Sweatman's BBQ

The Little Ones love a day off on tour; we usually find an amazing place to stuff our bellies and then sleep the rest of the day. Today we chose Sweatman's BBQ located in the small town of Holly Hill, SC just outside of Charleston. Tipped off by one of our favorite shows, "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel, we learned that Sweatman's was only open two days a week, Friday and Saturday. With a perfect stroke of luck we had Saturday off and Sweatman's was on our way to the next gig in Chapel Hill. We arrived promptly at 11:30, right when they opened; ready to devour South Carolina's finest mustard sauce BBQ pork. Sweatman's serves oak smoked whole hog buffet style consisting of pulled pork, ribs, and skin. The sides were traditional cole slaw, rice, and something none us had tried, hash (basically liquid sausage sauce). I would have paid an upwards of $20 for this meal, but it was $9 with the best sweet tea the south has to offer. If you are not a mustard fan don't worry, we had two non- mustard gents with us who thought the best part was the sauce. If you're ever in Charleston, SC make the hour drive to Sweatman's, it's definitely a great small town southern eating experience.

Naptime

-Lee

Texas and beyond

Wow, where has the last week gone? Texas was a grand time (as always). The last three times we've played in Austin have all revolved around SXSW and ACL. I must say it was nice touring through again the old fashioned way. Even got to briefly visit with some old friends. Prior to
that was the dance party in Ft. Worth. Oh yes, where was that? Lolas! Big thanks to Ft. Worth for lighting up the dance floor and for the free mid-set beverages!

In Baton Rouge, we discovered the joy of crawfish! But more importantly, we
returned to the Spanish Moon where Brian was reunited with his Roland keyboard
amp that was left there almost a year and a half ago. There had been much speculation regarding the whereabouts of this old amp. Was he sold? Abandoned? Wandering the land like Cain from Kung Fu, helping people along the way. Alas, we arrived at the Spanish Moon to find he had appeared on a couple records and was recently used by Man Man.




As for our tourmates, Ra Ra Riot, they are all some lovely peeps. A very sweet and thoughtful bunch and a pleasure to share the stage with.

-i

Happy Terry Tales!

Okay, where are we?

We had 2 days off between Phoenix and Norman so we stayed in Santa Fe last night and are currently making our way to Norman, Oklahoma!

Whoa! Today is April 8th! Happy Release Day! Today marks the release of our Terry Tales & Fallen Gates EP! Geez, this is oddly our first release since Sing Song back in '06. Not to discount the digital stuff here n' there, remixes, b-sides, etc... But needless to say, it's been a long while since a new little ones record of any size (well more than 2 songs) and length has come to fruition. Behold! in all its flower-esque vibrance !



What else? we'll have some pix coming soon as we get deeper into this tour. Meantime, here's Lee concrete surfing in a Mervyn's parking lot...



Off to combat severe weather awareness month.

-i

it's about that time

The countdown has begun. T-minus 5hrs and 20min to load-in a the Casbah and our return to the North American touring circuit. Well, I suppose the countdown started months ago after completing our last tour in the UK. It seems like forever since the last trip, but I suppoes 3 1/2 months of downtime will do that to you. Although, it hasn't been all that quiet. There have a several diblets of rock here n' there. The spaceland Anniversary thingy, NoisePop and who can ever forget a SXSW trip.

So here's what went down this week.

Wednesday
Recent LA defectors travel up to LA from San Diego to begin rehearsals. No too interesting of stuff here other than watching Lee battle a sinus infection.

Thursday
We agree the night prior to rehearse at 5am in the morning!!! Kinda ridiculous, but allows us all to get back home, be with our families and friends and more time to of course prep for the 6week jaunt. However, for some of us, the day was wrecked anyway and found ourselves sleeping off the rest of the day. I must say: truly weird playing music while it's night out and watching it turn to day mid set.

Friday
A personal day for everyone.

Saturday
As I write this I'm simultaneously doing laundry, counting new t-shirts & tote bags, re-stringing
guitars and packing me bags. This day will most likely not end till about 4am. hI tour!

-i