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3/5/10 The Slow Drags, live at The White Eagle We are playing a gig on March 5th, at The White Eagle (836 N Russell St, Portland, OR), to continue to raise money to finish our double album, We Will Be Forgotten. Please come join us! 1/3/10 - Slow Drags show The Slow Drags will be playing live on January 22nd at CARNIVALE AMERICANA, 9/26/09 - Finish-the-album fund After Scotland's diagnosis, the Slow Drags had to quickly change directions. Instead of planning out tours that take months of lead time, the band turned their attention to recording the next album. Unsure of Scot's health, the band began to feverishly sketch out ideas and rough tracks for the double-length LP We Will Be Forgotten. Significant progress was made, as four tracks have been pre-released to the public. However, without the ability to play live shows with any regularity, the band's source of income was essentially cut off. People close to the band know that the next record was important to all of us, especially Scot. Each song detailed an era of his life like a storyboard. The fact that he chose the name We Will Be Forgotten was ironic, as the concept of this record was to, almost desperately, have people remember. Maybe not Scotland, or the band, but meaningful events their own life history. The band fully intends to see this vision through. The Slow Drags would be humbly honored by anyone that is willing to donate money towards recording the next album. Feel free to visit our website and donate via PayPal. We'll also kindly accept cash or checks made out to Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags. The band graciously thanks you for your generosity. 9/19/09 Scot's memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, 2009, at Duff's Garage in Portland. Please RSVP as soon as possible - [email protected]. We are trying to get an accurate head count, so the RSVP is very important if attending. There will also be an open mic for those who would like to speak about Scot. If you would like to be included, please let me know when you RSVP. 9/1/09 Friends and fans, we have terrible news. Our leader, Scotland Barr, passed away early this morning after a year-long fight with pancreatic cancer. I don't know what else to say right now. 6/20/09 We are so excited to announce the release of four tracks from our forthcoming album We Will Be Forgotten. The full (double) LP won't be ready until late fall at the earliest, but we can't just can't keep these to ourselves! Please download these, listen, share, and delight in new music! 4. Right Where You're Supposed To Be 6/9/09 Hey folks, don't miss the Biddy McGraw's show this weekend! We are hard at work in the studio - you can expect to hear some sneak previews from We Will Be Forgotten very, very soon. We also have a contest in the works...woohoo! 3/28/09 Big show coming up - Friday, April 10th at the Doug Fir, we'll be playing with Nashville's Clem Snide and the Heligoats. This show looks like it will sell out, so please get your tickets early. Don't miss this chance to hang out with us and hear some new material (and a few old faves) at one of the best venues in town! 1/27/09 Hello Slow Drags fans, welcome to a terribly over-due SBSD update! We apologize for the lack of presence the last few months (or maybe that was a good thing, dear readers?), but we have had our arms full with all sorts of endeavors. Let us dive right in, shall we? 2008: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." We want to acknowledge 2008 as a spectacular year in the growth of the band, as it brought the release of our second record (All the Great Aviators Agree), several months on the road, some great reviews and shows we will always remember. However, like all great novels, 2008 was magnificent and a bit tragic. About that tragic part – y’all may have been wondering for a while now what’s going on with us (no shows, updates, or craigslist postings). Our front-man and leader, Scotland Barr, has been diagnosed with cancer of a particularly intractable variety. After muddling through the initial shock of this news, Scot has begun treatment and is doing well. We appreciate your positive thoughts and understanding. But don’t worry folks, Scot’s still writing songs, cooking, and distributing his world-class Secret Aardvark sauce. Enough with the bad news - we also have some good news. That being, we’re still together, we’re working on our new album, we’ve got some big shows coming up, and All the Great Aviators Agree made numerous top ten lists this year! You can check out those at the bottom of the message. The first show on our docket is March 7th. We have been asked to perform at the Tom Petty Tribute at the Fez Ballroom hosted by Reina Collins. We are quite excited about this opportunity, as we are all big Tom Petty fans. In rehearsing the songs we’ll be playing, we are taken with how simple yet insidiously catchy they are...Tom’s just a brilliant songwriter. You really can’t lose with this event. It’s like going to a karaoke bar, except a million times better. Finally, keep your calendars open for April (yes, the entire month...cancel everything!)...that's when we’ll be performing our comeback show here in Portland. Like Elvis’s 1968 comeback special, we’ll all dress up in leather and surround ourselves with pretty googly-eyed girls. It will be great. Will you be one of those pretty googly-eyed girls? Or googly-eyed guys? That was actually a rejected name for the band - Scotland Barr and the Googly-Eyed Guys. I was outvoted, dang! Thank you everyone for all the support in the past and all the fun we’ll have in the future. SBSD wishes you a tremendous 2009. Cheers, SBSD It’s always nice to be recognized. We’ll end this update with some of the great reviews from music critics far and wide as they made their “best-of” lists for 2008. Jim Musser (NO DEPRESSION/Press Citizen) picks his favorites for 2008 Rick Cornell (NO DEPRESSION) 2008: In Review Colin Fielding (3INR - 96.5 Inner FM) Best of 2008 DJ Cat (Radio Free Americana) Best Alt. Country/Roots Rock Albums of 2008 Awmercy's Top 10 Portland Albums from 2008 9/25/08 Some of you may have noticed that most of our shows over the next two weeks, the continuation of our fall tour, have been suddenly canceled. We have had to return to Portland unexpectedly due to a medical emergency involving a band member. More information on the situation will be forthcoming as we receive it. Until that time, please know that we are very disappointed to not be able to play these shows in your towns, and we hope very much to see you all in the spring when we tour again, but our priority, of course, is with our compatriot taken ill. We appreciate your understanding. Sincerely, Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags 9/9/08 Man...we are so tired! Musicfest NW was a freakin' blast this year. I hope you Portland area folks got out to see some shows. After 4 nights of club hopping (and 1 night playing), several of us went to see Brian Wilson on Sunday...wow. I am still processing it :) Our fearless leader, Mr. Scotland Barr, was interviewed recently for Country Standard Time. Read the article here...Scot discusses influences, "revelation songs" vs. "evolution songs," and more. Be sure to check out the rest of the site, too! We're leaving for tour in a week - be sure to check the list to see when we're coming to your town! 8/14/08 A quick thanks to Don Zelazny and the fine folks over at americanaroots.com for a nice new review of the album: "...What struck me right away about Scotland was his voice. It’s one of those smoky, scratchy and very distinctive voices that really demands you pay attention. Of course the songwriting and fine work by the Slow Drags make sure you pay attention to more than the vocals!..." Read the whole review here! And be sure to browse the rest of the site...these guys do good work and they polka like real men. Don't miss our two shows this Saturday if you're in the Portland area! We'll be seeing ya... 7/21/08 We're still recovering from the raucous, sold-out show in Seattle with North Twin and the Maldives. The Sunset Tavern is a really cool spot, and we had a great time...except for the person with the creepy Yoko Ono mask at the end of the bar. *Shudder*! We've got another Seattle show on August 2, the Magnolia Summerfest. Slap on some sunscreen and join us! 7/9/08 Welcome to the new scotlandbarr.com! We've added a new Store section where you can order T-shirts and other Slow Drags paraphernalia right from this site using Paypal. Feel free to poke around and check out the new site...check back often, as we'll be adding new pictures, videos, and other fun stuff. Brandon Hafer designed the site, with artwork from Tim Huggins. Thanks guys! 6/10/08 Be sure to check out the tour blog if you haven't and the photo blog as well. Lots of good pictures are now up from our time in Idaho. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us and liked us enough to check us out further. We greatly appreciate it!
5/27/08 We don't have anything scheduled this evening, but we are gonna stop in Rawlins, WY to see if we can play an impromptu gig at The Keg this evening. We had a good time there last fall, and if there is any way we can make enough for tonights lodging, so much the better. We want to thank everyone who made our Colorado stay as great as it possibly could be. Thanks much!
5/21/08 Hope to see you soon! Tour Blog (plus photos) Take Care! 4/28/08 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 4/24/08 4/15/08 4/8/08 3/31/08 |