News, Tour

I have survived!!!!

Hello everyone,
I have successfully survived another 4 months on the road. This time with some definite obstacles. Before I get into the whole story, I just want to let everyone know that I spent my entire day (yes, entire day) redoing this whole website. There are two things about it that still bug me (1. the bright yellow color…I like it but if I could tone it down a notch it’d be cool and 2. the font – I like the headers but I don’t like anything else). Other than that this is the closest I can get it to being “cool” and “updated.” Cause like C.C. (drummer for The Great Outdoors) says, “worse than not having a website is having an outdated website.” So it was either delete this thing or work on it…and I chose the latter cause it actually is a helpful tool to have and something I should keep up on. So I added some diddys here and there and now it looks good (I think at least). Anyway, I’ve been in Jersey City since Sunday (it is now Saturday) and I am tired! So much walking and carrying things and meeting people and hearing noises. It has been a lot to take in but I like it. I’ve played two shows this week and I’m playing another tonight at Krogh’s in Sparta. I’m sure by the time you read this it will be too late to go but hey, who knows haha. But besides that in between shows I’ve been spending my time playing music on the streets and subways and I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve been having (my blisters can)…while I was playing some guy walked up to me to just chat for a minute who had a guitar in his hand. This guy, Claudio, ended up being my buddy for the next couple days…we played so much music together it was so much fun…and he is the funniest person ever ~ here is a picture.

IMG_20140731_152109

And here is a short clip of us playing a song.

ANYYYWAYYYYY!! Yep, that happened. And I also met one of the other funniest people in my life…my newest friend Polina who is hilarious and extrememly talented. I went to watch her play last night and she invited me up to play some hand drums with her…where she put me on the spot with some cut out solo spots while she’s yellin, “I GOT YOU I GOT YOU” and going “WOOOOO!!!” the whole time hahah. Later in the night we got lost looking for a place to dance cause I’ve never been dancing before. I ended up just going home after walking around for like 40 minutes haha. Here’s a video of her and her band though… you can’t see anything but you can hear it!!

SO, back to the details. On this past tour we (me and Matt Pless my tour dude, road dog as they say haha) got in a car accident in Omaha. This kinda messed us up as we had to get a rental car, buy a new car, and do a lot of extra driving to get paperwork done and all these things (5 times across the desert hahaha). And it was crazy!!!! But so much fun!!! That was the craziest part of it all though and it went from tour to survival for a minute…but we are good and everything is good and Matt has an awesome car now that might be better than his last! So that is what is going on over here. Next week is tour with my lovely backing band The Great Outdoors. Here are the shows ~

SAT AUG 9 – RAHWAY, NJ
SUN AUG 10 – PHILLY
MON AUG 11 – RICHMOND, VA
TUE AUG 12 – CHARLOTTE, NC
WED AUG 13 – AWENDAW, SC
THU AUG 14 – SAVANNAH, GA
FRI AUG 15 – JOHNSON CITY, TN
SAT AUG 16 – NASHVILLE, TN
SUN AUG 17 – LOUISVILLE, KY
MON AUG 18 – HAMILTON, OH
TUE AUG 19 – PITTSBURGH, PA
WED AUG 20 – EASTON, PA – TBA

Check the shows page for more info like the venues and times and such…also have a facebook event page happening ~ hope that link works for ya!

And just for fun’s sake…here are a few pictures from tour that I enjoy 🙂

Alright folks…that is all. Check out the website if you have a minute. I worked pretty hard on it haha. Let me know what you think…and it might not be that good looking on your phone…but I hope it gets ya all the info you need. Keep your head high and light insideeee. ❤ melissa

 

Tour

1 Month Update ~ Pictureessssss

Heyyyyy everybody!!!
I’ve officially been out on tour for one month now. I just wanted to share some pictures and let ya all know how I’m doing (by the way you have no idea how hard it is to not say ya’ll while in the south…it just makes perfect sense and is probably gunna be added into my vocab pretty soon). Here’s some stuff to look at!!!!!!!

Abandoned insane asylum ~ Buffalo, NY
Image

Hiking ~ Akron, OH. This place used to house an Indian tribe and a 12 year old English girl they kidnapped.

Image

Hanging out with my super fun nephews in Ohio.

Image


Fire in Chesterton, IN. Burning a Christmas tree 8).
Image


My really good friend Jenny and 4 month old Mia…loves of my life.
Image

Tour truth…home sweet home~ Rockford, IL.
Image

Derby Day Party – Louiseville, KY…Tall Squares killing it!
Image

Really awesome backyard in Nashville, TN.
Image

Playing on the rooftop of the Hard Rock Cafe ~ Nashville, TN

Image

Annnddd….how I feel pretty much every time I get to play guitar 😀
Image

 

That’s allllll folks…I’ll try to post some actual stories soon but for now these pictures will do! Playing and hanging in Oklahoma City for the next couple days…yAyyYyYy! See ya aroundddddd

 

Tour

MAY TOUR DATES ~ w/Matt Pless

May 1 – Bloomington, IN 
Rhinos Youth Center
331 S. Walnut Street
Bloomington, IN
w/Tiny Teeth

May 2 – Indianapolis, IN 
Ferret Petting Zoo
571 N Belmont Ave Indianapolis IN 46222
w/Space Age Pessimist
8PM | $3-5 Donation
https://www.facebook.com/events/720166061367798/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

May 3 – Louisville, KY
Derby Day Party
1429 Morton Avenue
6:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/646975222050754/?notif_t=plan_edited

May 4 – Nashville, TN
House show at 49th ave
Details TBA

May 5 – Nashville, TN – TBA

May 6 – Huntsville, AL 
255 Pratt Ave shows
8:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/519290314846217/?notif_t=plan_edited

May 7 – Memphis, TN 
The Courthouse Co-op
1577 court ave. 38104
8:00 PM

May 8 – Little Rock, AK
Afterthought Bistro & Bar
2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 
Little Rock, AK
w/Fitra, Mike Earl

May 9 – Oklahoma City, OK 
Sauced 9PM

May 10 – Oklahoma City, OK 
Bonfire PartayyYY!
https://www.facebook.com/events/513192585451339/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

May 11 – Oklahoma City, OK 
Mashed Potato Puppy Dome
2813 nw 26th street 
8:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/742140892485385/742152319150909/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

May 12 – Oklahoma City, OK 

May 13 – Oklahoma City, OK 
Mike Nice Tuesdays

May 14 – Springfield, MO
The Obec
1936 east blaine
8:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/139563219547515/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=49

May 15 – Kansas City, MI – Art Closet Studios
Details TBA

May 16 – Kansas City, MI – The Tank Room
Details TBA

May 17 – Columbia, MI
House show at Groovy Grrls
116 S College.
8:30 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/442283895874690
/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

May 18 – Des Moines, IA
The Beaqueith
1153 23rd street

May 19 – Omaha, NE 
May 20 – Omaha, NE 

May 21 – Council Bluffs, Iowa
Dungeon House 
33 N 6th St Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503
6:00 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/502146226557908/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

May 22 – Sioux City, IO** – HELP!
May 23 – Sioux Falls, SD – TBA
May 24 – Drive

May 25 – Rapid City, SD 
The Nameless Cave
7770 nameless cave rd

May 26 – Rapid City, SD
May 27 – Wyoming 

May 28th-. Laramie, WY 
The Gusty Gully
902 E. Kearney St. 82070
8:00 PM

May 29 – Fort Collins, CO
Cranknstein
details TBA

May 30 – Boulder, CO
The Paradime
4949 N. Broadway
9:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/463462747120769/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

May 31 – OFF 

Music, News, Tour

TAPE SPLIT OUT NOW AND TOUR STARTS THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!

WhattTTTtTtTT…it’s happening. So excited to see all your lovely faces again and sing songs for people everyday. Life completeness :)….

The tape I’ve been talking about is all dubbed up and finished!!! Big love to Beta Snake Records and Darkwing for having me be a part of this…couldn’t be happier with this split. Totally fun music…I can’t wait to hear it on cassette myself!

Check it out here:

You can order a copy at the Beta Snakes bandcamp ~ http://www.betasnakerecords.bandcamp.com…order soon though if you want one cause supplies are limited haha.

Annnnddddd tour starts on Wednesday ~ we are having a tour kickoff show at the Vernon VFW…here is the poster!
603591_796115110415986_328020329_n

Also, I’ve put together a special tour CD called “Free To a Good Home.” It will be available for free (obviously…ha…ha ha) or for donation. I got some special tunes on there for ya guys (and have currently been up all night burning them to disc)!!! legit!!!! Eventually it will be up online but for now its just gunna be a special something for people who see me on tour :).

OH!! And the Not Rock Records compilation came out…here is my song off of it!! There are seriously 2 volumes of music…so many bands ~ please check it out and support Not Rock..they have been doing some serious DIY’ing for years…and all their stuff is awesome.

And finally here is what the shows for tour in April are looking like:

April 10 – White Haven, PA
House show
7:00 PM
25 Caplos road in white haven

April 11 – Lowell, MA
119 Gallery
119 Chelmsford St
Doors at 8 | Donations
https://www.facebook.com/events/720370328006983/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

April 12 – Quincy, MA
Bane Voice
6:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/555811377850686/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

April 13 – Amherst, MA ** – HELP!

April 14 – Manchester, NH **- HELP!

April 15 – Worcester, MA
The Shop
w/Jake McKelvie & The Countertops, Kismet, Slycer
7PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/1460329504186598/

April 16 – TBA

April 17 – Buffalo, NY – House show – Area of Refuge
w/Scott Maccallum and Friends
7PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/672079132838755/

April 18th Pittsburgh PA
“Don’t Give up the Ship Fest”
Lots and lots of music..check out the event
https://www.facebook.com/events/562583310482833/

April 19 – Pittsburgh, PA
The Star Command house
821 Anaheim Street
7:00 PM | $5
W/Cherry Cola Champions & Placeholder
https://www.facebook.com/events/404691756342539/

April 21 – Akron, OH ** – Help!

April 22 – Columbus, OH
The House with no Name
186 East Hudson street
https://www.facebook.com/events/848837005131235/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

April 23 – Lansing, MI – ** Help!

April 24 – Grand Rapids, MI – House show TBA

April 25 – Porter, IN
House show
1650 Coleman st.
7:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/623200761106394/

April 26 – Chicago, IL
The Lizard Lounge
Details TBA

April 27 – Chicago, IL

April 28 – Chicago, IL
venue TBA
7:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/1435413546702435/

April 29 – Rockford, IL
The Disaster House
714 Locust st, 7pm, $3
https://www.facebook.com/events/238854219632442/?context=create&source=49&notif_t=event_description_mention

April 30 – New Lenox, IL –
Paradise Smoothies

Big love ~ see ya out there, somewhere, someday and someway 😀

Tour

Upcoming Shows

Hey everybody!
How ya doin’? This week has been pretty busy…I’m waiting extremely patiently for the test presses for my new record to come in. It’s driving me crazy!!!!!!! But 500 polybags showed up at my door yesterday so that’s pretty cool. I got a few shows coming up. Just wanted to share in case you feel like coming!
darren ema

And this super awesome gem:
timberwolf

And a tour kickoff on April 9th with Nude Dudes, The Lies, Matt Pless and more TBA! Really excited about that one…it will be a good send off!!!!

Have a nice day everybody!

)

News

NEWS!!!!!!!! 7″ Record, Tour, New Releases, ect!!

Hey everybody!
WeelllllLLLlllL, big news! I’m going back on tour!!!!!! AND I’m putting out a 7″ record!!!!!!!!!! YAHH!!!! I’ve been secretly working really hard in my dungeon of cricket corpses…yes, there are cricket corpses….and i came out with some songs and said HEY WORLD – LET’S MAKE A 7″!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the world (FAKE ART FAKE MUSIC) and (GRUFF BEARD RECORDS) said OK! SO yes….that is what is going on these days. On top of it all, I recorded a full length situation with The Great Outdoors!!!!!! So I’ve been really really busy :).

Glass House EP
500 Randomly Mixed Colored Vinyl – each jacket will be a little different than the other – in a secret sort of way 🙂
Releasing via Gruff Beard Records (NY) and Fake Art Fake Music (VA) and myself.
Will include digital download with an additional song (or 2 possibly) that is/are not on the vinyl.
4 Songs on Vinyl – Track Listing: West Virginia, Gave It All I Could, Glass House, Rain Coming Down
Mastered by Mr. Kevin Carafa (the audio genius!)
Release Date: April 9th, 2014
Here’s where I recorded it which is what I now dub “The Cricket Cave”
Image

Also, I recorded with The Great Outdoors on the 22nd and 23rd of February. We recorded with Chris Ross in Milltown, NJ at his home studio. Here’s a picture from that:
Image

AND!!!!!!! I still have the Beta Snakes Split tape with Darkwing coming out at some point very, very soon! Last news I heard it was coming out mid-March (this month!!!) so more should be happening with that soon.

ANNNNNNNNNDDD!!!! I submitted a song for a compilation on NotRock Records a while back and that should be coming out in the next month or two as well! So I’m gunna be pretty set and ready with a lot of new music for tour and for life!!!!

And here’s the information on the tour:
Again I am going with MATT PLESS (mattpless.com)!!!!!
Here are the tour dates so far for the first half of the tour!!!
The places with a ** going on mean we need help!! If you know anyone in the area that books or a place we can play please let me know! We are open to playing surrounding areas too…and are flexible with our booking 🙂 The other places are either booked or being worked on!!

April 10 – Freeland, PA
April 11 – Lowell, MA
April 12 – Quincy, MA
April 13 – Somewhere, Massachusetts**
April 14 – Manchester, NH
April 15 – Worcester, MA
April 16 – Geneva, NY or Ithaca, NY
April 17 – Buffalo, NY
April 18 – Pittsburgh, PA
April 19 – Western, PA**
April 20 – Akron, OH
April 21 – Akron, OH **
April 22 – Detroit, MI **
April 23 – Lansing, MI
April 24 – Grand Rapids, MI
April 25 – Chesterton, IN
April 26 – Chicago, IL
April 27 – Chicago, IL
April 28 – Chicago, IL**
April 29 – Rockford, IL
April 30 – New Lenox, IL
May 1 – Bloomington, IN
May 2 – Indianapolis, IL
May 3 – Louisville, KY
May 4 – Nashville, TN**
May 5 – Nashville, TN
May 6 – Huntsville, AL
May 7 – Memphis, TN **
May 8 – Little Rock, AK**
May 9 – Oklahoma City, OK
May 10 – Oklahoma City, OK
May 11 – Oklahoma City, OK
May 12 – Oklahoma City, OK
May 13 – Oklahoma City, OK
May 14 – Witchita, KS**
May 15 – Shawnee, KS**
May 16 – Kansas City, MI**
May 17 – Columbia, MI
May 18 – Des Moines, IA
May 19 – Omaha, NE
May 20 – Omaha, NE
May 21 – Omaha, NE
May 22 – Sioux City, IO**
May 23 – Sioux Falls, SD**
May 24 – Drive
May 25 – Rapid City, SD
May 26 – Rapid City, SD
May 27 – Drive
May 28 – Cheyenne, WY
May 29 – Fort Collins, CO
May 30 – Boulder, CO
May 31 – OFF
June 1 – Denver, CO
June 2 – Grand Junction, CO**
June 3 – OFF
June 4 – St. George, UT**
June 5 – Las Vegas, NV
June 6 – Barstow, CA**
June 7 – San Bernadino/Riverside, CA**
June 8 – Temecula, CA
June 9 – San Diego, CA
June 10 – San Diego, CA
June 11 – L.A., CA
June 12 – L.A., CA
June 13 – L.A., CA
June 14 – L.A., CA/Bridgetown
June 15 – L.A., CA/Bridgetown
June 16 – Simi Valley, CA
June 17 – Santa Barbara, CA**
June 18 – Santa Maria, CA**
June 19 – BIG SUR!
June 20 – BIG SUR!
June 21 – Salinas, CA**
June 22 – Santa Cruz, CA
June 23 – San Francisco, CA
June 24 – San Francisco, CA
June 25 – Oakland, CA
June 26 – Stockton, CA
June 27 – Sacramento, CA**
June 28 – Santa Rosa, CA**
June 29 – Drive
June 30 – Arcata
July 1 – Arcata
July 2 – Arcata
July 3 – Arcata
July 4 – Arcata
July 5 – Arcata
July 6 – OFF
July 7 – OFF
July 8 – Roseburg, OR
July 9 – Eugene, OR
July 10 – Portland, OR

News

Update!

Hey guys!
Just giving an update on life and happenings. Life has been pretty busy. 

On Sunday I recorded a song with the guys in Rigbi. It’s a cover song and we did it for fun…it will be  up in Internetland soon!!
522426_562638893804463_300277990_n
rigbimusic.com

Monday –  I finished up some songs I’ve been working on. This is what I usually look like in musicland.
melhotel

On Tuesday I played an acoustic show at The Ding Dong Lounge in NYC
acoustic

Wednesday – Played an open mic in NYC…with this guy
1476710_10152078380496369_328451363_n
mattpless.com

Thursday – Practiced with The Great Outdoors…..
greatoutdoors

….for this on Friday and Saturday! Hope to see you there!

franciemoonweekend2

Tour

More Tour Favorites

“living in a house with no mirrors, i see my reflection through our interactions”

HellllLLLllloOOO! I have returned from the great lands of the West and find myself sitting in Montague, NJ with nothing but a brain full of memories, a bunch of layers on to keep the cold off my skin, and a house with my family just the way I left it. It’s amazing how nothing seems to change even when it’s all different. I wanted to put some time into reflecting on what happened and one thing I can say is I definitely ran into a lot of new music…so I wanted to share some folks that I found particularly enjoyable to listen to…here are my top songs from my top 5 people :)…sorry if I left you off the list…there’s a lot to choose from!!

1. Casper Allen – I met Casper in Fort Collins, CO where him and his friends played some music…then saw him again in New Mexico but I think he’s originally from Texas. I think Matt and I listened to this CD in the car the most…this song gets stuck in my head all the time!

Check out his band page at: https://www.facebook.com/CasperAllenMusic

2. Nicholas Hull  – There’s not much online for this dude…but I genuinely enjoyed his music and loved listening to his set! I saw him play in Temecula, CA at The Dial.

3. Camp Wisdom – I did not play with these guys but this nice woman Robyn showed me their music for about an hour. We sat and smiled and listened to all of their songs that are online…she knew every word. I love their music and want to share it. They are from Olympia, WA.

4. Watermelon Slim – This GUY! Matt and I walked into the only place open on a Sunday night in Clarksdale, MS and saw this…


Life could not have been more complete that night :).

5. Cole Sullivan – Ahhh, yes. Best whistler on this side of the Mississippi, or whichever side he seems to be on. Saw him play in Richmond and he brings you to that happy place where there is summer sand in your shoes and sunburn on your face.

Of course, I will always adore my tour mate Matt Pless’ music which I didn’t add to the list because it’s not new to me :)…here’s one of my favorites:

Well, that’s all for now!

Image

Tour

Tour Favorites – Pictures

Alright guys…here are some places that I all suggest you go to some~day.

Place #1: Trent Knox’s porch (overnight) – Omaha, NE
If you don’t know who Trent Knox is chances are one day you will. Matt knew Trent (the man, the myth, the legend) from previous tours so we went to go visit him. We asked if we can crash at his house after the show and it wasn’t a problem until we got back from the show too late and everybody was sleeping and the door was locked. Luckily there were couches on the porch so we just passed out right there. It felt a lot like camping haha. Trent found us sleeping there the next morning while he was leaving for work and it was pretty funny time. Here’s a picture of the porch…
Image

Place #2: Mount Evans, Colorado
OK – If you find yourself in Colorado for any reason at all…you should go up to Mount Evans. I don’t remember all the details about height and all that but it is the highest paved road in North America. You literally drive above the clouds all the way till you reach snow-capped mountains. At the bottom of the mountain it’s summer and by the time you reach the top it’s winter. You would be surprised at the lack of guard rails on this road…especially for how skinny and dangerous they are. There is no destination on Mount Evans except the top. You literally drive to the top and then have to drive back the way you came. Here’s a picture of me at the beginning of the drive:

Image
Place #3: The Salt Flats, Utah
I didn’t hear about the Salt Flats until Matt mentioned we’ll be going through that way. Chances are you probably have seen the Salt Flats on a car commercial. It is one of the most wild things I have seen and also one of the most wild things I have felt. You literally feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, searching for your soul. It looks a lot like this:
Image
Place #4: Essex – CA
This is inside the cabin I stayed in for a month. No running water, flimsy heat situation, not even sure if there’s an address but overall it was a really great time. We had to walk about a quarter mile to our car and back every morning and night (with a flashlight) cause we couldn’t get the car up the unpaved hill. It was in the middle of redwood trees and was purely peaceful once I got over the fear of mountain lions.
Image

Place #5: With a Friend Holding a Paper Towel on Your Bloody Skull – Blue Lake, CA
I walked into the falling hatchback trunk of the car while not paying attention to what was in front of me…totally had blood in my hair for 2-3 days because I did not have any running water around haha!
Image
Place #6:  A Treesort – Takilma, OR

A Treesort…a resort of tree houses. We got hooked up!! It was such a cool place to stay…there were many activitrees to do there…and spa treetments. And zip lining! And horses! And swings! Needless to say it was a fun place. But the coolest part had to be the fact that there was a bathroom in these tree houses so I took a shower in a freakin tree! Yah!
Image
Place #7: Multnomah Falls – Portland, OR
It really gives me great joy when I see people gather together to look at something in nature that is just too beautiful to ignore. Something like this:
Image
Place #8: Big Sur, CA
I was looking forward to seeing this the whole entire time and it did not disappoint. Big Sur is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Here’s a picture that does it no justice: 
Image
Place #9: Rich People Bathrooms – Los Angeles, CA
Our friend who lives in L.A. works at a really fancy hotel where celebrities go and pay a ridiculous amount of money to sleep. He had to pick up some tips from there and I really needed to use the bathroom. To my surprise (not really I don’t know why I would expect anything different) it was a ridiculously nice bathroom…with little individual towels to dry your hands with. And buckets to put the towels in…and makeup mirrors. It was just a really wild looking bathroom. Here it is:
Image
Place #10: At a Screaming Females Concert (anywhere!!)

Ahhh! Went to go see the Screaming Females at the Echoplex in L.A. on one of our days off and Obits happened to be playing upstairs. I got to see two bands that I follow on the regular in one night. So rad!!

Ok that’s all for now!!! Next show is at Bridgetown DIY in La Puente. YahhhhH!