CARLON is doing a boat cruise concert around Manhattan on Thursday August 6th with their friends Black Taxi.

7 pm Boarding / 8 pm Departure / 11 pm Return
Skyport Marina, at 23rd Street & the East River
$20

Get your tickets here (if the show is sold out, there is no way to get tickets on the day of the show): http://tinyurl.com/cu2bzo

The summer has again proven it’s haste and we merely hang onto its wings with some scattered shows and a lackluster practice schedule.  Though …we the people … coincidentally began this week lighting the proverbial fire under our own asses with back to back shows, an old fashioned practice and a good writing session. The anticipation of new material burns and I wouldn’t be surprised if we surprised ourselves and you in the months to come.

From Mike: I began watching documentaries on HULU this week,and have tried to forget my television. I haven’t watched many clips, but today, amidst the downpour of rain we’ve been having in NYC, I watched two. One was about the ancient Incas and the other more notably was about the Buena Vista Social Club.   A documentary based on the 1997 album is named after an actual music club from the WWII era where some of the involved musicians used to play. The album is a compilation of sorts, put together by American Musician/guitarist Ry Cooder and Cuban musician Juan de Marcos Gonzalez.

The film captures the happenings and lives that are the soul of the album and gives you an idea of what it was like for Cuban musicians during the 40’s and 50’s playing Cuban music. Rolling Stone (for what it’s worth) voted the album #260 in the Top 500 albums of all time. That means #260 ever! In the existence of (wo)man! Not bad considering the entire album was recorded in six days?!

If you have an appetite for latin music or documentaries check out either documentary. Buena Vista is easily in my Top 10.

From Jared: I booked a band for my wedding today.  It was a rather hilarious ordeal, sifting through all these videos and mp3’s of wedding bands.  They all seem to really like that “Let’s Get it Started” tune by the Black Eyed Peas.  My future mother-in-law contacted all these places first and told them I was in a band, and that I’d ultimately be picking which group played our big night.  Once I got in touch with them, the first 5 minutes of every conversation consisted of the same cookie-cutter questions I guess any musician would ask another musician who was trying to sell themselves.  When they all got to the part where they asked if I played covers or all originals, I could sense a slight undertone of envy in their voices. It was interesting.  I guess no musician really grows up and says “I want to be in a cover band.”  No offense to those out there who are, but I guess it just becomes something people fall back on if their own music doesn’t prevail.  If nothing else, it definitely gave me some motivation.  Now is the time for us, and for me.  In 5, 10, 20 years from now, I want to be booked at MSG New Years Eve, not Joe Shmoe’s wedding. Gotta head out to rehearsal now to make sure things go my way!  See you tonight at Arlene’s Grocery.

From Jared: “In this corner….weighing in at 210 lbs., and offering a full-time salary, health benefits, and a 401K……WORK!   And in this corner….weighing in at 256 lbs,….and the hopes, dreams and aspirations of a hungry musician…..CARLON!!!!”   The ongoing brawl of work vs. band in my life (and the band’s life) has recently been taken into the hands of the powers that be.  I got laid off from my studio job this week.  It’s so bittersweet that its giving me the shits.  The suddenly more than flexible schedule and wide open possibilities are overly exciting, but the question of how I will pay next month’s rent keeps looming over me.  If anyone knows how to make a descent living + health insurance + a flexible enough schedule to tour throughout the year…please, by all means, let me know.  Headlining Maxwells in Hoboken tonight…..rock.

That being said, I went to Piccolo’s in Hoboken to get some soup when I got back. The owner Pat said to me “Hey, how you doing?” I replied like a wise ass, “Awful. You want to talk about it?”  Pat responds, “Go fuck yourself.”  Home.

From Mike: The Fire in Philadelphia is an unassuming venue, on a quiet shadowy corner with two signs out front. I don’t know what the one says but the other (smaller one) says “The Fire”.  We played there this past Friday.  The stage is set in the back of the second dimly lit room and lacks any sort of conventional stage geometry. It looks like a living room turned long ways. This, along with the railroad car shape of the rest of the room, makes for an almost vaudevillian like venue. The gypsy-like acts also add to this mystique.

Long story made shorter. The Fire is warm and great. The sound is not ideal nor the best we’ve had by far, but the charm and attentiveness of the audience almost makes you careless, without playing like you care less. I haven’t had a beer on stage in, well, I can’t remember how long. To be honest, I’d imagine one would feel a little strange without one at The Fire. Within the first song of the set, the room fell silent, something that is so removed from shows in NYC. The people wanted to be entertained and wanted to hear something new. They weren’t on their cell phones or talking about their week. They were trying to forget all of that.

This is what makes the Fire so special. Something like sitting around an actual fire with your friends.  As it were, the allure of the now infamous “beer” was what might have led to our demise in this newly depicted utopia. Four songs into the set, my amp stopped working. It didn’t just sound bad or start to crap out. It just stopped working all together. Luckily Ryan played a couple of songs he’d been working on to hold the set together while the sound guy and I trouble shot resorting to running the Acoustic in DI in time to close out the set.  I hope we play The Fire again really soon.