Playing accordion and touring with the Fighting Jamesons!!

The Fighting Jamesons

About roughly a month ago, I joined another band called the Fighting Jamesons (Celtic rock/punk from VA Beach- check it out: www.thefightingjamesons.com) as their new accordionist. I've played a total of approximately 7 shows with them roughly and a handful of some smaller acoustic sets with them as well. The current line-up as pictured above (from left to right) is: Tim Creaux (fiddle), George "Geo" J Bauman IV (lead guitar), Ryan Ware (bass guitar), Mike Powers (leader vocals, acoustic/rhythm guitar), yours truly/Miles Hoyle (accordion), and Justin Connor (drums).
   
    We played the Mohegan Sun in Conneticut (which is this crazy awesome humungous casino- and apparently the 2nd largest casino in the world- or so I was told!). I'm proud to say I resisted most of the gambling (though it looks fun!)- and only lost $3 of the $5 dollars I gambled with (lol thanks for watching my back to our drummer/Justin Connor/the Irish Thor!) I must admit I do not understand craps at all- nor do I want to- I don't gamble more than $5 to $10- if I lose more than $10 I will feel so bad it's not funny. Can't do it! Nevertheless, it was a super fun stop- and the building was huge, I'm sure I was somewhat amusing since I got lost a lot haha.

    Webster Hall in New York City (I couldn't believe I was getting to play somewhere where Gogol Bordello- one of my all time favorites- along with other great acts like St. Vincent and Florence and the Machine had also played-- the venue has these really pretty pictures of past flyers of them and countless others displayed on the wall). We played with two other Irish groups that night: the Broken Banjo Strings and the Narrowbacks- both great bands and nice to chat with. THAT- ladies and gents- was actually my first time in New York City! Not bad for a first timer huh? : )
   
The Lost Horizon in Syracuse, New York (some local punks came out and danced around to us- and we had a great time hanging out with them afterwards!), it was a fun town to be in- and the only place we got to stop and walk around in for quite a bit, it was bigger than I expected- I've never been too far up north (so I never really knew what to expect at each stop really)- if not for the cold (we happened to be on tour during the record breaking lows) I could've stayed outside more, but eh- an incredibly small price to pay for a really rewarding and fun experience!
   
Also McGraths in Dalton, Pennsylvania (quite possibly the prettiest town we stopped in- it was a snow covered mountain- which was a neat surprise, as I'd never been there before and had no idea what to expect- but I felt very bad for Geo and Dennis in that moment- as icy weather and big hills has got to be terrifying to drive the RV in!). The owner was an incredibly nice guy (thanks for the free t-shirt- I'm definitely sporting it!)
   

The Fighting Jamesons @the Mohegan Sun.

    It's been an incredibly exciting time with them, I'm really pumped up as we are very soon about to begin recording what will be the Fighting Jamesons second album, and my first album as part of their new line-up. I feel highly honored and very excited to be partaking in both the new line-up and the new album- and am looking very forward to the road ahead! I'm trying to keep calm- but so incredibly hyper that we will be playing at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City opening for a band that I'm a big fan of- World Inferno Friendship Society (I know right!?) on February 8th! Speaking of World Inferno, I must say I'm a fan of their former/sometimes member Franz Nicolay (whom I once briefly had the pleasure of speaking to outside the Norva when he was touring with the Hold Steady- a huge thanks to my best friend Heath for convincing me to go to that one, because I almost didn't go!) In the mean time- keep your eye out if we stop near you and for the new album! To find out if were coming near you and about the new album just keep looking at the Fighting Jamesons site (www.thefightingjamesons.com) to find all you need to know! As for now- I am off to practice!