Out on the road with the Fighting Jamesons.....

Our lead guitarist Geo Bauman.

We kicked off May with a pleasant return to McGrath's Pub in Dalton, Pennsylvania. We had a great time, as Dalton is a beautiful mountain town, and the owner Jimmy is a huge fan and highly hospitable towards the band; he and his staff treat us like kings, every time we visit his place is something to look forward  to. The next day we played nearby in Scranton, Pennsylvania for the Scranton Celtic Irish Festival as well. It was a great festival set inside, with a multiple stage layout; we were really stoked to be headlining it and hope to return to it again.

Niagara Falls, NY.

Following that, we did a make-up date at the Rapids Theater in Niagara Falls New York on May 18th, as our original date back in March got snowed out by the blizzard at the time. Rapids is truly a blast, its an incredible venue full of history, charm, and style. The building is massive, the sound in the room with its immaculate mural ceiling is incredible, and the owner and the staff are the greatest any band could hope to have the pleasure of working with. It used to be an opera house and still has a very neat intricate look to it on the inside. Also, as we found out on the ghost tour last time- apparently it's haunted and was once even featured on the  TV show Ghost Hunters. Luckily while we were there I also got to take a quick peak at the falls for the first time, definitely an impressive sight to see.

at 9 Irish Brothers Lafayette, Indiana.

Shortly after the Falls, we came back down for a street festival in Rockville, Maryland. The event had a great layout with several stages spread across the area with multiple blocks shut down, completed with numerous vendors lined up in between. Following that, were several dates playing for the independent 9 Irish Brothers chain again in Lafayette, Indiana. We were really excited for them to have us back again after having us last March, although the new location was delayed its grand opening, we played the other two locations for three days and had an excellent time. We're looking forward to whenever we do return and the new location when it is ready, but in the mean time we had a blast playing the other locations.

Next up in was Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at the Dog Fish Head Pub, where the beach crowd was definitely a fun bunch of people to play for, they were ready to dance around and have a great time; we gave a killer set and were glad to finally make it a stop along our route. It was particular interesting since it was a new stop for us, and we always love exposing our music to new audiences everywhere. The next day was Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey for their 42nd Annual Monmouth Irish Festival. It was located near the horse races, it was a nice family oriented event; with both traditional Irish acts and more fusion groups such as ourselves.

Last stop for the month of June was the Fairfield County Irish Festival, it was a wonderful large outdoor event, with 3 beautiful tent stage setups, food and beverage stands, topped off with a nice roster full of a variety of different acts-- both music and dancing groups. During the day we were lucky enough to have some down time to watch some of the other groups, pipe bands, and some dancing, before setting up on the main stage to have the honor of closing up the night as headliner. We'll be hitting the road again in July, and in the mean time are cooking up some ideas for some new original material. 

Some home-state shows with the Fighting Jamesons....

You wanted the best... you got the best!

We recently finished up some Virginia shows in Roanoke, Fredericksburg, and Harrisonburg- also a show in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wrapping up the end of March, we played at Hard Times in Fredericksburg where we got to be KISS for just that one night (Mike got them to change the lights behind us to KISS lol). I'm a big KISS fan by the way, and I'm possibly semi-responsible for causing Mike to impersonate Paul Stanley from time to time (in the sense that I encourage this lol). My favorite Paul Stanley-ism is, "Why you people are hot! Why you're so hot- you're... HOTTER THAN HELL! (*then they roll straight into that song)- lol classic. Anyways, they really had some highly flashy stuff with the lighting in that place- and it made for a funny picture too. It was a great space, a long deep room- people were hopping around and having a good time, and the staff couldn't have been nicer. It was a rewarding feeling knowing we'd won the audience over that evening.

Starting things off in April, we headed out to Roanoke, Virginia to Martin's Downtown. The show was opened by Black Mountain Revival, a bluegrass band consisting of stand-up bass, acoustic guitars and mandolin. Though it was my first time meeting them personally, they go way back with the older members of the band- we had a great time hanging out and playing shows with them; they were a definitely a nice group of guys. Their frontman Chris was especially hospitable to us, and also really hilarious.

Justin the, "Irish Thor" Connor at Martin's Downtown

We got a chance to stroll around Roanoke a bit before we played; definitely a pretty town, nice atmosphere. It was wonderful to see some dedicated fans that have been into the Fighting Jamesons since the beginning both before and after the show; showing up with older Jameson's t-shirts. It means a lot to us in the band, because it's very inspiring to see their enthusiasm when they come out to the shows. Also, after speaking with some of them, they seemed highly pleased about the new record and the direction the band has gone in on the new album.

The next night, we headed out to Raleigh North Carolina to play at Tir Na Nog. It was a great venue, a beautiful large Irish bar- ripe for the Jameson's to set up and play our brand of Celtic-rock/punk. We got a great response out of the audience that night, including a nice couple who had seen us previously in March while on one of our dates with Lucero who liked it so much they said they had to come back- along with a nice handful of some fans from previous stops in the Raleigh area.  

at Madipalooza.

Lastly, was our show for, "Madipalooza" at James Madison University. For me personally, this one took the cake! The JMU students went nuts- I have a great batch of some very fun new memories of how wild that crowd was: the "Dr.Pepper-shirt dude" (he was my favorite) crowd-surfing in a giant circle was pretty epic, the gentleman's mosh pit crew to the left-front-center, the purple tank-top dude, the "you with the glasses" girl on her friend's shoulders, the security dude who did the "2-3!" on the Irish Rover- the students at Madipalooza were a rowdy bunch and they definitely know how to rock a Jamesons show. It was wonderful chatting with the students afterwards and conversing with folks at the merch table too. If and when we go back in the future- I'll be thrilled to play there again. These past few shows have been a great run- it's been great seeing older fans return, but also making some new ones along the way. In the meantime, we've got a great handful of shows coming up in May with a lot to look forward to.

March Tour w/the Fighting Jamesons- supporting Lucero, Shamrockfest, & more!!!!

w/the Fighting Jamesons @the Norva March 15th, 2014

Just got home recently from the end of our tour for March with the Fighting Jamesons. Previously in late January and throughout February we had recorded our new album, "Every Day Above Ground"- and  then set out all across the country to tour supporting the new album- which yes, is available on i-Tunes and also available on our website or at any of our shows/as it was released at our hometown/release party show at the Norva a short while ago on March 15th. "Everyday Above Ground" is my first album with the band, and the bands second album altogether- and it consists of 12 tracks- 9 originals, and 3 covers (2 traditional Irish numbers- "Rocky Road to Dublin" and "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya" + 1 old Virginia folk-tune redone Jamesons style, "Mid the Green Fields of Virginia")- its got some of what you would expect I'd think in terms of the Irish folk-rock/punk that the band was already known for before I joined, but also this new album has some extra little surprises along the way such as our fiddle player Tim's bluegrass influences shining through and making an appearance on, "The Ramble Home" and a bit of a semi-gypsy vibe on the song, "Song For Letting Go" along with a few other ingredients added to the melting pot. You can get previews of it on Amazon and CDbaby as well. It was a really great experience recording it, and I had a great time in the studio with the guys doing my takes, hearing their takes, and watching Mark Padgett's process in terms of recording. It was definitely a memorable experience and I had a great time being a part of it. A huge thank you to my bandmates, Mark Padgett, and all of the indiegogo contributors who helped make it all possible, as well as my family and my fiance for their continued encouragement and endless support.

Billboard for our show in Vally Center, CA

In my opinion, some highlights of the tour in particular were the Hook's Irish Rock Festival in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, our stop at the casino in Harrah's Rincon Pavillion in Vally Center, California, our hometown show at the Norva celebrating the release of, "Every Day Above Ground", our three dates supporting Lucero, and of course ShamRockFest at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.!

I think I came to the conclusion that I really love playing outside when we were in New Jersey, I think I've known this somewhere in the back of my mind- but the light bulb went off that day and I was like ah! this feels so great out here! The Norva of course was bound to be fun as it was our hometown show, and it was great to officially release the record and see so many familiar faces in the crowd. The three dates with Lucero were spectacular: They are touring to support their new EP, "Texas & Tennessee"- I even learned quite a bit from watching them: everything from little tips of how I noticed Mary run their merch, their setup, and Rick Steff's piano/organ/accordion performances were inspiring and brought to light some interesting techniques. Rick Steff is actually a really interesting guy- he's recorded with Dexy's Midnight Runner's and been involved with Cat Power and some other really notable acts; though I didn't get to chat with him too much, he seemed extremely intelligent and had a really funny neat story he shared with us briefly one night about a tour he once did with Hank Williams Jr. in both the U.S. and Canada.

On top of all this- I had a complete blast at the show in Valley Center, CA. We had a really powerful performance that night, a wonderful response from both the audience and the staff there. I also was lucky enough to get to see my future-in-laws- my fiance's oldest brother Lee and his wife Mary- and had a great time chatting with them afterwards, it was really nice to see someone I knew in a place so far from home, and we had a great time hanging out after the show.

The Irish Sea (of people!) at ShamRockFest

ShamRockFest in itself is a truly amazing and spectacularly enormous event! We arrived early enough to get to watch a lot of other great acts: I feel perhaps most interesting was Black 47. Apparently this is their last ShamRockFest and they are retiring in a few months- but I really enjoyed the majority of their set (I missed just the first couple of songs)- they have a really unique blend of Celtic, punk, and reggae complete with horns, bagpipes (I saw possibly the most amazing bagpipe solo I've ever heard in my life that day!), tin whistle, and were also the only Irish band there you could both skank and jump around to. It was a really special set, it also dawned on me that their frontman is sort've like a Celtic-rock version of Richard Hell- which was really cool and unique. I am definitely planning on getting their final album, "Final Call" for my turntable in the near future!!
As far as having the honor and privilege to play at ShamRockFest, it was absolutely a thrilling and changing moment- it was just a sea of people- to have roughly 30,000 people singing along to our cover of the, "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme and then launching into the opening track, "Year Gone By" off our new album was a total rush. I'll never forget the ShamRockFest experience and am looking forward to hopefully returning to it next year (as I know the band has played it 2 or 3 times before I joined)- it's a remarkable festival and definitely a special occasion to attend both as a fan of the music and as a performer as well.

I've also very recently decided to start writing some material for a solo EP, as to what it will be called is currently undecided and I just have a song and half written so far- it will be a long journey and something I work on only in between my time with the Fighting Jamesons- it could easily be a year or two before it's all written, recorded, and released- but it's something I've decided to carry forward with and am excited to have begun gradually writing it. In the mean time, please check out the new Fighting Jamesons album, "Every Day Above Ground"- as I'd/we'd love to hear what you think of it and hope you enjoy it!  Until next time......

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!