That’s a good man right there!  Always keeping us going!

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That’s the new album in that box! Shipping it to NYC to be mixed!! WOO HOO!

Off the road + into our makeshift farmhouse studio! A couple finishing touches + re-recorded the song ‘Alone.’ Sending the album to the talented Zach McNees next week to start mixing!  HOORAY!

Found these and more in the house where he grew up!  And yes, that is an Eddie Van Halen biography.  To be fair, while he was listening to Van Halen, I was rocking out to my California Raisins tape.

We ended our Spring Tour this Saturday on a real high note.  We got to play with the very talented Blue Grass, IA/Nashville based songwriter David G. Smith at a South Main Events in Monticello, IA.  Thanks to Dave and Pam for having us and to all the lovely people that came out to the show.

We’ve been on a real roll of playing beautiful barns as of late.  Friday night found us in another great barn in Des Moines, IA for a surprise 10 year anniversary/vow renewal.  The bride’s face when she walked in and saw 100 of her closest friends and family in this barn was amazing.

We got to play two nights in a row (including this crazy barn) with our good friend Andy Zipf!  If you don’t know Andy’s songs go HERE now, launch the music player + listen to ‘Reach is Wide.’

That’s Matt sitting on a picnic table playing guitar on a driving break in Minnesota.

We played a house show with our friend Paul in Owatonna, MN.  Paul’s a teacher at the local highschool there and had us come in earlier that day to play a few songs for the kids and give them ‘advice.’  I’m seriously not sure that the people living in a van and playing music full time should be handing out advice to highschoolers, but we tried our best!

Late Saturday night after the show found us driving through farmland in Iowa, which was a perfect way to experience the super moon.

THANK YOU to everyone who came out to our shows this spring!!  We have done 40 shows in 18 states over the past two months and it has been a blast.  Thanks also to all the venues and promoters and house show hosts who set up shows for us along the way – So many people worked really hard to help us make this a successful tour and we are super grateful! 

We have a few summer shows in the works, but we’re taking a bit of a break from the road now to finish up the new album and to book a big tour this fall to promote that album!  Let us know if you’d like us to come through your town!!

We were so honored to be invited to play the Red Barn Concert Series in Montgomery, MN this past Sat. night, joining a list that includes Eliza Gilkyson, The Jayhawks, Dan Wilson and Chris Smither.  The show is held in a beautiful old renovated barn and it’s just one of those places that has the magic.

A huge thanks to the folks at the Red Barn Concert Series for having us!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

This past week in Chicago we got to do a show with the Golosa Russian Folk Choir.  We have played over 150 shows in the last year, and this was a truly unique experience.  Not only because there were about 20 people in the choir, but because no one has ever busted out a toe touch in the middle of a show before!

1. Our van hanging out with another VW Camper Van on a Brooklyn street.

2. That’s Creighton and Jessi of Workshop, a badass Dumbo Brooklyn based design firm.  Jessi and I took ballet together in Starkville, MS and she is now a rainbow loving, thrift wearing design rock star (check out her amazing blog Lucky So and So) and I had the pleasure of visiting her studio to deliver a birthday present from Chattanooga based company Color Cloud Hammocks.  I love me some Color Cloud Hammocks + it was awesome to be a part of these birthday shenanigans.  It is a small, colorful world.

3.  That is a really terrible picture of a really magical night.  My friend Ed Romanoff had his CD Release Party at the Rockwood Music Hall and I am so glad we were in town to catch it.  The self-titled album (which we got a preview of and I think is officially released in May) sounds ridiculously good.  It’s one of those very rare albums that from the first moment to the last, sounds delicious and lush, but it still has a lot of room in it.  There’s not a note or word out of place.  Ed was joined on stage by a great band and tons of fun guests, including Mary Gauthier and Tift Merrit.  So friggin’ fun.

4.   At this point you’ve probably already heard me slobber on and on about Carter Sampson.  We were thrilled she could join us this past Saturday in NYC with her friend Joe Mack at the Living Room!!

5,  6, + 7.  We did a show in Baltimore a week and a half ago and got to spend some time with my sailor Richard on his boat.  I wrote ‘Never Be’ for Richard and he never ceases to inspire me and cause those kind of gum showing smiles you know are for reals!  Ha.  It was a beautiful, sunny, perfect weather kind of day in Baltimore on the harbor and we ate crab cake sandwiches, drank beer, played music and stole song ideas from a sailor.  HAPPINESS.

8.  Pre-Show van nap!

9. That’s just Baltimore again, showing off.

And thanks to all of you who have been coming out to our shows this spring!!  The van (knock on wood) is still running and we are having a blast as the music takes on a new life.  It’s been great to see so many of you who we haven’t gotten to see since we first began this journey 30,000 miles and one year ago.  Thank you for your continued support.