5/8/08 - We now are 1/3 done! Two weeks of touring is now complete, as crazy as that is to even think about. We are currently in Flagstaff, AZ, preparing for our show here at Mia's Lounge. We spent a couple hours at the Grand Canyon earlier today which is absolutely unbelievable. I can't recommend the trip enough - pictures do NOT do it justice.
Take Care!
4/28/08 - The first weekend is now complete. San Francisco is history! Had some good moments including getting sunburnt to hell on the Embarcadero while busking. Tom Green stopped us on the street while filming his webcast show from his RV. We were reviewed in No Depession's last (print) edition - better grab one now before they are gone, it's gonna be a collectors item. We also got reviewed and chosen as a 'rock pick' in LA Weekly for this week for our Molly Malones show. Good times!
Be sure to check out our tour blog and associated photo albums capturing the essence of 5 guys in a van. Tasty, no?
LA Weekly
Tom Green
Tour Blog (plus photos)
4/24/08 - Just made it into Davis - we're all a bit tired, but we'll be fine for Old Ironsides tonight. Be sure to follow us on our blog/picasa accounts as we boldly go where many bands have gone before!
4/15/08 - Thanks to all who are visiting us from the Oregon Live website! Welcome to our little world of Americana. All the Great Aviators Agree was reviewed podcast style by Oregon Live's Don Campbell - quite favorably at that. It's all part of a whirlwind week for us Slow Drags. Today we were roaming the KINK performance lounge for an upcoming Local Music Spotlight (hint - this Thursday night at 9:20pm!). All of this is in preparation for our seminal CD release party at the Mission Theatre on Friday evening, and follow-up show in Cottage Grove on Saturday at the Axe and Fiddle.
Barr Date 4/8/08 - All the Great Aviators Agree debuts on the Euro Americana Charts at #13! Not bad for an album that's not even out yet :) We'll see you at the Mission Theater for our CD release on Friday, April 18th!
Barr Date 3/31/08 - We're back from South by Southwest - what a freakin' blast-and-a-half that was! It's like the Mardi Gras of music. We got to see and meet so many amazing musicians, it's just impossible to list them all. We will definitely be back to Austin soon! In the meantime, check out our show schedule - we've got a tour running April-June. For Portland residents, our big blowout CD release show (hint: horn section!) is Friday, April 18th, at the Mission Theater. Bring everyone you know!
3/2/08 - Happy March, Slow Drag fans! Lots of cool stuff is in the works here at Scotland Barr Central. We are making final preparations for the trip down to Austin. Our 6-1/2 week tour schedule is nearly complete - be sure to check out our calendar to see if we are in your neck of the woods. In addition, the website is getting a new design to reflect our new album look. Oh yeah, that's another cool thing - we have a brand new album: All The Great Aviators Agree! Be sure to join us for our CD release party on April 18th at the Mission Theater. We've got Tony Smiley and James Low on the bill, which will kick off the show of the year (in our humble opinion...'ioho' for you texters...) In the meantime, you can check out our Myspace site to hear a couple new tracks off the album -- Cheers!!!
2/5/08 - Hello everyone! We have some great news to share with y'all...we just procured a show down in Austin for South by Southwest in March! We play after one of the biggest Austin bands going, the Lucky Tomblin Band - LEGENDS, all of them (Red Volkert on guitar & Cindy Cashdollar on steel)! There are lots of other big names on the bill, and we play a great slot at 5:30. The date is Friday March 14th, and the place is Threadgills - if you are in the Austin area, be sure to check us out!
1/11/08 - The Doug Fir show was awesome! Thanks to all for coming out, you truly made it a special evening.
Hey, we just booked a date at Pappy and Harriets in Joshua Tree, CA. This famous club was built in the 30's along with the entire "town" as a set for Hollywood westerns! Last time playing there we were lucky enough to jam w/ Victoria Williams and stay in the room at the motel where Gene Autry and gang drank and played poker after long days of filming. We also visited the Motel where Gram Parsons died and in perfect fasion were chased off the property!
1/9/08 - Happy New Year!!! -FREE SHOW- Come join us tonight at the Doug Fir Lounge as we play the In Music We Trust monthly showcase. Good friends Michael Dean Damron & thee Loyal Bastards and Rachel Taylor Brown are also featured this evening. The Doug Fir is one of the best live venues in town. It's downstairs (where all the fun demons inhabit), wooded, and non-smoking. The sound is excellent as well. And (AND!) it's a free show! It's a screaming night of fun, we say!
12/6/07 - Hey, look! We got played on a podcast! It's called WestSideWill Radio, and we were on his Unsigned Artist Showcase. That's right, we are unsigned. And lucky for us, or else he couldn't have played our song! Check it out!
11/11/07 - A few things to report. First and foremost, we had two fantastic shows this weekend. On Friday here in Portland we played at Dante's with Moonshine Hangover, North Twin, and Thee Loyal Bastards. The following night we played the Tractor in Seattle with North Twin and The Maldives. Both nights had amazing energy - thank you to everyone who turned out.
Secondly, we are so close to finishing tracking for our upcoming album, All The Great Aviators Agree. Expect it to drop by April. Heck, if you're nice to us, maybe we'll leak a few tracks a little early...
Thirdsome, our forum experiment has been disastrous, swarmed by spam bots, so we are taking it down until we can iron out all the kinks. Then all you real people can go back to posting about V*I*A*G*R*A and mortgage loans.
Love,
The Slow Drags
9/12/07 - In the nick of time, our new message board is up and running. Take a moment to register yourself and provide poignant feedback and uncannily provoking deep thoughts for us to peruse while we traverse the amber waves of the Rockies!
9/10/07 - Hello Slow Drag Fans! We are making final preparations for our 3 week western tour that will take us thru Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, & California. Check out the 'shows' page for more information regarding each show along the way. (Please note that our Cinema Bar show in LA has been cancelled.)
We want to thank everyone that came out to Ash St. Saloon last Friday for making it a paramount show for us. We had an amazing time, and we hope y'all did as well! Our thanks go to Alex from In Music We Trust for providing us the opportunity to ply our wares to the MusicFest masses.
8/7/07 - So much is happening it’s hard to stop spinning long enough to let you all in on it. First, we are playing the KINK-FM Portland Spirit early escape cruise this Friday…you’ve probably been hearing our tunes on the radio (101.9 FM). Let’s see which Slow Drags are seaworthy!
We have been asked to play the “IN MUSIC WE TRUST” showcase at Musicfest Northwest – our set is on Friday, September 7, at the Ash Street Saloon, 11 PM. With some hard work and the wind at our backs, we hope to be debuting a new (upright) bass player at this show…cross your fingers.
A week after the MFNW we head off on a tour of Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and California for nearly a month. Check the Shows page for details.
The biggest news is that we’re hard at work on TWO new full-length CDs.
The first, All The Great Aviators Agree, is scheduled for release the first of next year, and our mega-opus, 100-headed beast We Will Be Forgotten will be close behind - followed by a national tour which will see us on the east coast for the first time in early May 2008.
Thanks for all the support! We’ll be seeing you.
6/20/07. The Slow Drags are hard at work in the studio, but we’ve got a lot of live shows coming up too…if you’re in Portland, check us out on Saturday, June 30th at the WHITE EAGLE! It’s going to be a blowout show – Moonshine Hangover and North Twin (former Radio Nationals) are opening! BE THERE!
5/2/07. We’ve got a TON of new shows posted...check out the shows page! We’ve also been plugging away in the studio. We’ll have some new music for you to hear soon!
3/26/07. See pictures from the tour here, taken by our resident photojournalist drummer, Nick.
3/24/07. Update from the Road: we are driving down the beautiful 101 from
Ukiah to the Bay Area. It is an absolutely gorgeous spring day (yet Zach won't
let me hang my feet out the van window - I don't understand it), and we are
rested and in good moods. We played the Ukiah Brewery last night to a small but
supportive crowd.
The tour continues tonight in San Jose, and tomorrow
night, and for six more gigs in Northern California. (Check out our shows page for the specific locations.) Tell your
friends. And Portlanders, we'll be back to you on the 7th of April at the
Kenton Club, don't fret.
3/1/07. ATTENTION! Our March 24th show has been changed. It is now in San Jose at Johnny V's, playing with The Careless Hearts.
2/20/07. Hi All! We continue to plug away at the new album. Little by
little, it's coming together. I think we're shooting for a May or June release.
Of course, don't quote me on that!
Also, we hitting Northern California again this March.
Check out our shows to see when we'll be in your
neighborhood.
1/14/07. Tune in to KINK (101.9FM) on Wednesday, January 31st, at 9:20pm to hear a track off of Legionnaires' Disease. We're not sure which track; any guesses?
1/7/07. Opened up the new year in Albany last night at the Calapooia Brewing
Co. We recognized a few faces (Hi Leon & Chris!), which is always nice.
Hopefully we'll recognize a few more next time!
We've got so many shows coming up in 2007, so please check
'em out.
12/30/06. Hey, look, y'all! We are currently holding down two spots on the LoudCity.com American Radio Charts with 5 Years in Nashville (#29) and Count On Me (#74). It's always a real kick to see our band lumped in among artists we admire, like Bob Dylan (#7, #58), Neko Case (#9), Neil Young (#35), and Wilco (#36), to name just a few.
11/23/06. Oh, goodness, it's been a long time since we updated this website!
Well, now that we're down for the count with a bellyfull of stuffing (Happy
Thanksgiving, everyone!), we'll let you know what we've been up to. First of
all, we are grinding away at the new album, whenever we have the chance. While
that's still in progress, the track for the Johnny Cash tribute album is
finished, polished, and on its way to join its friends on the compilation. Look
for it in March, and our album in May. Don't worry, it'll go by like nothing.
Secondly, we're getting great response from radio and the
web with our album Legionnaires' Disease, which got played again on KINK
102 FM here in Portland, and has been up on the Roots Music Report Alt Country
charts for the past four weeks now, as high as #15, currently at #18, among
(and above!) such amazing musicians as Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Jackie
Greene. Take a look! It definitely is nice to know that people are
indeed listening.
And, finally, of course, we are keeping busy playing music
for you! Three more gigs left in 2006, so check us out
before we start on our resolutions and learn how to play our instruments!
(Which should make our scores of shows already scheduled in 2007 even better!)
That's all for now. Keep digesting, and keep listening. Cheers!
10/20/06. Hey, look! Our tune, The Distance, is Track of the Day at
GarageBand.com. Click on the square to check it out!
10/11/06. We are back from a fantastic tour. We played some great shows, met some cool people, and didn't completely hate each other after 17 days of Siamese sextupleness.
Something cool: a podcast featuring our tune, The Distance. Listen to it here.
9/22/06. Update from the Road!
Here we are in California, halfway through what is, so far, a great tour. A few
things:
a) Zach is a blogging fiend, and has kept excellent notes on our trip. He posts
them on his own blog, but we have also copied them to our blog on MySpace. Read about all our band hijinks.
b) At shows we are now selling a cute little EP in addition to our
"Legionnaires' Disease". It contains two live tracks from a recent
performance, as well as an unmastered mix of our upcoming single, "Heart
of Rome". You can download one of the live tracks now at our
MySpace page.
c)KINK 102 played Bruised Tattoo tonight on their Local Artist Spotlight. Call
them up and ask for them to play it again! If you haven't heard it in a while,
you can listen to it on our
MySpace page.
8/31/06
1. We are one week away from our big gig at Mississippi Studios, and two weeks
away from leaving on our short tour in California. Tell all your friends in the
northern half of the state to check out our shows in the Bay, Sacramento, and
Lake Tahoe areas! And everyone come out to the show at Mississippi, which
promises to be fantastic, with The Imprints opening.
2. Upon returning from our wildly successful tour, we head into the studio to record the new album. Before the tour, however, we are getting a little jump start: we are doing a track for an upcoming Johnny Cash tribute album. Our tune is "Long Black Veil" -- we hope, of course, to put the Slow Drag spin on it. The tribute album should come out before Christmas, and the Slow Drags album (yet to be titled) should drop in the New Year.
8/8/06. Just wanted to let you all know that we had two great shows this
past weekend with a great band called Chuckanut Drive from Bellingham, WA.
Those guys play like fiends, and they sure know how to have a great time. Check
'em out when you get the opportunity. We'll be playing with them again as soon
as possible!
In the meantime, be sure to check out our gig this
Wednesday at Dante's, with Portland legends Thrillbilly!
7/25/06. Well, lots of new stuff in Slow Drag Land. First, we'd like to
welcome our new drummer, Nick Kostenborder. Nick is being put through the
paces, doing a lot of catch up, and is responding like a champ. Come out to the
next gig and meet him!
Second, we have a bunch of great gigs coming up, including
(but not limited to) the White Eagle on the 4th of August and Dante's (opening
up for Thrillbilly) on the 16th. Those shows will be nothing if not rocking, so
come enjoy! We're also playing our favorite haunts in Eugene, Salem, Hillsboro,
and hitting California for the first time(!) in September, so check out our gig page and attend the show nearest you!
Finally, while we are looking forward to this spate of
upcoming gigs, we are even more excited about October, when we will hole up in
the studio and crank out the new album. We've already recorded the first
single, "Heart of Rome", and it sounds great; we'll release it and a
few extras on an EP this fall, and then the next album should arrive sometime
this spring. Can't wait!
Love,
The Slow Drags
6-23-06. This weekend's gig at the Oregon Trader Brewery in Albany has been canceled. Do not fear: we love playing there and will be back as soon as we can. In the meantime, come out to see us in Hillsboro, Salem, Eugene, and Clackamas (our next four shows).
June 19, 2006. We'd like to take a moment to thank those of you who dig our stuff and have been sharing it with others. Word of mouth is the best way right now for people to hear our music. Special thanks goes out to you podcasters featuring our tunes on your programs. For those of you who haven't heard, we've been played on podcasts from all over the globe! It's a kick just hearing our name on the webradiocast-thingy. Extra special thanks to Father Roderick in the Netherlands who got everything going a year ago on his podcast Catholic Insider. For those of you who think I'm making all of this up, take a listen...*
*clips taken from Catholic Insider, Daily Breakfast, Perlcast, In My Opinion, and Mr. Mallon's Physics Podcast (!).
5/30/06: Uncanceled gig alert: Our June 10th gig has been revived, but it will now be at the good ol' Jasmine Tree, on SW 4th and Harrison. We're playing with our pals the Lonesomes. Do come!
5/29/06: Canceled gig alert: June 10th at the Green Room is no more. We still have loads of shows on the schedule, though, so don't fret--there will be plenty of chances to hear us.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006--------
Dear Dragsters,
After a few weeks off, we're storming back with 9 shows in 23 days, in and around Portland, starting this weekend--see our shows page for details. Also, stay tuned for news about our upcoming recording -- the single, "Heart of Rome", is almost finished and we hope to get back in the studio to record the rest of the album soon.
In other news, we bid a fond farewell to our beloved guitarist Charley Adams, who left us last week for an adventure in South America. Anyone who caught our show knows how much Charley could tear it up on the guitar. We will miss him greatly, and wish him all the best.
4/15/06: Happy Tax Day! We have recently been selected to be a part of two great shows: PDXposed (filmed last night at the Buffalo Gap) and KINK FM's Local Music Spotlight. Sweet! PDXposed airs every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 7 PM on Comcast CNW14 (rotating episodes, we believe). Plus you can watch several current episodes anytime day or night using Comcast On Demand. We're not sure when our episode will air--probably nearer to the end of the summer--but we'll let you know. KINK 102 FM's Local Music Spotlight airs Monday through Friday at 9:20 PM, and we are being featured on April 17th and 18th.
3/2/06: Unfortunately, our gig at the Mars Bar in Seattle, WA, has been canceled. However, we should be getting back up in that direction in a month or two, so stay tuned, Washingtonians, for your next shot at hearing our new stuff!
2/7/06: NEWS! Our new CD "Legionnaires Disease" recently debuted at # 29 on the Roots Rock Airplay Report as well as making the Roots Rock Top 100. We reverently shared the charts with such musical luminaries as Neil Young, John Hiatt, Rosanne Cash, Ryan Adams, Rodney Crowell, James McMurtry, Southern Culture on the Skids and Jackie Green.
Roots Music Report is the #1 Independent music chart for roots music in the World!....So we,of course,are quite happy about it.
We have slowed down our gigging schedule for Feb. to start our new CD, tentatively titled "We will be forgotten".....But there are still many shows coming. The Saint Patricks gig at the White Eagle is shaping up to be a Killer!!! One of Portlands best new bands,Drunken Prayer, will be sharing the bill....Along with a gloriously inspired acoustic set from Portlands blue collar troubadour Joshua James.
All for now...And thanks you for supporting the ragged arts!
1/31/06: Quick update: 10 new upcoming shows posted, including 8(!) in March. Come out, come out! We've been working on new material which will certainly be debuted soon. Don't you want to hear it?
12/13/05: Sorry for such a long time between news updates, Two people who actually check the site regularly. We've been gigging a whole damn lot, as evidenced by the list of our recent shows, including a kickass trip to Yachats on the Oregon Coast and a stop at the excellent Oregon Trader Brewery on the way back. Four gigs left in the year 2005, including our New Year's Eve blow-out at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro. We've been trotting out some brand new tunes and updating some old ones, and the newness ain't over, folks! Come check out what we've been working on! Also, stay tuned for more web site updates, including loads of gig photos (a very Slow Drag Halloween), bios, reviews, recipes, and local sports heroes!
10/14/05: We've been having great times at our most recent gigs. The CD release went great, Music Millenium was awesome (free t-shirts, dudes), White Eagle rocked hard, and Boone's Treasury was crazy. And we're not stoppin'. 6 hours driving to Spokane tomorrow for the show at Mootsy's, and then six hours straight back so Chris can play his church gig. Those folks can't hymnsing a capella, now, can they?
But of course, we're most excited about next weekend, when we play in Corvallis on Friday night (the 21st) and then have the HUGE privilege of opening for Eddie Spaghetti at John Henry's in Eugene on Saturday the 22nd! Get your tickets before they disappear in the whirl of forks and parmesan cheese that are Spaghetti fans!
9/20/05:
Friday Sep23 @ Music Millennium NW, 7pm.
We'll be playing tunes all from the brand new CD, "Legionnaires'
Disease". FREE
Saturday Sep24 @ Duff's Garage, 9pm. CD-Release Party!
The Lonesomes and Jon Itkin are opening. We go on at 11:00 and shut the place
down. Cover is $5. We'll also be selling CD's and T-shirts at special low party
prices!
8/18/05: Lots to share! First of all, our gig at the Bitter End with Chuck Warda went pretty well. We scored a decent live recording and free Sara Lee white bread from the giveaway at PGE Park across the street! Thanks to those few who came out for it.
Plenty of new gigs on the schedule. First one is September 23rd (the night before our CD Release Party!), at the Music Millennium NW store. Come snag a copy of Legionnaires Disease before the official release! Also coming are our first gigs in Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, and Medford, as well as our debuts at three McMenamin's establishments! Exciting! Stay Tuned!
7/19/05: New gig scheduled, at the The Bitter End on August 13th. We'll be playing with Chuck Warda. Check out our updated Shows page.
7/17/05: Just finished three gigs in three weeks. All in all, they went pretty well. Now we've got some downtime before our CD release on September 24th. We might schedule in a practice gig, but either way we will refine our sets, maybe add a few tunes, and get super tight. Stay tuned!
6/20/05: A few weeks between gigs. We're working on some new tunes to pull out for the next gig, July 1st at the Twilight Cafe. In the meantime, check out new pics, and mp3s from the album, both recent additions to the ever-growing website!
5/23/05: Our song "Bruised Tattoo" is being featured as GarageBand.com's Americana Track of the Week! Check it out!
In other news, our show at Conor Byrne went great. We played with Scot's cousin Tony Fulgham's threepiece, as well as our frequent gig mate James Sasser. All three bands delivered stellar sets.
Upcoming shows include the River City Saloon in Hood River on June 4th, Paola's on the 11th, and the Twilight on the 17th. Come to rock.