Jimmie here, coming at you from a car going 70. Life’s weird, eh? Well, I have cool news. Like a new EP!

This EP, “Borrowed Air,” is a collection of four tunes Daniel and I created this winter with VTL and Darren Garvey at the VTL Studios in Chicago, IL and our own home studio in Nashville, TN. It was a blast working with Darren, even though we didn’t actually see him apply most of his magic sauce in person. He also co-produced Death Head as well, which is one of my favorite things in the world. Here’s the “Borrowed Air” track listing.

Borrowed Air
Good Boy Bad
Carry It In Rome
The Movies

You can get the EP one of two ways. First, you can go here and pre-order tickets online to our show at The High Noon Saloon tomorrow with Miles Nielsen and Corey Hart. It’s going to be an amazing show. After the show, I’ll send you a free download link.

The other way is just wait a while. I’ll eventually post them for a day or two on here, and then take them down forever. These are special songs meant just for the people who want them, and I fully intend to make them disappear from the internet into your iTunes collection forever.

Here are the rest of the tour dates, for those interested in seeing us while we’re around. I miss you guys. <3

OFFICIAL MAY TOUR DATES
(check our tour page for more info, and follow us on facebook or twitter for extra updates)

Tuesday, April 30th – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
9:00pm, 19+ (after 10pm), $8 – w/ Minus One Member (Chase Bealer), Anna Vogelzang, TBD

Wednesday, May 1st – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
8:00pm, 18+, $10 – w/ Corey Hart, and Miles Nielsen and the Rusted Hearts

Friday, May 3rd – Green Bay, WI @ Frets
9:00pm, 21+

Saturday, May 4th – Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow
5:00pm, All Ages, $22 ($18 online) – w/ Dan Bern, Field Report (solo), Pomegranates, Twin Tigers, and Chasing Shade

Tuesday, May 7th – Milwaukee, WI @ Linneman’s
9:00pm, 21+, $8 – w/ East of Free, Stephanie’s Stolen Wheel

Thursday, May 9th – Baraboo, WI @ Boo Bash
5:00pm, All Ages, Free – w/ TBD

Friday, May 10th – Racine, WI @ George’s
8:30pm, All Ages, $5 – w/ Katie LaFond

Saturday, May 11th – La Crosse, WI @ Bodega Brewpub
9:00pm, 21+, Free

Tuesday, May 14th – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
7:00pm, All Ages, $7 – w/ Stephanie Rearick Jr., The Crooked Mouth, Mitch Mead

Thursday, May 16th – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
8:00pm, 21+, $12 ($10 adv.) – w/ Cameron McGill and Seryn

Friday, May 17th – Louisville, KY @ Zazoo’s
9:00pm, 21+, $5 – w/ Cameron McGill and Karsten Nelson (full band)

Saturday, May 18th – Champaign, IL @ Cream & Flutter
7:00pm, All Ages, Free Show – w/ Cameron McGill

Greetings, poke trainers. I humbly invite you this evening, April 14th, 2013, to The First Annual Pokemon Red Memorial Luncheon.

This event is special for a couple of reasons. Firstly, while Daniel and the Lion will be performing along with Madison sensations PHOX, we will not be playing our normal songs. Let me say that again: we will not be playing Daniel and the Lion or PHOX songs. Probably. Don’t count on it is what I’m saying. What you can count on is a celebration of the greatness that was Pokemon Red, among other things, like for example Daniel will be wearing a cloak.

In all realness what will happen at the Memorial Luncheon tonight is this:

1.) You bring a poem or a short story, about Pokemon or really anything else.

2.) You read it on a mic that we will provide for you, much like an open mic or story slam. (short stories, guys. no novels.)

3.) We improvise a soundtrack to your story or poem.

That’s it guys. So if you’re not into that, don’t be mad when instead of playing Death Head or Laura we play “Brock Has A Crush On His Onyx” or some other pop hit we will write on the spot.

This show will only be as cool as your stories and poems and Daniel’s cloak. We need you to make this great! Here are the final details for the event (remember, it’s tonight, unless you read this tomorrow or later, in which case – wasn’t it awesome!?)

THE FIRST ANNUAL POKEMON RED MEMORIAL LUNCHEON
w/ Phox and Daniel and the Lion

Sunday, April 14th @ 8pm
@ Johnson Public House
$10 cover (includes a free drink!!)

FINALLY – let me remind you that JPH has a capacity of 50 people, and we’re 9 people already. this show will probably sell out, so I don’t suggest driving 1000 miles, only to get turned away cause it sold out.

That said, I do hope to see you there. If you miss out on this one, we’re playing the High Noon Saloon on May 1st, and will be playing our songs at that one. See you tonight Madison! <3

Come one come all, to our Ice Cream Happy Time tour! Below, I have listed the dates. There will be more dates, of course, and I’ll post them on facebook as they’re added. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or ask them on the ‘book.

ALSO: look at all the great bands we’re playing with. Does it make you hot? Makes me hotter than the jazzy background music in Green Hill Hill Top Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 2).

OFFICIAL DEATH HEAD FULL RELEASE TOUR DATES
(check our tour page for more info, and follow us on facebook for extra shows we’ll add along the way)

Saturday, April 6th – Champaign/Urbana, IL @ Cream & Flutter
7:00pm, All Ages, Free – w/ Ryan Groff and Zach Vinson

Thursday, April 11th – Wausau, WI @ Malarkey’s
9:30pm, 21+, Free

Saturday, April 13th – Sturgeon Bay, WI @ Leathem Smith Lodge
9:30pm, Free

Sunday, April 14th – Madison, WI @ Johnson Public House

The First Annual Pokemon Red Memorial Luncheon w/ PHOX
(we play the soundtrack to your stories and poems)
8:00pm, All Ages, $10 (first drink is free)

Wednesday, April 17th – Rockford, IL @ Kryptonite
8:00pm, 21+

Thursday, April 18th – Flint, MI @ Flint Local 432
6:30pm, All Ages – w/ Doug Mains & the City Folk, Kelsey Rottiers, and TOMTOMs

Friday, April 19th – Holland, MI @ Lemonjello’s
7:00pm, All Ages, $5 – w/ Doug Mains & the City Folk, Bennett, and Chris DuPont

Sunday, April 21st – Galena, IL @ The Grape Escape
8:00pm, All Ages, Free

Monday, April 22nd – Menomonie, WI @ Raw Deal
7:00pm, All Ages, Free – w/ FireFlyForest

Tuesday, April 23rd – Minneapolis, MN @ Aster Cafe
9:00pm, All Ages, $6 – w/ Korby Lenker

Wednesday, April 24th – Minneapolis, MN @ Gather Collective
7:00pm, All Ages, Free Show – w/ FireFlyForest

Thursday, April 25th – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
9:00pm, 18+, $7 – w/ Not A Planet, Medicine Theory, and Six Percent

Friday, April 26th – St. Louis, MO @ Plush
9:00pm, 18+ – w/ Rough Shop

Tuesday, April 30th – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
9:00pm, 19+ (after 10pm), $8 – w/ Minus One Member (Chase Bealer), Anna Vogelzang, TBD

Wednesday, May 1st – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
8:00pm, 18+, $10 – w/ Corey Hart, and Miles Nielsen and the Rusted Hearts

Friday, May 3rd – Green Bay, WI @ Frets
9:00pm, 21+

Saturday, May 4th – Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow

5:00pm, All Ages, $22 ($18 online) – w/ Dan Bern, Field Report (solo), Pomegranates, Twin Tigers, and Chasing Shade

Tuesday, May 7th – Milwaukee, WI @ Linneman’s
9:00pm, 21+, $8 – w/ East of Free

Thursday, May 9th – Baraboo, WI @ Boo Bash
5:00pm, All Ages, Free – w/ TBD

Friday, May 10th – Racine, WI @ George’s
8:30pm, All Ages, $5 – w/TBD

Saturday, May 11th – La Crosse, WI @ Bodega Brewpub
9:00pm, 21+, Free

Thursday, May 16th – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
8:00pm, 21+, $12 ($10 adv.) – w/ Cameron McGill and Seryn

Friday, May 17th – Louisville, KY @ Zazoo’s
9:00pm, 21+, $5 – w/ Cameron McGill and Karsten Nelson (full band)

Saturday, May 18th – Champaign, IL @ Cream & Flutter
7:00pm, All Ages, Free Show – w/ Cameron McGill

welcome to a very special blog post. in this post i will discuss the five things you need to know about SXSW. So here it is, The Unofficial South By South Crisp Big 5. let’s begin.

1.) WAIT WHO ARE ALL THESE BANDS OMFG.

last year, approximately 4,500 bands played SXSW. by my count, this year it was up to about 5 or 6 million. not bad. considering there were at LEAST 2 bands there from Baraboo, WI, this number seems about right. and with all those bands, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed. granted, we did discover new bands, but watching one band shredding in the street, trying to outplay another band right next to them jamming in the street, both bands playing RIGHT IN FRONT of 5 bars all of which have bands…it’s just madness. a lot of low value stuff going on down there, sadly.

my assumption is that at one time people got “discovered” down there, but you’d be wrong to think that’d happen today. i think SXSW could probably use a little curation. just my 2 cents.

2.) SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD!

Zach Johnston of PHOX at one point walked up to me during the festival and just said “Sooooooooo Goood!” and somehow i immediately understood. every person you talk to at SXSW will tell you about a food cart you have to go to because it’s sooooooo goooood. the funny thing is they’re all probably great. when was the last time you went to a crummy food cart? never. and i swear, Austin is the Las Vegas of food carts. there’s like a little renaissance fair encampment of about 20 of them on east 6th street, and i think i saw a dude throwing hatchets at a tree.

3.) It’s PHOX’s Year.

in case you live under a rock, you know that PHOX is making the most interesting and soul stirring music around these days. they’re firing on all cylinders and are certainly on their way to being known nationally. already the good people of Madison have caught on, and at this point it’s only a matter of time until everyone else does.

i was lucky enough while down at SXSW to catch a couple of wonderful sets, and their new music is just as compelling and fresh as their first heartbreaking EP, Unblushing. Their new arrangements allow each of the 7 members their chance to shine, whether it’s Che on the clarinet dancing with the whole front row, or SeanJon ripping shit on the electric a la his screamo days. These guys are on the next level, and you should do yourself a favor and go buy every piece of music they have.

4.) The Outlaw Roadshow Trumps All.

I met so many great people and heard so many great bands at the outlaw roadshow. big thanks to Ryan and Adam for curating such an amazing pool of talent and creating a guaranteed way to find new bands you’ll like. The new act that blew me away the most was of course none other than Lucy Rose.

her songs are touching, catchy, and real. her voice is heartbreaking and sweet, reminiscent of Joni in the way it can move you instantly. and her band is SICK. seriously, the best band i saw at SXSW. go check her out – she’s gonna be big. so glad she came out to the roadshow.

this is the second time Adam and Ryan have invited us to play the roadshow, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out. we had a positive reception from a crowd of music types that aren’t easily impressed, and for that i’m incredibly grateful.

5.) It’s About The Hangs.

at the end of the day, it’s all about the hangs in Austin. a wonderfully weird city that embraces 9 billion of the weirdest people for a week every year, I could see myself coming back to Austin every year. i won’t promise it though – it’s a long, long, long drive.

until next year, thank you Ryan, Adam, and Austin. <3

Yo.  Jimmie here.  I use a Magic: The Gathering playmat as my mousepad.  Also, I cook with garlic.

Ok, so I have some garlicky news for you.  First, we’re announcing our SXSW World Tour.  There are two stops, both in Austin, TX.  Here’s the tour poster.

Ok, Ryan’s poster is better.  Still, we tried!  Here are the two shows we’re playing on our world tour.

SXSW WORLD TOUR

AUSTIN, TX: Thursday, March 14th @ Hyde Park Showcase – 4:30pm @ The Hyde Park Bar & Grille

AUSTIN, TX: Saturday, March 16th @ The Outlaw Roadshow – 2:30pm @ Rusty’s Austin Patio Stage

IMPORTANT:  if you are going to see us at The Outlaw Roadshow, go to the website and RSVP.  It’s a free show and could get pretty packed.

While you’re there, RSVP for PHOX’s set on the 9th, because they’re the best band efar.  I mean, look at this new album art for their groundbreaking video EP “Confetti.”

Bluffed you again.  That’s just an Espeon.  I will link their video EP below.  You must watch it.

FINAL NEWS:  We will be announcing our spring tour in a week.  It’s going to be called the “Ice Cream Happy Time Death Head Full Release Tour” or The ICHTDHFR Tour.  I promise.

I’m still in the process of booking it, so if you want us to come to your town, feel free to let us know on Facebook, and I’ll work real hard to get us there.  Even if you live on the moon.  Especially if you live on the moon.

See you soon, people of the world, Austin, Outlaws, and PHOX – We love you all. <3

Confetti by PHOX.

POP QUIZ: what do all three places above have in common?

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they’re nuke targets, apparently.

whatever, man.

no really though, they’re all cities we’re playing this month. except Linville, that’s just my last name. i might be french, i dunno.

here are the shows we’re playing. if you like our music and you live in either Nashville or Louisville, there’s a percentage chance you’ll come. if so, i’ll see you then. much love <3

NASHVILLE: Wednesday, January 30th @ The Basement – 8pm w/Josh Harty, Ben Flanders Project

LOUISVILLE: Friday, February 8th @ Uncle Slayton’s – 8:30pm w/ Danny Flanigan

Have you finished every episode of BSG?  Have you watched all of GOT? What’s wrong with you guys!? Get on that; the best tv shows aren’t going to watch themselves…

Wait, wait…come here. Don’t go yet. Watch this first.

This is the documentary you were all waiting for. Filmed during the Death Head (side B) release tour, that “Alive in the Garden of Night” 4-band-10-musician madness that spanned the midwest in just 2 weeks, this documentary is a little snapshot of the bad rapping/arguing/beautiful music that tends to go down on such a tour. Please enjoy this piece of art, and after, go check out all the other lovely musicians that made it so beautiful.

PHOX
Boom Forest
Sonntag

Thank you to everyone involved, and a special thanks to Zach Johnston, who filmed, edited, and directed the vast majority of this, and who birthed the idea in the first place with his wonderful album “In Paths Too Dark For Seeing.” You’re an angel on Earth! <3

Well, dang. The Mayans were wrong. What’re you gonna do? Get ready for a cold one, I guess. It looks that in lieu of a fire-and-brimstone apocalyptic December, winter is indeed coming.

Good news is, these days you can simply ignore the cold altogether by staying inside, wrapping yourself in your favorite Packers blanket, and watching billions of hours of the TV episodes available to anyone with an internet connection and a generous friend (thanks for the HBOgo, Vic).

I’ll admit, I like TV more than movies. Feels like the writers left the movie business when it became more about appealing to an international demographic. Have you seen Paranormal Activity? The best stories are on TV, where you can sprawl out over several years and let the characters breathe. And when you spend most of your day writing songs, it’s nice to relax the brain once in a while and just watch some Cylons get their due.

So in celebration of the coming chill, here are Daniel And The Lion’s Top 5 Favorite TV Shows.

We have folded many-a-Tshirts and sewn many-a-flannel CD case to the tune of these 5 series. Watch them when there’s 3 feet of snow outside and you’ll forget that it ever got cold at all. Well, except maybe with this first one.

1.) Game of Thrones

Ok so technically, you’re gonna have to wait until April 10th to watch the new season of this show, and by then you probably won’t mind the advancing 7-year mega-winter, complete with an unstoppable horde of supernatural undead. Yes, you read that right, there are magic zombies. For the nerds – i.e. me – this show is an obvious choice. Swords, check. Magic, check. Dragons, check. But for the non-nerds out there who’ve been hesitant, let me assure you that as an HBO show there’s also plenty of story, incredible acting, and…ahem…romance? Ok, I’ll be real – if nudity and violence aren’t your thing, you’ll cringe at certain aspects of Game of Thrones. Most notably the nudity and violence. Then again, it is HBO, so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Hilarious SNL parodies aside, you should ask your rich uncle Frank for his HBO login info and give Game of Thrones a whirl. I don’t hesitate to call it the very best show on TV.

2.) Battlestar Galactica

Good lord, have mercy. Now there’s a woman who’ll pull an Ol’ Yeller on you if you’re in need. Kara Thrace (callsign “Starbuck”) is one of the central characters in the 2004 re-imagination of Battlestar Galactica, a sci-fi staple that puts the last of humanity on a Noah’s Ark of sorts. Oh, and they’re fleeing from an unstoppable flood of robots hellbent on their destruction.

I missed this when it was on TV, probably because I was in high school and had no idea it existed (*cough* SciFi channel *cough*). FRAK! It’s probably for the best though, because if you give this show 3 episodes, it will take a month of your life. And not the “I’ll just watch one episode before I fall asleep until it’s over” kind of month. We’re talking the “There are how many seasons of Lost?” kind of month. And the “Omg, did I just watch ALL of Buffy?” kind of month.

We’re talking that month everyone thought you were dead.

So if you plan on watching this Cylon epic on Netflix, watch it with friends. That way, you’ll still have friends when you’re done.

3.) Breaking Bad

What more can be said about Walter White? He holds the WWE belt for “Ultimate Badass,” if there is such a thing. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about the teacher-turned-cancer-patient-turned-meth-dealer-turned-murderer. Oh, that’s not a spoiler; That’s the first episode, folks.

Breaking Bad is, simply put, every bit as good as it’s cracked up to be. This uniquely queasy and utterly dark AMC masterpiece has taken the world by storm. It’s hard for me to believe anyone missed the boat on this, but if you did, well, it’s parked at the Netflix boat-lot with a key in the ignition. And consider yourself blessed: There are people out there trying to invent those Men in Black memory erasers just so they can watch this show again (and maybe the Matrix). Of course, you could just watch it again and imagine the whole thing as a prequel to Malcom in the Middle.

4.) The Wire

Let’s be honest: I’m not really picking any surprises here. The Wire has been referred to as the best televison show of the last 20 years, and I would go even further and say it might be the best show ever. It’s definitely my favorite, that’s for certain. To me it comes down to Jimmy Mcnulty, the main character. Look at the guy. He’s all “Yeah, I’m three dimensional. Yeah, I’m not the perfect dad, but I am the perfect centerpiece to the perfect show. So…yeah.” Yeah.

With this one though, You’ve gotta be patient. At least a few episodes. It’s a cop show, but it’s not as wham-bam as the Law & Order/CSI BS-wagon “copper-dramas” that have oversaturated nighttime TV. And it’s HBO, so you have to learn the characters. But it’s worth it. IT’S WORTH IT DAMNIT. Ok, ok. Last one.

5.) Star Trek: The Next Generation

One word: Picard.

sup sup sup. i’m terrible at doing this consistently. probably because i’m so busy working on writing some science fiction madness. where were we?

oh yeah, tour. we were headed out to CMJ in new york, to play the great ryan spaulding‘s outlaw roadshow showcase. little did we know that by the end of the weekend, we would sign on stage with this guy. MEET SOMEONE AWESOME:

this is adam. he is awesome. he plays in a band called counting crows, and is responsible for some of the best songs out there. and it just so happens, he also champions independent bands (along with ryan of rslblog) in a way that almost no one else does: selflessly. the foreign fields guys went on tour with the crows this past summer and were in NYC for the festival.

now that i’m back here in nashville, i’m really understanding just how amazing our whole experience was. adam was kind enough to put us up at his place, along with the fields and boston rock band mean creek (more on them later), and his generosity and kindness really made an impression on both me and daniel. the mean creek folks were class acts as well, pleasant and meek until they stepped on stage and rightly melted face.

their new record is on spotify, and deserves a listen. if you get the chance though, see them live. they are one of the best rock bands i have ever seen live. amazing energy.

we played our set at the bowery electric, and were lucky enough to get invited by ryan to play sxsw in the spring as well, an invitation which we will delightfully accept.

but now we’re back. and after a short string of wisconsin dates (which you can learn about on our tour page), we will be staying here in nashville for the duration of the winter. writing, recording, hatching plans. still, i’m very glad to have new friends, and great memories of NYC. thanks Ryan, Adam, Mean Creek, and Foreign Fields, and everyone who put us up on the way out there!

i’ll end with a video of Donovan Woods playing a newer song on the porch down here in nashville. dude’s been coming down to write country songs and the like, but i’ll always be partial to his folk stuff. stay tuned for more news, and thanks for coming out to our shows on this last tour. it means a lot. <3

we’re driving through michigan right now, listening to macklemore. i can’t describe it really, how i feel about this record. it’s like, i don’t like it much, but i can’t turn it off. so maybe i do.

it’s fall again.

we hit milwaukee with quite a bit of excitement. we were pumped to play the miramar, and to play with hayward williams, who i’d yet to meet, despite our intimate twitter relationship. he’s great on there (@HaywardWilliams).

i guess the miramar holds magic tournaments from time to time. makes sense. i felt very at home within its walls. it helped that i already knew almost every musician playing – the rusted hearts were on the bill, and brought the heat heavy.

we stayed in chicago, to give us a little more breathing room, what with the time change and the drive to grand rapids the next day. along the way i started writing some postcards for our datlbackers, and realized how much i like it. i think i’ll send postcards more often. they’re fun to get, right?

we used the extra time to get good coffee in grand rapids.

madcap is a standard for great coffee. we stopped in and talked all that tiring, fancy coffee talk with a really nice barista, and they gave us each a 1 and 1, which is a split shot espresso and macchiato. delicious, of course. notes of coffee, milk, high altitude.

they had an art installation from their yearly “art walk” still hangin around, which made the inside of the building feel like a floating city.

before long it was off to mulligan’s for the show with valentiger.

valentiger played, we played, and then as the koh kohs played, i chatted with the valentiger guys about music, touring, and life. and even though it was a slow night, at an ill-fitted venue, it was my favorite night of the tour so far. there was a kinship in a foreign place. it just felt good.

touring is a ride. you learn to roll with the snags, think on your feet. and soon you’re road hardened, and then you have to do it for a while more until you get back to normal again. this part of my life feels so strange, but that night in michigan was refreshing. my battery is recharged, and i’m ready for what’s next. see you soon, new york. <3