the life and times

R I P D I O

LOOKOUT!!!

RJD you will be missed. this little fella came in to Sabbath after Ozzy left and helped them make one of their best records, Heaven and Hell, then went on to front Rainbow and later his own band Dio which put out shit-tons of good metal. his voice defines early metal, and was clearly inspirado for Chris Cornell when he rocked before his career as a clown/model. Vivian Campbell, now of Def Leppard, was the guitarist for a lot of those Dio records and was an insanely badass metal guitarist before he cashed in with Lep. spill a 40 y'all.

BRIGHT LIGHTS + BIG BEATS + EFFECTS PEDALS = TLAT

we're leaving for a 10 day tour with an amazing band from Austin, TX called This Will Destroy You. please get your tickets early to these events because they will sell out. TWDY will headline the TX shows, and then we'll flip-flop headlining slots throughout so check the details before you headout for times and tix cost. we end up headlining the last show at the newly venerated Lincoln Hall in Chicago. please come out and get rocked with us for these shows. we'll be playing at least one new song, which is sure to steam up your panties.

TAPES N TAPES N TAPES N TAPES N...

TLAT is half-way through recording our follow-up to Tragic Boogie, which may seem too soon to some of you, but others of you will also recall that we'd been working on TB since late 07, till spring '08, then had to wait till early spring '09 to release it on the amazing ArenaRock label out of PDX, OR.

we are once again recording it on our own in the now (im)famous DungeonMap Room Mobile Studios, in and around some of the seediest parts of town in KC and Chicago. it's proving so far to be our version of Zepplin II, which was also recorded in many different locales while touring for Zepplin I. it definitely adds an eclectic feel to the proceedings, but almost always is a positive influence. we hope to have at least one of the new songs posted for a few days for your pleasure. keep you posted on that one.

SOMETIMES COBRA

eric and i spent the last few weeks recording a couple of great bands in KCs' "anything goes" West Bottoms district. the first was Sweet Cobra whom we've toured with several times and will break your heart with how heavy and beardy badass they are. the next band was Sometimes Why from some place called Toronto, Canada(?). they came to KC and promptly made a simply amazing record like a bunch of pros. we've relocated the studio from Kansas City to Chicago and are working to find a space soon. if you're interested in using us to record your band or project in some fashion, send an email in response to this mouthy masser, and we can begin a dialogue to see if it can work out.

change
-ae

http://myspace.com/thelifeandtimes - you know
http://facebook.com/thelifeandtimeskc - yep
http://youtube.com/thelifeandtimeskc - uh huh.
http://arenarock.com - boogie
http://desotorecords.com - sub hymns
http://stiffslack.com - magician EP + japanese imports with extra songs

Churning and Burning

LO SIENTO

apologies for not being more in touch over the winter my friends. you know how it goes when you're busy, and we've been churning and burning, baby, in a good way. we're 6 songs into a new record that is going to blow minds and change lives, we hope. it's streamlined, angular, passionate, brooding, soothing, driving, ripping, shredding, crushing, inspiring, broad, mellow, heavy as shit, and downright beautiful. hope to be posting a song here soon. you know i'd let you know first. you're one of my faves. you can take a peek at some pics of our most recent sessions on the Media page.

PREPARE TO BE DESTROYED

got some events in the future that i'd like to hip you to. this will also be a first playing Tragic Boogie material in certain states (ahem, Florida). the band we're trading shows with, This Will Destroy You, will indeed ultimately destroy you. they are amazing and we're stoked for the tour. please make a huge effort to get tix early because a lot of these shows will sell out. tix prices and other such essential minutia can be found on the Tour page.

A MERCH NEWS BULLETIN

Blue Reels Hoodies, Life is Pleasure DVDs, Tragic Boogie T-shirts (Am App), Vinyl and CD versions of every release including hard to find Spanish import split w/ Nueva Vulcano (LP/CD). soups on!

KNOBS AND FADERS

in addition to recording our own music, we've also been working with and recording some other great bands and musicians over the winter. email us if you're interested in working with us. we'll squeeze you in.

ok, i'll pick you up at 6:30. don't forget to bring that one thing.
word
ae

Gold Tooth Display

Happy Merry,

ZZ Times

This pic was taken from our most recent excursion with the Get Up Kids while playing Irving Plaza in NYC on Halloween Night, '09. We closed our set with a rousing rendition of Just Got Paid that would've made Rapeman very proud, not to mention the Top themselves. The whole tour was so fun and was easily the biggest crowds we've played to 18 nights in a row. Thanks to the GetUpKids, Kevin Devine and the Goddamn band and all who made it out to get rocked.

Old Souls, The Film

Clayton Brown was/is 1) my old college roommate, 2) the very first drummer in Shiner, 3) currently a film professor at Northwestern, 4) has made all things video for TLAT, but more importantly has released a documentary called The Atom Smashers that was featured on the PBS series Independent Lens, about the Large Hadron Collider.

Yet, even more important than that is the newest video he's created for our song "Old Souls" from Tragic Boogie. The actor in the film/video is musician Jim Becker, who carries residences in Caliphone and Red Red Meat among others. The girl in the video is played by Kate Tummelson, about whom I don't have much info, other than she's beautiful. Keep in mind, the effects in this vid were created solely organically, old school. Not one CGI. Enjoy!

The Almighty Church of Science

Also, we're really excited to have had another of our songs, "The Politics of Driving" used for a Richard Dawkins Foundation video, directed by my old friend Josh Timonen. Check it here. If for some reason you're unaware of just who Richard Dawkins might be, the link here is a good start. But suffice it to say he's one of the brightest minds in this increasingly superstitious and religulous (yep) world of ours, demanding sound thinking on all subjects, not just about The God Delusion, his latest book.

Hoodie Winked

Hot as shit yet, yet somehow cool as Hell. Our NEW HOODIES are navy blue and feature the "reel to reel' design that's increasingly becoming our 'Ugly Organ" design. In zip-up and pull-over. Get you some NOW!!!!!

January

23 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
28 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar w/ Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody
29 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w. Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody
30 Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club

RIP Matt Arluck

Sweet Cobra have recently lost one of their founding members and guitarists, Mr Matt Arluck, after a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the boys in Sweet Cobra and especially Matts' family in this difficult time. Please go by their site to see more about Matt.

ae. cm. ea.

http://thelifeandtimes.com - Shit-hot Hoodies! http://myspace.com/thelifeandtimes
http://arenarock.com
http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org
http://myspace.com/sweetcobra

Fishtailing On The Turnpike

hello you

take a peak at this http://www.lawrence.com/turnpike/. if you'll recall, this was shot at the end of our East Coast jaunt this past April at the Replay Lounge in lovely Lawrence KS, about 40 minutes west of KC. I wasn't sure how it'd turn out but it's recorded and shot really well and we didn't say too many ridiculous things during the interviews, which is often the case it seems. So enjoy!

oh yes, and we're beginning a world domination tour with the Get Up Kids and Kevin Devine and his Goddamn Band, starting October 20th in Minneapolis and ending November 8th in Columbus OH. please take special note of the details of each show, including start times and garment restrictions. no spikes, leather chokers, or fore-arm armor.

i love you more than you know.

ae

PS yes that quote is from Bored to Death. anyone?...

http://thelifeandtimes.com - sweet updates to Merch, Press, and Bio pages.
http://myspace.com/thelifeandtimes
http://arenarock.com
http://stiffslack.com

Mid By MidWest

spent the last few days letting the "tape" roll at our rehearsal/recording studio and are quite pleased with what's come out and about. it's amazing to practice at night vs day time. the vibe is different to say the least. in a good way. it's hard to be funky and creative from 1-3pm tuesdays and thursdays and sometimes wednesday and half of monday and sometimes every other saturday from 2-3:30. much better to loosen up and let it eat, if you will.

so, we're super pumped about these shows and the Get Up Kids shows also in october. should be a good time for one and all. please come and see what's been happening. see you soon as shit!

ae

ps we play at 8:30pm at the St Louis show at Ciceros!

http://thelifeandtimes.com
http://myspace.com/thelifeandtimes
http://arenarock.com

Me and Blago

The Duplex Suplex

hola amigos y amigas! sorry there's been precious little updating here at TLAT HQ2, due to the high rate of weeding through 15 years of shit that has accrued at TLAT HQ1. seriously so much shit. and it all has to be inventoried to some degree. when moving from a relatively big house in KC, to a much smaller but still sizeable duplex-down (that's Chi-speak for 1st floor and basement dwelling), all your belongings go in one of 4 places: in the home, in storage, donated to Goodwill, or in the trash.

it's actually been a pretty cathartic if not ridiculously trying and difficult experience overall. it can put you back in touch with little gems one stuffs away for another time, like now! in fact, my music collection took a massive jump in span when i unearthed boxes and boxes of dusty cassettes which sound surprisingly fat and rich, if you can find your cassette player. my REM and Rush collections jumped back up to its college numbers. it's affirming in some nostalgic way. (sniff). i'm ok.

Keeping Bizzy

since me and the boys haven't been able to rock the bells recently, i've took the opportunity to work on some collaborations with several different and really amazing artists and rockists. the full extent of these shall be revealed in due time. it is totally liberating for me to not build the frame of the song but instead be the one to decorate the room, if i'm not mixing metaphors here. i think you guys will dig each. more on that as soon as i get clearance to blab about it.

September Morn

wicked dates coming up. shows at Play St Louis and Pygmalion Festival in Champaign in September coming up. then we're honored to be included on a massive leg of the Get Up Kids reunion tour in October. the rooms are fucking huge. at least bigger than we're used to...but we're so stoked to finally get loud for a while. check these sound events on the Tour page. see you soon!

ae

http://thelifeandtimes.com - TB + 3 and vinyl now on merch page!?!
http://arenarock.com
http:://stiffslack.com
http://myspace.com/thelifeandtimes

Hang 'em High

Tragic Magic

There is much afoot this summer in the house of the Boogie. and because of that it's been tough to schedule shows. for that we apologize. but nevertheless, we serve a higher god that goes by the name of Thunder Strings Inc., and so we praise thee, oh God, and give to thee sacrificial sacraments of...sacrifice.

to wit:

JULY

11 Kansas City, MO @ Czar Bar w/ Thee Water Mocassins.
15 Ft Worth, TX @ Lolas w/ Adam Franklin solo (Swervedriver, etc)
16 Austin, TX @ Mohawk w/ TV Torso. TLAT is 1st @ 11pm!
17 Little Rock, AR @ Vinos w/ Now Now Every Children
18 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird w/ Now Now Every Children

72 Musicians - The Movie

roughly 2 years ago, a local Kansas City via LA filmmaker named Bob Moz began to chronicle the stories of a batch of local musicians. he wasn't trying to create a story about KC musicians, per se, but it was more about any set of musicians. it just so happens most of the musicians he knows are from KC. i digress.

among many others that you'll likely recognize, Allen (Epley) was asked to contribute an on-camera interview for the film, and it turns out he (I) features quite prominently, he's (I've) been told. in fact, for the trailer they decided to use a live version of our song Que Sera Sera. in addition to showing at all the major film fests in the coming year, they'll be debuting the film at Screenland here in Kansas City, MO on Sunday July 19th at 7pm. please follow this link, watch the trailer, read his blog and try to make a donation to this amazing piece of filmmaking if at all possible. do it now.

Keep It Up Kidz

so, some of our closer friends have known that Eric Abert (4 strings, hairdo) moved to New York with his girl last November. he's been commuting back and forth for tours and writing, etc. it's tough but it's working. now, it turns out that Allen Epley (6 strings, beard, old) will be a resident of the Windy City (Chicago) beginning August of this year, which helps to explain why there haven't been as many shows planned as there normally would've been this summer. Chris Metcalf (no strings, super-skinny) will remain in our HQ here in KC, where we'll reconvene to write, record and rehearse for tours.

But fear ye not for the Life of the Life and Times, for much is planned into the coming year, nee', into the new year even! in addition to these shows next week, we have a September tour taking us to the Pygmalion Festival in Champaign, IL, and then a 3 week tour with the Get Up Kids in October, then to Japan and Europe in Spring '10. Persistent rumors also have TLAT linked for a tour with a band that shall remain unnamed, but rhymes with the word Pursive. more on that soon!

Big A out. check our merch and make us rich!
thanks so much!! stay tuned.

Get Tragic Boogie here:
http://thelifeandtimes.com/merch
http://arenarock.com
http://itunes.com
http://amazon.com

My Right Foot of Fury

From The Mouth of a Gift Horse

wick smith has chronicled several of the shows from this US tour to offer at thelifeandtimes.com as a bountiful gift of sound and sight. on the docket for free viewing and download are the shows from New York at Webster Hall on 4.18.09, Chicago at the Empty Bottle on 4.23.09, and from Kansas City MO at the Record Bar on 5.30.09. take and eat, for this is my body. take and drink, for this is my blood!

Convinced the Internet Is Turning Us to Mush

between facebook, myspace, twitter, shitter, drudge, huff, puff and all the rest, there's so much fucking nano-info on the net anymore that no one seems to be truly retaining much of anything. there's headlines to mouse over without actually reading the story, ridiculous donkey porn to sidetrack, bands to forget, and so much bullshit that matters to nobody that basically everything is a big wash. anybody still here?....

So sound the gong when i re-announce that Tragic Boogie is available at all our shows, itunes, emusic, arenarock.com, thelifeandtimes.com, amazon.com and probably countless file-sharing sites that think all music should be free like the wind. but fuck that because they don't offer our DVD or T-shirts to buy!

Warp Speed

our travels on this last tour, out west you may recall, took us to some different locales than we normally get to play and that's pretty cool. what ain't cool is driving roughly 600 miles a day for the last 3 days of tour to get from Salt Lake City to Billings(?) to Fargo(!) to Des Moines then home. so Dr. Heavy Foot drove roughly 90 mph to make up the difference. no shit.

the shows up there were mostly cautionary tales: if you must go, try to make it a weekend when playing the Great Upper North Territories. the day after Memorial Day will only get you some disinterested folks who apparently get mind-blowing rock bands 7 days a week. so, plan ahead if you must venture upwards!

overall, however, our experience out west was one of our best to date. hope everyone got rocked like we did. played with some amazing bands too: portamento, st. elias, traindodge, kinch, hialeah, ganji, system and station, microtia, cale parks, other lives, shark speed, little brazil, pet comfort, mr. gnome, wolves in the attic, the rest is noise, and others i may have been too ruphied(sp?) to recall. google or bing em to see what i mean. i've been waiting to use bing as a verb.

ok more shows announced soon! word.
ae

OMFG!?! Live Webcast From Record Bar in Kansas City Tonight at 12am CST!!!

yep it's on again.

for those who missed out on the last 35 shows we've just played in the last couple of months, here's your chance not to flake out and stay home to watch Deadliest Catch. here's what you'll miss. rookies get seasick. lots of crabs. big waves. secret stashes of meth in the galley. the end. now enjoy the hell out of this show!!

How To Buy Tragic Boogie

thelifeandtimes.com merch page, arenarock.com merch page, itunes, amazon.com, emusic, our live events at which we play loudly, and surprisingly it's available at many stores in the US, including these here:

AEC HQ *One Stop Coral Springs FL
Amazon.com *Web Store Seattle WA
Amoeba Music Hollywood *Key Indie Hollywood CA
Amoeba Music San Fran *Key Indie San Francisco CA
Baker & Taylor HQ-Accts Pay *One Stop Charlotte NC
Bull Moose Music *Regional Chain Portland ME
Cactus Music CIMS Houston TX
Caiman Holdings, attn: A/P *Web Store Miami FL
Carrot Top *Indie Onestops Chicago IL
Compact Disc Store Indie Baton Rouge LA
Criminal Records AIMS Atlanta GA
Culture Clash AIMS Toledo OH
Dearborn Music Indie Dearborn MI
Dimple Records *Regional Chain Sacramento CA
Disc Exchange CIMS Knoxville TN
Ear X-Tacy *CIMS Louisville KY
Earshot Music CIMS Greenville SC
Easy Street Records *Key Indie West Seattle WA
Everyday Music *Key Indie Portland OR
Fingerprints CIMS Long Beach CA
Good Records AIMS Dallas TX
Grimey's *AIMS Nashville TN
Independent Records *Regional Chain Colorado Spring CO
Insound *Web Store Brooklyn NY
J & R Music World *Key Indie New York NY
Jack's Music Shoppe AIMS Red Bank NJ
Love Garden Sounds Indie Lawrence KS
Lunchbox Indie Charlotte NC
Melody Record Shop Inc. Key Indie Washington DC
Music Millennium *Key Indie Portland OR
Newbury Comics HQ *Regional Chain Brighton MA
Park Ave. CD's CIMS Orlando FL
Phillips Enterprises HQ CIMS Raleigh NC
R5 Records Indie Sacramento CA
Rasputin Music HQ *Regional Chain Berkeley CA
Record Exchange Boise CIMS Boise ID
Salzer's CIMS Ventura CA
Shake It AIMS Cincinatti OH
Silver Platters LLC *Key Indie Seattle WA
SJ Distribution, LLC *One Stop Streetsboro OH
Sonic Boom Records-WA *AIMS Seattle WA
Sound Garden Baltimore *Key Indie Baltimore MD
Streetlight - San Jose CIMS San Francisco CA
Super Discount CD's *One Stop Irvine CA
The Exclusive Co. *Regional Chain Oshkosh WI
Vintage Vinyl St. Louis AIMS St. Louis MO
Von's Records Indie Lafayette IN
Waterloo *Key Indie Austin TX
Wax N' Facts Indie Atlanta GA
Wax Trax Main Store HQ Key Indie Denver CO
Zia Enterprises, Inc. *Regional Chain Phoenix AZ

In A Future World

Murdering The Clock

todays an off day so we got the rocksuite at a motel 9 in medford, OR. shows have been off the hook for the large majority. big props out to Traindodge, with whom we rocked in at modified arts in phoenix. their new record I Am Forever is pretty effin great. thanks to everybody for coming out and getting their foundation shifted. more soon!

We're Playing Quite Loudly Very Near You

MAY
21 Portland, OR @ Satyricon w/ System and Station
22 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern w/ Cale Parks
25 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
26 Billings, MT @ Railyard Ale House
27 Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
28 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews - EARLY SHOW! doors @ 5pm, TLAT @ 8:30pm
29 Omaha, NE @ The Sydney w/ Little Brazil
30 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar w/ Pet Comfort and Mr. Gnome

Watch the Rawk from KC

webcasting to your soul again, although this time we're live from the Record Bar in KCMO. tune in for that rocka-rolla.

Again?

yep, because so many people ask at the shows, Tragic Boogie, among many other items of our prolific catalogue, is available NOW and is well worth your nickel. get it at the shows listed above, itunes, thelifeandtimes.com, arenarock.com. hear it at myspace.com/thelifeandtimes.

word. see you soon! ae