that his life has been cut short by this horrible cancer, I just wish we could have given him all of the experiences he has now been robbed of. He was so young and so passionate and I loved him like a brother.

I had a dream last week, and in that dream was Josh. We were all riding in the van, traveling the country together on another tour, another adventure. It was summer and he was driving across the open landscape, so happy, and full of life. He looked tan and healthy, with a full head of hair. In the dream, we didn't really talk to each other but he looked at peace. It's there; on the road together where my fondest memories of him live. It was a time where we were young and free of responsibility; a naïve fantasy, where everything turns out right.

I used to think about us all growing old together; we would visit each other's families, and reminisce about being young and stupid; about the experiences we shared together. I imagined Josh and I as old men, talking about the good old days outside on his porch, him smoking his pipe and remembering us traveling across the country, playing for thousands of people and for handfuls, figuring things out on our own. Now that he has passed, this callow dream of mine will never be a reality, but his memory will remain strong in all of us.

As a musician, Josh was incredibly gifted. He learned very quickly, and his analytical mind was powerful and open. He was able to play any instrument he could get his hands on, and few people know this, but in addition to being an excellent drummer, he was a great bass player and teacher.

About 6 months before he got sick, I noticed a huge leap forward in his drumming. He was able to achieve a level of musicianship on the drums that few reach. He seemed to become the drummer that we all thought he would be someday and it was a great joy to see. I always knew he had great potential, and to see it realized made me very happy. It seems fitting that all of those performances were documented and an album was made to remember that incredible time in our histories. His playing was so steady and confident; I used to tell him that he had achieved "Bonham" status. He shrugged it off humbly like I knew he would, but I knew it meant a lot to him.

When I was in the studio mixing the songs, Josh was already in the hospital. I remember thinking how important it was for everyone to hear his superb drumming on these recordings. Now more than ever, I feel it's my duty to have the world hear and remember Josh, for the smart, talented and passionate friend that he was.

We were able to play with him a couple weeks ago, when he came over to hang out with us during a practice for our upcoming tour. As I watched him, he looked a little dazed as he sat on the couch in Derek's basement, conducting the tunes in his head as we played through them. But the moment he stepped behind that drum set, he came alive and the music just poured right out of him. I will never forget the expression on his face as he played; it was one of deep concentration but complete ease and relaxation at the same time. It was if for those brief minutes, he had been set free by the music. All of the pain, and months of chemotherapy disappeared, and there he was filling the missing link in our irrevocable bond. It was a really cathartic moment for all of us. And I don't think that any of us knew that that was the last time we would ever see him, but I am so glad that we got to play with him one last time. I will remember it always.

I want to close by saying that in the wake of this tragedy, I feel I've learned something very important. For me there is definitely a loss of innocence and naivety that will never be regained, but I've acquired a newfound respect for the moments that we usually take for granted. I think we should all lament on that for a second…nothing we do should be taken for granted, because we never know what the future has in store for us. And as we move forward, I think Josh's memory should serve as a reminder to live our lives to the fullest.

I consider myself lucky to have known Josh, and his presence and energy will live on in our fondest memories. To my brother, my friend and my companion…I love you so much and you will be in my thoughts for the rest of my days on this earth.

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:13:00 +0000

R.I.P. Josh Sack 1986-2008

With profound sorrow and regret, we're sorry to have to tell you that on Sunday, May 4, The Brakes' drummer Josh Sack lost his battle with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Diagnosed last August, Josh bravely fought the cancer, even regaining his strength long enough to tour in October and drum at rehearsals as recently as last week. Funeral services will be held at
Joseph Levine & Sons in Broomall, PA at 11:30, Tuesday, May 6. http://www.levinefuneral.com

The family respectfully requests that contributions in his memory be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Condolences, memories or messages to the band can be sent to management@brakesband.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Tale of Two Cities Tourdates!

Here is a more complete list of the dates on our tour...come see us play in your town!

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Tale of Two Cities CD Release Tour with Carney

We are please to announce the first round of dates from our CD Release Tour! We will be playing with new friends and Interscope recording artist, Carney, from LA. There are many more dates to come, so stay tuned to see when The Brakes are coming to your town!

5.7.08 Sticky Fingers Little Rock, AR
5.9.08 The Cavern Dallas, TX
5.10.08 Warehouse Live Houston, TX
5.11.08 Emo's Austin, TX
5.13.08 Blueberry Hill St. Louis, MO
5.14.08 Birdy's Indianapolis, IN
5.15.08 Redstone Room Davenport, IA
5.16.08The Rave Milwaukee, WI
5.17.08 Kinetic Playground Chicago, IL

www.brakesband.com
www.brakesband.blogspot.com

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:18:00 +0000

Date Change for Highline Ballroom Show

Just to let you know, the date of our NYC show at the Highline Ballroom has changed to SUNDAY APRIL 27th! We are going on at 8pm...

www.highlineballroom.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:13:00 +0000

Tale of Two Cities Video

Here is a video we've been working on from Tale of Two Cities out May 6th on HYENA Records! It features the song "Into The Ground". Download the mp3 of Into The Ground for free, HERE. Created by Jake Krolick & Matt Kass.

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:20:00 +0000

The Brakes have the #1 most popular song on indie music blogs!

(according to the hype machine)

according to the hype machine, "into the ground" is the #1 most popular track on indie music blogs right now! Thanks to Hans from "Here Comes The Flood" for posting our first album review...check it out HERE. We've had over 6000 downloads of the track so far...since we released it a couple of weeks ago. Click HERE to download "Into The Ground"

The Brakes - Tale of Two Cities album review on Here Comes The Flood

Popular Tracks on the Hype Machine: (each song gets taken down after 3 days)

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:33:00 +0000

from The Late Greats Blog:

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

My Favorite Song This Week

I swear, I’m not copying XPN’s music blog. I was planning on posting this song by The Brakes long before they posted it.

The Brakes are a Philly band that got picked up by the awesome Hyena Records. Their debut full-length will hit shelves in May. It’s a 12 song opus that was recorded live during a year-long stint of gigging in New York and Philly – hence the title of the record “Tale Of Two Cities”. (Get it, 12 songs, one for each month – not that this is their interpretation of the calendar. It is good ol’ rock and roll a la Springsteen and his E. Street Shufflers.)

Listen:
The Brakes ∞ Intro The Ground

Further Study:
Website
myspace
Wiki
YouTube

More MP3s:
Hype Machine
Elbows

What is your favorite this week? Leave a hullabaloo.

More:
Weekly Favorites

Use some of you 25 FREE Downloads from eMusic to get more favorites.

noreply@blogger.com (jesselun) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:43:00 +0000

The Brakes - On The Road 2007

When the band went out to perform at their residencies at MilkBoy and the Knit, I rode in the van (to NYC anyway) and brought my camera. Needless to say, we had a blast. The band will laugh (at me) and tell you that I took over the car stereo and played a lot of "classic rock and blues" which is true only so far as they don't know what's good for them. I also slept in the van, which was not my favorite part, but it was much better than having to drive back (after 1000 cocktails).

The Knit shows were amazing. We knew the shows would do well, but you never really know until the people show up. And show up they did. We broke all of our previous records in NYC and it just got bigger every week. Of course, the more people who came, the more psyched up the band got to play...thus some of their best performances ever were caught on tape.

MilkBoy was a completely different affair. Rather than being the full-bore rock act that they were used to being, the intimacy of the venue forced the band to rethink their entire approach to the songs. Suddenly, the sound opened up on stage, and everyone could hear each other play ("I never knew you played that part!"). Acoustic guitars took the place of electrics (that's what makes the version of "Song of Imponderables" on the album so cool) and the music itself was allowed to breathe. That may sound corny if you're not a musician, but it means a lot, trust me.

Some of the other photos in this slideshow come from events that happened after the residencies...Memorial Day weekend at Jam on the River, the September show at the Ram's Head in Annapolis with Ivan Neville (thanks for lending us the organ, Ivan)...all in fun, and all during the process of making this album happen.

Featured in some of the photos are some of our favorite people:

Mike Polans: without Mike, The Brakes probably couldn't find their way from gig to gig and from backstage TO the stage. Our fearless tour manager (when he's not out with the Disco Biscuits), Polans has done wonders for organizing things, keeping everyone on track and finding mandolin strings in the middle of Nashville. You can see him in the photo with Captain Morgan from Jam on the River.

Tommy Joyner: without Tommy, at least half (and really more) of "Tale of Two Cities" may not have existed. Tommy had been after us to come play at his venue, MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore, and this residency idea (first proposed by our friend David Levine) was a perfect opportunity for us to do an underplay in our home market. At the time that we were planning this, Tommy was installing a really great live ProTools recording rig in the venue, and we got to be his guinea pigs. When it came time to put the record together, Tommy worked closely with Matt to make it sound as good as it does. Hey, Tommy...thanks, man

Larry the Bartender: Oh, it was scary for us to pile in the van and drive to the Big City every week...we were far from home and we had to spend considerable time holding Derek's hand when he cried for his mother. Our new mother became Larry the Bartender at the Knitting Factory. Week after week, he plied us with Magic Hat #9 and took our drink tickets. He showed us amazing Japanese films where zombies heads exploded. And we were there for him when his cat died. Larry, this one's for you, baby.

John Francis: I may spend too much of my valuable time working as The Brakes' manager, but I also have time for my man JF. Each week at both MilkBoy and The Knit, we had special friends open the shows. The Brakes and JF have been friends for a while (even recording a Holiday song together this year), so when JF said "back me up boys", Matt, Zach and Josh were happy to oblige.

Ben Arnold: Ben is a Philly legend and one of the best songwriters any of us know. In our downtime, while the record was being finished, Matt, Zach and Flicker have become part of Ben's touring band. We had him open for us at the Knit, and Flicker and Zach played horns (as they often do)

Kevin Calabro: without Kevin, none of this would have happened. Kevin is a friend of Polans, but as it turns out, we knew each other from a previous life. It was Kevin who brought Joel Dorn to see the band and Kevin who ultimately got us signed to Hyena. Now he's our A&R guy, publicist and general consultant. We love that guy. He knew the words to all the songs by the third show (and he came to all of them). Dude's a fan!

Joel Dorn: our mentor, and the man who worked under Ahmet and Neshui at Atlantic producing greats like Donny Hathaway, Leon Redbone, Bette Midler and that guy John Coltrane. As if it wasn't enough just to MEET someone with these credentials, Joel took our calls, gave us advice and came to every show. He was a DJ in Philly back in the day, and his son Adam was a Lower Merion grad (the best fraternity we never joined). When Joel passed away in December, our hearts broke, but we have the good feeling that he was our champion and so we've dedicated the album to him.

Now go look at the pictures.

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:52:00 +0000

Feb 26th 2008:
The Brakes WXPN's My Morning Download!

My Morning Download 2/26/08 - The Brakes

We're very excited that one of our favorite local bands, The Brakes, recently announced they've signed to Hyena Records. They will release their debut album "Tale of Two Cities" on May 6th. The album was recorded live in NYC & Philly during a month long residency and it features 12 songs from the best performances in both cities. The Brakes have been on XPN's Philly Local several times as well as on stage at XPN's past musical festivals and Philly Local broadcasts. And you can click here to see that H&R Block Commercial they were featured in a couple years ago.

Here's a taste of the new album:

Into The Ground - The Brakes

The Brakes' myspace

posted by Bruce @ 6:05 AM 1 comments

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:14:00 +0000

The Brakes Sign with HYENA records
Tale of Two Cities to be released May 6th

We are pround to announce that we have signed with HYENA Records for the release of our debut album "Tale of Two Cities". The release date has been set for May 6th, 2008 and it will be available in stores everywhere and on Itunes!

In the spring of 2007, The Brakes took on dual city residencies, performing weekly in New York City and Philadelphia. Playing at the Knitting Factory in NYC every Tuesday and at MilkBoy in Ardmore, PA every Thursday, the band transitioned from famed NYC rock club to intimate listening room, often times rearranging their songs for each different setting.

Each show was recorded and the best versions from both cities were assembled together for a cohesive live statement. Mixed by Tommy Joyner at MilkBoy Studios the resulting album reflects the different envionments in which the songs were recorded, together crafting " Tale of Two Cities".

Tale of Two Cities - Tracklist

1. Into The Ground*
2. Supermarket
3. Big Money*
4. Cigarette in the Rain
5. Tale of Two Cities
6. State of the Union
7. Empty House*
8. Danger Blues*
9. Boat Trip
10. Song of Imponderables
11. Who am I to be
12. Sister Mary

*available for stream

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:21:00 +0000

July Tour Video

Hey, our July Tour was really awesome, and we thank all of you who made it out to the the shows! for those of you who didn't...here are 3 videos taken by our friend Jake Krolick at the North Star in Philly...Enjoy!

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:46:00 +0000

July Tour

Hey, long time no blog...well we've been busy doing stuff...have you?

here is what we're up to:

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Knitting Factory 4.24.07

With Ben Arnold

Into the Ground, Danger Blues, State of the Union, Boat Trip, Song of Imponderables, Denizen, The Needle, The Chase, Life’s Work, Big Money, Tupelo Honey*#, Younger Days, Super Market, Fight Song, Sister Mary, Empty Pages^, Special

E:Tale of Two Cities

*Van Morrison Cover
# with Ben Arnold- Acoustic, Lee Schusterman- Keys, Adam Flicker - Trumpet and Zach Djanikian - Tenor Saxophone
^ Traffic Cover

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:52:00 +0000

Knitting Factory 4.17.07

with Reuben Chess

Who am I to Be?, Boat Trip Supermarket, State of the Union, Younger Days Hotel Lobby Into the Ground Denizen, Save Me Song of Imponderables, Danger Blues, The Bullet, The Chase Cigarette in the Rain, Every body Wants to Rule The World*, Fight Song Big Money

E: Worn Out

*Tears for Fears Cover

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:45:00 +0000

Milkboy 4.12.07
with Liz Longley

Who Am I to Be?*, Supermarket, The Needle Hotel Lobby*, Boat Trip, Tale of 2 Cities*, Big Money, Younger Days*, The Chase, Into the Ground, State of da Union*, Denizen, Special, Song of Imponderables*, Fight Song, Worn Out

*Acoustic

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:01:00 +0000

Knitting Factory: 4.10.07

with Krystle Warren

Set: Hotel Lobby, Danger Blues, Big Money, Supermarket, Into the Ground, Tale of 2 Cities, Save Me, Summer Leaves^, Till the Sun Comes Up^, King of the Road^*, One Eye Open, Boat Trip, Denizen, The Needle, The Chase, Worn Out

E: Dig

*with Krystle Warren
^Zach Solo

Zach on Bass

Flicker playing Trumpet & Keys

This is my rock out face!

Zach & Krystle

concentrating

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:57:00 +0000

Philly Residency: Milkboy 4.5.07

Acoustic Set: One Eye Open, Into The Ground*, Boat Trip, Younger Days, Supermarket*, Cigarette in the Rain, State of The Union, Big Money

Zach Solo: Time and Color, Geography, For a Moment^

Electric Set: Hotel Lobby, Denizen, Danger Blues, Save Me, Empty House*, Tale of 2 Cities, Dig, Who am I to Be?

* - New Songs
^ - Zach on Piano

noreply@blogger.com (The Brakes) — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 22:39:00 +0000

COME JOIN US FOR OUR APRIL RESIDENCIES!!!!

This April, The Brakes will be spending time traveling between Philly & New York to play two headlining shows a week!

Every Tuesday, we will be playing at the Knitting Factory NYC and every Thursday, we will be traveling back down to Philly to play Milkboy Coffee! These venues are intimate, and we plan to pack em in so get your tickets before they sell out!

EVERY TUESDAY IN NYC @ Knitting Factory Tap Bar - brought to you by Relix Magazine

EVERY THURSDAY IN PHILLY @ Milkboy Coffee - brought to you by WXPN/Philly Local

noreply@blogger.com (LambSkinz) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 04:07:00 +0000

~Back to Back at The Knit~

<~The Brakes and their fearless leaders, Jesse and Dave Kass and Zach in the new "Ham Room ~>

We've spent 2 of the last 3 nights at our new 'home away from home,' The Knitting Factory, down @ 74 Leonard Street New York City. I have to agree with Josh when he claimed that Saturday night's show was the best New York City show we've ever had. The room was packed with fans and friends from all over, and the boys took advantage of their extended 90-minute set. Without question, the best version of "Dig" that i've ever seen, and i've seen a lot of freeeeaking Digs haha....too bad I didn't get a chance to bust out the video camera for that one. Which reminds me, soon enough we'll be posting a lot of video from the Big Head Todd tour-just need to finish editing, or well, start editing...one of these days.

Anyways, we followed up Saturday's show with a little showcase tonight in The Tap Room (our Tuesday night home during the entire month of April!). The showcase was for The Digital Music Forum being held in NYC this week. Zach really carried the band tonight with some exceptional vocal work, especially on "Tale of 2 Cities" and "Boat Trip." Kass also stepped up with some ripping guitar work on "Who Am I to Be?" and 'Tale.'

For the record, here's the setlist from last week's Nashville NACA Showcase:

2/16/2007 Nashville Palace, Nashville TN
Setlist

Danger Blues
State of the Union
Boat Trip
Who Am I To Be?
Time>Breathe Reprise*

*Pink Floyd Cover

2/24/2007 Knitting Factory, New York City NY
Setlist

Hotel Lobby*, Danger Blues, State of the Union, Boat Trip, Who Am I To Be?, Tale of Two Cities, Denizen, The Needle, Younger Days, Dig, Dusty Road, Cigarette in the Rain, RIOT! @ the TLA, Big Money, Special, Fight Song

*Hotel Lobby acoustic, Zach, Derek and Flicker only.

I'll post the Taste of Lower Merion setlist as soon as i get it...

2/27/2007 Knitting Factory, New York City NY
Setlist

Tale of 2 Cities
State of the Union
Boat Trip
Denizen
Who Am I To Be?
The Needle
Danger Blues
Big Money

noreply@blogger.com (Black Co-Josh) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 02:16:00 +0000

HELLO WORLD

2/24/07 was to date, our best NYC play ever. Thanks to EVERYONE who showed up and rocked out - that was a memorable one for me (hopefully for you too!).

Here are a few pics!

Kawari Sound Studios - the main live room - the 'vibe' drumset, composed of 3 vintage drums, and a variety of cymbals. Just you wait for the full length album - coming to a CD player near you......
Also - Matty "mike" Muir, the handiest mother-f'in studio assistant ever.

Dramatic Angle, Kass making an attempt

Just cause, it's true

noreply@blogger.com (Black Co-Josh) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:04:00 +0000

Hello Brakes World!

MY NAME IS JOSH SACK & I PLAY ANYTHING I CAN HIT (WITH DRUMSTIX, mind you!) in this little diddy we call THE BRAKES.

First I'd like to welcome any and all readers to this blog. As a band member, I'm more than interested in hearing EVERYONES thoughts, seeing everyones pictures, hearing everyones tales of the road, and anything else you wanna talk about. TALK TO ME people !

To wet your whistles, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the road....hmmm captions....

Derka - Rittenhouse Square Park, PHillY!
Free outdoors concert!

Zach is a serious mofo, watch out

THEME PARK - Cedar Point OHio (bitches)
Flowtch & Me

The one and only Mr. Matthew Kass

Yours Truly, having a truly good time!

The Brakes take over a motel room - location: classified

EZ Cheese people, EZ Cheese

Great Fans, along the BigHeadTodd tour. Park City, Utah

Zach, spending some quality time with some slots

No offense Ed - Quintessential Brakes for you

There we go - some homegrown Zach & CO.
Come 'n Get 'em, ladies
Backstage goodness, my new favorite shirt!

noreply@blogger.com (Kass) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:53:00 +0000

NACA Nationals in Nashville

The Nashville Palace

We're back from the NACA Convention in Nashville! We had a great time playing for college kids and we hung out in possibly the biggest hotel I've ever seen.

The Gaylord Opryland (yes, thats its name) is like 3 or 4 hotels in one, connected by a series of atrium's, so you never have to leave the climate controlled faux-paradise. It has a riverboat, sky walk and restaurants lining the banks of the river running through the atrium's. Think like Bio-Dome...if it were owned by a casino and filled with honeymooning couples and college kids. It was CRAZY and very hard to navigate, especially at 3am...not sober.

The convention was an interesting experience...saw some friends we haven't seen in a while, got to hang out with Hank, our booking agent and met some college kids!

Our showcase was more of a pre-party than anything and we got to play with Gogol Bordello...who is quite possibly the most insane/loud show I've ever seen! Wearing yellow and black spandex pants and no shirt, their front man Eugene Hutz, who I later learned played opposite Elijah Wood in Everything is Illuminated, started the show by shouting at the crowd, "We are your new fucking friends, Gogol Bordello!" in a heavy Eastern European accent.

He was like Borat on crack...or speed or something, and the band was intense! They had an old gypsy man playing violin, an accordion player and an Asian girl wearing spandex and a mask carrying around the Hungarian flag while smashing marching cymbals. Almost even funnier than the band itself was watching the sober (and underage) college kids try and make sense of the performance.

Gogol Bordello

The Brakes, now all 21+ wasted no time...making use of the bar. One song that we all particularly liked from their set was "Start Wearing Purple (for me now!)" in which, they all shouted the phrase while jumping up in the air and then proceeded to all leap offstage into the crowd, scaring the shit out of the kids in the front.

The other band "Bang Bang Bang!" was also rockin! They're from Nashville and sound a little like the Kings of Leon to me...but harder. In the middle of their set I hopped on the lighting rig and helped em out a little. That was fun, and from what I remember, I did a pretty damn good job! Anyway, check em out.

This Guy, Robert - Proposed during "Boat Trip"

The night ended as we migrated to the front bar to watch some genuine Nashville music. The band was led by a skinny, bald guy named Matt Roy who was an incredible guitarist. I have to say, it's pretty intimidating going down to Nashville for me because it seems like everyone and their mother is just a ripping player...oh well, back to the practicing room.

The bass player took the drum kit for a song, leaving his bass on the stand and seizing the opportunity, a more than slightly intoxicated Zach Djanikian ripped through "Crossroads" and "Sultans of Swing" with the band. Meanwhile, the rest of us were leaning on the pool table in the back, wasted and yelling out cover tunes like "China Grove" and Sultans. I think Jamie got it on video... It was hilarious.

Zach on Bass playing "Crossroads"'

That was the weekend. Hangover's and Hungarian gypsy punks...Nashville is crazy. We have a couple days off before we go back into the studio.