Good summer to ya’ from the banks of the Colorado.  Happy to report on some things here in the camp that should make for a solid second half of the summer.

NEW EP:
There’s a new release coming up for September.  “Eyas” is comprised of seven additional songs (six previously unreleased) we recorded during the Dual Hawks sessions, including our take on Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”.  Matt Pence has floored us again with his documenting, mixing and mastering, and the release will feature our old friend Mark Ray’s artwork.  Songs included on this one are:

Christmas ’83
No, They Ain’t Mine
Cracking Of The Seal
Liquidation Heart
Water 4 Legs And Lungs
Inhabitants
All Night Long

WILL J./ELLIOTT McPHERSON ART SHOW IN BIRMINGHAM, AL:
Elliott McPherson and I will have an art opening on Sat. August 7th at The Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama.  Elliott plays guitar and sings for one of my long running favorite bands, The Dexateens.  He is also an upstanding gentleman and master cabinet craftsman.  During his free time he builds beautiful light boxes and shadow boxes.  I’m bringing a few new baseball paintings I made earlier this year.  One is of Dock Ellis tripping real hard on acid en route to throwing his no-hitter in 1970.  The reception is from 5-8pm, and the show will be up through August 31st. Music later that night includes The Glory Fires and Henry Dunkle.  Elliott’s art can be seen HERE.

Also, Barry Wittenstein’s piece on current doin’s in the baseball art world was released July 14 on mlb.com.  He kindly included a couple of my paintings in the gallery.  The article is HERE.

NEW WILL J. TEXAS SOLO SHOWS:
Wednesday August 11th – Dallas, TX/Renfield’s Corner.  This show begins at 10pm sharp w/ no opener.  This is a unique and new territory for one of our shows, and to make things better it is also a FREE show.  No admission will be charged this night.

Thursday August 12th – Austin, TX/The Ghost Room w/ Austin Collins (solo).

NEW CENTRO-MATIC SHOW:
Centro-matic will be reuniting with our old friends The Toadies at the annual Dia De Los Toadies Festival on Sat. August 28th.  We are elated about these circumstances for rock and roll communion.  This year it’s in New Braunfels, TX at Whitewater On The Horseshoe and also includes Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears, Heartless Bastards, Sleepercar and a bunch of other great bands.  Come out early for sufficient swimming, maximum farmer tan opportunities.  More info right HERE.

LIVING ROOM EXPERIMENT GOES WEST:
Anders Parker and I will be heading out on another acoustic living room tour in September.  The eastward springtime jaunt brought us so much unbridled joy that we had to see what the west might have in store.  Dates will be announced soon.

THANK YOU, ANIMIC:
Thanks to my Catalan friends, Animic for the musical treasure shared last month.  We all convened in the village of Collbato, rehearsed up a bunch of music for four shows, and it yielded some big and enjoyable sounds.  There is a full documentary in the works on this project.  I’m thankful for the friendships forged and the songs shared.  Check out their music and sonic offerings HERE.

Thanks for the time and hopefully we’ll see you out there soon.  Harvey Pekar, may you rest in peace.

-Will J

Will Johnson and Anders Parker will be playing in living rooms on the west coast this fall. This will be a totally acoustic (no sound system) tour hosted by fans in their homes.

We need your help! We are looking for people to host shows on these dates in or near these cities.

Thu Sept 16 : Seattle area
Fri Sept 17 : Seattle area
Sat Sept 18 : Portland area
Sun Sept 19 : OFF
Mon Sept 20 : OFF
Tue Sept 21 : San Francisco Area
Wed Sept 22 : San Francisco Area
Thu Sept 23 : Los Angeles Area
Fri Sept 24 : Los Angeles Area
Sat Sept 25 : Sacramento
Sun Sept 26 : Reno NV
Mon Sept 27 : OFF
Tue Sept 28 : Eugene OR
Wed Sept 29 : Portland Area

Please get in touch if you want to host a show. We’ll make this as easy as possible for the hosts. All you have to do is let us borrow your living room for a couple of hours and in return you’ll get 6 free tickets for friends and our eternal gratitude.

Here’s how it works.

1. You have a house or loft space that can comfortably and safely host 30-40 people. A place with a big living room, finished basement or other indoor residential space would be ideal. There would need to be enough parking nearby and your neighbors should be cool. It would be a huge bummer if someone called the cops because of all the extra cars and people coming to your house. You probably should not do this if you live in a small apartment with a bunch of uptight neighbors or a cranky landlord.

2. The shows will not be open to the public and no tickets will be sold at the door. We will pre-sell a set number of tickets for each show on our website before the show. Be realistic on how many people your place can hold. We need to know how many tickets we can sell in advance. Ticket prices will be $20.

3. We will provide you with a detailed list of everyone who will be coming to the show. This way the host won’t have to deal with money and will only need to check people off the list as they arrive.

4. The host can have 6 free tickets for the show. If you have other friends who want to come to the show you can direct them to the link to buy tickets on-line.

5. The shows usually start at around 8pm. We’ll ask people to arrive around 7:30pm. It should be over by around 9:30pm. We’ll make it clear to everyone that they should be out of your house by 10pm.

7. You don’t need to provide any sort of sound system. All you need is a couple of chairs for Will and Anders to sit on while playing. A small coffee table with a lamp or a floor lamp would be cool too.

8. Your home address will not be published on the web and only given to those people who purchase tickets.

9. The shows will not be promoted or advertised anywhere except our websites.

10. After we agree on a date and location we’ll ask you to sign a simple performance agreement.

After reading all of this and you are interested please send an e-mail to: bob@undertowmusic.com and adam@undertowmusic.com

Please include a photo of the space where you would like to have the show and put “Johnson / Parker House Show” and the city where you live in the subject line of the e-mail.

We’ll review all requests. Once we have a routing figured out we’ll be in touch with people in the towns we are able to work into the schedule.

Thank you for your interest and support.

Bob

Saturday, June 26
Arbucias, ES
Will Johnson + Animic at POPARB Festival w/ festival billing.

Sunday, June 27
Valencia, ES
Will Johnson + Animic at El Loco w/ Clem Snide.

Wednesday, June 30
Madrid, ES
Will Johnson + Animic at Teatro Lara w/ Clem Snide.

Thursday, July 1
Barcelona, ES
Will Johnson + Animic at Apolo.

On Saturday, May 22 Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton, Texas is hosting a celebration of Vic Chesnutt’s life and music. Performers/ celebrants to include Jason Ashbaugh,  Brent Best (The Drams/ Slobberbone), Bryan Vandivier (Tre Orsi/ South San Gabriel), Chris Flemmons (Baptist Generals), Edward Burch, Matthew Gray (Mathew and the Arrogant Sea) and the members of Centro-matic (Scott Danbom, Mark Hedman, Will Johnson and Matt Pence). If you live in the Golden Triangle, please come on out if you can, as the proceeds will go towards erasing Vic’s remaining medical debt.

http://www.danssilverleaf.com/calendar/

Happy baseball season to you. Centro-matic will be playing shows in Austin and Dallas next week. We don’t get to play hometown shows very often. Please come out to help us celebrate and hoist a few beverages with friends and family. It’s always a lot of fun to see everyone at these shows. A good time is guaranteed!

We have some great bands playing with us. Matthew & The Arrogant Sea will be playing both shows. The Service Industry will be on the bill in Austin and Oh Lewis will be on the bill in Dallas.

Thursday, May 6 – The Parish – Austin, TX
Doors open at 8pm
Show starts at 9pm
with
Matthew & The Arrogant Sea
The Service Industry
BUY TICKETS

Friday, May 7 – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX
Doors open at 7pm
Show starts at 8pm
with
Matthew & The Arrogant Sea
Oh Lewis
TICKETS

Will and Anders are in the home stretch of their house show tour. Anders has been keeping a photo blog along the way. Check it out HERE.

There are tickets remaining for the last few shows (except Austin is sold out).

Thu Apr 22 : Springfield, MO – BUY TICKETS
Fri Apr 23 : Denton, TX – BUY TICKETS
Sat Apr 24 : Austin, TX – SOLD OUT
Sun Apr 25 : Bastrop, TX – BUY TICKETS

Will Johnson and Anders Parker will be playing in living rooms across the USA this spring. This will be a totally acoustic (no sound system) tour hosted by fans in their homes.

Limited to only 35-40 tickets per show. Hurry! These will sell out quickly.

Tickets are ON SALE HERE.

Tue Mar 30 : Austin, TX – SOLD OUT
Wed Mar 31 : Houston, TX – SOLD OUT
Thu Apr 1 :  Baton Rouge, LA – SOLD OUT
Fri Apr 2 : Birmingham, AL – SOLD OUT
Sat Apr 3 : Atlanta, GA – SOLD OUT
Sun Apr 4 : Athens, GA – SOLD OUT
Tue Apr 6 : Brevard, NC – SOLD OUT
Wed Apr 7 : Chapel Hill, NC – SOLD OUT
Thu Apr 8 : Baltimore, MD – SOLD OUT
Fri Apr 9 : Philadelphia, PA – SOLD OUT
Sat Apr 10 : New York, NY – SOLD OUT
Sun Apr 11 : Montpelier, VT – SOLD OUT
Tue Apr 13 : Buffalo, NY – SOLD OUT
Thu Apr 15 : Louisville, KY – SOLD OUT
Fri Apr 16 : Chicago, IL – SOLD OUT
Sat Apr 17 : Milwaukee, WI – SOLD OUT
Sun Apr 18 : Madison, WI
Mon Apr 19 : Minneapolis, MN – SOLD OUT
Wed Apr 21 : Saint Louis, MO – SOLD OUT
Thu Apr 22 : Springfield, MO
Fri Apr 23 : Denton, TX – SOLD OUT
Sat Apr 24 : Austin, TX – SOLD OUT
Sun Apr 25 : Bastrop, TX – SOLD OUT

OPENING NIGHT: March 11th @ 7pm

Yep. Will Johnson has a collection of baseball paintings and we will have them from March 11 through April. And guess what… you’re invited.

The subjects of the paintings range from players that you know, to players you should know, with an emphasis on Negro League legends.

They are rich with textual detail and trivia. The last Negro League player to play in the Major League? None other than the long-time home run leader Hank Aaron. The dude with a nickname a thousand times cooler than yours? Cool Papa Bell.

To complete the ballpark vibe, we are going to have hotdogs from the fine folks at frank. Unlike hot dogs at the ballpark, these are delicious.

And since Will is an unrepentant St. Louis Cardinals fan, we are going to have a Tommy Herr Look-Alike Contest. The winner will either get an all-expense paid trip to the Cardinals’ spring training, or a cup of coffee from Jo’s (prize yet to be determined). If you have to google Tommy Herr to find out how awesome his hair is, you are disqualified.

Non-Cardinal fans can participate in the First Annual Dennis Eckersley Creepy Moustache Contest. The name is self-explanatory, right?

more info coming soon…

IF+D :: Iridescent Flamingos + Deck shoes
208 colorado
Austin, Texas 78701
512 469 0870
www.ifdaustin.com

Will Johnson and Anders Parker will be playing in living rooms across the USA this spring. This will be a totally acoustic (no sound system) tour hosted by fans in their homes.

We need your help! We are looking for people to host shows on these dates in or near these cities.

Tue Mar 30 : Houston, TX
Wed Mar 31 : Baton Rouge, LA
Thu Apr 1 : Birmingham, AL
Fri Apr 2 : Nashville, TN
Sat Apr 3 : Atlanta, GA
Sun Apr 4 : Athens, GA
Mon Apr 5 : OFF
Tue Apr 6 : Brevard, NC
Wed Apr 7 : Chapel Hill, NC
Thu Apr 8 : Wash DC area
Fri Apr 9 : Philly, PA
Sat Apr 10 : NYC / Brooklyn
Sun Apr 11 : Boston, MA
Mon Apr 12 : OFF
Tue Apr 13 : Montpelier, VT
Wed Apr 14 : Burlington, VT
Thu Apr 15 : Buffalo, NY
Fri Apr 16 : Bloomington, IN
Sat Apr 17 : Chicago, IL
Sun Apr 18 : Madison, WI
Mon Apr 19 : OFF
Tue Apr 20 : Minneapolis
Wed Apr 21 : Saint Louis, MO
Thu Apr 22 : Springfield, MO
Fri Apr 23 : Denton, TX
Sat Apr 24 : Austin, TX

Please get in touch if you want to host a show. We’ll make this as easy as possible for the hosts. All you have to do is let us borrow your living room for a couple of hours and in return you’ll get 5 free tickets for friends and our eternal gratitude.

Here’s how it works.

1. You have a house or loft space that can comfortably and safely host 35-40 people. A place with a big living room, finished basement or other indoor residential space would be ideal. There would need to be enough parking nearby and your neighbors should be cool. It would be a huge bummer if someone called the cops because of all the extra cars and people coming to your house. You probably should not do this if you live in a small apartment with a bunch of uptight neighbors or a cranky landlord.

2. The shows will not be open to the public and no tickets will be sold at the door. We will pre-sell a set number of tickets for each show on our website before the show. Be realistic on how many people your place can hold. We need to know how many tickets we can sell in advance. Ticket prices will be $20.

3. We will provide you with a detailed list of everyone who will be coming to the show. This way the host won’t have to deal with money and will only need to check people off the list as they arrive.

4. The host can have up to 5 free tickets for the show. If you have other friends who want to come to the show you can direct them to the link to buy tickets on-line.

5. The shows usually start at around 8pm. We’ll ask people to arrive around 7:30pm. It should be over by around 9:30pm. We’ll make it clear to everyone that they should be out of your house by 10pm.

7. You don’t need to provide any sort of sound system. All you need is a couple of chairs for Will and Anders to sit on while playing.

8. Your home address will not be published on the web and only given to those people who purchase tickets.

9. The shows will not be promoted or advertised anywhere except our websites.

10. After we agree on a date and location we’ll ask you to sign a simple performance agreement.

After reading all of this and you are interested please send an e-mail to: bob@undertowmusic.com and adam@undertowmusic.com

Please include a photo of the space where you would like to have the show and put “Johnson / Parker House Show” and the city where you live in the subject line of the e-mail.

We’ll review all requests. Once we have a routing figured out we’ll be in touch with people in the towns we are able to work into the schedule.

Thank you for your interest and support.

Bob

THIS SHOW HAD TO BE CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW. VERY SORRY!

We’ll try to reschedule as soon as possible.

On Friday, February 12th Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton, Texas is hosting a celebration of Vic Chesnutt’s life and music. Performers/ celebrants to include Brent Best (The Drams/ Slobberbone), Bryan Vandivier (Tre Orsi/ South San Gabriel), Chris Flemmons (Baptist Generals), the dashingly dashing Edward Burch, Matthew Gray (Mathew and the Arrogant Sea) and the members of Centro-matic (Scott Danbom, Mark Hedman, Will Johnson and Matt Pence). If you live in the Golden Triangle, please come on out if you can, as the proceeds will go towards erasing Vic’s remaining medical debt.

http://www.danssilverleaf.com/calendar/

Also, please note the two nights coming up at the 40 Watt in Athens, GA on February 19th and 20th. A wonderful list of performers will be getting together for those nights as well, including our own Will Johnson.

http://www.40watt.com/schedule.php