! hello populace of the United States of America [and beyond!] !

it is with utmost delight that I announce at last the cross-country North American April TOUR we have been planning for many months now.

[we are working on a pun-ny name for the tour, but didn’t settle on one before this went to press.  it will come.]

here are the UPDATED dates, cities, & venues:

basically, the full band is touring the West Coast (for the very first time) with our friendsWalter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys (who are touring in support of their STELLAR new album).

to make this tour happen, myself and Tony will be driving all the gear and ourselves to and from the West Coast in the conversion VAN that Tony was GIVEN, doing duo shows on the way and back.

here is a picture of the van, in the Boston snow:

(expect many more photos of this van ~ particularly the inside of it ~ throughout April, as we keep in touch with everybody at the usual social media hangouts.)

you can help us make this tour a success by COMING OUT if you are in our line of fire, and by spreading the word to those you may know in our path.

and we really appreciate this in advance & we seriously cannot wait to play for you!

for more detailed information about the individual shows, check the shows page here.

i will be updating the info as everything falls into place.

some highlights:

our Portland, OR show will feature us and the Toys playing a LIVE SCORE to the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent film, Häxan, at the Hollywood Theatre, on Sunday, April 14th:

Tony & I are working on new, never-before-performed material as part of our duo shows.
i got a new keyboard that can do electronic gorgeousness, & Tony will be multitasking on upright, electric, sintir, accordion, trumpet, and percussion (at least that is his plan ~ i’m not convinced we can fit all that stuff in the van).

Tony & I are super excited about holding things together to and from the full band leg of the tour.

check back often for updated info.

hope to see you all around these far-flung United States.

~ Singer Mali

Lots happening in our individual and collective lives ~ we feel lucky to say it’s been a winter of collaboration and creation:

We are in the process of booking a WEST COAST TOUR in April, that will entail Singer Mali and Tony doing a cross-country duo tour to and from, and then the full band gigging from Seattle to Austin.  Stay tuned ~ check the calendar for shows as they are booked.

~

Singer Mali is taking part in an experimental multidisciplinary theater project called Lunar Labyrinth, inspired by an unpublished short story be Neil Gaiman, produced by Liars and Believers, and directed by Steven Bogart.  It goes up at Oberon in Cambridge, MA on Wed, Feb 13th, and is pretty much sold out, but if you show up early, you could get lucky.  Click on the poster image below for more info, and tickets:

Here is a little video interview of Mali talking about the show:

~

Petaluma is in the process of recording her first solo album!  Go Lulu!  We’ll keep you posted . . .

~

Mali and Tony are taking part in a live music & dance event, giving life to Beck’s new album, Song Reader, at the historic Somerville Theater in Somerville, MA, on Thursday, Feb 28th.  Produced by Burns and Webb (Jaggery friends and frequent collaborators), the event will feature interpretations by over 150 different performers, including a 50 person choir.  It’s going to be ENORMOUS.  Tony will be on stage for much of the night, and Mali will be singing as well as choreographing.  You can get tickets here, and watch a clip about the show below:

Hope to see some of you Boston folks in February, and many more of you in April!

Keep in touch.

Our 5-song EP, Private Violence, has been officially released. You can order your very own copy via bandcamp here.  You can read the press release here.  We hope you will give it a listen.  Please pass it along, and share freely.

We are pleased to announce the Private Violence TOUR DATES:

Private Violence is an EP we’ve been working on for quite some time.  The five songs on the EP were all inspired by Singer Mali’s feelings after reading Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which took hold of her and didn’t let go.  We will be playing a few East Coast dates in the days preceding the official release (11/13/2012).  The tour begins with Org: Literati ~ a literature-inspired multimedia affair, featuring some of our favorite Boston-area artists; NYC’s show will be at our favorite listening room in the city, and the band we are sharing the bill with ~ our junkyard cabaret friends Not Waving But Drowning ~ designed for us what may be the best poster of our career (see here);  in addition, we are playing in DC on a Saturday night (dream come true) at the estimable DC9 and we finish off in Philly, at The Fire, opening for a project called When Guitars Attack that includes one of our favorite Philly singer/songwriters, Andrew Lipke.  More info about all shows at the right sidebar –>

Please spread the word about these shows ~ especially to your weirdo-rock loving friends.

Hoping very much to see you East Coasters on the road!

it is official: the Private Violence EP will be released on November 13th, 2011.

We are incredibly excited to unleash this EP to the world ~ in physical CD format complete with illustrious booklet full of lyrics, photographs (by the incomparable Noah Blumenson-Cook) including collages of the art pieces that Rachel made as part of the local-and-digital-only pre-release that was Org: Murder Ballads.

Mali is busy booking the Boston CD release show (likely an evening of literature-inspired performance) as well as a smattering of Northeast tour dates, so check back soon for updates!

here’s a preview of what the cover looks like:

we are delighted to be taking part in this year’s Ars Nova 54/10 Music Marathon (“The Best Music You’ve Never Heard”) which aims to showcase “off-kilter and dynamic bands on the brink.”  Ars Nova is a NYC-based nonprofit, and an artistic hub “committed to developing and producing theater, comedy, and music artists.”

address: 511 West 54th Street, NY, NY 10019

our set is Thursday, August 9th at 10pm.  show is all ages.  more info and tickets HERE.

get there early to check out Sam McTavey, and the incomparable Heather Christian & the Arbornauts, who’s shared stages w/ us in Boston.