Apologies for the delay since the last update, we have been hard at work with new tunes and preparations for the release of Mirage, due out the 22nd of September! We recently received the first pressing of the album and it looks amazing and sounds even better. Those of you who donated to the Kickstarter fund should be expecting your incentives to arrive immediately following the release of the album. We can't give out enough thanks and appreciation to all of the friends and family who donated money or gave us a house to stay in while on the road or fed us along the way.

Way back on the 13th of August, we made our first trip over Monteagle to beautiful Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tuscaloosa, Alabama's CBDB was gracious enough to host us at the legendary Rhythm & Brews after our date at another local venue fell through. The venue, set to close at the end of September, hosted countless great rock-and-roll bands that have come through Chattanooga throughout the years, including Kaitlyn's former venture, Afro. So while it was our first time playing there, the stage felt like a well worn pair of jeans as we started off the set with "Real Man," which also happens to be the first track on Mirage. That night's set can be found here. A huge thanks to Ross from Masseuse for recording and documenting the show for us.  The week prior, Chattanooga and the greater world of music lost an amazing, kindhearted soul. Clark Jackson passed away at much too young an age and left a big hole in all of our hearts. No one really knows how to deal with losing someone before their time, but we did the best we could to memorialize him by playing a cut by his favorite band. "Pleas" by Widespread Panic tackles a lot of issues that everyone has to deal with as they move through this thing called life. Sometimes we all have to come to terms with the fact that to appreciate the good things in life, you have to deal with a little bit of bad along the way. 

Following our one night stand with our sister city in the southeast, we locked ourselves in the woodshed and worked up some new cover tunes for our upcoming run of fall shows. Be on the lookout as we sign more dotted lines and lock down more and more shows through the rest of the fall and into winter.

This past Thursday, we loaded up our gear into Mayor-Dean and departed at the crack of dawn for the east coast. It was a straight shot, due east from Nashville all the way to Charleston and we were lucky enough to beat traffic through Knoxville, which during previous road trips has been the bane of our drives. We arrived just before sundown and were able to see the beginning of what was to become a beautiful sunset over the Atlantic ocean as we crossed over the many islands that make up greater Charleston. The Charleston Pour House has quickly become one of our favorite venues, and this late August Thursday did not disappoint. After opening for locals at our last two shows there, the venue was gracious enough to give us a shot at headlining and we took that opportunity by the horns. Local act See Water opened the night for us with their wonderful blend of ska and punk rock and jam. Check them out if they're ever in a town near you, they do a nasty cover of the Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey." 

Our 8-20-15 set opened with the lead single off Mirage, "Always Want What I Can't Have," and we took it to new heights with a new jam that appeared out of thin air. That night's set also included the debut of some new covers, including Neil Young's "Wonderin'," Rage Against The Machine's "Killing in the Name," and Badfinger's "Baby Blue." A huge thanks to Jeff for the hospitality, beds/couches, and recommendations on that amazing pizza.
Friday morning found us in need of some serious recovery nutrients, and with the blessing of Sterling and Russ, Whit introduced us to the wonder that is Eastbay Deli. A minor misunderstanding about the nature of a salad bar and the merits of the pricing of a side salad couldn't derail us from the amazing sandwiches that would help us continue our journey on to Asheville. 

Following the delicious brunch, we left the coast and made our way back into the Appalachians on our way towards Asheville, North Carolina. Our Friday night slot was directly following the Hard Working Americans, a supergroup featuring Todd Snider, Dave Schools (of Widespread Panic), Neal Casal (of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Duane Trucks (a graduate of the Col. Bruce Hampton Ret. School of Music), at New Mountain Asheville. Also on the bill for the afterparty was Autumn Attics featuring Adam Perry (Perpetual Groove) and John Neff (formerly of the Drive-by Truckers). All in all, it was quite the all star lineup throughout the bars and theaters that make up New Mountain. 

Following a quick soundcheck, we hit up the Grateful Roots food truck in the outdoor amphitheater and waited for the Hard Working Americans to hit the stage. They made some delicious paninis that were washed down well with the many different craft breweries that call Asheville home. Right before the sun went down, Todd Snider took the stage and the band dropped directly into "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance," an old tune from Todd's days as a solo singer songwriter. We all enjoyed the first hour of the set from our respective spots in the crowd, until Kaitlyn realized our artist wristbands provided us with direct access to the side of the stage with an impeccable view. 
After the Hard Working Americans' set, we made our way back up to the Sol Bar to catch Autumn Attics. They're gritty blend of Americana and hard driving rock'n'roll provided the perfect transition before our set. A couple moments before we hit the stage, we realized Duane Trucks and Jessie Aycock from the HWA were hanging out at the bar. The two fellows were kind enough to hang out and engage in conversation for quite a while until it was time for us to take the stage, then to our surprise they hung out for the majority of our set. It was all we could do not to freeze up out of being starstruck, but we kept our cool and played a rollicking set. Todd Snider even made his way into the bar for a split second before heading back to the tour bus. Our set from that night can be found right here. Highlights include and otherworldly "Outside World" and the newer tune "Just Be Yourself" that is finally coming into its own, like a millennial realizing their place in this fast paced world. Another large dose of gratitude is in order for John, who so kindly lent us his guest house and homemade cider up in the mountains after the show. Also for his recommendation for the delicious Italian restaurant that helped us refuel for the drive back down the mountain into Georgia. The end of our weekend run found us back near the Atlantic Ocean in Savannah, Georgia at the Congress Street Social Club. Unbeknownst to us at the time, CMT's hit reality show Party Down South would be filming their raucous bar crawling adventures during the entirety of our set. From what we could see from our vantage point on stage, the show seemed to be a Southern take on the Real World of MTV fame. We had quite the time watching the cast imbibe in more than their fair share of beverages and antics. That night's set can be found here.

As I said earlier, be on the lookout for more shows to be announced for fall and early winter 2015. We'll be hitting the road for North Carolina and Georgia tomorrow, so check back next week for a recap of that run

Greetings and Salutations. 

We've been in recovery mode since our epic road trip last weekend. Between Wednesday and Sunday, we logged a solid 1800 miles, culminating in a 14 hour trek from Manhattan all the way back to Nashville.

Following some extra preparation on Tuesday to polish up some new material, we rested up and carb loaded for our Wednesday afternoon departure. The first stop of the run found us at Preservation Pub in Knoxville, TN. Upon arriving at the venue, we backed Karl (the Maradeen-mobile) down the absurdly narrow alley to the load in doors of the Pub. At first glance, everything looked the same inside, but after closer inspection we noticed that they had completely redone the public address system. In the past, the sound there had been good for u, but the upgraded system improved on that ten-fold. As a band that relies heavily on instrumental communication and conversation, a clear monitor mix, and by proxy front of house mix, makes our lives so much easier. 

No matter where in the country you are, it can be very difficult to bring people out late at night on a Wednesday. We've had raucous crowds for our past hits at the Pub, but those were on weekends during the school year when thousands of Volunteers are roaming Market Square. This mid-week mid-summer show looked to be a total bust at first, but as the night went on and we got locked in musically, a small but enthusiastic crowd began to flow in. It was impossible for us to be disappointed by the amount of people due to their sheer rowdiness for the music we were producing. That night's set, which can be found here, featured the return of "Return of the Grevious Angel," an old Gram Parsons tune we worked up long ago but had shelved until that night, and the debut "Be Yourself," a new original track written by Whit. Other highlights include the segment of "Slave" > "Touch of Grey" > "Always Want" near the end of the set.

With our next show nearly 7 hours away in Washington, DC, we decided it would be best to knock out some of the drive that night to save us some stress in the morning. Whit put on his captain's hat and guided our vessel up through the mountains of East Tennessee all the way to Bristol, Virginia where we holed up in a Quality Inn for the night. A late arrival and early morning (noon) checkout had us chugging coffee and struggling to get everyone showered before housecleaning came through. As no Maradeen tour is complete without the South's greatest contribution to the world, we hit the local Chick-Fil-A for some deep-fried, spicy, saucy, savory goodness. 

Back in May on a trip to Washington and Lee University, we learned that Virginia is very, very wide and that it takes a very long time to get across it. Lexington, VA, home of W&L, is barely halfway through the state, and Washington, DC, on the far eastern edge of the state, was our destination on this beautiful Thursday afternoon. Thankfully, the skies were bright and clear as we cruised along I-75/81 through the rolling hills. To curtail some of the boredom in the back benches of the van, we put on Inglorious Basterds and let the dark comedic genius of Quentin Tarantino guide us into The District. Our first glimpse of the city was the Washington Monument, almost immediately followed by the backside of the Lincoln. 

We pulled up to Bayou just before sunset, and as was the case with the Pub in Knoxville, we had to navigate a very narrow pathway on our load-in adventure. This time, it included a bridge over whatever refuse had recently flown out of their kitchen, fitting for a bar named after a type of swamp. Pre-soundcheck festivities included catching up with some old acquaintances and becoming acquainted with some delicious, if not delightfully spicy, cajun pasta. A huge thanks to Laura Steitz and all of the other local friends for coming out and partying and celebrating good health and good times. Some technical difficulties tried to derail our fun, but we weren't going to let that get in the way of rocking your faces off for America.



P.S.
Thanks, Obama, we had you on the guest list and you didn't even bother stopping by...

After a hasty load out, we headed to our respective hosts' houses and rested up for a big day of exploring. Kaitlyn and Thomas were able to watch the President take off from the lawn of the White House in Marine One as he headed off for some diplomatic adventuring in Africa. Sterling, Russ, and Whit took a more historic approach to the city, venturing to Ford's Theater to get an up close look at the story of President Lincoln's final day. As we regrouped by the van, we were met with a large parking ticket that we just nearly missed being written. Thankfully, after communicating how certain details had been miscommunicated, we resolved everything and kept the Mara-train from being derailed halfway through its journey and we were able to head out towards the Big Apple with the wind and sun at our backs and smiles on our faces.

One of the more interesting aspects about New England and the Northwest United States is the density and proximity of the metropolitan areas. In the same amount of time it would take to get from Nashville to Knoxville, a drive where the biggest city you pass has maybe thirty-thousand people, we went from DC; through Wilmington, DE; Philadelphia, PA; Newark or Trenton, NJ (forgive me, they were all running together by that point), and eventually on in to New York City proper. The sheer size of New York is an incredible sight to behold. If I had to guess, you could fit 10-15 Nashville metro sized plots of land into just one of the five boroughs of the big city. 

We arrived in Brooklyn as the sun was setting over the Hudson and dropped off Sterling and Russ at Golda's apartment for the night, then Whit, Kaitlyn, and Thomas ventured on into Manhattan to Paul Bode's. We want to extend an enormous amount of gratitude to those folks for opening up their houses and beds to us, who knows where we would've been stuck without them. After getting settled, we made our way out into our respective neighborhoods for a small sample of the local flavors and libations.

An early morning wake-up call, Russ and Sterling ventured down into the bowels of the city in an attempt to conquer the subway system on their way from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Hyped up on coffee and authentic NYC omelettes, they surfaced near Times Square and set out to find more coffee to help make it through the day and stay alert until the midnight set at Rockwood. After topping off their caffeine tanks, a trip to the Museum of Modern Art opened their eyes to different and novel perspectives on social injustices and just what exactly qualifies as art. After that healthy dose of culture and another stressful adventure through the subway system, the band reconvened with a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Statue of Liberty on the southern tip of Manhattan. Another huge bundle of gratitude and thanks to Kemper and Meg Pierce for their hospitality at the Pier, we couldn't have made it through the night without you guys.

With 4 hours left to go before load-in and a full day already behind us, we made our way back to Bode's apartment to relax and recuperate with a view of the skyline and sunset that can't be put into words. Spirits started to rise as some old friends and new faces made their way over and helped us get hyped up for the show. After what had already been a twelve-plus hour day, we loaded up into Karl and headed to the venue. Rockwood Music Hall hosts multiple bands every night, so load in and out is a stressful, quick process. Thankfully they have an efficient staging system in place to help things move as smoothly as possible for five-piece bands to changeover in fifteen minute intervals. 



We wasted no time kicking the show into high gear with a rousing rendition of one of our newest tracks, "Can't Stop Loving You", followed immediately by a somewhat condensed (10 minutes on the dot) take on Hot Chocolate's "Everyone's a Winner". Some short circuits in cables and a broken string attempted to put a kink in our chain, but we powered through, as became the theme of the weekend, took what was given to us and turned our troubles upside down into a rocking time. You can hear the Rockwood set here, highlights of which include a dirty version of "Messin' Round With You" and a "Restless" that flies into other dimensions. 

After the show, we took one more stab at the big city nightlife, but the long day had taken its toll on most of us and we called it a night before the long drive ahead of us on Sunday. We hit the road around 1 in the afternoon, Eastern Time, and started the long haul back home. Everyone took turns in the driver's seat as well as the back bench to catch up on more sleep, eventually rolling back into Tennessee just as the clock struck 3 in the morning. 

Be on the lookout this coming week for our first trip to Columbus, GA on Friday, then back at Nashville at our favorite spot on Demonbreun, South, on Saturday with our friends BYOG from Charleston!

Greetings from headquarters! After taking a week off from updates, there's a lot of fun to fill y'all in on.

Following the four night run through the Southeast, we took a few days off for rest and relaxation, but immediately got back in the musical spirit for the big holiday weekend. Kaitlyn, Thomas, and Whit all made the trip up to Chicago to help send the Grateful Dead off into the annals of musical history. Sterling didn't completely miss out on the fun; he was lucky enough to find a kind soul streaming the audio and made his own dance party in his living room, complete with light show and hi-fi stereo system (it was almost like being there in person, minus the odor of hippies and whatnot). 
Whit had the following to say about his experience:
"After not being selected for tickets from the mail order lottery, then sitting on Ticketmaster for 5 hours with no luck when the system had crashed, then when the tickets were rereleased, I got thru, entered my info and got to a page that said "Congratulations!!! your order is complete," only to learn that my order did not go through, I basically gave up any hope of going to see the Dead's final run of shows because of the incredibly high demand. 
Kaitlyn was able to sum up her experience as well:
"The day I discovered The Grateful Dead was the day I really feel I discovered music that spoke to me…that awakened sense I didn’t even know I had within. It was the first time I really felt like music had taken me on a journey, and I could never really pinpoint what made it so spiritually powerful.
I was born in 1989, so obviously I was never given the opportunity to see The Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia, but as I studied this band and their music more and more and watched videos of their shows throughout the years I realized there was something much greater going on here, but something I never thought I’d be able to fully understand. There is so much to be said about what happened in Chicago last weekend, and here I am still at a loss for words. It was without a doubt the most emotional experience of my life thus far. I remember this one particular moment on the night of July 4th when they opened their second set with “Bird Song” (one of my absolute favorites)…and I looked around and tried to take in the whole experience: the music, the 75,000 people, the lights and production, etc…and I just had this overwhelming flow of emotions that literally left me paralyzed as I realized that this is what it was like, and for the first time I could feel the raw power of the Grateful Dead and their legacy. I observed the crowd around me and saw people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to be completely open to meeting new people, experiencing new possibilities, and most importantly to the new territories of music that would come with the improvisational nature of the band.

This is the band that really bridged the gap between themselves and their live audience. They avoided repeating songs and stretched the boundaries of their music each night because they realized fans would follow them and see multiple shows in a row…and this ultimately led to what I consider to be the most unique fan base in music history. People began to realize that GD shows were experiences in which literally anything could happen…so they began taping shows in order to record and share each moment with those fans who couldn’t be there. I realized in this moment that the “journey” I had always been on while listening to the GD was just a continuation of a much greater journey that had begun 50 years ago.
These guys didn’t start playing together to be rock stars or get girls or be famous…they just wanted to play and create something unique. And in Chicago last week I could genuinely feel it all...the spirit of this long strange trip that was still very much alive. It was such an enlightening experience that I will probably never fully be able to explain, and it made me even more eager as a musician to create something that can be that complex, familiar, rich, unpredictable, and exciting all at the same time."

Thomas, sometimes a man of many words, sometimes few, said he experienced things he'd never seen that somehow still felt familiar. Mickey Hart, percussionist and mostly full time drummer left the crowd with some beautiful words of wisdom that can resonate with all of us in our lives: “The feeling we have here — remember it, take it home and do some good with it. I’ll leave you with this, please, be kind.”

After the enlightening experience of Fare Thee Well, we regrouped in Nashville for a one-off show with Grammy Award winning producer and guitarist Larry Mitchell at Douglas Corner. Our buddy Russ Garner won the MVP award for that night, playing drums for all three artists on the bill. The show coincided with Summer NAMM, a conference in Nashville for music retailers and manufacturers. It basically amounts to Disneyland, or the world's largest toy-store, for musicians and merchandisers. Outside of the conference, you can find countless open jams and impromptu concerts featuring some of the biggest names in music at nearly any bar or venue in the city. This allows for collaborations and performances you'd never see anywhere else in the entire world. 

The rest of July has us traveling south for a one-off at Big Sky Bulkhead in Atlanta on the 18th, then eventually making our way northeast to play the Bayou in America's capital (23rd) and Rockwood Music Hall in the Big Apple (25th) with a stopover in Knoxville at Preservation Pub (22nd) along the way. In honor of the Grateful Dead's final shows, we've worked up a new cover for this run of shows, but you'll have to come to the shows to hear which one it is.

The new single off Mirage, "Take It or Leave It," dropped this past weekend, as well. You can find it on iTunes or stream it for free on Spotify. We're really proud of the way the record sounds and hope you check out the singles to get a taste of what's in store for the rest of the record.

We'd like to leave you with a clip of another track from Mirage. "One More For The Road," filmed live at the Charleston Pour House.

What a week, y'all!

We had an early start Wednesday morning, leaving Maradeen Headquarters at 9 AM to start our journey towards the East Coast. With the sun at our backs, we pulled into Charleston, SC just as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Load in at the Pour House was as pleasant as we could've ever hoped for, with local favorites The Reckoning putting on their weekly Dead on the Deck concert. Their take on "Shakedown Street" was especially poignant, with the line "Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart" mirroring the name of the event held there the previous night in support of the tragedy that had befallen the town just a few nights prior. Having played the Pour House back in February, we had a small armada of local Maradeeners who made the journey out on a Wednesday night (something that seems quite foreign to Nashvillians like ourselves) to boogie with us. Immediately following our set, a monsoon of biblical proportions began falling from the sky, only adding to the humidity of a coastal town in the summer. Thankfully, the rain brought in any stragglers still out on the deck for our friends in BYOG's set. A huge thank you to them for inviting us to share the stage with them. Be on the lookout for them to join us back in the 615 later in the fall! With a six hour drive to Richmond staring down at us from the next morning, we loaded up the van, and with the loving hospitality of some of our good friends in Charleston laid our heads down for a bit of rest. 

No Maradeen road trip is complete without a stop at Bojangles, so before setting our compass North, we loaded up on chicken biscuits and black coffee to sustain us on our quest towards Virginia. The mid-day drive had a glaring lack of nice scenery, so we set to work on perfecting our barbershop quartet harmonies. Keep your eyes pealed and your ears free of wax for more of those daily updates as we head out on more road trips this summer. 

Our big white spaceship landed in Richmond around 6 PM local time and we were rearing to stretch our legs and start the load-in process. Unbeknownst to us, it was the 6th anniversary of Michael Jackson's untimely death, and a large group Richmond locals had rented out the venue to party in memory of him. After an impromptu dance session to MJ's greatest hits and a gourmet meal of some of the best bar food we'd ever tasted, the Camel cleared out and we were able to load our gear in and settle down for a moment before showtime. As you will come to see, torrential rain became a signature detail of our escapades this week, and Richmond was no different. About an hour before showtime, a light rain began to fall, and within minutes, the whole 8 lane street in front of the venue was now a raging torrent of rainwater. Local songwriter Russell Lacy was kind enough to warm up the crowd with his sad, yet hopeful folk rock. While the rain may have kept some local music lovers from making the drive into town, it must've made the ones who come out quite a bit wilder. A big happy birthday to our friend Mike who we met back in Columbia, and thanks for bringing your crew out so we could celebrate with you!Without a place to crash for the night in Richmond, we hit the road at 2 AM for Raleigh, Whit's childhood hometown and a midway point between Richmond and Savannah, GA. We passed through some serious thunderstorms on the way out of town, but with the help of caffeine and a good playlist, our driver (who goes by the nickname Cruise Control) was able to bring us safely into Raleigh without a scratch. A big shoutout to the Fain family for opening up their home and couches to us. Y'all's kindness and hospitality was much warmer than any hotel room we could've stopped at. After some delicious chicken Philly sandwiches, we loaded back into the van and began working on our acapella jazz improvisation skills. 

Friday night's show in Savannah posed its fair share of challenges, but we took them in stride, albeit a highly stressful stride. The production staff at both the Pour House and the Camel provided us with wonderful sound reinforcement and a stress free environment, which allows us to not worry about mixes and feedback and all the other issues inherent in running sound in small rooms. Savannah, on the other hand, found us running our own mixes and monitors through a ramshackle PA system. Through our combined knowledge and experience playing concerts over the years, we came up with a workable front of house and monitor mix and the show ended up going on without a hitch. It also ended up being one of the larger crowds of the four night run, although maybe not the most enthusiastic towards the music. With a less familiar crowd, we decided to add some old rock and roll standards to our set, such as John Fogerty's "Green River" and the traditional folk tune "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad," made famous by the Grateful Dead (a nod to Jerry, if you will). 

Once again, we immediately hit the road following load-out and loaded up on coffee for the four and a half hour trek to Atlanta so the next morning's drive would be about half as long. After a failed attempt to get through the Last of the Mohicans (Revolutionary English dialect and trying to stay awake at three in the morning do not mix very well at all), we searched the airwaves for NPR's Jazz Night and it helped guide our spirits and bodies all the way in to ATL just as the sun was coming up. We landed at Kaitlyn's folk's house around 6:30 in the morning with just enough time to lay our heads down before waking up to a delicious, if not extremely varied, brunch of BBQ ribs, crab legs, mango, black cherries, and french toast from the wonderful Mrs. Connor. Many thanks to the Connor family for putting us up with warm beds and a delicious meal. We really couldn't have made it through this weekend without the wonderful friends and family that helped us along the way.

With our appetites sated, we started out on the home stretch towards Nashville for our last show of the weekend. Everything was trucking along smoothly up I-75/I-24 until we had climbed about halfway up Monteagle. Having seen signage signaling lane closures ahead, we knew we might hit some traffic jamming, but nothing in our imagination could've come close to the total standstill we wound up in. Saturday night's show was scheduled to start at five in the afternoon, and we were already closing in on three o'clock with another hour and a half left of driving. Jerry and Mikey must've been smiling down on us, the traffic began to thin and we were able to bring the Mara-mobile back up to cruising speed and with a quick stop in Murfreesboro to pick up some gear for the show, we made it to Utah Avenue with just enough time to set up by showtime.

The party was already popping off by the time we pulled in to town and, with the speed of a hippie rushing to put their tarp down at Red Rocks, we were able to get the PA set up and running to kick the party into overdrive. A four night run can take its toll on your physical body, but it also allows for exponential musical growth and more in depth conversation, which will definitely be evident once the recording for the 27th's show surfaces on our archive. The show was bittersweet, as we had to say goodbye to our good friend Taber Bailey, who is on her way to pursue big dreams out in the mountains and open air of Colorado. Best of luck to her on the next leg of her journey through this big thing called life!

We have this coming weekend off the road, but we'll be back at it next Thursday (July 9th) at Douglas Corner with Larry Mitchell and his amazing band. Be on the lookout through July for the next single from Mirage and more details regarding the full album's release! And finally, a humongous thanks to Jaron Guy and David Jean for putting together this amazing bit of live footage from our most recent stand at Soulshine Pizza Factory in Nashville:

Howdy Maradeeners!

In an attempt to get to know you all better and to help you get to know us a little more, we're going to start posting weekly updates from life on the road and here at headquarters in Nashville. This past weekend found us back in the Classic City: Athens, GA, which has quickly become one of our favorite places to visit. Following an interview with Unsung Media over a delicious offering of Publix subs, we jumped in the van and busted our tails to make it past Atlanta without hitting traffic (as anyone who's ever driven through Atlanta knows, it's an unwritten law of nature that no matter what time of day you drive through, you will undoubtedly be stuck in standstill traffic for some length of time). The traffic jam provided us an opportunity to work out some new jams and solidify harmony parts for a few new tunes we've been working up. Whit and Thomas are already bringing new songs to the table since wrapping up the album and we have been feeling them out at our most recent shows, along with some new covers from Jackson Browne and the Isley Brothers. Check out our archive page for a sample of the new material. After conquering the slow march out of Atlanta, we made it to Athens with no trouble at all, loading in and sound checking with plenty of time to enjoy some of the local fare at The Globe. One of the issues that comes with touring to college towns in the summer is the lack of students in town, and while the Athens faithful may have been weak in number, they were all strong in spirit. We reconnected with old friends, made some new ones, and were even lucky enough to have some extended band family make the drive from Atlanta to hang out with us. The light atmosphere allowed us to plug some of the new songs into our set and were very well received,  while some our old standards continuously evolve and grow. 

After loading up the van, we hit the road to Tiger, GA, where we were able to get some much needed rest and relaxation after a long day of driving and playing. Through some miscommunication with a promoter, we sadly had to reschedule our Asheville gig, but that allowed us the time to replenish some vitamin D out on Lake Burton. We spent countless hours out on the boat just taking in the scenery and soaking up rays; there were plans to go out on some inner-tubes but our bodies were in no shape for that following the crazy show at Nowhere Bar.



We'll be back on the road this coming week with stops in Charleston, SC; Richmond, VA; and Savannah, GA. Be on the lookout in the next few weeks another single from Mirage and more details about the full release!